My Lai Achieves How does the United States Constitution
influence such terrible events in US History?
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Table of Contents 1.How did the Constitution drive the tragic
events of 1968 in SE Asia? 2. Sorrow Vs. Anger (Two Perspectives of
that Fateful Day) 3. The Effects of a Time Machine (What could have
been avoided?)
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Definition of Disaster What Identifies the My Lai Massacre as a
Controversy?
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Definition of Disaster-(Preface) The My Lai Massacre is the
result of confused and frustrated personalities. In the weeks
before this event, the members of the Charlie Company had been
maimed or killed in the South Vietnamese district of Son My, a
heavily mined area where the Vietcong were deeply entrenched. The
agitated troops, under the command of Lt. William Calley entered
the village poised for engagement with their elusive enemy.
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Definition of Disaster-(Event) Then on March 16, 1968 the angry
and frustrated men of the Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal
Division entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai. "This is what
you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got
it," said their superior officers. A short time later the killing
began. As the "search and destroy" mission unfolded, it soon
degenerated into the massacre of over 300 apparently unarmed
civilians including women, children, and the elderly. Calley
ordered his men to enter the village firing, though there had been
no report of opposing fire.
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Definition of Disaster-(Epilogue) According to eyewitness
reports offered after the event, several old men were bayoneted,
praying women and children were shot in the back of the head, and
at least one girl was raped and then killed. For his part, Calley
was said to have rounded up a group of the villagers, ordered them
into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of machine gun fire.
When news of the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through
the U.S. political establishment, the military's chain of command,
and an already divided American public.
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Definition of Disaster-(Analysis) The My Lai Massacre became a
controversy when journalist Seymour Hersh published a story
detailing his conversations with a Vietnam veteran, Ron Ridenhour.
Ridenhour who had learned of the events at My Lai from members of
Charlie Company. This led to the Pentagon to investigate the event
and ultimately led to Calley being charged of murder in 1969. This
investigation led to the discovery of numerous failures in
leadership and discipline. Many blamed the draft policy for these
problems. These questions along with the inquiry raised in the
murder trail of William Calley, which was whether or not Calley was
given orders from higher officials, created the cloud of
controversy around the My Lai Massacre.
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The United States Constitution Article 1 section 8 powers
granted to Congress The Congress shall have Power To declare War To
make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
Execution the foregoing Powers
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The United States Constitution Article 2 Section 2 The
President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the
United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when
called into the actual Service of the United States;
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How did the Constitution influence My Lai? Due to the situation
in Vietnam US Soldiers under the direction of the President and
Congress essentially were responsible to the Executive Branch for
their actions during this tragic time.
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Seymour Hersh
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Sorrow Vs. Anger Two Perspectives of that Fateful Day
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Vs.
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Sorrow vs. Anger-(People of My Lai) To the people of My Lai,
this massacre was a complete surprise. The investigation that was
conducted by the Pentagon proved that My Lai had no military or
intelligence ties with the Vietcong. In fact, if anything, the
Vietcong only negated the efforts of the people of My Lai because
their land was heavily mined and there was so much damage done to
the land that agriculture was becoming very hard to conduct.
Essentially the My Lai people were punished for something that was
already punishing them.
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Sorrow vs. Anger-(US Army) Before providing a justification for
killers of this situation, one must plead the defense of rash human
behavior. One must keep in mind that these soldiers had a very low
morale because they had lost many friends and comrades to the
efforts of the Vietcong. An army under that much pressure can
easily assume that any civilian he comes in contact with is
secretly working for his enemy. Furthermore, these soldiers were
also ordered to conduct this act by their superior, Lt. William
Calley, who was a high school drop out that was selected to serve
in the armed forces via the Draft. This clear lack of motivation
and discipline that was caused by the Draft ended up in the issuing
of the order to kill harmless members of an already-diminishing
breed.
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The Effects of a Time Machine What could have been
avoided?
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The Effects of a Time Machine If one was to go back in time to
the era before the Draft, I believe reforming the Draft system by
making it more efficient at retaining the discipline and honor of a
regular enlistment would be a valuable investment. This could be
done by making the training portion of the Army a little more
rigorous and harder to manipulate. This new process would hopefully
increase the integrity of the higher ranking officials in the Army
so that they are able to withstand the pressure of a combat
situation with better decision-making skills.
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The Effects of a Time Machine In essence, this change would
most likely have made it impossible for William Calley to gain
charge of the Charlie Company or it would have made him more immune
of the acute depletion of morale that floated around in his
environment.
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History is the sum total of the things that could have been
avoided. ~Konrad Adenauer