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Lieutenant William Calley and the My Lai Massacre
Very few things in our world bring about resentment, bewilderment, and anger as easily as the massacre of innocent civilians. It seems that the history of the Vietnam War includes some well known instances that involved the massacre of innocent people. This could be for many reasons, stress, anger, U.S. sentiments towards the war, and even plain hatred of the massacred people. The most infamous account of the slaughtering of civilians took place in a village called My Lai, this is the story of the man that ordered and took part in the massacre, Lieutenant William Calley. This paper will look at his early days before the war, his life as a soldier and the My Lai atrocities, plus, the aftermath of the events seen throughout the U.S.A.
The 1960's, as most people know, were a tumultuous time in American history. By the late 1960's opposition to the Vietnam War was at a boiling point, and one event truly helped in killing most remaining positive ideas about the war, the My Lai massacre. The one person most associated with the massacre and the only soldier convicted for the atrocities that took place was a Lieutenant named William Calley.
On the eighth of June, 1943 the most notorious person involved with the My Lai massacre was born (www.trail-ch.org). William "Rusty" Calley was born into a good home in Florida; before he committed the war crimes in My Lai he had no record of deviant behavior or criminal activity, he was a "typical American" (www.crimelibrary.com). It is of note to mention that many people thought and still think he was a scapegoat for the whole event. Although, with over 400 questioned witnesses and over 20,000 pages of reports and most everyone stating the same facts, that Lt. Calley ordered and participated in the killings, it could be difficult to prove the scapegoat theory (http://news.bbc.co.uk). But its not quite the scapegoat in that sense, during this time the morale of troops and U.S. sentiments for the war were at an all time low, people think that the government put the blame solely William Calley to put a face on the reason for low sentiments. This theory would also be hard to prove or disprove.
Before entering the Army in 1966, Calley had many jobs, none of which he excelled at.
The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.
The Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that, those scenes forced me to reflect on my own feelings about the war. These scenes also caused me to look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, which is not a perspective I had previously considered. In particular, Caputo’s account of
Some of them could have even been used as scapegoats. Yet how does one become a scapegoat? Could someone out there have that much hatred and anger to blame one person for the faults of many? Is the need for blame significant? Does desire lead to hatred and evil?
Kelman, Herbert C., Hamilton, V. Lee. “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience”. Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Ed. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 266-277. Print.
Powell majored in Engendering. He finished college in 1958 (source 1 pages 32, 36). While in college Powell joined the Recruit Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Powell said he joined ROTC because of the discipline and "The sense of comradery among a group of young men who were similarly motivated. Maybe it was the uniform." Another reason he said he joined is because of the association with the military [source 2 (interview page 1) (biography page 1)]. While Powell was in ROTC, he was in the Pershing Rifles. The Pershing Rifles showed that a cadet was more serious about ROTC than a regular cadet. The Pershing Rifles had to stay in ROTC their whole college career. They were distinguished through a yellow wrap worn on their right shoulder (source 1, page 40). In 1987 Powell was the Nation Security Advisor to Ronald Regan. Two years later in 1989 he became the first black officer and the youngest officer to hold the nation's highest military office, the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.
After leaving UCLA his senior year, Robinson enlisted in the US Army during World War II. He trained with the segregated U.S. 761st Tank Battalion. Initially refused entry to Officer Candidate School, he fought for it and eventually was accepted, graduating as a first lieutenant. While training at Fort Hood, Texas, Robinson refused to go to the back of a bus. He was court-martialed for insubordination, and therefore never shipped out to Europe with his unit. He received an honorable discharge in 1944, after being acquitted of all charges at the court-martial.
He was then drafted into the U.S. Army where he was refused admission to the Officer Candidate School. He fought this until he was finally accepted and graduated as a first lieutenant. He was in the Army from 1941 until 1944 and was stationed in Kansas and Fort Hood, Texas. While stationed in Kansas he worked with a boxer named Joe Louis in order to fight unfair treatment towards African-Americans in the military and when training in Fort Hood, Texas he refused to go to the back of the public bus and was court-martialed for insubordination. Because of this he never made it to Europe with his unit and in 1944 he received an honorable discharge.
the guards began mistreating the prisoners, not physically, but emotionally and psychologically, taking advantage of the power and authority appointed to them by the experimenter (Zimbardo 109). Crimes of obedience and mistreatment to other human beings are not only found in Milgrim’s and Zimbardo’s experiments. In 1968, U.S. troops massacred over 500 villagers in My Lai. The incident is described by social psychologist Herbert C. Kelman and sociologist V. Lee Hamilton in the article “The My Lai Massacre: a Crime of Obedience.” Lt. William Calley, charged with 102 killings, claims to have followed orders from his superiors, only accomplishing his duty, which is also a theme throughout the movie, A Few Good Men. After presented with a request from William Santiago, a marine on his base, to be transferred, Jessup refuses. The film depicts, through Colonel Jessup 's authority, the refusal to obey a reasonable request as well as the pride one possesses when fulfilling his duty
In the documentary, Last Days in Vietnam, Rory Kennedy has made a great success in depicting the chaotic final days in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Also known as the American War, the conflict occurs in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.The war is detrimental since it has caused 4 millions of people perish and most of them are the civilians. From the beginning of the documentary, the former US Army officer, Stuart Herrington, is in a dilemma whether he should decide to abandon his post, his army and his country in order to flee with his family to the United States or stay in Vietnam to witness the sufferings of the unimaginable scale of the Vietnamese amidst the war. The documentary
of the rape of a 14 year old girl by twenty GIs ... in front of the
Fields has never served in the military and has never received a military award. He was
However, he never took part in combat and stated stateside. He narrated training films and was in the Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit.” (Martin Kelly, n.d.).... ... middle of paper ... ...
The political and societal ramifications of Vietnam's Tet Offensive indubitably illustrate the historical oddity of 1968. 1967 had not been a bad year for most Americans. Four years after the profound panic evoked by the assassination of John Kennedy, the general public seemed to be gaining a restored optimism, and even the regularly protested Vietnam War still possessed the semblance of success (Farber and Bailey 34-54). However, three short weeks following the eve of 68, Americans abruptly obtained a radically different outlook. The Tet Offensive, beginning on January 30, 1968, consisted of a series of military incursions during the Vietnam War, coordinated between the National Liberation Front's People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF), or "Viet Cong," and the ...
For the Army, he is a 15U (15 Uniform) which is a helicopter mechanic. He chose this MOS because he has always been passionate about flying and working on engines.Instead of just one weekend per month for drill, his job requires at least one day per week of training plus one weekend per month of drill, and two weeks every summer for training. A lot of long hours goes into studying his helicopter and all of the systems that make it up. “ There’s just something about engines that calms me down,” he says. His job duties include transporting cargo and Special Forces Troops from point A to point B, fly Generals to where they need to go, and sometimes they carry prisoners. “When we’re flying, it’s complete freedom. I can go wherever I want and I don’t need roads to get there,” John
The paranoia and fear of death never left them. The My Lai Massacre occurred in 1968, when the village of My Lai was completely destroyed, although it did not contain a single enemy troop. Over a hundred villagers were slaughtered. It became clearer to Americans how soldiers were losing control, and how there was no easy way to win this war.