House arrest. His jury deliberations lasted about 60 minutes. AP At first the Army tried to cover it up, but journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story in November of 1969. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. Despite his acquittal, the court martial and negative publicity brought Medina's military career to an end. He resigned his commission and left the Army shortly afterward. Press J to jump to the feed. And only one of the men behind this atrocity, the My L… I too stumbled on this fact years ago. Reddit Today’s Highlights in History: On March 29, 1971, Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was convicted of murdering 22 Vietnamese civilians in the 1968 My Lai (mee ly) massacre. General Westmoreland felt victory was obtained through inflicting the highest body count and the Soldiers were fighting for a cause Americans had long given up on. TIL that 2nd Lt. William Calley Jr., the only person convicted and officially held responsible for the My Lai Massacre in which up to 504 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians were executed in 1968, only ended up serving 3 and a half years of house arrest as punishment. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the todayilearned community. That was the mission I was given. Cally was an embarrassment to every man who's ever worn the uniform of this country and realized wearing it was not a license to murder. This fact has not been lost as people (or even the media itself) use that power to push their agenda. William Laws Calley Jr. was never really meant to be an officer in the U.S. Army. Lt. William L. Calley Jr., in a photo taken on April 23, 1971, during his court-martial at Fort Benning, Ga. The public learned of it after journalist Seymour Hersh got wind of the court-martial of platoon leader Lt. William Calley and interviewed him and other participants. They were all classified as the same, and that's the classification that we dealt with over there, just as the enemy. The letters led to an investigation a year after the massacre, which ultimately brought only one conviction: Lt. William Calley, leader of a platoon that had done much of the killing. Even he ultimately evaded any substantive punishment for his crimes. After being found guilty, a survey of the US public found that, 79% disagreed with the verdict and 81% believed that the life sentence was too stern. That was my job that day. Of the 989 respondents, 34% approved of Calley's having been brought to trial and 58% disapproved. That's bottom of the totem pole as far as officers go. Maybe somewhere in the top 100, but I doubt it. Willard, Apocalypse Now, "I was ordered to go in there and destroy the enemy. This man doesn't joke around, business is business. The war criminal behind one of the more shameful events our history gets a hit song, and the hero who did what he … TIL of William Calley, US army officer convicted by court-martial for the Mỹ Lai massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. I'm not going to defend him, but I will try to help you understand his mindset. I was pretty young when this happened, but I'm surprised how ignorant I was of the final outcome. ", It is incredible how the narrative can be twisted to make the public believe it was a miscarriage of justice rather than the butchering of innocent people. Opinions on two specific issues were examined: whether soldiers who killed civilians at My Lai should be punished and what the respondent would … Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here. Some extra info on Medina's court-martial: Medina's defense team, led by F. Lee Bailey, and a support staff that included Gary Myers, alleged that his men killed Vietnamese noncombatants under their own volition and not under Medina's orders. A Private First Class Meadlo from Goshen in rural Indiana, Meadlo was a member of 1st Platoon Company C under Lieutenant William Calley… On March 16, 1968, U.S. Army soldiers acting on orders from their commanding officers massacred several hundred innocent Vietnamese civilians. Calley was ultimately convicted of murdering at least 22 Vietnamese civilians and sentenced to life in prison. [...] In August 1971, Medina was ultimately found not guilty of all charges. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it. Basically, a brand new guy was given an order and followed it. To think that this man got off so easily and is a free man today is disgusting.. And to think that he was the only one charged and convicted is equally disgusting. In October 2007, Calley agreed to be interviewed by the UK newspaper the Daily Mail to discuss the massacre, saying, "Meet me in the lobby of the nearest bank at opening time tomorrow, and give me a certified cheque for $25,000, then I'll talk to you for precisely one hour. Similarly no one involved in Abu Ghraib got longer than a few years and several said the Iraqis should be grateful that Americans came over and sexually tortured them, their wives and their children. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. My understanding of this is that he was in fact not the only one responsible, but were made to take the blame in the following cover up. "Charging a man with murder here is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indianapolis 500" - Capt. TIL that 2LT William Calley, the officer responsible for the My Lai Massacre in 1968 in which 347 innocent Vietnamese men, women, and children were murdered, had his life sentence overturned and only served three and a half years in house arrest before being released. One does wonder about the trial and sentencing. Edward R. Gallagher (born May 29, 1979) is a former United States Navy SEAL who came to national attention in the United States after he was charged in September 2018 with ten offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice over accusations that he had stabbed to death an injured, sedated 17-year-old ISIS prisoner, … Your argument is that Calley had orders to line up women and children in front of a ditch and shoot them? A sign photographed at a US Army camp in Vietnam in 1969 or 1970 Paul Meadlo was a US Army soldier who participated in the mass killing of civilians at My Lai in March 1968. 26 people were charged but only Calley was considered guilty, as he was a platoon leader. Then on March 16, 1968, his company murdered hundreds of unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai. Really? Through Calley's rage he couldn't see these other options, he(and those whose orders he was following) wanted to kill the enemy and get revenge on those who helped them, whether they wanted to help or not. Reddit; Wechat; Abstract. Man, Calley is not someone I'd want to be mentioned in the same vein as. The villagers are either payed, shown that NATO forces are a match for those threatening them into helping the taliban, or both. Cookies help us deliver our Services. You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? After a very long time and many lives lost because the enemy has intimidated and paid off villagers, he decided the easiest course of action would be to kill the villagers, who, in his mind, had become the enemy when they helped them. Just don't lay a finger on the home-team. No harm no foul. Lieutenant William Calley was described as an “average officer” when he began his second tour in Vietnam in late 1967. Calley had just got up from a nap when Captain Brooks Doyle Jr., his young deputy military counsel, walked through the door. It's not like Biden lost either by that much. AP hide caption. I'm actually commissioning as a 2LT next Saturday, we've read countless case studies on My Lai and how it's a perfect example of terrible leadership and what not to do as an LT. You aren't required to follow immoral or unlawful orders (i.e. Calley, however, was the sole person convicted of an offense in connection with My Lai. PZ called my attention to the fact that former US Army 2nd Lieutenant William Calley has, for the first time, publicly apologized for his conduct at My Lai. It's all good. On the "Heinous Criminals that have been Pardoned", Arpaio doesn't even rank. I don't think you can point the finger at just one person for this. He later admitted that, during his court martial, he had "not been completely candid to avoid disgracing the military, the United States, his family, and himself. It was a small country hit, selling a million copies during the first 4 days of its release. toggle caption. The military trial of William Calley for his role in the slaughter of five hundred or more Vietnamese civilians at My Lai shocked a nation already sharply divided over a controversial war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse. In 1971, a song sympathetic to William Calley was made, with the details of the massacre completely whitewashed, in his defense. While an opportunity was squandered during the Vietnam era, Calley’s apology and the response to al-Megrahi’s release offer another chance for some … Before you down vote this person's comment, click on the link and take a look at the photos. Orders go through a chain of command...there is absolutely more then one person to point the finger at here. "They've got a verdict, Rusty," Doyle said. It is the first time a president has intervened in such a case since 1971, when Richard Nixon ordered that Army Lieutenant William Calley. The men were killed, while many of the women were also raped, their bodies mutilated, and their children slaughtered right in front of them. Lt. William Calley during his court martial in 1971. It's incredibly interesting, but it shows how horrible the Vietnam war was. Lt. William Calley. I did not sit down and think in terms of men, women and children. Nowadays, to discourage villagers from working with the enemy we don't use revenge or intimidation tactics. Press J to jump to the feed. William Laws Calley Jr. (born June 8, 1943) is an American war criminal and a former United States Army officer convicted by court-martial for the premeditated killings of 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the Mỹ Lai massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War.Calley was released to house arrest under orders by … How depressing, makes you wonder how that survey was worded, I want to see what the set was, to have got such such results. Just after dawn on March 16, 1968, a company of U.S. Army infantrymen, led by Capt. WILLIAM CALLEY'S secretary, Mrs. Shirley Sewell, had just come back to his apartment with the 1971 tags for Calley's Volkswagen and motorboat. You "made a mistake". ...and Colin Powell was in charge of the investigation white washing. Biden winning Texas and Florida is within the normal polling error for a Presidential election. I felt then and I still do that I acted as I was directed, and I carried out the order that I was given and I do not feel wrong in doing so.". He DEFINITELY bears a part of the shame and responsibility but he was a second lieutenant. Following Calley’s conviction on April 1, 1971, President Nixon ordered Calley removed from the stockade and placed under house arrest, where he would remain for three years before his release at the hands of a … A survey of public attitudes relating to the My Lai Massacre and the trial of Lieutenant William Calley Jr. was conducted in Sydney in March‐April 1971. Labeling him as the officer responsible is ridiculous. … slaughtering unarmed civilians). Lt. William Calley arrives for his court martial in 1971 at Fort Benning, Georgia. LEUT. Attitudes toward the trial and conviction of Lt. William Calley were explored in a national survey, completed between May 28 and June 12, 1971, conducted by the Roper Organization staff. It doesn't appear in any feeds, and anyone with a direct link to it will see a message like this one. That's one of the reasons 538 runs on a probabilistic model, and why they were one of the only outfits to say Trump had a chance in 2016. Calley led one of Charlie Company’s three platoons and was responsible for numerous killings himself, was the only soldier convicted of a crime at My Lai. Platoon leader Lt. William Calley and his men nonetheless went to work, burning huts, raping women and girls, and killing with knives, grenades and machine guns. More posts from the todayilearned community. I'm not going to say the man shouldn't be in jail, but it seems absurd to me that he'd be the onle one convicted, given America's "just following orders is not an excuse" stance post WWII. Even worse is that there were those who tried to stop the massacre who were shunned and called by some congressmen traitor to their country. He was convicted of the 1968 killing of 22 civilians in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. This feels to me like all those polls that say 25% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth, or that Joe Biden was going to win Texas and Florida. ... Reddit Tweet Share They actually released him because the general public were outraged he was convicted for the crimes of a war the Government was waging. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/lai/verdict_12.html. Medina also testified that he did not become aware that his troops were out of control at My Lai until the massacre was already well underway. It was all a sham and a shame. Reddit; Wechat; Abstract. Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here. There was a lack of humanity in the whole conflict. Because then, H. E. double-hockey-sticks. In this superb retelling of the My Lai story through the prism of the law, Michal Belknap provides new perspectives and keen insights into core issues … They teach about this at West Point and Annapolis as an example of following orders versus following lawful orders. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/lai/verdict_12.html. Rape and kill and slaughter women and children overseas. "[16] When the journalist arrived to question Calley without a cheque, Calley left. Good post. He didn't immediatly go out and say "they have slanted eyes, they are the enemy, they must die". You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? If I remember, he was the only serviceman convicted in relation to the massacre, so some people feel he was used as a scapegoat to let others off the hook.
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