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editorial n n j| e| | states Of America «s. William L. Calley
The court-martial, conviction
and sentencing of First
Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr.
will be noted in the annals of the
United States of America as a
tragic illustration of the
blemishes that warfare inflicts
on a nation. Never before has
the armed forces of this country
been so viciously attacked by its
citizenry. Not only has the
military suffered, but likewise,
so have the people of this
nation. The agonies of war are
not particular when it spreads its
disease. It affects us all.
During the past weeks, we
have been subjected to cries of
“murderer,” “scapegoat,”
premeditation,” etc. Before one
hurriedly denounces the Army
for convicting Lieut. Calley, one
must know why he was brought
to trial. On the morning of
March 16, 1968, the men of
Charlie Company, Ist Battalion,
20th Infantry of the 11th
Infantry Brigade, Americal
Division moved' into
Songmy-Mylai 4 (Pinkville).
Their mission was to search for
and destroy the 48th Vietcong
Battalion that Army intelligence
had reported had infdtrated the
village. Army intelligence had
also reported that the women
and children of Mylai 4 would
be in the marketplace of a
nearby village. As history has
sadly recorded though, neither
report was accurate for on that
fateful morning, the VC weren’t
in Pinkville, but women and
children were.
According to the sentence
brought forth at the
court-martial against Lieut.
Calley, he committed, with
premeditation, the murder of 22
non-combatant Vietnamese
civilians. Initially, Calley had
been charged with 102 counts of
murder. Because of the
contridictions in the testimony
of the prosecution and defense
witnesses, the six-man,
all-military jury found Calley
guilty of the 22 murders. The
important factor to remember is
that throughout the trial, the
Army attempted to establish and
justify its conception of “right
and wrong” in a combat zone.
This perhaps is the - most
troublesome aspect for us to
recognize, let alone comprehend.
The involvement of the United
States in Indochina has never
been popular with the citizenry
of this nation. Our activities in
the countries of Indochina have
been labeled everything from
‘'immoral” to “unconstitu
tional.” Therefore, the “deck
was stacked” against the Army
before it ever brought Calley to
trial. How could the Army
justify the conviction of one of
its own on charges of murder in
a war that a majority of the
people it defends is vehemently
opposed to? As is seen now by
the outpouring of sympathy for
Calley, it is having a hard time
doing so.
STAFF OF CAPITOUST:
EDITOR: Rosemary Scanlon
ASSOCIATE EDITORS:
Lee Nell
Tom Hagan
BUSINESS MANAGERS:
Richard Marx
Roger Hawkins
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT:
Jim Benn
by Terry K. Wimmer
Is Lieut. Calley guilty? The
Army has rendered that decision
and based on the evidence
presented at the court-martial, I
concur, in part, with the verdict.
There is no justification in a
non-combat situation (which
Mylai 4 was since there was no
evidence of enemy presence) for
the cold-blooded murder of
innocent women and children.
To condone such an action
would be like providing
sanctuary to an individual who
has entered your home and
murdered your family. This
nation must never allow its
emotions to guide our
conception of justice. Likewise,
the people of this nation must
demand that the full account as
to the high-level responsibility of
the massacre at Mylai 4 be
brought to light.
Was Lieut. Calley a
“scapegoat” by following the
orders of a higher authority? As
a result of the initial inquiries
made by the Army into the
massacre, 25 officers and
enlisted men were accused on
various charges stemming from
murder to failing to report a
felony. Since that time, charges
against 19 men were dropped, 2
were acquitted, 3 are still
awaiting court-martial and of
course, Calley was convicted.
The most prominent of those
accused were two Gencrals-Maj.
Gen. Samuel Kostcr and Brig.
Gen. George Young. Both men
were charged with a various
amount of violations. The
amazing and highly questionable
factor involved is that the
charges against these two men
were dropped, but, the Army
Chief of Staff, William C.
Westmoreland has recommended
to the Pentagon that they be
demoted in rank. Why? If their
charges have been dropped, why
arc they being punished? Could
it be that the Army is
attempting to avoid the
embarrassment that the
court-martialing of two Generals
would bring? Gen.
Westmoreland’s actions tend to
Iced fire to, rather than cool off
an already hotly debated
question.
There is though another
factor that could of sealed Lieut.
Calley’s fate. Throughout the
trial, Calley claimed that he was
acting on orders from his
Company Commander, Capt.
Ernest Medina, to destroy
“everyone and everything” in
Mylai 4. If this is the case, Calley
was still guilty of murder for the
U.S. Manual of Court-Martial
states that a soldier must
disobey an order that “a man of
ordinary sense and
understanding would know to be
illegal.” If Capt. Medina is
convicted of murder at his
upcoming court-martial, it could
conceivably be that either
Medina alone gave Calley the
massacre orders or that Medina
himself was given orders by a
CONTRIBUTORS:
Lu Ann Berulis
Missy Rotundaro
Bill Winkler
Michael Rix
Terry Wimmer
Dan Durante
Chandler Wolf
Tony McGovern
Skip Lewis
Charlie Bussison
Paul Snyder
THE CAPITOLIST
higher authority to destroy
Mylai 4. If the latter is the case,
Calley has had his day in court
and we must demand that those
equally as guilty must have
theirs.
Lieut. William Calley is the
victim of a war machine that has
become corroded by its tragic
blunders in Indochina. But yet
we have made Calley a strange
kind of hero. We have
consistantly protested the usage
of napalm on suspected enemy
villages, the pattern bombing of
non-military targets in North
Vietnam between 1965 and
1968, the policy of “free fire”
zones in South Vietnam in
which every living thing is to be
killed, etc. But yet we call the
court-martial of a man who was
convicted of throwing an
innocent, frail baby into a ditch
and unemotionally firing
flesh-burning tracer bullets into
its body a “miscarriage of
justice.” We must not permit our
emotions to separate our
conception of decency.
The green abyss of Vietnam
will haunt this nation and its
people for decades to come. My
only hope is that we are not
haunted by our sympathy for
Lieut. Calley and that those who
are equally as guilty are brought
to trial. For this nation and its
people to survive, justice must
prevail and U.S. involvement in
Indochina must irrevocably and
mercifully come to an end.
Dear Editor:
A few of the items of
business carried on at the regular
meetings of the Resident
Student Council during the first
two terms were: a priority list of
Resident Hall improvements
(some of which have already
been accomplished) others such
as cable TV we hope will be
installed this term, a Senior
Award, a jukebox for the dining
hall, a refrigerator, Resident
student complaints, and the
success of having Mr. Herpel and
Dean South and wife stay
overnight in the dorm to meet
students, answer questions and
hear problems of residence life.
On-going responsibilities of
the Council include governance
of the residence halls area and
participation in the selection of
Resident Assistants.
For the Spring Term,
Resident Student Council will
increase its membership from 6
to 12 members and all other
resident students are welcome to
their meetings. (Ask your
representative for time and
place).
Although the Resident
Student Council has been at
work, we hope through
increased membership to be
more effective in the future in
achieving resident student goals
through greater participation
and involvement in the
Residence Halls setting.
For the Spring Term, the
Resident Student Council has
planned a meeting of resident
students with Mr. Hefkin and
also plan to have Dean Grimm
stay overnight in the residence
hall.
Doug Megla
Former Chairman, R.S.C.
Dear Penn State
As I start my sixth and last
term attending you, because I
am a senior, I wanted to take the
time to write you a letter
concerning my education here.
Before I go any further,
STUDENTS RALLY
TO PROTEST WAR
PEACE TABLE-Located near the Round Table, is the place to find
out the information about Mayday activities. Here, Lee Levan and
Michael Blank distribute information. Sign-up sheets for buses are
available here.
The final call-Mayday—
Everyone out for the first seven
days in May to Stop the
War-Bring the men, the money,
and the priorities back home!
May 1 through 7 will be the
hardest hitting action of our
campaign in bringing the
government around to the
concept of serving the people’s
interests. In alignment with
organizations and campuses
throughout the country, Capitol
Campus is preparing its
contingent for the non-violent
civil disobedience of the May
actions.
To The Editor:
Letters
however, I just want to tell you
that the education you gave me
was a good one, for which I am
very grateful.
Knowing that you are a large
school, it is expected that you
should have some hang-ups, as
all large schools do. You,
however, seem to have more
than your fair share. Although I
do not know how things are at
University Park, I do know how
your Capitol Campus is, because
that is where I go, and that is the
campus that I am going to talk
about.
When I was ready to transfer
from Community College, to
you Penn State, I was as happy
and thrilled as can be. For I had
always considered you as one of
the best schools in the country,
and I still do. I was also happy
to experience the new living
ideas found in Meade Heights. I
was really fortunate to room
with guys that I got along with.
And I found that in general
everybody out here is great.
I soon found out, however,
that your Capitol Campus wasn’t
all the paradise that it looked
like. Don’t get me wrong, I do
think that this place is great. The
only problems here, Penn State,
are some of the people who
work for you.
Now I realize that all schools
have good and bad working for
them, but your Capitol Campus
has some real doozies. I
wouldn’t dream of mentioning
names, but I can tell you that
they run from the
administration down through
the faculty and staff.
I think the main problem is
that these people don’t really
care about students, or student
development. Some of the
Professors, for instance, are only
trying to make a name for
themselves. These Professors are
in all curriculums, not confined
to just one. I honestly think
some of them have a contest to
see who can give the most
“ridiculously” hardest test.
Some of them try to make
MAYDAY MAYDAY
Wednesday, April 14, 1971
We will be going to
Washington D.C. to end the war,
to demand a minimum annual
income of $6,500, to free all
political prisoners, and poor
people.
The time is now!
IF THE GOVERNMENT
WON’T STOP THE WAR, THE
PEOPLE WILL STOP THE
GOVERNMENT!
Help bring peace to the
world...
Let’s go to WASHINGTON!
Buses leaving from Capitol
for the April 24 and May rallies.
Sign up at the Peace Table,
Main Lobby.
passing a course as hard as
walking to the moon. Still
others, on the other hand, don’t
teach a damn thing, but are first
in line on pay day.
The administration is almost
as good as some of the faculty.
It seems as though everytime a
good administrator or staff
member comes along that’s all
for the students—they’re fired or
an attempt is made to fire them!
Tell me, Penn State, why is it
.that it’s always the good ones
that are fired, and the
“self-ambitious” ones are the
ones who stay? Why is it that
the ones who stay care only
about themselves and their
future, and the hell with us?
A few weeks ago, some of us
students didn’t get paid. Some
of our wonderful administrators
acted like, “so what!” I wish
there was some way you could
hold up their pay—then we
students could say, “so what!”
Not everyone down here is
like this though. Some of the
people that work for you are
tremendous, and they should be
justly rewarded. Some of the
Professors are the greatest (not
too many, though), and I wish
you could reward them too. It’s
just unfortunate that the bad is
out doing the good.
In closing, I just want to tell
you that I still think you’re one
of the best schools a person
could pick. Sure, you’ve got
your hang-ups, but doesn’t
everyone.
And when it comes time for
my kids to go to college, I’m
going to send them to you, Penn
State. Hopefully, by then, all
those persons who take the fun
out of going to you will be long
gone. And I am sure that my
children will be as proud to go
to you as I have been.
Sincerely,
Samuel Jay Korson
Senior Class 1971
For Sale
‘67 Honda 90, 944-7837.