Did he kill all those Germans?

[Greyman50]

I've seen American officers wearing French Croix de Guerre, Belgian Croix de Guerre, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross, etc.

Not sure about " regulations" today but one could wear foreign awards that were awarded to the Unit you are in. Thus many awards were worn from awards in WWII. Also we we allowed to wear the RVN Gallantry Cross.

 

[steelslaver]

I never got anywhere close to such a situation. But, I clearly remember during staging in a class where the senior NCO stated it was against the Geneva convention to harm prisoners, but imaging this there is a area with mines or booby traps. Who are you going to have in front, your buddy or some ethical slur you took prisoner and whose country is not part of the Geneva convention.

My late wife thought William Calley was despicable. I, myself have wonder, just how many recent college grads having grown up in believing in America the beautiful, then receiving just a few months of training, would react when placed in his jungle boots. I am glad I was not. I can not judge the man because I am not qualified and very few really are.

 

[waffles]

My late wife thought William Calley was despicable. I, myself have wonder, just how many recent college grads having grown up in believing in America the beautiful, then receiving just a few months of training, would react when placed in his jungle boots. I am glad I was not. I can not judge the man because I am not qualified and very few really are.

504 men, women, and children murdered, gang rapes, and Lt. Calley was convicted of ordering and continuing the massacre, including himself murdering civilians and instructing subordinates to to the same.

Murder of prisoners on the front line, as was the original topic? Scummy, a crime, but there's a certain hard and horrible logic to many of these cases, as seems to be the case with Speirs.

Murdering women and children, along with the men, allowing rapes, and ordering subordinates to commit mass murder? Yeah, I'll judge him for that, and I'd hope the rest of us will too.

 

[Greyman50]

Lt. Calley was the Scape Goat. One had to have been in country is all I can say as I would get banned. There is an excellent crude saying about being in Vietnam. nuf sed.

 

[waffles]

Lt. Calley was the Scape Goat. One had to have been in country is all I can say as I would get banned. There is an excellent crude saying about being in Vietnam. nuf sed.

I agree that he was the one who took the fall, but he was absolutely guilty, the only problem is they didn't go after more of those involved and Calley's light time served.

Whether or not you believe he was following higher orders, or whether or not you believe he ordered his subordinates to murder, he admitted to murdering civilians. Members of his unit committed further murders and rapes of innocent men, women, and children.

We condemn ISIS murders and terrorist attacks, we look on the back and fourth cleansing of villages by Nazis and Soviets on the Eastern front as horrific, and we need to hold Americans to a higher standard, or at least the same standard. Millions upon millions of Americans served honorably in Vietnam, there is absolutely zero reason we should be OK with those that committed that atrocity.

 

[terry_tr6]

fairly late in life i found out my grandfather on my dad's side had served in WWI on the German side ans an alpine ski trooper. Our family hails for Slovakia which was who knows what country at that time.... He was wounded in the Italian alps. After that it got a bit murky. I was told he made sure his wound stayed infected in the hospital because otherwise he would have ended up on the western front. Other stories were that he was captured at some point and finished the war as a POW. What isn't disputed is that after the war, he worked back home as a surveyor and a guy took exception to his survey and came at him. Grandpaw threw a punch and the guy went down dead. That night the local policeman came to the house and warned him he would be arrested in the morning so Grandpaw took the hint, bundled the family up (just wife and my dad age 2 0r 3 or so ) and headed to the border. They got to France and came over to the USA, landing in Philadelphia. My dad always claimed he had his pet dog with him he came. is that possible?

 

[kimporter]

My late uncle was in the Marines in ww2,C-1-5 1st division,he told me that after the Japanese massacred the Goettge patrol they never took prisoners,you can find the story of this online

 

[Smoke]

My dad always claimed he had his pet dog with him he came. is that possible?

Why not?

They weren't as strict about things like that in the earlier part of the 20th Century

 

[Kevin J.]

As far as I know, nobody actually saw him do it, and he never confessed to doing it. So I see no reason to slander a fine officer over what amounts to little or no proof.

That said, I think there is a difference--legally at least--between "not taking prisoners", and taking prisoners and then shooting them.

He admitted to it in letter to Dick Winters. This series of interviews, all available on You Tube is outstanding. Major Winters is an impressive and humble leader. Watching his facial expressions as he tells of his experiences one can really get a feel for the man. We need a few more like him today.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-V6OAtgr6c[/ame]

 

[Kevin J.]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wxfmqFw6GM[/ame]

Another interview piece with Major Winters.

 

[Greyman50]

I agree that he was the one who took the fall, but he was absolutely guilty, the only problem is they didn't go after more of those involved and Calley's light time served.

Whether or not you believe he was following higher orders, or whether or not you believe he ordered his subordinates to murder, he admitted to murdering civilians. Members of his unit committed further murders and rapes of innocent men, women, and children.

We condemn ISIS murders and terrorist attacks, we look on the back and fourth cleansing of villages by Nazis and Soviets on the Eastern front as horrific, and we need to hold Americans to a higher standard, or at least the same standard. Millions upon millions of Americans served honorably in Vietnam, there is absolutely zero reason we should be OK with those that committed that atrocity.

So I guess you were in Vietnam and had boots on the ground? Unless so your opinions are just that.

 

[waffles]

So I guess you were in Vietnam and had boots on the ground? Unless so your opinions are just that.

Please, go ahead and tell me the conditions that make the murder and rape of hundreds of innocent men, women, and children OK to you, in general or in this case. Does it apply only to Lt. Calley and his Americans, or are you ok with it in the other examples as well? Cool with ISIS, the Taliban, etc., doing that kind of thing, or do you rightly condemn those rapists and murderers as monsters?

 

[Greyman50]

Obliviously you were not there. " Innocent" does not come into play when a so called child could and would kill you with many types of weapons, not to mention the adults. You could trust NO ONE. Was not there when what happened with Calley, but knew some that were. Higher ups in the chain of command had much to answer for and as usual, lower rank took the blame.

 

[waffles]

Obliviously you were not there. " Innocent" does not come into play when a so called child could and would kill you with many types of weapons, not to mention the adults. You could trust NO ONE. Was not there when what happened with Calley, but knew some that were. Higher ups in the chain of command had much to answer for and as usual, lower rank took the blame.

"We kept flying back and forth … and it didn't take very long until we started noticing the large number of bodies everywhere. Everywhere we'd look, we'd see bodies. These were infants, two- three-, four-, five-year-olds, women, very old men, no draft-age people whatsoever," Thompson stated at a My Lai conference at Tulane University in 1994.

That is from one of the heroic pilots who stopped this. You think those infants were a threat? How about the two or three year olds? Hell, the five year olds for sure, at least they're old enough to wipe their own asses, surely they're old enough to all be secret enemies who deserved death.

 

[Greyman50]

Doubt anyone condones killing civilians but in WWII the strategic bombing campaigns against Germany and Japan killed 100,000's of civilians but that was a Real war fought to totally defeat the enemy. The corrupt politicians in 72 forced the US to stop bombing N. Vietnam. Due to the bombing the north was ready to talk peace. Best stop or I'll get banned.