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The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime Of Obedience By Herbert C. Kelman

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The explanation of why upright people execute wrongful actions can be interpreted in multiple ways. In "The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience," Herbert C. Kelman, a professor of social ethics, and V. Lee Hamilton, a sociologist, discuss how the use of authorization, routinization, and dehumanization can be used to carry out unethical actions like in the My Lai Massacre. The American Law assumes that subordinates should be obeying orders, and when linked to obeying superiors, moral principles become inoperative. Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst and the author of "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem," explains how the different types of mind set and authority can be noticeably effective in whether one is obedient. Humanistic …show more content…

When it comes to the different kinds of authority, having to use force or suggestion to follow an order is considered irrational authority while acting in the name of reason is known as rational authority. In the film A Few Good Men, Dawson and Downey blindly follow commands not only because it was their duty to, but due to the mind set they were trained in and the three social processes that created conditions in which moral thoughts against violence become weakened. By following an order from their superior, Dawson and Downey received punishment due to it being an unethical order, and Kelman and Hamilton effectively explain how their situation involves authorization. For authorization to exist, the subordinates are required to obey in the terms of their role obligations instead of their personal preferences (K & H 139). In the My Lai Massacre, Lt. Calley was originally charged with 109 killings because of an

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The official version of My Lai made the massacre sound as if it was an effective search-and-destroy mission that had killed suspected enemy soldiers of the Vietcong. “[Leader of the operation, Lieutenant Colonel Frank] Barker said to his superiors in his combat action report, noting that the ‘operation was well planned, well executed and successful.’” (Gorn et al 2010) In reality this was a massacre of over 500 innocent

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The United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War that was now escalating with the Vietcong before the My Lai Massacre occurred. They had the intention of going to My Lai to find and attack the Vietcong. On the morning of March 16, 1968, US soldiers flew in helicopters into My Lai 4 with the mission of clearing the area of Communists and to only fight the enemy, not civilians. The soldiers landed and started to move through My Lai 4 expecting to battle with the Vietcong, but the area was only occupied by civilians. Despite the mission to not kill any civilians, and seeing no traces of the enemy, Lieutenant Calley “ordered his men to kill the unarmed civilians”

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The responsibility was laid out to them clearly, but the decision to downplay this massacre would lead to events soldiers wished never happened. By omission and commission, they suppressed reports of the incident and submitted false or misleading accounts to higher headquarters. (My Lai Massacre) By suppressing the news of the massacre, Calley and his fellow officers just dug themselves a deep hole. Surely they should have expected the cause and effect from this small decision.

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