As an addendum to my entry about Hugh Thompson, I have to relay the story of The Wife’s association with Lt. William Calley.
Obviously, she’s too young to have actually known Calley, having been born…some time after My Lai even took place. Her parents, on the other hand, were quite aware. The Mother-in-Law was a staunch liberal, and followed Calley’s trial with interest. The Father-in-Law was in the Army at the time, and while he probably didn’t follow the case as closely, he had a deeper connection. I’m not going to post family photos (especially when they aren’t my family), but trust me when I say that in the mid-70s, the Father-in-Law was a dead ringer for the man behind the My Lai Massacre. I’m told when he was in uniform and out in public during Calley’s trial in the late ‘60s, there were actual fears for his safety.
All that really proves is how drug-addled Americans really were in the 1960s, considering Calley was being tried in Ft. Benning, Georgia, while the Father-in-Law was stationed in New York.
The best part, if you want to call that, came in 1974, when Calley was going through his appeals. He got a lot of face time on the network news, and the infant who would one day become The Wife would point to him on TV, calling him “Daddy,” much to her mother’s dismay. Luckily, her dad retired from the Army, and no permanent mental scarring took place. That I know of.
Good thing none of her extended family resembles Charles Manson.
Most cromulent subject header ever.
Charles Manson, nah. David Berkowitz... oh dear.