The War Crimes

Annotation

A spoken word release (Flying Dutchman # FDS-118) in which Rosko narrated the newspaper articles of Pete Hamill - an American journalist who in the 1960s wrote for the New York Post, reporting from Vietnam.1 It took a highly critical view of the Vietnam War, the military, and the politicians of the era, such as President Eisenhower and President Nixon. Produced by Bob Thiele, founder of Flying Dutchman, it featured background music from Ron Carter (bass) and James Spaulding (flute). Nat Hentoff, music critic and historian, wrote the linear notes to the record. Hamill also wrote the words for the 1970 record Murder at Kent State University (Flying Dutchman # FDS-127). Billboard noted the album on 28 February 1970, saying that "Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label again collaborated with WNEW-FM's Rosko...to spotlight writer Peter Hamill's description of the alleged 'Massacre at My Lai' in Vietnam. A dramatic contribution to anti-war literature...a followup to Robert Scheer's A Night at Santa Rita, another attempt at creative criticism against US militarism and censorship".2 Hamill argued that while "poor, dumb Calley, will be court martialed" the politicians would be able to write their memoirs, and the military leaders would be free. But Hamill also said that following orders was not an acceptable excuse to commit a massacre. In the first track, "The War Crimes", he described the war as "the obscene slime of Asia".Sources1Wikipedia: William (Rosko) Mercer↩2Billboard, 28 February 1970↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Poor, lost America, clean, honorable, decent, even naive / Now wallowing in the obscene slime of Asia / In the 50s the Republicans got away with everything because they had a war hero heading the cast / Now we are paying for all of it / It was Eisenhower who made Nixon respectable.... / It was Eisenhower who allowed John Foster Dulles to indulge his missionary brand of foreign policy / Nixon went on T.V. to tell of the communist massacres / Massacres that cannot be justified... / But he only sends his press secretary to talk about Song My... / Lt. Calley, who was just another digit in a military system that has been morally corrupted / Poor, dumb Calley, will be court martialed All of us must sleep tonight in the knowledge that we share / In mass murder, can we look deep into the photographs by Ronald L. Haeberle and deny what they tell us? / That girl...she is about 10 and terrified / Hiding behind a shrunken woman / In a moment she is about to be liberated forever by the guns of Americans / We don't know her name...we will never know

About the artist

Born 24 June 1935, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Died 5 August 2020, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Themes

Anti-War · My Lai · Anti-Calley · Calley-Order

In collections

Jazz Songs · My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]