Trent Angers on William Calley

“The divergent views of Calley as a martyr by some and a murderer by others was reflective of a deeply divided U.S. citizenry, those for the war and those against it. Those who supported the war tended to see it as a means of stopping the spread of atheistic communism and protecting the people of South Vietnam from the oppression of a totalitarian government. Those who opposed it viewed it as variously a no-win war of attrition that was claiming the lives of tens of thousands of America's young men, an immoral war where hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese civilians- ninety percent of whom were women and children- were being killed in bombing raids and through other means by military people from both sides wih callous disregard for the value of human life.”

“The gap between those in the U.S. who were for the war and those against it widened as the Calley trial got underway in November of 1970. A hue and cry to "Free Calley" was heard from throngs of people from one side of the nation to the other, with the loudest voices coming from the Southern and Midwestern states. There were bumper stickers on countless cars and trucks, resolutions of support for the accused from half a dozen legislators, letters and telegrams by the boxful being received at the White House and at Calley's quarters at Ft. Benning, where he was under house arrest. A "Rally for Calley" was put on by the American Legion of Columbus, Georgia. A theme song that portrayed him as a martyr and scapegoat, titled "The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley," could be heard on radio stations throughout the land.”

“The widespread and highly emotional campaign to free Calley brought him a substantial degree of comfort, so much so that he was starting to think he had been acquitted. But a jury of his peers thought otherwise, and, in March of 1971, declared him guilty of murdering twenty-two "Oriental human beings" and sentenced him to life in prison at hard labor. The jury, by and large, regretted having to do it, but the evidence was overwhelming, the crime heinous. Calley seemed stunned. A large percentage of the American public was outraged, angry and loud in expressing disapproval of the verdict. Thompson felt that at least in thise one case justice was finally done, or so it seemed, for now. But President Richard Nixon- who had literally cringed over the idea that U.S. soldiers would be court-martialed in connection with war crimes in Vietnam- stepped in immediately as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to release Calley from the stockade, pending the approval of his conviction. Calley was placed under house arrest and allowed to live in his bachelor quarters at Ft. Benning. The announcement of the guilty verdict brouht on a convulsion of anger and protest among many U.S. citizens and a flood of emotionally charged letters and telegrams to President Nixon, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird and other top-ranking government officials.”

“After all was said and done, in the effort to court-martial those who were responsible for the murder of five hundred and four Vietnamese civilians, and the coverup which followed, only one man was found guilty of anything whatsoever in a court of law.”

“Calley was convicted, Nixon had made it easy on him, five hundred and four people were dead in Vietnam, it was a war crime, no one paid for it.”