LINK A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago today - Los Angeles Times
"So we could forgive them... "
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"On the 30th anniversary of the massacre, Thompson went back to My Lai and met some of the people whose lives he had saved. "There were real good highs," he told me, "and very low lows. One of the ladies that we had helped out that day came up to me and asked, 'Why didn't the people who committed these acts come back with you?' And I was just devastated. And then she finished her sentence: she said, 'So we could forgive them.' I'm not man enough to do that. I'm sorry. I wish I was, but I won't lie to anybody. I'm not that much of a man.""
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3 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I think of Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket when he said, "Better you than me."
One of the elements of psychological stripping in bootcamp is to blindly follow orders from superiors (the stipulations not to follow unlawful orders largely ignored) and the extent that group approval comes into play.
It's an essential part of the mindfuck in conditioning people to kill strangers when told to by the state, regardless of the claims for the rationale.
I feel it takes quite a bit of individual and moral courage to buck that indoctrination.
WilliamCharles
Level 8
May 16, 2019
0
there's no excuse for killing old ppl, women & children.
the little asshole that led the massacre was a psychopath & most of the troops that participated were low-life losers from the dregs of society.
Thompson was a true hero & should have been recognized as such at the time. instead the slimy bastards vilified him.
callmedubious
Level 8
May 16, 2019
1
Wars create conditions for people to do terrible things they would never do had they not gone to war
nicknotes
Level 8
May 15, 2019
1
in order for that atrocity to happen there was something lacking in their psyches. their moral compasses were spinning out of control.
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