In the year of 1969, Americans were educated of the disturbing, and shocking, event that occurred. The event that shocked American citizens, was the My Lair Massacre. In the month of November, the New York Times, correspondent Seymour Hersh reported that on March 16, 1968, a U.S. platoon under the command of Lieutenant William Calley, Jr, had massacred innocent civilians in the small village of My Lai, located in the northern South part of Vietnam. Calley was searching for the Vietcong rebels. In result of him unable to find the enemy, the troops rounded up the villagers and shot more than 200 innocent Vietnamese women, children, and elderly men.
The troops insured that they weren’t responsible for the massacre, and that they most definatly shouldnt be held accountable for what happened because they "were only following Lieutenant Calley’s orders". When the soldiers were questioned about what was Calley’s directive had been, they answered, “Kill anything that breathed.” Eventually, twenty-five army officers were charged with some degree of responsibility, but only Calley was convicted and imprisoned. Calley served a three year prison sentence for what he was responsible for.
The troops insured that they weren’t responsible for the massacre, and that they most definatly shouldnt be held accountable for what happened because they "were only following Lieutenant Calley’s orders". When the soldiers were questioned about what was Calley’s directive had been, they answered, “Kill anything that breathed.” Eventually, twenty-five army officers were charged with some degree of responsibility, but only Calley was convicted and imprisoned. Calley served a three year prison sentence for what he was responsible for.