i, like most people, was really affected by the mylai video we watched in class yesterday. i somewhat agree with what Kasey was saying about it being human nature to kill the way that those men did. i wouldn't go so far to say it was nature that made those soldiers kill the way they did, but i do think it came naturally to them, if that makes any sense. as much as i don't want to believe it, there's hate out there everywhere. this, to me, was just another example of a hate crime. it happened in europe during the knotsie regimen. it happened in america during the civil rights movement. and it happened during the vietnam war. ignorance breeds hate, and i believe that's what happened. what really affected me was how much the mylai massacre paralleled what happened in germany only 60 years ago. both of my grandparents were part of the holocaust, and their stories disgust me as much as the mylai video did. in my opinion, there is no excuse for what those men did, regardless of what orders they were given. they were told to kill; not to rape, scalp, and tear away all dignities from the people of mylai. that is just inescusable.

I am glad you made the connection between the film and your own family experience in Germany. The outrage causes us to wonder about our humanity and what we are capable of. I believe it can be the beginning of thinking about a way of life where things like this never happen again.

Rebekah

I agree that there were no excuse for what those men did to the people of Mylai. I realize they were given orders to kill. But, like you said they were not told to rape and scalp. Watching this video depressed me so much. I think back about the girl that watched her sister being raped and then killed. I just couldn't imagine that feeling or having to go through something that brutal and terrifying.

I was also affected by the MyLai video. It was shocking to see what these soldiers did to the people of that village. The stories of people watching their family members get raped and killed in front of them was hard to sit through. One of the biggest shocks for me was that this was the first time I had even heard of MyLai and what had occurred. I was wondering if anyone else was in that same position?

the video last week really affected me. i could not imagine watching someone kill and mutulate my family. My Dad was in the war and now i know why he won't ever talk about it. Just trying to put it into words does not even do it justice. I wish i could explain to everyone how bad the video makes me feel for all of those people who had to endure that torture. All i can really say about it is we made a huge mistake and hopefully we can learn from that mistake.

This video ate at my heart very much. I know that I shouldn't let my emotions take control of my thoughts, but here is where I have such a hard time doing that. It disgust me so much that people could go into a village and do what those men did. I can't even imagine what it must have really been like. The thing that gets to me the most is that the men at the top of this opperation, the ones who continued to order the attack after knowing that these people were just civilians, could just get away with murder. The man in Georgia should have been taken to an International Court and tried for War Crimes. I love how men wearing an American uniform can get away with almost anything in this world. We hardly ever do anything to our soldiers who commit such acts (which happen more than we would like to think). A US soldier is to good for punishment for War Crimes, unlike any other soldier in the world. If it had been another country who had done that act, you better believe that the men in charge of that opperation would have been punished for their acts that day. Isn't it wonderful to know that our soldiers are above the law in almost every way. I also understand the arguement that these men were just reacting to the pressures that they had been recieving by the deaths of their commrads by the unseen enemy. That is why I only strike at those in charge of the opperation. The men in charge should have been clear headed enough to not let something like that cloud their judgement and let innocent men, women, and children be murdered. They should have put an end to the fighting when they saw there was no hostiles in the village. They should have had more control and that is why I can't bring myself to let them off as easily as they have already gotten off!

I was also really disturbed by this video. But at the same time I was at a loss of thought for how the men involved should have been punished, if at all. It is a really hard answer to determine and I also talked with my dad about this after class two weeks ago. I asked him if he thought the US men should have been punished. And his response was summed up like this, that is truly a hard question to answer, because men in the army are torn down to be built up (if that means anything to you all). I think what he meant by that was, men who are trained to fight, first have to be torn down, from everything they have ever learned, torn down mentally and physically, just to be rebuilt by the leaders. They are rebuilt to be killers, and haters of the enemy. That whole theme is what hurts me the most. Because these men that are fighting are going to have to live this way the rest of their lives.

I know this does not make up for the things they did, however it does somewhat give me an understanding of why it went on. It doesn't make their actions any less hurtful to me, or any less heart breaking, but what my dad told me does give me some feeling towards the men fighting?! I don't know, this whole issue is really difficult to understand and to solve.