Not only were the American forces frustrated by the Viet Cong’s guerrilla tactics, they were frustrated by their own country’s policies and tactics. “Washington had sent [them] there to fight a limited war, of dubious aims, against a people dedicated to absolute war, in a fight for their own survival.” (Jennings, Id.) “When GIs couldn’t tell friend from foe, they came to hate and despise them all. All “slopes” were dirt. Viewing all Vietnamese as less than human released American boys from their own humanity.” (Hillstrom, p. 66, quoting Cecil B. Curry in Self-Destruction: The Disintegration and Decay of the United States Army during the Vietnam Era.) Frustration led to tragedies like the March 1968 My Lai massacre, where American infantry led by Lt. William Calley killed at least 347 (some say as many as 500) Vietnamese villagers. Calley was later charged with murder and court-martialed. He was tried and convicted and was sentenced to life in prison at hard labor. (Reader’s Digest, p. 458)
Upon announcement of the Calley verdict many Americans were appalled. President Nixon immediately ordered Calley transferred from prison to house arrest at Fort Benning while his appeal was heard. State legislatures in New Jersey, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, and South Carolina passed motions officially requesting clemency for Calley. Alabama Governor George Wallace quickly named Calley an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Alabama National Guard. In Georgia, Governor Jimmy Carter proclaimed an “American Fighting Man’s Day” and asked the state’s residents to drive with their headlights on during daylight hours in a week-long protest. (http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/10/the-ballad-of-my-lai-mp3s.html) Eventually, Calley’s sentence was commuted to 10 years. He was released from prison in 1974 at the order of a civil court, after serving three years. (Reader’s Digest, p. 458) Calley was the only soldier convicted of war crimes for the incidents that took place in My Lai.
Many songs have been written about the My Lai incident from all different points of view. (A list of sixty plus such songs can be found at http://rateyourmusic.com/list/JBrummer/vietnam_war__my_lai_and_lt__william_calley_songs/) The great division of musical reaction on this issue is a reflection of the broader public division on the war generally. Here are a few:
“C Company: Ballad Hymn of Lt. William Calley”, written by Julian Wilson and James M. Smith (1971), sung by Terry Nelson, is largely pro Calley (https://youtu.be/iXNsXIxBkqs)
Once upon a time there was a little boy who wanted to grow up
And be a soldier and serve his country in whatever way he could
He would parade around the house with a sauce pan on his head
For a helmet, a wooden sword in one hand and the American flag in the other
As he grew up, he put away the things of a child but he never let go of the flag
My name is William Calley, I’m a soldier of this land
I’ve tried to do my duty and to gain the upper handBut they’ve made me out a villain they have stamped me with a brand
As we go marching on
I’m just another soldier from the shores of U.S.A.
Forgotten on a battle field ten thousand miles away
While life goes on as usual from New York to Santa Fe
As we go marching on
I’ve seen my buddies ambushed on the left and on the rightAnd their youthful bodies riddled by the bullets of the night
Where all the rules are broken and the only law is might
As we go marching on
While we’re fighting in the jungles they were marching in the street
While we’re dying in the rice fields they were helping our defeat
While we’re facing V.C. bullets they were sounding a retreat
As we go marching onWith our sweat we took the bunkers, with our tears we took the plain
With our blood we took the mountains and they gave it back again
Still all of us are soldiers, we’re too busy to complain
As we go marching on
When I reach my final campground in that land beyond the sun
And the great commander asks me, “Did you fight or did you run?”
I’ll stand both straight and tall stripped of medals, rank and gun
And this is what I’ll saySir, I followed all my orders and I did the best I could
It’s hard to judge the enemy and hard to tell the good
Yet there’s not a man among us would not have understood
We took the jungle village exactly like they said
We responded to their rifle fire with everything we had
And when the smoke had cleared away a hundred souls lay dead
Sir, the soldier that’s alive is the only once can fightThere’s no other way to wage a war when the only one in sight
That you’re sure is not a VC is your buddy on your right
When all the wars are over and the battle’s finally won
Count me only as a soldier who never left his gun
With the right to serve my country as the only prize I’ve won
Glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah
“The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An” written and sung by Tom Parrot (1969) (looking for audio) is a critical comment on the My Lai situation:
We went out on a mission, we were told search and destroy
Hunting for the Viet Cong, a task we don’t enjoy
For Charlie has a lot to lose and always has a gun,
But orders from down from the brass for everything we done.Late in the day we came upon a village made of straw
Our officers had told us they were VC one and all
But we didn’t hear no shooting, though we fired off our guns
So we moved into the village like the big brass would have done.Well we never saw young men, we supposed that they were hid
So we rounded up all the old folks, all the women, all the kids
And we laughed as they were begging us, we were really having fun
And orders came down from the brass for everything we done.We slaughtered all the old folks, all the women, all the kids
And the we burned their houses down, and we’re proud of what we did
For we did it for America, for our wives, and folks, and sons.
And Orders come down fro the brass for everything we done.The battle was a safe one, and none of our boys died
For none of them had arms at all, though many of them cried,
But tears are weapons of the heart, and most of us had none,
And orders come down from the brass for everything we done.This story that I’ve told you really happened, you can bet
It was in the village of My Lai or Troung An, I forget
For we liberated both those towns with our freedom loving guns
In the name of god and country, for our wives, our folks and sons
And orders come down from the brass for everything we done.
“The Cry of “My Lai”, written by Johnny Adams and Ivan Meece, sung by Ivan Lee (1971) (https://youtu.be/eQbg1HcYEBs), is another song that condemns the massacre, with the narrator telling Calley that “the devil possesses your soul”, against the background sound-effect of an infant crying. He asked: “Hey lieutenant, can you still hear the small babies cry?” He also wondered if Calley had acted as if in a childhood game: “Did the frightened child remind you of a smiling boy, who plays war at home and the gun is only a toy”.
An armed man and a —were challenged by a soldier to die
There in a ditch at My Lai a small baby cried
Any man that would do this is bound to be possessed by the devil himself in disguise
They may set him free, but he’ll still hear the small baby cry
They may set him free, but he’ll still hear the small baby cryHey Lieutenant you’re not God don’t you know
You’re just a Lieutenant and the devil possesses your soul
You’re just a Lieutenant and the devil possesses your soulDid the frightened child remind you of a smiling boy?
Who plays war at home and the gun is only a toy
Did anyone pray where was God that day?
Was he old enough to ask why?Hey Lieutenant, can you still hear the small babies cry?
Hey Lieutenant, can you still hear the small babies cry?Now war is hell and death will never die
But a baby noise is not a reason why
Has God grown weak and the devil strong?
Can a man to man justify?They may set him free, but he’ll still hear the small babies cry
They may set him free, but he’ll still hear the small babies cryHey Lieutenant will death set you free from My Lai?
Hey Lieutenant can you still hear the small babies cry?
Hey Lieutenant can you still hear the small babies cry?
“ Last Train to Nuremberg”, written and sung by Pete Seeger (1971) (https://youtu.be/z08YYG6WJI0), pointed the finger at several layers of society that Seegeer thought had “blood upon” their “hands”. Nuremberg was the place where the criminal trials of the Nazis took place after the Second World War. Thus, Seeger placed those responsible for My Lai atrocities in the same category as the Nazis, facing justice for their crimes. Seeger pointed to two soldiers involved, Lt. William Calley and Captain Medina, the commanding officer of the platoon in question. Medina faced court-martial for war crimes, but was acquitted in 1971. Seeger then suggests that politicians, Richard Nixon and “both houses of Congress”, bore some responsibility, wanting to know “who gave the orders?” and “planned the campaign”. Seeger then turned his attention to the military-industrial complex, asking the question: “who manufactured the bullet”. Finally, Seeger pointed the finger at all Americans, singing: “do I see the voters, me and you…who paid the taxes? Tell me, is that blood upon my hands?” The reference to a football game related to the rumor that President Nixon watched a football game on TV after he was informed about the My Lai incident.
Last train to Nuremberg!
All on board!
Do I see Lieutenant Calley?Do I see Captain Medina?
Do I see Gen’ral Koster and all his crew?Do I see President Nixon?
Do I see both houses of Congress?Do I see the voters, me and you?
Who held the rifle?Who gave the orders?
Who planned the campaign to lay waste the land?
Who manufactured the bullet?Who paid the taxes?
Tell me, is that blood upon my hands?
If five hundred thousand mothers went to Washington
And said, ‘Bring all of our boys home without delay!’
Would the man they came to see, say he was too busy?
Would he say he had to watch a football game?Last train to Nuremberg!
All on board!
“Pinkville Helicopter” (aka “My Lai Helicopter”), written and sung by Thom Parrott (1971) paints a very descriptive picture of the horrors that occurred at My Lai (https://youtu.be/IFLPVd62B-4)
As they flew over Pinkville, the choppers could see,
The slaughter that went on below them.
And they radioed the dying of the women and kids,
So that general headquarters would know them.Then one circled down to a place on the ground
Where there were children who were wounded and crying.
And he took them in the chopper to take the kids out
So that they wouldn’t be among the dying.They were on their way out when below them they saw
A little two year old baby
So they went down again and the pilot got out
Muttering “The whole world has gone crazy.”The baby was cradled in the Captain’s arms
Wounded and crying and bloody
When a Lieutenant came up and said “Put the kid down
And get your chopper on out of here, buddy.”The Captain looked down at the Lieutenant’s gun
That was smoky and hot from the killing.
He said “If I have to give my life for this child,
Then, by God, you know that I’m willing.”Then the gunner who stood in the helicopter’s door
Called out to the Lieutenant,
“We’re calling your bluff. There’s been killing enough.
If your gun starts more, mine will end it.”So they flew the kids out to the medics who said,
“War is hell. Even babies get wounded.”
The pilot just looked at his gunner and shook.
Said “To kill them was what was intended.”The things that we’ve seen up in Pinkville today
Well we won’t even try to describe them
But this wasn’t war, it was a pack of mad dogs,
Just killing to see people dyingAs they flew over Pinkville, the choppers could see,
The slaughter that went on below them.
And they radioed the dying of the women and kids,
So that general headquarters would know them.
“Song for Hugh Thompson”, written by David Rovics’ (1998) performed by Rotdorn (https://youtu.be/65oovwv53D4), is about Hugh Thompson Jr., a U.S. Army Warrant Officer and helicopter pilot, who tried to stop the My Lai massacre. Before the last few survivors were about to be killed by U.S. soldiers, Thompson and his helicopter crew arrived on the scene and told the soldiers that if they did not stand down, they would be shot by the helicopter’s gunners; thus, preventing the last few people from being murdered. Thompson reported the incident over the radio, and later to his superiors. He then evacuated the civilians, including a 2-year-old boy that he found clinging to his dead mother. He ordered two other helicopters to fly eleven Vietnamese to the hospital at Quang Ngai, then reported the massacre to higher headquarters, and got a cease-fire declared, sparing countless more civilians. He received the Soldier’s Medal in 1998 (the highest award for valor not involving combat)..
Hugh Thomson was a pilot, just like many more
Fighting for Old Glory on a far-off, foreign shore
He was on a lethal mission, only one of many
Following his orders to kill the enemy, to kill the enemyHe flew low above the village, searching for the foe
When he saw a wounded child on the path below
He thought this to be a sure sign that the enemy was near
So he radioed for back-up and more choppers did appear…“Help the wounded,” he cried out, “and beware of an attack”
And then the child died by a bullet through her back
And when he looked around for the culprits of the scene
It was a company of men in U.S. military green…The dead were in the hundreds, strewn all around
In this place called My Lai, which once had been a town
There was a hut of huddled children, soldiers had them in their sightsTrain your weapons on the G.I.’s,” and his ‘copter crews obeyed
And stood among the children, tattered and afraid
The whole town had been murdered, but for some kids and widowed wives
And Hugh Thomson made sure that those remaining would survive…It was a fifteen-minute stand-off in a knee-deep sea of red
Amidst the moaning of the dying and the silence of the dead
Hugh Thomson was a soldier and he served his country well
On the day he saved the lives of a dozen kids in hell…
“Morning In My Lai”, Nelson Truehart , presents a more sympathetic position of the soldiers’ point of view (https://youtu.be/VOhncDxKB1Q)
Up in the morning, soldiers all go around
His only order was to destroy the town
Men and women, little boys and girls
Who was the enemy in his worldHis mind was so tired from fighting their way
Onward (?) the enemy on that dreadful day
Listen people come to his plea
After all he’s fighting for you and meHe’s begging to someone, please hear my cry
Don’t let me spin high for fighting in My LaiHow can we judge a man when you don’t know what went on
Calley were behind you, we want you to go home
Listen people he played his part so well
Protecting others, now he‘ll live through hellOh, he’s begging to someone, please hear my cry
Don’t let me spin high for fighting in My Lai
“The Ballad Of My Lai”, Matt McKinney asks whether it was “duty or sin” and who should make the judgment. (https://youtu.be/wDZhW6prdKA)
There once was an Army lieutenant
Handsome, dashing and gay
Married the one that he loved
Remembered him each time she prayedSaid she was foolish you see
His words brought tears to her eyes
Said child be still, with my courage and skill
What need for your prayers of —-Mary, you go to your chapel
Pray to your god on your knees
Mary, when you light your candle
Don’t bother to light one for meOne day at the start of a battle
Near a village in South Vietnam
People were running and hiding
To escape the death from the guns
Women and children alike
Too old and too young to fightIn a ditch they were found,
their blood stained the ground
These words echoed againMary, you go to your chapel
Pray to your god on your knees
Mary, when you light your candle
Don’t bother to light on for meNow who will stand in the judgment
And say this is duty or sin
We sent him into the battle
In a war we never could winWe placed the gun in his hands
And sent him to that foreign land
With courage and skill and a license to kill
Now the judgment is in the higher handsMary, you go to your chapel
Pray to your god again
Mary, when you light your candle
For our sakes light one for him
For our sakes light one for him