Honors Blog: The Vietnam War on Trial

Honors Blog: The Vietnam War on Trial: The My Lai Massacre and the Court Martial of Lieutenant Calley by author Michal R. Belknap

by Osamah Elhams

This book tells the story of the military trial of Lieutenant William Calley charged with the deaths of many Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai Massacre. In the early 1970's, protests in Washington against the Vietnam War were getting louder and louder. It made the Vietnam War even more controversial. This particular incident added more pressure on the Nixon Administration to end the war. On March 16^th, 1968, Lieutenant Calley and a group of men under his command attacked unarmed civilians in a small Vietnamese village called My Lai. An investigation into the incident was begun when a helicopter pilot revealed the truth about the massacre. The helicopter crew tried to save as many people as they could but Calley’s group ended up killing as many as 500 people. He was convicted by the military court of the murder of twenty-two Vietnamese civilians who were mostly old men, women, children. Lieutenant Calley defended his actions by saying that he was just following orders from his commanding officers. It was disclosed that Calley’s superior officers tried to cover-up the details of the massacre to save their own careers and reputations. During the trial, Lieutenant Calley was considered a victim by some but a murderer of innocent civilians by others. Lieutenant Calley was ultimately convicted but only ended up doing about three years confined to home detention. He only did a few months in military jail. President Nixon

later gave him a limited Presidential pardon.