him with questions like "How many babies did youkill today?" (Winthrop, 861-865). As if the war itself wasn’t traumatic enough, these extrainfluences make the event of mental damage very possible. These issues raise the question as towhether they are simply excuses for the terrible actions such as the one at My Lai, or were thehappenings such of My Lai the result of these influences. Or is it possible that the My LaiMassacre occurred for a totally different, perhaps from the anger and frustration of one man giventoo much power? William L. Calley Jr., born 1944, grew up in Miami Florida. He attendedgrammar and high school there, and in 1963 flunked out of college after earning four F’s. Hebecame very uptight, and began smoking up to four packs of cigarettes a day. After leavingcollege, Calley became a switchman for the East Coast Railway. In 1964 he made local headlineswhen he was arrested for allowing a forty-seven car freight train to block rush-hour traffic forthirty minutes.. In 1965, Calley left Florida and eventually enlisted in the Army in 1966. In spite ofpoor academic performance, Calley joined Officers’ Training School at Ft. Benning, GA andgraduated without even learning to read a map. In 1967 Calley became the platoon leader forCharlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Captain Ernest Medina, the company’scommanding officer, was a large, powerfully built man who was certainly respected, respect thathe earned rather than demanded. Lt. Calley was described as being boyish-looking. He was a merefive feet-three inches tall, and seemed jealous of the respect the soldiers had for Medina (Hersh,19). Troops under Calley said "he was always trying to be the big man; always would be the oneto beat them [Vietnamese] up. He didn’t know what was going on half the time."(Hersh, 20)Calley, unlike Medina, placed high emphasis on respect towards himself; respect he simplydemanded and wasn’t willing to e...
