My Lai Anniversary
Today is the 40th anniversary of the My Lai massacre. My Lai is the story of shocking atrocities by American soldiers. It is also the story of American soldiers who showed incredible inner strength and confidence to do the right thing.
When anti-war folks like me refer to the bad acts of American soldiers, we are called anti-American or enemy sympathizers. But what about the soldiers who refuse to go along with these bad acts, or even act to stop them? Are they anti-American? Can't we support the troops who do not lose their moral compass?
The book "Four Hours in My Lai" should be required reading in every high school history course. Perhaps the most stunning revelation there is that the army photographer at My Lai came home, and showed photos from My Lai at public presentations even before My Lai was widely exposed in the press. Yet the ordinary citizens who saw these photos either did not recognize what they were seeing, or did not care to raise awareness of the atrocities.
Even though we should respect heros like Thompson, Colbourn, and Andreotta, and we can all hope that we would behave with similar honor if we encountered such a situation in the crucible of war, experience shows us that most people would not show the courage and bravery that these three showed. Hell, most people won't stand up to the tin-horn right wing Nazi-esque bullies who call them anti-American for questioning a bad war.
Here is the AP's anniversary story.
When anti-war folks like me refer to the bad acts of American soldiers, we are called anti-American or enemy sympathizers. But what about the soldiers who refuse to go along with these bad acts, or even act to stop them? Are they anti-American? Can't we support the troops who do not lose their moral compass?
The book "Four Hours in My Lai" should be required reading in every high school history course. Perhaps the most stunning revelation there is that the army photographer at My Lai came home, and showed photos from My Lai at public presentations even before My Lai was widely exposed in the press. Yet the ordinary citizens who saw these photos either did not recognize what they were seeing, or did not care to raise awareness of the atrocities.
Even though we should respect heros like Thompson, Colbourn, and Andreotta, and we can all hope that we would behave with similar honor if we encountered such a situation in the crucible of war, experience shows us that most people would not show the courage and bravery that these three showed. Hell, most people won't stand up to the tin-horn right wing Nazi-esque bullies who call them anti-American for questioning a bad war.
Here is the AP's anniversary story.
posted by Tommy Times at 5:39 PM
1 Comments:
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