History Essay
Andreu Silverman
April 25, 2005
Period B-6
Jesus Was a Gook
Who was Mike the Mormon? Mike the Mormon was the exact opposite of Ron Ridenhour. A devout Christian and, in a way, a very innocent child. But, as stated in the laws of magnetism, opposites attract, and Mike became good friends with Ridenhour. They discussed more than anything, religion. Being a good little Mormon boy, Mike tried to convert Ron the atheist. In Ron’s view, Jesus was a revolutionary and a political activist who failed in his attempt to fake his own death when he was crucified and stabbed by a Roman guard. Even though they constantly argued about different topics concerning religion, Mike the Mormon was his faithful (in more than one way) companion. Mike was also in the Unit responsible for the My Lai massacre. After he transferred into a different division, he just happened to be sent with Lt. Calley to My Lai.
Lt. William Laws Calley was the commander of a platoon in Vietnam. Under his command, 400 civilians, mostly women and children, were cold-bloodedly murdered on the pretext that they were communist sympathizers and that they were aiding the Viet Cong.
Lt.Calley was court marshalled after Ron Ridenhour sent a letter to certain members of the War Department. Calley was arrested in October of 1969 and sentenced to life in prison on 44 counts of murder. His sentence was later reduced to 20 years and he was pardoned by Nixon.
As a result of the massacre, people lost faith in the Vietnam War and were shocked at the behaviorof their boys abroad. When the news of the massacre were released, public support for the war vanished.
April 25, 2005
Period B-6
Jesus Was a Gook
Who was Mike the Mormon? Mike the Mormon was the exact opposite of Ron Ridenhour. A devout Christian and, in a way, a very innocent child. But, as stated in the laws of magnetism, opposites attract, and Mike became good friends with Ridenhour. They discussed more than anything, religion. Being a good little Mormon boy, Mike tried to convert Ron the atheist. In Ron’s view, Jesus was a revolutionary and a political activist who failed in his attempt to fake his own death when he was crucified and stabbed by a Roman guard. Even though they constantly argued about different topics concerning religion, Mike the Mormon was his faithful (in more than one way) companion. Mike was also in the Unit responsible for the My Lai massacre. After he transferred into a different division, he just happened to be sent with Lt. Calley to My Lai.
Lt. William Laws Calley was the commander of a platoon in Vietnam. Under his command, 400 civilians, mostly women and children, were cold-bloodedly murdered on the pretext that they were communist sympathizers and that they were aiding the Viet Cong.
Lt.Calley was court marshalled after Ron Ridenhour sent a letter to certain members of the War Department. Calley was arrested in October of 1969 and sentenced to life in prison on 44 counts of murder. His sentence was later reduced to 20 years and he was pardoned by Nixon.
As a result of the massacre, people lost faith in the Vietnam War and were shocked at the behaviorof their boys abroad. When the news of the massacre were released, public support for the war vanished.