Friday, October 26, 2018

My Lai prosecutor interview

President Richard M. Nixon
John Partin, who prosecuted the Calley case with Aubrey M. Daniel III, has given this fascinating interview to the Columbus, Georgia, Ledger-Enquirer. Then-Captain Partin was six months out of law school when he got the assignment. Both he and Captain Daniel wrote protest letters to President Richard M. Nixon when Nixon intervened in Calley's favor:
He criticized the president for “no condemnation from your office of all the persons within this grand society who reacted with threats of violence against the court members, the judge, and other participants. . . . The failure to condemn such acts is an implicit condonation of their acts, at least to them.”

Partin concluded his letter to Nixon with this declaration: “Expediency and politics are not going to provide the backbone for a rejuvenation of the spirit of America which you have said you wanted for this country. These actions can only delay that much needed rejuvenation.”

He never received a response.

1 comment:

  1. But the current person of interest does not read (or care about) history, so the evil of Calley and the man in the van do not resonate.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are subject to moderation and must be submitted under your real name. Anonymous comments will not be posted (even though the form seems to permit them).