rn to a country that hated you for doing what you were told to do, leads to a very defective psychological behavior.March 16, 1968 is truly a date remembered for one of the most horrendous acts ever committed by the United States. On this day, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, under the leadership of twenty-four year old 2nd Lt. William L. Calley Jr. became responsible for the execution of over 300 Vietnamese civilians, mostly old men, women, and children. This atrocity, now known as the My Lai Massacre, opened the eyes of many to the realities of war. The infantry men of this battalion were ordered to systematically murder every inhabitant in this small South Vietnamese hamlet for suspicion of the harboring of Vietcong Soldiers. In this village no signs of Vietcong inhabitants were found. Neither a single uniform nor a gun was found anywhere (Hersh, 11-44) . This leads one to wonder about the motives involved. Was the massacre necessarily, or was it simply an outlet for built up anger and frustration towards the very idea of the Vietnamese (Knowll, 104-110)? It is well known that the majority of United States troops didn't want to be in Vietnam. A lesser known fact is that the majority of South Vietnamese didn't want United States troops there either. Infantry men in the army were usually at the lesser end of intelligence scale because more intelligent soldiers were used more as medics or as officers. In fact, thirteen of the 130 men in Charlie Company had failed the army's basic intelligence test, which should have stopped them from even being in Vietnam (Knowll, 18). This intelligence limit means the soldiers had less comprehension skill and probably had a lower threshold for violence. Also, by this time soldiers in Vietnam had became aware of the treatment they would receive when they returned home. "Doves" (a generic term for anti-war demonstrators) were well known for acts such as waiting for a solider to return home ...
