Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was very young - by the time I registered, it was 1972/3 and they weren't drafting many ( I picked 175 or so).
However, the whole situation and the fact that the leaders escaped punishment equal to the crime did hit me when it all came down. Yet another lesson that the world is not fair.
Take a joy ride in a car or get $500 from a bank with a note - do 10-20 years.
Steal billions or kill hundreds of civilians....get much less.
I guess this all heralded the Age of Trump where "lies are good" and so is adultery, bullying and everything else which is now going down.
As the founders noted - our constitution was created for a moral and ethical people. Other than that, it won't work. Righties or Lefties can scream all they want about "The Constitution", but it doesn't mean a hill of beans if the scales of Justice are not evenly applied.
I think it is easy to judge because you have not been there.
Do you think revenge killing only happens in the so called unjust wars? It happens all the time.
I don't know how to cope with the feeling losing somebody so young, nor do I know how to deal with my anger. It takes one year of intense therapy to even feel "normal" again. I simply cannot imagine how they would feel holding their dead friends in their arms. The only thing I know is that I cannot judge.
Again, I am not defending them, I am just saying, I cannot judge.
Didn't they give fairly harsh penalties to the dude in Afghanistan and/or Iraq that walked in and killed entire families? I thought they did.
"On 23 August 2013, a jury at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Fort Lewis, Washington sentenced him to life in prison without parole"
So - how can you square that with Vietnam and the general "getting away" with stuff that was much worse?
Have we just advanced our civilization that far? Or is it because more people know when something happens?
There is no rationale for shooting people in cold blood, this behavior is not excusable. The fact that Calley and his superiors got off free was a travesty, people need to stop making excuses one hundred children were killed in those villages.
There is no rationale for shooting people in cold blood, this behavior is not excusable. The fact that Calley and his superiors got off free was a travesty, people need to stop making excuses one hundred children were killed in those villages.
I don't think people are making excuses here.
I think they are not the only one should be punished. what about you?
Maybe the question should be asked is this, Who was responsible for the My Lai massacre?
Let's face it, Lt. Calley was honestly put as a scapegoat by the military. They needed someone to punish, so they put him on the spotlight while all the higher ups were acquitted of charges despite their failure to give clear orders and even covering up the incident. What Calley did was definitely very wrong but the fact that he was the only one punished does raise a lot of eyebrows.
I think they are not the only one should be punished. what about you?
Maybe the question should be asked is this, Who was responsible for the My Lai massacre?
Let's face it, Lt. Calley was honestly put as a scapegoat by the military. They needed someone to punish, so they put him on the spotlight while all the higher ups were acquitted of charges despite their failure to give clear orders and even covering up the incident. What Calley did was definitely very wrong but the fact that he was the only one punished does raise a lot of eyebrows.
I already stated others should be punished but Calley ordered the killing of innocent people, he has his own responsibility. I don't quite understand what the massacre of civilians has to do with orders not being clear based on what I have read. A superior officer orders that anyone in these villages be killed and those orders are carried out without question, I don't understand.
I already stated others should be punished but Calley ordered the killing of innocent people, he has his own responsibility. I don't quite understand what the massacre of civilians has to do with orders not being clear based on what I have read. A superior officer orders that anyone in these villages be killed and those orders are carried out without question, I don't understand.
As I stated earlier. Soldiers were indoctrinated on a daily basis to follow orders without question and told that they could/would be shot for failing to do so. Most did not follow orders without question, but some thought they must. Basic training in the 60s demeaned you and tried to break you until you blindly followed orders.
I already stated others should be punished but Calley ordered the killing of innocent people, he has his own responsibility. I don't quite understand what the massacre of civilians has to do with orders not being clear based on what I have read. A superior officer orders that anyone in these villages be killed and those orders are carried out without question, I don't understand.
well, based on the articles I have been reading, it looks like this story is simply not as simple as it appears to be. That is all.
If you have already stated others should be punished, then we have nothing to argue about.
If they did recognize his heroism, it took a long time and I never saw or read anything about it.
Damn the US Army for turning innocent young boys into merciless killers for a war that was none of our business.
a few bad apples, don't mean the entire U.S. Army is bad........ just saying
and as to the 'war that was none of our business'..... have to disagree, since WE were part of the 'deciders' that split the country in two...back in the 1944 Yalta talks (FDR, Stalin, and Churchill)
On March 16, 1968, US soldiers entered the village of My Lai and murdered 347 civilians (by US military reckoning) and 504 civilians by local count. A hundred or more children and infants were included in that operation. 2nd Lt. William Calley lead the operation.
No, Captain Medina, who commanded C Company 1st Battalion led the operation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wells5
No high ranking officers were ever charged nor anyone from the CIA, which was ultimately responsible as the My Lai Massacre was part of their CORDS "pacification" program.
Lieutenant Colonel Barker who commanded the 1/20 Infantry Regiment was killed in action.
I don't think it would be appropriate to put a corpse on trial.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wells5
Hugh Thompson, who was credited with stopping the killing was never recognized.
He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was later upgraded to the Soldier's Medal.
You might want to consider consulting sources that actually provide accurate information.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
