University of Virginia Library

Bloody Hands

But the tragedy of My Lai and
its trial is precisely that Lieutenant
Calley and his men may be found
guilty and punished and the Army
and the nation may thus believe
that they have washed their bloody
hands.

For such a catharsis would be a
cleansing of only the tip of an
iceberg, as My Lai's big and small,
purposeful and accidental are the
way of war in Vietnam.

And the only escape from such
dilemmas is to leave them behind us
in Vietnam.