Abstract This paper presents a brief history of the My Lai Massacre and the war crimes Lieutenant William Calley committed during the Vietnam War. The paper explains that Calley's sentence was reduced by President Nixon from life in prison to a three-year house arrest at Ft. Benning, GA. The paper examines the dilemmas that the jury had to face when coming to a final verdict and discusses why that verdict should not have been pardoned by President Nixon. The paper justifies this with very strong supporting evidence. The psychological experiments done by Stanley Milgram on the human nature regarding authority is also addressed in the paper. The paper also provides a comparison to a modern day war crime, the Abu Ghraib Prison scandals during the Iraqi War.
From the Paper "On March 16, 1968 the southern Vietnamese hamlet My Lai, was invaded by a demoralized platoon of U.S. soldiers, led by Lt. William L. Calley. During the four hours at My Lai, an estimated 347 unarmed civilians were brutally massacred by American GI's. These civilians included women, babies, children, and old men. Many of these civilians were raped, sodomized, mutilated, tortured, and then shot to death in cold blood. This shameful incident remained unknown to the American public until the autumn of 1969. That is nearly 18 months that the government and U.S. Army kept it covered up from the public. We may not have ever known of this abhorrent event if not for journalist Seymour Hersh, who tapped Pentagon sources and began publishing syndicated stories about My Lai. After the bloodshed was made public, special investigations by the U.S. army and the House of Representatives took place. Several soldiers and veterans were charged with murder, and a number of officers were accused of dereliction of duty for covering up the massacre at My Lai. However, only five of these soldiers were court-martialed and one of them, Lt. William Calley, was convicted. Calley was found guilty on March 29, 1971 for premeditated murder of at least twenty-two Vietnamese civilians and was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, President Nixon pardoned his sentence, and reduced his punishment to serve just 3 ? years under house arrest at Fort Benning in Georgia. Is this justice? Was Nixon's pardon justifiable? Is Lt. Calley a sadistic lunatic fringe on society or was he innocently and blindly obeying orders given by a higher ranking authority figure?"
Abstract This paper discusses the My Lai massacre of unarmed civilians in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It describes the prelude to the massacre and the events that occurred. The paper then discusses the events that occurred after the massacre, including the investigation into the conduct of the members of the platoon. The paper focuses on the role of Lt. William Calley who was charged with 109 murders.
From the Paper "The case was more than judicial and soon transformed into a PR campaign, with Calley selling his story to Esquire magazine and planning to start working on a book in which he would give his own side of the story. Some of the soldiers' confessions, such as Meadlo's, who proceeded to give a full account of the killings in one of the ditches, however, did not do much to help the defense. Calley's testimony used the idea of submitting to orders to justify the killings. According to his stance, his orders had included wiping out the village where Vietcong troops were supposedly hidden and he simply carried those out without considering the difference between men, women or children. This did not help, however, as he was convicted for the murder of at least twenty - two Vietnamese civilians . He was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. However, because the case had been so publicized and politicized, he would eventually serve only several years under house arrest, and was eventually paroled in 1974."
Abstract This essay discusses the events that took place on March 16, 1968 in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. It explores the days prior to the massacre and what role obedience played in the actions of the American soldiers. The paper explains the results and concepts learned in psychological experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram in the "Perils of Obedience". The paper also investigates why these experiments are crucial to the understanding why these men executed hundreds of unarmed civilians.
From the Paper "The disconcerted troops, who were under the command of Lt. William Calley, entered the village ready to engage in warfare with the Vietcong. The troops were part of a "search and destroy" mission, which soon became the massacre of over 300 unarmed civilians, which included children, women, and the elderly. Lt. Calley ordered the men to enter the village firing, in spite of the fact that there were no reports of opposing fire. (My Lai Massacre)
According to eyewitness reports offered after the event, several old men were bayoneted, praying women and children were shot in the back of the head, and at least one girl was raped, and then killed. For his part, Calley was said to have rounded up a group of the villagers, ordered them into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of machine gun fire. (My Lai Massacre)"
