A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago • Hacker News Board

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#31

Post by Synaesthesia » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 3:19 AM UTC

captain_perl wrote: post #26

baddox wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See also: people who claim that the atomic bombings of Japan saved lives, and the people who claim that white people deserve credit for being the people who ended slavery in the United States.

As a student of WW2, millions of Japanese lives were saved by the atomic bombs: 1) Japanese military leaders were planning to continue fighting until no citizens were left: "even if the Japanese people die, their spirit will live on." Surrender rates in previous island battles were on the order of 1% (ie. 99% killed or seriously injured.) 2) the Japanese people were facing starvation had the war continued. The early…

This is not true, serious military figures in the US armed forces concluded that Japan was utterly defeated and was making peace feelers. They were basically defenseless at that stage of the war, against the bombing raids.

The civilian massacre could have been prevented by merely demonstrating the bomb. However they chose to experiment by dropping it on an city.

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#32

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 3:25 AM UTC

romwell wrote: post #12

I wouldn't call him forgotten - while I'm bad with remembering names, when I saw "My Lai", the first thing that came to mind was "that badass helicopter pilot who landed his helicopter between civilians and US soldiers, and threatened to open fire to protect the civilians". What I didn't know was that he took so much flak for that - from statements that he should be the one punished to death threats and dead animals…

[deleted]

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#33

Post by vbezhenar » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:07 AM UTC

baddox wrote: post #16

qubax wrote: post #11

It's a bit strange that we are remembering the "hero" but not the 500 or so innocent vietnamese men, women, children and infants who were raped, tortured and/or killed. Strange how we always have to make ourselves the good guys. The "heroes". If you look at the war photos. You'll see infants. Such a horrific war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre It's also strange that we say this is the worst event in vi…

See also: people who claim that the atomic bombings of Japan saved lives, and the people who claim that white people deserve credit for being the people who ended slavery in the United States.

History is written by victors.

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#34

Post by kungtotte » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:08 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #21

elboru wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s scary, we all like to judge others’ actions in order to feel morally superior, but what percentage of people would actually do something when they see their peers, friends, colleagues and superiors doing bad stuff? It’ll be always easier to go along and just fool yourself and say “I’m just following orders”

I suspect it's less about "following orders" and more about "war is hell". What would you or I do after a few months or years in hell? I for one hope never to find out.

A hell you didn't sign up for, you were drafted into it.

That makes for a big psychological difference I think.

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#35

Post by kungtotte » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:12 AM UTC

Synaesthesia wrote: post #31

captain_perl wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a student of WW2, millions of Japanese lives were saved by the atomic bombs: 1) Japanese military leaders were planning to continue fighting until no citizens were left: "even if the Japanese people die, their spirit will live on." Surrender rates in previous island battles were on the order of 1% (ie. 99% killed or seriously injured.) 2) the Japanese people were facing starvation had the war continued. The early…

This is not true, serious military figures in the US armed forces concluded that Japan was utterly defeated and was making peace feelers. They were basically defenseless at that stage of the war, against the bombing raids. The civilian massacre could have been prevented by merely demonstrating the bomb. However they chose to experiment by dropping it on an city.

Two cities.

They didn't stop at one, they did it twice.

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#36

Post by thereare5lights » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:19 AM UTC

romwell wrote: post #12

I wouldn't call him forgotten - while I'm bad with remembering names, when I saw "My Lai", the first thing that came to mind was "that badass helicopter pilot who landed his helicopter between civilians and US soldiers, and threatened to open fire to protect the civilians". What I didn't know was that he took so much flak for that - from statements that he should be the one punished to death threats and dead animals…

> What I didn't know was that he took so much flak for that - from statements that he should be the one punished to death threats and dead animals on his porch. Unsurprising, yet sad.

Pretty much to be expected in any situation where someone goes against convention. People are shitty when it comes to tribal issues.

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#37

Post by School-Cotton » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:36 AM UTC

gerdesj wrote: post #25

stevehb wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not blocked here in Taiwan. I wonder if they're blocking it because of the GDPR?

Yes it is almost certainly blocked due to a misunderstanding of what the GDPR is .

“Misunderstanding”? Not necessarily. More like “not caring enough about Europe to bother researching how to comply”.

This is the natural reaction when random parts of the world decide to try to regulate what sorts of sites you’re allowed to put on the internet.

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#38

Post by rmason » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:40 AM UTC

There are a lot of people who use the My Lai massacre as an example of the 'real' America. There are a lot of My Lai's and William Calley's in other countries throughout history. But far fewer Hugh Thompson's and to me that's the 'real' America.

In Michigan we've got the recent example of Dr. Hanna Attisha and the Flint water crisis. She was vilified by Flint officials, state officials and by the state's universities. The state health director called her irresponsible and execs at her hospital wanted her fired.

Worries made her physically ill. I do not know how she stood courageously for so long but she did. Eventually a Detroit Free Press article supported her and in time everyone withdrew their opposition.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/10/10/h...

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#39

Post by torstenvl » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:41 AM UTC

Another hero, whom I as a judge advocate personally admire, is Captain Aubrey Daniel III, the prosecutor in the case against Calley. While still on active duty, he wrote a letter to President Nixon urging him not to intervene.

Thompson displayed both physical and moral courage, whereas Daniel was never in any danger to life or limb. But his moral courage is courage nonetheless.

https://www.famous-trials.com/mylaicourts/1623-daniels-ltr

Re: A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago

#40

Post by Latteland » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 4:44 AM UTC

Synaesthesia wrote: post #31

captain_perl wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a student of WW2, millions of Japanese lives were saved by the atomic bombs: 1) Japanese military leaders were planning to continue fighting until no citizens were left: "even if the Japanese people die, their spirit will live on." Surrender rates in previous island battles were on the order of 1% (ie. 99% killed or seriously injured.) 2) the Japanese people were facing starvation had the war continued. The early…

This is not true, serious military figures in the US armed forces concluded that Japan was utterly defeated and was making peace feelers. They were basically defenseless at that stage of the war, against the bombing raids. The civilian massacre could have been prevented by merely demonstrating the bomb. However they chose to experiment by dropping it on an city.

I think it's more complicated than that. There were at least some people who were not planning to surrender. If it was up to me, I would have probably dropped it on a mostly uninhabited island near Japan. It's probably true we wanted to scare the Russians with our new super weapon.

But the big question is if Japan was close to surrendering anyway is why didn't Japan surrender after the first one, why did it take a second one?