William Calley

only one of which was convicted, Lieutenant William Calley: who was Calley, and how was his influence cemented among his men. Calley, a platoon leader in “Charlie” Company, Calley was tried and convicted of killing twenty-two villagers. Initially in the investigation, Calley’s evaluations portrayed him as “average”; however, as the investigation progressed a more negative light illuminated him. Soldiers in his platoon soon entered reports saying Calley “lacked common sense and could not read a map

because of the orders given by one man. Lieutenant William Laws Calley Junior. Calley grew up in a very conservative town where he eventually enlisted in the Army after several unsuccessful endeavors. Later he went through OCS and became a Platoon Leader for Charlie Company. His military career leading up to My Lai was relatively lackluster; he did not have the respect of his troops or his commander, Captain Ernest Medina. In Vietnam,

amongst the remaining troops. In search of the Viet Congs 48th Battalion, C Company were sent to the village of Son My, specifically the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe in March 1968. The 16th March 1968 saw the first platoon’s Second lieutenant William L. Calley lead C Company into My Lai, where there were no findings of any VC. However it was believed that they were being hidden by the locals. As a result of this assumption, between 347-506 Vietnamese women, children, infants and elderly were killed

the village heading for the local market by this time, leaving only the Viet Cong. The soldiers were ordered to explode brick homes, set fires to thatch homes, shoot livestock, poison wells, and destroy the enemy. That plan was that Lieutenant Calley would come down from the

Spearheaded by Second Lieutenant William Calley and his platoon, US forces began attacking human and animal targets alike. Men, women and children were killed indiscriminately with firearms, grenades and bayonets. After the initial attack, backup forces came in and dealt with the “remaining

citizens. Other forms of torture were involved as well. “Vietnamese women were raped; other civilians were clubbed and stabbed. Some victims were mutilated with the signature “C Company” carved into the chest” (Digital History). “Lieutenant William L. Calley was reported to have dragged dozens of people, including young children, into a ditch before executing them with a machine gun” (A&E Networks). There were other reports of soldiers testifying the horrific things they did to civilians. What

My Lai On March 16, 1968, in the Quang Ngai region of Vietnam, specifically My Lai, the United States military was involved in an appalling slaughter of approximately 500 Vietnamese civilians. There are numerous arguments as to why this incident even had the capacity to occur. Although some of the arguments seem valid, can one really make excuses for the slaughter of innocent people? The company that was responsible for the My Lai incident was the Charlie Company and throughout the company there

Racism, resentment, politics, political agendas, suffering, war, hate from people in the United States, hate from people in Vietnam, overall anger, and a lot of weapons. These are all factors that played into the United States being involved in one of the most horrific acts in our history. The My Lai Massacre was a massacre by United States Soldiers that created controversy and anger throughout the world. It leads us to the question, was this avoidable? Was one of the worst massacres in Untied States

The American people were stationed in Vietnam because there was soon to be a communist takeover of the south. Being opposed on the ground by the Vietcong. The Viet Cong were a fighting unit that were notorious for winning drawn out battles, they would regularly set attacks on the Americans and would destroy American transport to further cripple the rate that the Americans could push through South Vietnam. Charlie Company is a group of men comprised of 5 platoons, led by Captain Ernest L. Medina or

and Mexicans. They felt it was their duty to go to war. It was Patriotic. They were excited for the adventure. Going to stop Communism from spreading and free the people. How did the men feel about their commanders, Captain Medina and Lieutenant Calley? How did the commanders get along? The men loved and respected Captain