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March 16, 1968.  Captain Medina: Commanding officer, allegedly told Lt. Calley to “waste” the civilians.  Lt. Calley: Was the leading officer at My.

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Presentation on theme: "March 16, 1968.  Captain Medina: Commanding officer, allegedly told Lt. Calley to “waste” the civilians.  Lt. Calley: Was the leading officer at My."— Presentation transcript:

1 March 16, 1968

2  Captain Medina: Commanding officer, allegedly told Lt. Calley to “waste” the civilians.  Lt. Calley: Was the leading officer at My Lai and ordered his men to murder innocent women and children.  Private Meadlow: Followed Calley’s orders.  Private Maples: Refused to follow orders.

3  Had a bad reputation  Many in the group didn’t follow the rules  Some civilians were murdered  Soldiers: Beat unarmed civilians Burned whole villages Poisoned wells Raped women and young girls

4  March 14 Small squad from the company ran into a booby trap, killing one sergeant, blinding a soldier, and wounding several others Allegedly Captain Medina said to destroy My Lai as many VCs were known to be there. He said women and children should be gone and all they would encounter would be the VC Soldiers were to set fire to thatch homes, shoot livestock, poison wells, destroy the enemy

5  Medina said he did not give orders to kill women and children. Some of his troops recalled the same story but others agreed with Calley.

6  Approximately 500 unarmed civilians including children, women and elderly were killed. Several men were bayoneted Praying women were shot in the back of the head At least one girl was raped

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8  The first victim was a man stabbed in the back with a bayonet.  Then a middle-aged man was thrown down a well, and a grenade lobbed in after him.  Many were herded into ditches and murdered

9 Helicopter Pilot, was out on a mission scouting out the enemy when he came across My Lai. He ordered Calley to hold his men so he could evacuate the civilians. Though Thompson doesn’t remember saying it, many recall him saying, “Open fire on the Americans” if they fired on any more civilians.

10  The army reported 128 enemy dead and approximately 20 civilians killed on accident.  Thompson and a few others were determined to make sure people knew what had happened at My Lai.  Eventually it was determined that War Crimes had been committed

11  Most of the enlisted men who committed war crimes were no longer members of the military and immune from prosecution by Court Martial.  They tried to prosecute 25 officers

12  Medina: I specifically told my men not to kill women and children and I arrived after the killings had taken place  Calley: 1. Stress of combat and the fear of being in an area thick with the enemy 2. Just following orders (I can be charged with not following orders. I had no choice)

13  Medina was acquitted  Calley was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life. He appealed and was released after a couple of years In 2009 – “Not a day goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day at My Lai. I am very sorry.”

14  U.S. Military Prison in Iraq  Between October-December 2003 numerous instances of “sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses” occurred at Abu Ghraib

15  Evidence comes from witness statements, dehumanizing photographs and videos taken of the incidents.

16  Pictures of soldiers taunting naked Iraqi prisoners who were forced to assume humiliating poses.  Private England, female, gives thumbs-up sign and points at the genitals of a young, naked Iraqi.  Soldiers grinning, thumbs-up posing in front of naked Iraqi men lying on top of each other in a pyramid.

17  Iraqi prisoners were forced to masturbate and perform mock oral sex acts for the cameras.  Homosexual acts are against Islamic law and it is humiliating for men to be naked in front of other men.  “Being put on top of each other and forced to masturbate, being naked in front of each other. It’s all a form of torture.” Professor of Middle Eastern Studies.

18  Photo of a bloodied body wrapped in cellophane and packed in ice. There is a photo of an empty room splattered with blood.


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