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Calley Apologizes for My Lai
MSNBC.com ^ | 08/21/09 | staff

Posted on 08/21/2009 7:47:30 PM PDT by grandpa jones

COLUMBUS, Ga. - Speaking in a soft, sometimes labored voice, the only U.S. Army officer convicted in the 1968 slayings of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai made an extraordinary public apology while speaking to a small group near the military base where he was court-martialed

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: apology; calley; courtmartial; mylai; shoesalesman; usedcarsalesman; vietnam; vietnamvets
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To: Strategerist

He did nothing wrong in fact he did everything right.

Leaflets were airdroped prior and anything that moved was to be killed.

An employee of mine was leading a platoon at nother city at the same time under the same criteria and just as Mi lai, they killed everything that moved, men women, childern, and animals!


21 posted on 08/21/2009 8:38:13 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: dalereed

Lt. Calley was not convicted for losing conrol of his men at My Lai.

He was convicted of personally killing twenty-two civilians with his own weapon.

Should others have been convicted with him? Of course. But Calley was not an isolated scapegoat.

Go figure: The warrant officer helicopter pilot who interposed his aircraft between the remaining civilians and the Americal Division grunts is celebrated as a hero at the U.S. Army JAG school, even as it is well known that he was universally hated at the time for doing so.

Me, I flew helicopters in RVN 1971-72. Thank G-d I wasn’t a part of this.


22 posted on 08/21/2009 8:48:45 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("O Muslim! My bullets are dipped in pig grease!")
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To: grandpa jones
I was stationed in Viet Nam at the time the My Lai story broke. There were daily articles about the investigation and hearings in the Stars and Stripes newspaper which was available daily where we were. Stars and Stripes is a private-sector publication and didn't censor the stories.

MSNBC's story was of course slanted (What else is new?). They left out the most important details. As I remember it, there were four hamlets which were collectively known as Pinkville because of the strong Viet Cong presence. Army troops had undergone heavy fire from these supposed peaceful villages. Calley, a 2nd Lieutenant in the infantry,was ordered by his commander, Capt. Ernest Medina, to basically kill everyone in Pinkville #4 village, and he directed his men to do so. This order apparently originated at the general officer level.

The "My Lai Massacre" did not become public knowledge until one Ron Ridenour, an enlisted man, wrote letters to a number of high-up government officials asserting that there had been a massacre. Ridenour also provided pictures.

In the subsequent investigation, Medina denied that he had given such an order until his request to leave the service was approved. He then immediately changed his story to say that he had given the order. Bastard! Of course, Medina wasn't punished, just Calley.

The military prosecutor in the case came up with a unique theory -- that military personnel did not have to obey an "illegal" order from their superiors. I don't know if this nonsense is still in effect in our military.
23 posted on 08/21/2009 8:50:23 PM PDT by normanpubbie
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To: grandpa jones

ping


24 posted on 08/21/2009 8:51:38 PM PDT by LaybackLenny (Charter member of "The Kodiak Wing of the GOP" (h/t Jeff Head))
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To: icwhatudo
The actions of these murderers dishonored all the men who served their country with honor on the battlefields of Southeast Asia.

Agree. Well said.

25 posted on 08/21/2009 8:52:29 PM PDT by Talisker (When you find a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be damn sure it didn't get there on it's own.)
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To: elcid1970

They should have given him a medal for killing the so called civilians!

The interveining chopper pilot was the one that was wrong.

Kids be damned!

A good friend of mine was killed in Korea because he was stupid enough to let a little kid approach him with a paper bag asking for candy and the kid knifed him with a knife in the bag.

his buddie killed the kid but to late!


26 posted on 08/21/2009 8:54:31 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: icwhatudo
Many were sexually abused.

You're a liar.

27 posted on 08/21/2009 8:54:56 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Publius

With regulations in hand, sh*t rolls uphill pretty well, too!


28 posted on 08/21/2009 8:55:13 PM PDT by dersepp (I am an Angry, Brooks Bros. Mob of One)
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To: All; lonster; Coleus; fatima; reformjoy; conservogirl; Kathy in Alaska; Alamo-Girl; PhilDragoo; ...

.

NEVER FORGET

.

Communists now in control of everything in a once FREE South Vietnam really do have much to answer for after the FALL of FREEDOM there, otherwise known as the FALL of SAIGON.

For then a most horrid holocaust came crashing down on millions of poor S.E. Asian souls:

JOURNEY from the FALL

http://www.JourneyFromTheFall.com

Pictures of a vietnamese Re-Education Camp

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308949/posts

.

And it got worse:

Prominent Vietnamese Pastor Flees Encircled home, then Jailed, Wife Beaten

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2304032/posts

Montagnard cause grows desperate—Stop New Vietnam War: Attacks on Catholic Priests!

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2306750/posts

.

All things we soldiers fought so selflessly to prevent from happening so very long ago:

They are still soldiers

http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66978

.

NEVER FORGET

.


29 posted on 08/21/2009 8:55:15 PM PDT by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com)
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To: normanpubbie
The military prosecutor in the case came up with a unique theory -- that military personnel did not have to obey an "illegal" order from their superiors. I don't know if this nonsense is still in effect in our military.

You don't have to obey an illegal order. In fact, it's your duty not to obey such an order.

Speaking from experience, if my CO had ordered me to slaughter an entire Iraqi village b/c we'd received fire from it, I'd have told him to pound sand.

Such orders are unconscionable and beneath the honor of the military. An experienced infantryman should've known better.

30 posted on 08/21/2009 8:57:28 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater ("Get out of the boat and walk on the water with us!”--Sen. Joe Biden)
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To: normanpubbie
The military prosecutor in the case came up with a unique theory -- that military personnel did not have to obey an "illegal" order from their superiors. I don't know if this nonsense is still in effect in our military.

You are absolutely right about Medina's guilt, as well as his perfidy.

However, I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not with your last line (quoted above). You might recall a little event called the Nuremburg Trials? It was the civilized world's contention (as well as the U.S. Military), that indeed, "military personnel did not have to obey an "illegal" order from their superiors," and in fact were bound not to.

Despite the hideous realities of war, being in the U.S. military has never established a justification for murder or rape or crimes against humanity - and I sure as hell hope this is still the case, and never changes.

Not even Patton would condone My Lai.

31 posted on 08/21/2009 9:00:17 PM PDT by Talisker (When you find a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be damn sure it didn't get there on it's own.)
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To: ALOHA RONNIE

Thanks for the ping!


32 posted on 08/21/2009 9:02:15 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: grandpa jones

If you are trolling for miscreants, your effort has not been in vain. ;-)


33 posted on 08/21/2009 9:03:08 PM PDT by verity
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To: normanpubbie
"The military prosecutor in the case came up with a unique theory -- that military personnel did not have to obey an "illegal" order from their superiors."

The theory is unique and old. Note the Jap and Nazi war criminals were hung after their defense of "just following orders" was rejected as rubbish.

34 posted on 08/21/2009 9:12:35 PM PDT by spunkets
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To: onedoug

ping


35 posted on 08/21/2009 9:16:33 PM PDT by stylecouncilor (What Would Jim Thompson Do?)
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To: Judges Gone Wild

A Marine friend of mine says that many of the villages harbored VC but also the people were hostile. He said that it happened often that they would be ordered to fly supplies into villages that had been cut off by the fighting. They’d drop the lifesaving aid and as soon as they were back in the helicoptor they were being shot at.

I don’t know about Calley’s circumstances because all I got at the time was MSM news.


36 posted on 08/21/2009 9:21:29 PM PDT by tiki (True Christians will not deliberately slander or misrepresent others or their beliefs)
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To: dalereed

“Leaflets were airdroped prior and anything that moved was to be killed.”

So a bunch of women and children sitting in a ditch, under guard...that constitutes “movement” and you have no problem with Calley coming over and killing these people? Even a 2 year old?


37 posted on 08/21/2009 9:31:56 PM PDT by icwhatudo ("laws requiring compulsory abortion could be sustained under the existing Constitution"Obama Adviser)
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To: icwhatudo

“So a bunch of women and children sitting in a ditch, under guard...that constitutes “movement” and you have no problem with Calley coming over and killing these people? Even a 2 year old?”

Not at all.


38 posted on 08/21/2009 9:33:41 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: doc1019

Tell that to the 5,000 civilians, give or take, they murdered in Hue and other places during Tet.


39 posted on 08/21/2009 9:43:14 PM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: grandpa jones
Wow! A person really can get away with murder!
40 posted on 08/21/2009 9:46:26 PM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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