1. Every person has his or her right for what they believe in. A person should not be forced to do something. We all have rights and we should stand up for them. As to my opinion it was wrong to command the soldiers to kill and program their minds to do so when they actually did not want to do all of these awful things they have done. They were given orders and had to obey them or they would be shot or sent to court martial if they disobeyed. They had no freedom and no personal choices could be made, soldiers would scalp, torture, cut off toes, hands, feet, kill women, children, and elders without wanting to do it but at the same time having it programmed in their minds by trainings they have had. Soldiers claim to have lost their sense at that time. They understood, when they looked at helpless children and people of the village that it was not just a mission, after shooting a couple of people, they noticed they were murdering innocent people, the villagers of Pinkville.
2. Rohn Ridenhour was a former GI. At that time, he was serving in Vietnam and met with his friends, former GI’s who were there in Pinkville 3 weeks before and told of what had happened during the My Lai massacre and heard awful stories of how people were murdered, shot, raped and brutally tortured to death. The words belong to his friend that told him much about what happened back there in Pinkville, saying that it was “the Nazi kind of thing”. Rohn agreed with the words since the Nazi’s were best known for killing, murdering and brutally torturing people, same as it had happened in Pinkville. Nazi’s would just break in and without hostile fire, they would ruin lives of people, again, same as the American soldiers did.
3. Harry Stanley was a former GI of the Charlie Company. Kelley told him he would be court-martialed when they come back to America. Harry, at that time, only spoke about what was on his mind and said that all of this was crazy to him. He did not understand how ordering to shoot people could be an actual order and that he did not feel like he has to obey it. In the interview, Harry speaks about all of the terrible, horrible things that happened in My Lai and says he finds it all immoral since we are all equal as people and all come from the same place.
Varnado Simpson was a former rifleman of the Charlie Company and says it was hard to distinguish who was the enemy. He says “it was not like the Germans over here and the Japanese over therethey all looked alike” (“Frontline 1989”). He talks about how he was only 19 at that time and was trained to kill. Interesting to find that he said he did not know he was going to kill, he says all of the soldiers were somehow just programmed to do so and would just start killing. He also says he did not want to kill any nor was he raised to kill. He was ordered to shoot a woman, which he shot 3 or 4 times, later he found out she was holding a child. He still cannot live with the memories.
4. Pham Thi Trinh was a villager from Pinkville. She says she saw how her 14-year-old sister was raped and shot while she herself was hiding. She then decided to leave her hiding place and came to find out her house was fully burned down, worse, she saw all of her loved ones burned to death. In the yard, Pham saw her mother with her 7-month-old brother in her mother’s hands dead. She stood there and cried.
Truong Thi Le is an old woman from the village. During the interview, she told much about what happened that day. She saw helicopters and shootings started. She fell on top of her son and in that way survived by dead bodies covering her. She says she cannot even think about it, it makes her cry heavily each time.
Sa Thi Qui is also a woman that had been interviewed and she talks about how the Americans had already come two times to the village before. The first time they gave the children sweets, the second time the villagers offered them water to drink, the third time the Americans killed everyone. She also speaks about seeing many of the villagers dying and suffering and how she was injured and thought she was going to die.
5. William Calley’s final testimony about the My Lai Massacre was at martial court. He was strictly against communism and during the Vietnam War he saw the Pinkville village as a stronghold of communism which he wanted to destroy.
He said “If I have committed a crime, the only crime I have committed is in judgement of my values” (“Frontline 1989”) and added that he valued his troop’s lives more than he valued the lives of his enemy. He states that his unseen enemy was the military system and compares it to communism. After going through many trainings, killing many people, he now finds himself deeply guilty for what has happened. I would have to say that I agree with his words after he regretted what he has done. Before he did so, I would say I disagree since he did not find himself guilty, he said that he was just following directions.
6. During the documentary we hear many of the soldiers say that they were not willing to obey any of the commands and absolutely were not in any way found of what they were doing, they were just programmed to do so. Kenneth Hodges, a former sergeant was interviewed and said that it was very important to follow orders otherwise serious consequences would be upheld. He also states that he does not feel that Americans violated any moral standards. When news about the real situation that had happened in My Lai hit the people in America, the society was shocked and was in great anguish. Americans were very unhappy and angry at what happened but Calley was the only one that was charged for his murders and sentenced to life in jail which later he was freed from.
Viet Cong, the 48th Battalion of the U.S. Army
William Calley was charged with murdering 109 people.
The My Lai mission took place on Saturday morning at seven o’clock on the 16th of March in 1968.
Former GI’s
Hugh Thompson – Former Aeroscout Helicopter Pilot.
Soldier was either shot or later would face court martial if he refused to follow the order.
Harry Stanley refused to carry out Calley’s orders.
About 400 people were killed by 11:30 a.m.
William Calley was sentenced to life in prison but later that penalty was turned into a house arrest. When Richard Nixon became president, with a presidential pardon, he freed Calley.
Works Cited
“Frontline 1989.” You Tube. You Tube, September 27, 2013. Web. 4 April 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCiCryzHwnQ&feature=youtu.be
