this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2024
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173
William Calley, who led the My Lai massacre that shamed US military in Vietnam, has died (abcnews.go.com)
submitted 4 months ago by MicroWave to c/news
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

William Laws Calley Jr., who as an Army lieutenant led the U.S. soldiers who killed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre, the most notorious war crime in modern American military history, has died. He was 80. 

Calley died on April 28, according to his Florida death record, which said he had been living in an apartment in Gainesville. His death was first reported by The Washington Post on Monday, citing his death certificate.

Calley had lived in obscurity in the decades since he was court-martialed and convicted in 1971, the only one of 25 men originally charged to be found guilty in the massacre that helped turn American opinion against the war in Vietnam.

On March 16, 1968, Calley led American soldiers of the Charlie Company on a mission to confront a crack outfit of Vietcong enemies. Instead, over several hours, the soldiers killed 504 unresisting civilians, mostly women, children and elderly men, in My Lai and a neighboring community.

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And it wasn't an isolated incident. Massacring civilians was business as usual for American soldiers in Vietnam.

over several hours, the soldiers killed 504 unresisting civilians, mostly women, children and elderly men, in My Lai and a neighboring community.

...

And while My Lai was the most notorious massacre in modern U.S. military history, it was not an aberration: Estimates of civilians killed during the U.S. ground war in Vietnam from 1965 to 1973 range from 1 million to 2 million.

The U.S. military’s own records, filed away for three decades, described 300 other cases of what could fairly be described as war crimes. My Lai stood out because of the shocking one-day death toll, stomach-churning photographs and gruesome details exposed by a high-level U.S. Army inquiry.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

Massacring civilians was business as usual for American soldiers

The most famous and highly decorated US units openly tortured and killed civilians whenever they felt like it in the Middle East occupations.

And I don’t mean just at Abu Ghraib. This was a daily occurrence, the same way Israeli snipers send a steady stream of children shot in the head to the hospital every single day right now.

You’ll never hear about it from anyone than another veteran though.

[–] [email protected] 54 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Fun fact, My Lai is just one of countless such massacres. While it's perhaps one of the worst, it's just the one that ended up making the news.

[–] victorz 31 points 4 months ago

That sure was a fun fact. 😳

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago

rest in piss

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

Why is the news so late on this? He died back in April.

[–] HeyJoe 21 points 4 months ago

It says he lived in obscurity for decades. It then says the Washington Post found his death certificate. Someone must have noticed it for some reason and then reported on it once found.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Why was he the only one found guilty?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago

Because it's a miracle anyone was held accountable at all, unfortunately.

[–] homesweethomeMrL 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

We should ask Colin Powell.

“There may be isolated cases of mistreatment of civilians and POWs,” Powell wrote in 1968. But “this by no means reflects the general attitude throughout the Division.” Indeed, Powell’s memo faulted Glen for not complaining earlier and for failing to be more specific in his letter.

Powell reported back exactly what his superiors wanted to hear. “In direct refutation of this [Glen’s] portrayal,” Powell concluded, “is the fact that relations between Americal soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent.”

Powell’s findings, of course, were false. But it would take another Americal hero, an infantryman named Ron Ridenhour, to piece together the truth about the atrocity at My Lai. After returning to the United States, Ridenhour interviewed Americal comrades who had participated in the massacre.

On his own, Ridenhour compiled this shocking information into a report and forwarded it to the Army inspector general. The IG’s office conducted an aggressive official investigation and the Army finally faced the horrible truth. Courts martial were held against officers and enlisted men implicated in the murder of the My Lai civilians.

But Powell’s peripheral role in the My Lai cover-up did not slow his climb up the Army’s ladder. Powell pleaded ignorance about the actual My Lai massacre, which pre-dated his arrival at the Americal. Glen’s letter disappeared into the National Archives — to be unearthed only years later by British journalists Michael Bilton and Kevin Sims for their book Four Hours in My Lai. In his best-selling memoirs, Powell did not mention his brush-off of Tom Glen’s complaint.

Just don’t bring up anthrax. He hates talking about that. O wait. He dead.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

We like to say "we're better than this." But if we're still doing it, funding it, sending weapons, cheering it on, excusing it, we aren't.

I'm understanding something, now; that's why legendary Jesus said if you did it in your heart, you've done it. Rooting it out of action is hard; in thought, harder. In the shadow self (heart), maybe impossible, maybe not. But it's important to acknowledge it and face it head on, lest it consume us.

I'm beginning to recall something else now, I once read about, called hsin hsin ming. I need to understand that better.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

The press hadn't noticed until yesterday.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

🦀🦀🦀

[–] homesweethomeMrL 6 points 4 months ago

I mean living in an apartment in Gainesville in obscurity is a kind of hell.

[–] AshMan85 6 points 4 months ago

Good

[–] OhStopYellingAtMe 5 points 4 months ago

Good.

[–] victorz 2 points 4 months ago

Jesus Christ,

none too soon.