Pod Insights American Scandal The Massacre at My Lai | Justice on Trial | 4 About this episode Lieutenant William Calley stands trial for the murder of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai, becoming both the face of the massacre and a lightning rod for a deeply divided nation. As the courtroom drama unfolds, the U. S. military, the media, and the American public are forced to confront the true cost of the war in Vietnam – and come to a decision about who’s ultimately responsible.
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0:00 Lindsay Graham? Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. American Scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research. A listener note: This episode contains descriptions of violence and may not be suitable for all audiences.
0:26 Lindsay Graham? It's November 27, 1969, in Key Biscayne, Florida, an island just off the coast of Miami. President Richard Nixon has retreated to his private estate here to discuss strategy with his team. It's been two weeks since news of the My Lai massacre hit the front pages. Since then, the press coverage has been relentless. Journalist Seymour Hersh was once only known in certain circles, but now he seems like a household name, and every one of his stories seems more damning than the last.
1:11 Lindsay Graham? Then there are soldiers like Paul Miedla and Michael Bernhardt, who have gone public, giving interviews on national television about what they saw and did at My Lai. Nixon has had enough of it. Hold up with one of his most trusted aides, he jabs his finger at a yellow lego pad filled with notes and ideas. Now, all the talk about this massacre business is going to destroy my Vietnam policy, just as we're getting traction, just as I'm about to turn the damn tide. We've got to bury this story, get it out of the papers. Well, I understand, sir, but people seem to want accountability. They see this as a moral crisis. It's not a moral crisis, it's a political one. And we're getting boxed in by the press. These guys, they're not on our side. They don't care about the truth.
1:56 Lindsay Graham? Nixon looks through his pages of notes. This Ridenour kid, he's a liberal punk, a washout. Why was he the one who started kicking up the dust? He wasn't even there. And Seymour Hersh, some nobody freelancer just trying to make a name for himself. Now we've got Mike Wallace giving them a platform on 60 Minutes. The Army photographer who sold his pictures, how much did he get? His parents are Cleveland Peasniks, you know? And if you ask me, Meatloaf is a little too smooth for a farmer. I don't trust any one of them. So sir, what do you want me to do? I want to smear them so hard that their next interview ends up on the cutting room floor. The Pentagon's too scared to touch them, so it'll have to be us. I want to make sure no one believes another word out of their mouths. Well, we could float something through a senator, someone senior who could raise just
2:41 Lindsay Graham? enough doubt to muddy the water. All right, all right, maybe a big senator, a gunfighter, stand-up senator, someone who'll ask hard questions and get the press to chase their own tail. Time, life, CBS will make them all pay for running this story. By the time President Nixon boards Air Force One to head back to Washington three days later, he has a concrete plan for how to deal with the Mila scandal. Soon, there is a covert team at the White House running background checks and assembling dossiers on the men on his list. Nixon's instructions are blunt: bury the story, crush the sources, and make sure no one traces it back to him.
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4:31 Lindsay Graham? From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scam.
4:56 Lindsay Graham? By late 1969, the massacre at My Lai was no longer a rumor, it was front-page news. Thanks to the work of a handful of whistleblowers and a relentless freelance reporter, the world now knew what happened that March morning in Vietnam. U.S. troops had gunned down hundreds of unarmed civilians and the Army and tried to sweep it under the rug. With public outrage growing, a formal investigation was launched at the massacre and the cover-up that followed. Led by three-star General William R. Pierce, the inquiry was tasked with establishing the facts and identifying the guilty men. But the question of what justice really meant would linger for the survivors, for the soldiers, and for a nation still struggling to face up to what it was doing in Vietnam.
5:40 Lindsay Graham? This is Episode 4: Justice on Trial.
5:47 Lindsay Graham? It's early afternoon on December 5, 1969, outside of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A chilly wind whips through the air as Lieutenant William Callie steps from a government car and makes his way toward the building. Accompanied by his attorney and an Army officer, he wears his dress uniform with his cap low and his jaw clenched. Callie led Charlie Company's first platoon when it entered My Lai and has been named as one of the protagonists in the violence that followed. Now, he's been summoned to the Pentagon to testify before the Pierce inquiry, which is now in its third day of closed-door hearings. Callie tries to slip into the building through a discreet side entrance, but it's too late. He's been spotted.
6:29 Lindsay Graham? Nearly a hundred reporters, photographers, and onlookers swarm the sidewalk toward him. He shields his face as cameras flash in rapid bursts, voices rise in a chaotic blur of questions and accusations. Callie's attorney and the army officer carve a path through the crowd, guiding him toward the building's doors. Callie keeps his gaze downward and moves as quickly as he can, refusing to engage with the barrage of hostile comments. Then, as he climbs the final steps, one reporter shouts above the noise, "Lieutenant Callie, are you sorry you couldn't have killed more women and children?" There's an intake of breath from the crowd, but Callie doesn't stop to answer. He simply pushes through the doors and lets them swing shut behind him.
7:13 Lindsay Graham? Three flights down, in the belly of the Pentagon, Callie enters the Army Operations Center. Here, behind closed doors, the Peers Commission awaits. But despite all the excitement outside, testimony is short. Callie refuses to answer any of the panel's questions, except one. When asked about whether there was an internal investigation of Milai, he tells the room that Colonel Orin Henderson and Lieutenant Colonel Frank Barker never asked him about the events of that day. Then with that, Callie stands, nods to no one in particular, and walks out. Callie may have stonewalled most of the questions, but he has provided General Peers with one interesting piece of information. If Henderson and Barker did investigate the massacre as they claimed, there would be
7:56 Lindsay Graham? no excuse for them to not speak with Callie. He may be lying, but if not, it's yet another sign that the internal investigations supposedly conducted were perfunctory at best. Other witnesses called by the Peers inquiry don't get as much media attention as William Callie, but many of them are far more useful. Day after day, the testimonies mount. Helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson recounts what he saw from the air and what he did to try to stop the unfolding massacre. Soldiers, crewmen, and officers from all areas are summoned to explain what they know or what they did. Some are reluctant to talk at first, but most of them break under the commanding gaze of General Peers. And the picture that begins to emerge is more horrifying than even Pierce himself
8:40 Lindsay Graham? anticipated. What happened in My Lai was clearly part of a far larger crime. During the operation that morning, soldiers in other units in other villages also committed atrocities. And it points to a systemic issue that went beyond just the men in Charlie Company who were on the ground in My Lai. General Pierce is determined to get to the bottom of it. He hopes to complete his investigation into these other potential war crimes out of the public gaze, but in mid-February 1970, the story breaks in the press. General Pierce is sitting at his desk, working late through a stack of classified briefings in his dimly-lit office. A small television plays in the background, although he pays little attention, it's just white noise.
9:22 Lindsay Graham? But then something flickers on the screen that catches his eye, just a few words. He reaches for the remote and turns up the volume. On NBC's Evening News, two Vietnamese civilians appear on camera, seated beside a translator. Their faces are drawn and their voices low. Through halting translation, they begin to describe what happened in their village of Mi K. It's a familiar-sounding story of American soldiers storming in without warning and shooting civilians indiscriminately. They talk about neighbors dragged from their homes and executed, about children gunned down as they ran. Nearly 100 people were killed in this village during the same operation that leveled My Lai. General Pierce leans forward, staring at the screen.
10:06 Lindsay Graham? This is just further evidence for what he and his investigators have already pieced together behind the scenes, but now it's public knowledge. And with anger over the scandal likely to grow after these revelations, Pierce knows he has to say something soon. So only a few days later, on February 21, 1970, Pierce makes his move. After months of exhaustive work, General Pierce informs his superiors that the inquiry has identified more than two dozen men who should face court martial. Most are still on active duty. 14 are officers, some of them senior men with distinguished careers and powerful connections. But time is short. The military has a two-year statute of limitations on certain charges, such as dereliction of duty or failure to report a crime.
10:51 Lindsay Graham? And that deadline is only 23 days away. If charges are not filed by the second anniversary of the massacre, many of the accused could walk free on a technicality. But before Pierce can officially submit his report and get criminal proceedings underway, the Army insists on doing a review of his work. They want to be careful about what becomes public record. So in the days that follow, Army lawyers and senior officers begin combing through Pierce's findings. His report runs more than 250 pages with appendices, sworn statements, and detailed maps. But by the time the lawyers and top brass have finished with it, only 50 pages are cleared for declassification. Those pages offer only a sanitized account of the massacre.
11:35 Lindsay Graham? There's background information on Kwangnai Province, some organizational charts, and official rules of engagement. But the sections on the operation itself and the cover-up that followed are all removed. Officially, the Army cites the need to protect the legal rights of the accused, but critics are quick to ask whether that's really the case, whether it's more about the Army trying to shield itself from deeper embarrassment. If Pierce had the time, he might push for more information to be released to the public. But once the Army finally signs off on his report, there's only one day left on the charges deadline. So he goes ahead and officially submits his findings to the Department of the Army. Indictments begin to follow immediately.
12:16 Lindsay Graham? And then, on the morning of March 17, 1970, General Pierce calls a press conference at the Pentagon. Flanked by two civilian attorneys from his inquiry team, General Pierce sits behind a table in his full-dress uniform. His expression is grave as he looks around the room, it's packed with reporters, photographers, and television crews. After an introduction from Secretary of the Army Stanley Reeser, General Pierce thanks his team, and then he gets to the main reason they're all here. Our inquiry has clearly established that a tragedy of major proportions occurred in the vicinity of the village known as Mili on the 16th of March, 1968.
12:58 Lindsay Graham? Today, I can announce that charges have been filed against 14 US Army officers in connection with those events. The room stiffens, and a few reporters exchange glances. Pierce continues. Included among those charged are Major General Samuel Coster, Brigadier General George Young, Colonel Orin Henderson, and Captain Ernest Medina. The charges range from false swearing to dereliction of duty to murder. However, in order not to prejudice the rights of individuals concerned, I am not able to further discuss the events which transpired. All around the room, hands shoot into the air. Pierce picks out one reporter in the second row. Yes, you go ahead. General Pierce, as a career professional in the Army, are you disturbed at all by the fact that 14 officers,
13:43 Lindsay Graham? some quite high-ranking and senior, were engaged in the suppression of information, in false swearing, and by implication, in condoning this great tragedy, as you describe it? I'm certainly greatly concerned. It does make a difference, whether it's a general, but I think the same criterion must be in effect throughout our entire officer corps. We all have obligations as officers, and as a consequence, we must have extremely high standards. And we must make sure our officers stand up to those requirements. After all of this, would you say there was a cover-up in the field investigation following the My Lai incident? I would respond to your question by saying that there was testimony and evidence to indicate that certain individuals, either wittingly or unwittingly, by their actions, suppressed information from the incident, from being passed up the chain of command. How far up the chain of command
14:27 Lindsay Graham? did personal knowledge of what happened that day go? We have no indication that this got beyond the Americal Division itself. So was this an isolated incident? Or was it happening elsewhere, too? Are there more My Lais out there that we're yet to hear about? If there are any other such incidents, I have no precise knowledge of them. Well, what about in nearby villages that day? Looking at this list, you have charges placed against a member of Bravo Company, but he wouldn't have been in My Lai at all, would he? He would have been in Mi K, where, as I understand it, another 100 civilians were killed. Pierce pauses, choosing his words carefully. If you read our prepared documents, you'll see that we refer to the whole area as Son Mi. When we went to South Vietnam, we found that the Vietnamese did not know what we were talking about when we said My Lai.
15:12 Lindsay Graham? That's the name we associated with the hamlet where Charlie Company was deployed, but that area is really considered part of Son Mi. So that's what we're talking about here, a collection of sub-hamlets and a general area, of which My Lai and Mi K are just two. But yes, there were incidents across the other hamlets on that same day. They all fell within the area of operations for Task Force Barker. So why call it the My Lai massacre? Doesn't that understate what really happened? Pierce looks out over the crowd of reporters, his jaw tightening slightly. "Mila has become shorthand for what occurred, but our investigation makes it clear this was not just one village. It was a breakdown in command across an entire region in an entire day. So we're looking at it as one cohesive event.
15:56 Lindsay Graham? We're not seeking to minimize the scope or mislead anyone."
16:02 Lindsay Graham? After this series of tough questions, the rest of the press conference proceeds smoothly. General Pierce believes that his inquiry has now done what it set out to do: expose the truth of what happened in March 1968. Now, it's up to the courts to decide what to do next.
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17:35 Lindsay Graham? In the hours following General William Pierce's press conference at the Pentagon, reporters across the country raced to be the first to publish the story. The Army has done what was once unthinkable: it has recommended charges against some of its own top brass. Fourteen senior commanders with distinguished careers are all now facing court martial for their parts in the Mele massacre. News anchors lead with the story on nightly broadcasts. Pundits call it "the Army's biggest scandal in decades", and there are calls for accountability for everyone involved, from the men who pulled the triggers, to the officers who gave the orders, and those who helped cover it up. But inside the Armed Forces, reactions are mixed.
18:16 Lindsay Graham? Some officials express quiet pride in General Pierce's document, believing that this report sends a clear message that no one is above the law, not even generals. Others feel more concerned about what unintended consequences the report may have. Their worry is that if Army officers start fearing prosecution for command decisions they make in combat zones, then they may second-guess themselves on the battlefield and hesitate at the worst possible moments. Nowhere, however, is a reaction more fraught than inside Richard Nixon's White House. The administration's attempts to undermine witnesses and kill the story have failed. Now the Pierce report has been released, and to President Nixon, it is more than just an embarrassment, it's a threat.
18:59 Lindsay Graham? Nixon is up for reelection in 1972, and anything that undermines public faith in the war or the military could become a political nightmare for him. So one evening, in the spring of 1970, Nixon is pacing in his private study at the White House. He pours himself a drink and stares at the amber swirl in his glass for a moment, before reaching for the phone and getting his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, on the line. Mr. President. Henry, you seen the papers? Every outlet in the country is parroting that damn Piers report like it's the Ten Commandments. Yes, sir, it's quite extensive. They're crucifying our commanders. Coster runs West Point for God's sake, and now he's being dragged through the mud like some two-bit war criminal.
19:44 Lindsay Graham? My first instinct was the same, Mr. President, but some of the stories are awful. Piers is just trying to make himself look good while he kicks his colleagues around. It's a pretty cheap shot if you ask me. These are not bad men. You know, there are women over there with hand grenades, kids wielding rifles. You think the press gives a damn? No, sir. Where are the stories about all of that? They just want martyrs and monsters, and Piers is giving them both. Nixon paces, getting swept up in his own thoughts. You know, the real irony? It was covered up because it was in the interest of the country. These commanders were doing the patriotic thing, and now, what, we're going to punish them for refusing to hand the communists a propaganda victory? That's not what matters anymore, sir. The cover-up is the story now. Nixon slams his drink down on the desk.
20:29 Lindsay Graham? Well, then, we need to smother it. If I may, sir. What? Silence may be the strategic move here. Attacking Piers directly might only make things worse. Nixon grimaces, takes a large swig of his drink. This thing's poison, Henry. The more we pretend it's not there, the more it'll fester. But if we engage, Mr. President, we elevate it. If we ignore it, we might just contain it. I don't like it. I understand that. Nixon takes a deep breath, collecting himself. All right, fine, we'll try it your way. No press briefings, no comments, nothing. I think that's wise. The less oxygen we give it, the faster it'll die away. God help us if it doesn't. If this thing runs into seventy-two, we could be finished.
21:13 Lindsay Graham? President Nixon hopes that Henry Kissinger is right about staying silent, and that by refusing to engage, the White House can ride out the storm. But deep down, Nixon knows better. This isn't a matter of a few bad headlines. If he's not careful, this story might define his entire term in office.
21:33 Lindsay Graham? In the months after General William Pierce's bombshell press conference, the Army's internal legal machinery grinds slowly forward. Military prosecutors and investigators work to transform the scathing language of the Pierce's report into formal charges, building cases that will stand up in a court martial. Meanwhile, at the White House, silence remains the strategy. Administration officials stonewall the press and decline to comment. The goal is to wait it out and let the public's attention drift, but the My Lai story refuses to fade. If anything, it only grows. The constant drumbeat of revelations fuels new anti-war demonstrations on college campuses and in major cities, continuing to dominate headlines and further divide Americans.
22:18 Lindsay Graham? It all comes to a head on the morning of November 17, 1970. It's been two years, eight months, and 10 days since the massacre at My Lai. And now the court martial of Charlie Company's Lieutenant William Calley is about to begin. The setting is a modest and somber military courtroom at Fort Benning, Georgia. It only seats 59 people. Half in the room are journalists, the rest are military officers from the base or nearby areas. Calley sits at the defense table in full dress uniform. With his slight frame and a clean shave, he looks even younger than his 27 years. But despite his innocent looks, he's facing serious charges, and if he's found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
23:01 Lindsay Graham? The sighting his fate is a judge and jury of six men. Five of them are Vietnam veterans. Prosecutor knows with that background, they will want to believe Calley is innocent. So it's his job to prove their instincts are wrong. But from the start, it's an uphill climb. Several early prosecution witnesses are openly sympathetic to Calley. And even when Army photographer Robert Haberly shares the disturbing photographs he took of the victims in My Lai, those in court note he doesn't actually implicate Calley specifically, just Charlie Company as a whole. Still, as the trial stretches on over the weeks to follow, the evidence against Calley begins to seem overwhelming. Members of Calley's own platoon testify against him.
23:44 Lindsay Graham? And helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson again gives his damning account of the day. Then finally comes the testimony of one of the most anticipated witnesses to take the stand. Paul Miedlow, the former rifleman from Callie's Platoon, whose appearance on 60 Minutes shocked America. But at first, Miedlow refuses to speak. Now that he's in the courtroom, rather than a television studio, he seems scared he might say something that could get him in trouble. Although he's been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony, and cannot be criminally prosecuted for what he says, Miedlow knows that doesn't necessarily mean he's safe from civilian lawsuits. So he thinks silence is his safest option. This doesn't impress the judge, who threatens to hold Miedlow in contempt of court if he
24:28 Lindsay Graham? doesn't start talking. Miedlow's lips tremble as he looks first at the judge, then his lawyer, then the US Marshal staring at him from across the court. Finally, Miedlow gets to his feet and limps over to the witness stand. Slowly, he begins to give his evidence. His voice is flat and his answers to the prosecutor's questions come haltingly, as if he's reliving each moment as he speaks. He tells the jury how he watched civilians being herded into a ditch, and that he didn't understand why at first, but then he received a direct order from Lieutenant Callie to shoot them. Miedlow obeyed. He says he pulled the trigger, over and over again. He stopped only when his rifle jammed.
25:11 Lindsay Graham? People around the room glance at the defense table, watching for any sort of reaction. But Callie just stares straight ahead. Then Miedlow tells the jury that Callie's commanding officer, Captain Ernest Medina, arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting. He saw the bodies in the ditch, so he must have realized that they were mainly women, children, elderly men, without a weapon in sight. And yet, he said nothing to suggest anything was wrong. To Miedlow, that meant the killings must have been acceptable, because if that wasn't the case, then surely his captain would have disciplined them. The courtroom hears Miedlow's evidence in silence. After he's done, the prosecution rests its case, and it's time for the defense. When he gets to his feet, William Callie's attorney, George Latimer, tries to suggest
25:56 Lindsay Graham? another narrative. He insists that Callie is being made into a scapegoat, saying that the stress of combat fractured his client's judgment and that the chaos of war cannot be judged from behind a courtroom bench. Latimer adds that if this hearing is really about accountability, then the military command structure and the politicians in Washington should be the ones on trial, not a young, impressionable man who was just taking orders. The courtroom battle continues back and forth for months. Finally, in the middle of March 1971, the attorneys for both sides finish and the jury is sent off to deliberate. Lieutenant William Callie has reason to be hopeful. At the beginning of the year, another soldier was acquitted by a military jury despite admitting that he'd killed civilians.
26:41 Lindsay Graham? His defense was that he too was just following orders. Then more recently, charges against Division Commander Major General Coster were dropped entirely. Despite being the highest-ranking officer named in the peers' report, he's walked away from the scandal with only a reduction in rank and no court martial whatsoever. For William Callie, those two outcomes feel like lifelines. But whether he wants to admit it to himself or not, his case is different. He's always been the face of the massacre at Mealy, and if anyone is going down for the atrocity, it will be him.
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28:31 Lindsay Graham? On March 29, 1971, after four long months of testimony and 13 days of deliberations, a military jury delivers its verdict. Lieutenant William Calley is guilty of the premeditated murder of at least 22 unarmed Vietnamese civilians. The judge sentences Calley to life in prison with hard labor. For a moment, it looks like the Army is making an example out of Calley and that some semblance of justice will be done for the dead of Milai. But within hours, the American public erupts in outrage.
29:13 Lindsay Graham? Calley's face flashes across newspapers, television screens, and protest signs across the country, not as a convicted war criminal, but as a symbol of sacrifice and betrayal. Polls show that more than 75% of Americans disagree with the jury's verdict. Some blame the chaos of Vietnam itself for the tragedy. Others point to the failure of leadership up the chain of command. To them, the real responsibility lies with the generals and the administration back in Washington. The only remaining court marshals on the horizon are for Captain Ernest Medina, Colonel Orin Henderson, and an intelligence officer. All three are men in leadership positions, but none of them are top brass.
29:54 Lindsay Graham? And Calley is the only lower-level officer on trial, even though there were other lieutenants and sergeants on the scene and other soldiers who pulled the trigger that morning in Milai. To the public, it looks like Calley alone is being punished for the crimes of many. Draft Board members resign in protest. Veterans turn in their service medals. And politicians on both sides of the aisle denounce the conviction. At a protest in New York, a young veteran named John Carey delivers a fiery address, arguing that blame should not be laid at the feet of a single lieutenant but with the system and the policymakers that put him in that position. A national campaign known as the Free Cali Movement quickly takes root. Rallies are organized and fundraisers are launched.
30:38 Lindsay Graham? Free Cali bumper stickers appear in towns across the country. And by the beginning of April 1971, over 5,000 letters about the case have been sent to President Richard Nixon at his San Clemente estate that's known as the Western White House.
30:56 Lindsay Graham? Nixon glares at a handwritten letter that's been forwarded to him. The words "Free Cali" screaming out from the page. "All these people think I should let him go. They're practically begging me to set him free like I'm the only one who can make it right." Nixon's chief of staff, Bob Haldeman, stands a few feet away, his arms folded cautiously. "Well, we need to be cognizant of the political fallout here, sir. I'm not saying don't get involved, but we don't want to step on the military's toes." "I'm the damn commander in chief. I am the military." "Well, of course, sir. I'm just thinking through the options." Nixon looks out the window toward the Pacific Ocean. "The people writing these letters, they're my people, my base. They don't see a criminal, they see a kid hung out to dry. If I don't do something, they'll think I agree with the jury.
31:39 Lindsay Graham? We'll lose all support for our Vietnam strategy. Pentagon isn't going to like you undermining them. The Pentagon's already made a mess of this, and I'm not going to wait around for them to fix it. I'm thinking about the majority of good, honest Americans here. They see Cali as just one of their own, some poor kid from Georgia who got in over his head." Haldeman hesitates. "So, what's the plan, sir?" Nixon sits down behind his desk. He clasps his hands together, thinking. "The boy's technically guilty of violating the rules of engagement, there's no doubt about that. But in a larger sense, he doesn't deserve this sentence. I want to keep my options open while we figure out what the appeal procedure would look like." Nixon makes a note on a yellow legal pad. "In the meantime, let's get the Pentagon on the line.
32:24 Lindsay Graham? Have them pull Cali from prison and put him under house arrest." "All right, sir." "And put out a press release, too. I want the people to know I took action. But don't make any other comments beyond that. I'll pardon him in the end, but if anyone asks now, it's this is just temporary. Pending legal review. Understood?"
32:42 Lindsay Graham? President Nixon's order is carried out, and William Calley is removed from his cell at Fort Benning and placed under house arrest. Officially, the move is merely procedural. But to the growing Free Calley movement, it feels like a victory. And to Nixon, it's one more fire contained and one more obstacle to his reelection removed. And over the next several months, the momentum of justice for the victims at Mele slows to a halt. In September 1971, Charlie Company Commander Captain Ernest Medina is acquitted at his court martial. And in December, Colonel Orin Henderson is cleared of covering up the killings. All told, of the 26 men who were initially charged following the peers inquiry, only William Calley is convicted.
33:26 Lindsay Graham? But following the acquittal of these other men, Calley's life sentence is quietly reduced, first to 20 years, then to 10. He serves just months before qualifying for parole. In late 1974, to the approval of most Americans, William Calley is a free man once again. And by this point, America's military involvement in Vietnam is all over. Despite the shadow of the Mele scandal, Richard Nixon won a landslide victory in the 1972 presidential election. And soon after he began his second term in office, he signed a peace treaty with the North Vietnamese. The bulk of US troops then left Vietnam, but the civil war in the country didn't end there. Fighting has continued, and after losing America's support,
34:10 Lindsay Graham? its former ally, South Vietnam, is increasingly on the back foot. In April 1975, its capital, Saigon, falls to communist forces, finally bringing the long and destructive struggle to an end. And while the people of Vietnam deal with the aftermath of the conflict in their country, the millions of Americans who served in the war tried to rebuild their lives back home. Many receive what feels like a cold welcome. Vietnam was an unpopular war, and those who fought in it are rarely hailed as heroes. Even men who showed courage under the most harrowing circumstances find themselves shunned. For years, helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson is vilified for his attempts to intervene at Mele. A congressman pushes for him to be court martialed,
34:54 Lindsay Graham? and he receives death threats after speaking out about what he saw. But eventually sentiments shift, though it takes decades, and men like Hugh Thompson receive the recognition they deserve. On a cold, gray morning in March 1998, reporters crowd around a small podium at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. Cameras click as a military band plays softly under the overcast sky. Beneath the looming dark stone of the memorial, Hugh Thompson stands in his ceremonial dress uniform beside his former door gunner Lawrence Colman. The two men are older now, their faces are weathered and their hair has gone gray. It's been exactly thirty years since they hovered over the village of Mela in their helicopter and tried to stop the killing.
35:39 Lindsay Graham? Today, the United States Army is finally rewarding their courage. An officer steps to the microphone and reads the citation. "Thompson has been awarded the Soldier's Medal, the Army's highest honor for heroism not involving combat with the enemy. With his actions at Mela, Thompson set the standard for all soldiers to follow." Applause echoes through the cool spring air. The moment is solemn and dignified, a small and belated acknowledgement of moral courage in a war that needed more. Because the massacre at Mela was not an isolated incident, a secret Pentagon investigation would later identify over three hundred other war crimes committed by US troops in Vietnam, including mass killings, rapes, and torture.
36:23 Lindsay Graham? What made Mela unique was its scale. And it wasn't just the killings that horrified the public, but the cover-up as well, the chain of silence that stretched from a muddy hamlet in Quang Ngai, all the way to the Pentagon and even the Oval Office. Together, the massacre and the cover-up shattered what was left of America's moral certainty about the war in Vietnam. And for many soldiers still in the field, it deepened their sense of confusion and betrayal, while for those back in the States, Mela became a symbol of everything that had gone wrong with the war, because it wasn't a story of a few men losing control, but the story of what can happen when a conflict devalues human life so thoroughly that murder becomes policy and silence becomes strategy.
37:11 Lindsay Graham? From Wondery, this is episode four of The Massacre at My Lai for American Scandal. In our next episode, I speak with former U.S. Army Colonel and historian Fred Bork about the William Kelly case and how the military justice system changed in response to the war in Vietnam.
37:35 Lindsay Graham? American Scandal is only possible because of listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. Be sure to follow American Scandal on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. And Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com. That's historyishuman.com. If you'd like to learn more about the massacre at My Lai, we recommend the books My Lai, Vietnam, 1968, and The Descent into Darkness by Howard Jones, Cover Up by Seymour Hersh,
38:18 Lindsay Graham? and The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story by Trent Andrews. This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. American Scandal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Christian Paraga, sound design by Gabriel Ghul, supervising sound designer Matthew Filler, music by Thrun. This episode is written and researched by Alex Burns, fact checking by Alyssa Jung Perry, managing producer Emily Burke, development by Stephanie Jens, senior producer Andy Beckerman. Executive producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Erin O'Flaherty for Wondery.
39:08 Speaker 06 Hey, I'm Cassie DePecce, the host of Against the Odds from Audible Originals. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who lived to tell the tale. In our latest series, we track the story of Hugh Glass, the real-life revenant that inspired the 2015 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1823, Glass was brutally mauled by a grizzly bear in present-day South Dakota and left for dead. His survival depended on trekking through 350 miles of wilderness alone with grave injuries. But he was driven by his thirst for revenge. Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
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