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– Mrs. Myrtle Meadlo’s greeting to journalist Seymour Hersh at the door to her farmhouse
Paul Meadlo was standing guard over almost fifty villagers, men, women and children — including babies — all shivering with fear when Lieutenant Calley approached.
“You know what to do with them, don’t you?”
Calley asked.
“Yes.” Meadlo said. He thought that meant to
continue guarding the villagers.
But when Calley returned, all the villagers were sitting on the ground.
“How come you ain’t killed them yet?” Calley asked. “I didn’t think you wanted us to kill them, that you just wanted us to guard them,” said Meadlo.
“No, I want them dead.”
Meadlo and another soldier began to back away.
Both Meadlo and Calley sprayed clip after clip of
deadly fire into their screaming and defenseless
victims. Mothers frantically scrambled to shield
their children.
Meadlo broke down in tears and tried to give his
weapon to another soldier.
A few children stood in a daze, bewildered that their mothers and grandparents lay still before them. Calley began to shoot the children one by one with his rifle.
The next day, Meadlo stepped on a mine and lost his foot. As he was lifted on the stretcher to be loaded on the helicopter he yelled at Calley:
“Why did you do it? Why did you do it? This is God’s punishment to me, Calley, but you will get yours! GOD WILL PUNISH YOU…”
Sources:
– Howard Jones, My Lai: Vietnam 1968, and the Descent into Darkness
– Seymour Hersh video interview, Democracy Now