Hang Lt. Calley

Annotation

Country singer Smokey Harless sung for US military personnel stationed in Germany in the early 1970s, and he released a couple records on German based labels. This included the patriotic song "Men of Vietnam", and an anti-hippie track called "Place for Them Called Hell". The title of this song - "Hang Lt. Calley" (Pabst Music # PA 71006) - is misleading. It suggested that Calley should be punished for the massacre. But in fact Harless defended the actions of Calley, telling the government to "go ahead and hang Lt. Calley", so that they will not "feel so ashamed" for training American boys to kill, and then sending them off to war - in others words, Harless suggested the government used Calley as a scapegoat, to cover-up their own responsibility. Like other Calley songs discussed above, he made a comparison to the death of Jesus: "they'll nail him to the cross". The narrator also made a comparison on public attitudes towards indiscriminate killings - during the Second World War the US killed many civilians (men, woman, and children) when bombing Germany and Japan "at your applause and command". But, the narrator suggested, in Vietnam, and the My Lai killings, people considered such…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

Performed to troops stationed in Germany, all records released in Germany

About the artist

Born on 28 Jun 1937 in Iaeger, McDowell Co, West Virginia, USA. Fied on 3 Feb 1996.

Themes

Patriotic · My Lai · Pro-Calley · Calley-Jesus · Calley-Order · Calley-Danger · WW2 · Japan

In collections

My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs