then was moved to Fort Lewis, Washington to train as a clerk. Calley then .
decided to apply to Officer Candidates School, where he would go through a six .
month program, that would make him into a 2nd Lieutenant. By the time he .
graduated, he was to go to Schofield Barracks Hawaii to train the men of .
Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry. In December of 1967, Charlie .
Company was sent to Vietnam. (Crime Library). .
None of his men had respect for him, and did not trust him. One .
of his men said "I wonder how he got through Officer's Candidate School, .
he couldn't read no darn map and a compass would confused his ass." .
Another man said "Calley is just gung-ho and has no common sense.
because he is small he must have been pushed around all his life by .
bigger people. Once he got in the Army he found he had a lot of .
authority." Another GI said he was a glory hungry person, and would.
sacrifice all his men for his own advancement. He was also described.
as a nervous type who liked to yell and was incompetent. The men .
distrusted him so much, that they offered a reward to the man who .
would shoot him. Even his commanding officer, a career Army officer; .
Captain "Mad Dog" Medina, always called him "Lieutenant Shithead" .
in front of his platoon, and always said "Listen Sweetheart." (law.umck). .
On March 15, 1968, Charlie Company had a memorial service for .
Sgt. George Cox, who was killed the day before by a booby trap close to .
QL-1, outside of Captain Medina's hooch. They became very angry with the .
Viet Cong. The next morning, March 16, Calley ordered his men to go on a .
"search and destroy" mission. At about 7:20 a.m. the men of Charlie .
Company got into the Huey choppers, checking their supplies and .
ammunition, and was ready to get even with the Viet Cong. At about .
7:45 a.m., Charlie Company landed in My Lai. The villagers did no run, .
they knew that if they did, the Americans would think they were Viet Cong.