Obviously in a known but most important way in the history of US manipulation of war is the uprising of soldiers in the US military. In June 1971, the prestigious Army Journal entitled Armed Forces Magazine published an article with the title "Breaking of the Armed Forces". The article, written by a retired Marine colonel, commented: "The morale, discipline, and combat ability of the United States military, with a few notable exceptions, is low and deplorable. than at any other time in this century and possibly in the history of the United States.” 1. Overwhelming almost every nook and cranny of the military, the overwhelming guilt of having to fight an empty war acclaimed, a Battlegrounds that is blessed with unusual events, assimilation, and institutional goals.
When I learned the full story of My Lai, I was in the military Collection Veterans Shirt stationed at Camp Bliss, Texas. I enlisted in the army in 1968 to serve my country, hoping to avoid this war, but my conscience would not allow it. Although stationed far away from the front, I was still a soldier and had participated in a battle many times that I found pointless and invincible.
During basic training, they showed me the TV series: “Why Vietnam?” and heard President Johnson rambling about the noble goals of this war. Our commander, I tried to convince us that we were fighting to protect democracy and help the people of Vietnam. However, the more we knew about what was going on, the more we were truly skeptical. As I talked to returning veterans and started reading more about war history, I became extremely insecure and anxious. I can't keep quiet about what I know is wrong. I found myself speaking out against this war even though I was an active-duty soldier.
This was a time of much disagreement and instability in the military as well as in society as a whole. A widespread anti-war movement was emerging among active-duty American soldiers. We participated in peaceful protests, signed anti-war petitions, and published secret newspapers at military bases and on warships.
Camp Bliss has a group activity called Soldiers for Peace “GI for Peace”. We have organized wars against war and have hundreds of military members and supporters at base. We publish a monthly newspaper called "The Gigline" and have our own anti-war cafe. I'm in downtown El Paso. When people in our combat response movement received news of the massacre in My Lai, we were horrified but not normal. In our ranks, I include all the veterans who have just returned from the area killers. We know how this war plays out: the army searches for villages, areas that are not bombarded, and medals keep ending up so more people can be counted. This military strategy aimed to get the people out of their ancestral villages and into the so-called strategic hamlets. We know that in such a war, civilian casualties are a regular and inevitable fact.
The massacre at My Lai was the largest and most terrible company for civilians, but it was not a fixed unit. People in My Lai and many other places in Vietnam often sympathize with the National Liberation Front. When U.S. troops are injured while seeking to pacify such areas, they sometimes blame civilians and citizens for supporting the enemy.
In the Soldiers for Peace group “GI for Peace”, we place responsibility for disasters at the forefront of our core values and military command. Yes, it would be heroic soldiers to refuse orders to open fire on civilians, but such a request would be too much for a 19-year-old soldier, frightened and confused in the bloody battle, to make so. a popular uprising. them. As we said, the responsibility of this tragedy lies with those who started and sustained this war, not the soldiers forced to carry it out.
Many of our members at Camp Bliss expressed outrage that a junior officer William Calley was the only one to be terminated because of this disaster, when all senior officers ordered the operation to proceed. . innocent. An angry veteran here went to El Paso police and demanded to be arrested, saying that if Calley is guilty, so is he. The GIs for Peace group responded to this work by convening a public session in which military veterans and others testified.