My Lai: 50 Years Ago Today

[chimp3]

[Minimalist]

It was such a shock when it happened.  The Army covered the massacre up for a year and then, when they couldn't contain the story any more, finally put one second lieutenant, William Calley, on trial.

Even though convicted, he was quietly released from house arrest ( yes, you read that right ) a few years later.  No senior officers were ever charged.

[Rev. Rye]

Here's a bizarre pro-My Lai song that I would never have believed was a real thing, especially since I discovered it, with lyrics, in the pages of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (it did not make it into the movie):




Even Hunter S. Thompson wasn't sure this wasn't just another hallucination when he first heard it. But I googled it (maybe Youtubed it; I'm not sure if I knew Youtube was a even a thing when I first read the book, and I don't remember if they had anywhere near all the music they have now, even adjusting for 12 years of music history) and sure enough, I found out it was a real thing. 

Fortunately, Calley himself has since apologised for his role in the massacre:

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai. I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry... If you are asking why I did not stand up to them when I was given the orders, I will have to say that I was a 2nd Lieutenant getting orders from my commander and I followed them—foolishly, I guess."

[chimp3]

Following orders never absolves you of guilt.

[vorlon13]

I'm old enough to remember My Lai. It was an enormous and as we might expect, divisive issue. But with 'twists'.

A point that has stuck with me was if 18 year olds were going to be second guessed afterwards for their conduct maybe they shouldn't be there in the first place. Which is how even 'hawkish' war supporters were voicing doubts about continuing the war, IMO.

[Rev. Rye]

Following orders never absolves you of guilt.

And now for an applicable clip from a film I finally got on a Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-Ray:


Befehl ist Befehl; as hollow a phrase now as it was 73 years ago.

[chimp3]

I'm old enough to remember My Lai.  It was an enormous and as we might expect, divisive issue.  But with 'twists'.

A point that has stuck with me was if 18 year olds were going to be second guessed afterwards for their conduct maybe they shouldn't be there in the first place.  Which is how even 'hawkish' war supporters were voicing doubts about continuing the war, IMO.

18 year old's were often mature enough to burn their draft cards and refuse to kill people that were doing them no harm. I can't put myself in their shoes as I was 15 when the Vietnam war ended. I did have plans to go see my family in Quebec if it continued though.

[Minimalist]

Following orders never absolves you of guilt.

Actually it does but only if you are on the winning side.

[Rev. Rye]

Following orders never absolves you of guilt.

Actually it does but only if you are on the winning side.

Guilt implies culpability. Culpability implies potentially answering for one's crimes. The winning side never has to answer for their crimes. That's why they're the winning side.

[chimp3]

Actually it does but only if you are on the winning side.

Guilt implies culpability. Culpability implies potentially answering for one's crimes. The winning side never has to answer for their crimes. That's why they're the winning side.

Luckily, we did not win in Viet Nam!