by JHLMay 04, 2010

thomasbopedersen.org

Recently, PBS aired a Frontline program on My Lai. I didn’t think I could watch it, but I did. Terrific program. It made me ashamed and sad, but I do understand how soldiers in combat reach a state of insanity. They have seen their buds die with booby traps and shot by snipers .

(My Lai Massacre 1968- Soldiers of Charlie Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division went into the village of My Lai and killed about 504 Vietnamese, mostly women and children.

The two main players were Capt. Ernest Medina, commanding officer and Lt. William Calley, platton leader. Both were court-martialed, but Calley was the only one convicted of war crimes)

Most of those profiled in the program were emotionally unsophisticated soldiers, led by two men who were equally emotionally unsophisticated.

The two men were Ernest Medina, a Mexican American, out to prove himself and William Calley, who under most circumstances, would have been rejected as an officer. But, this was Vietnam and the “powers that be” filled the ranks with most anyone they could get. Plus, the men they interviewed were young then and emotionally unsophisticated, but had grasped the basic concept that they were required to follow orders.

These soldiers weren't like some sorry a-holes who pontificated about rules of war and lawful orders and sat in some air-conditioned conference room at the Pentagon beating their chests and thinking about the global world and the domino theory. MFers. Soldiers in the Nam were out there in the jungle trying to stay alive.(These a-holes at the pentagon still exist today)

The men of Charlie Company thought they were facing a fight with a battalion-sized force, so they were psyched for their mission or at least some of them.

But there were no formal battalions of VC (Viet Cong). The VC were guerillas and were organized loosely and not terribly unlike what we are seeing in Iraq or Afghanistan. We didn’t see battalions until the NVA ( North Vietnamese Army) surfaced about a year after My Lai.

Reports also suggest that Medina, commanding officer ( Charlie Company, 1st Battalion) perpetuated the idea that the women, children,civilians had left the village and all that would be left were VC. A free fire zone should have been in place before any gun fire.

The basic rule of a free fire zone in Vietnam: Civilians were moved out if they didn’t leave voluntarily. Before a village was prepped, meaning artillery fired, it was swept by a company of infantry soldiers closest to the village. Often the VC were underground anyway, but the rule was that no civilians were in the village. The rule of removing civilians out of their homes was not ideal, but it was better than being killed. Apparently,there was no established free fire zone.

What happened with Charlie Company was definitely a breakdown in the chain of command, not only at the Company level but beyond. A tragedy and so sad.

Related Articles:

My Lai Massacre
Ernest Medina
William Calley

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