Young Bill Calley

Annotation

The track "Young Bill Calley" (K.O. Records # PMI-102) argued that "Calley wasn't guilty all alone, he had help at hand" - this helping hand was the US government, yet to some extent that verse still recognised Calley's guilt over My Lai. The narrator said that Calley had been a "soldier by Uncle Sam", who took "him away from his home", putting a gun in his hand and sending him "down in Vietnam". His purpose there was to fight, not to question "why or what for". Therefore, the narrator suggested that the US government should bear some responsibility for the massacre. Composed by Lee Ofman, and accompanied by Wayne Chaney - who released his own version of the song: Young Bill Calley (K.O. Records # PMI-101). Lee Ofman later became famous for composing the Miami Dolphins No.1 football song in 1972. Ofman, currently a lawyer based in Franklin, Tennessee, studied at the University of Houston in 1968, the location of K.O. Records.12Sources1palmbeachpost.com: Author of miami dolphins reworked fight song still (archived copy)↩2Sun Sentinel: First and 25 (25 January 1998)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs

The track "Young Bill Calley" (K.O. Records # PMI-102) argued that "Calley wasn't guilty all alone, he had help at hand" - this helping hand was the US government, yet to some extent that verse still recognised Calley's guilt over My Lai. The narrator said that Calley had been a "soldier by Uncle Sam", who took "him away from his home", putting a gun in his hand and sending him "down in Vietnam". His purpose there was to fight, not to question "why or what for". Therefore, the narrator suggested that the US government should bear some responsibility for the massacre. Composed by Lee Ofman, and accompanied by Wayne Chaney - who released his own version of the song: "Young Bill Calley" (K.O. Records # PMI-101). Lee Ofman later became famous for composing the "Miami Dolphins No.1" football song in 1972. Ofman, currently a lawyer based in Franklin, Tennessee, studied at the University of Houston in 1968, the location of K.O. Records.12 Sources1palmbeachpost.com: Author of miami dolphins reworked fight song still (archived copy)↩2Sun Sentinel: First and 25 (25 January 1998)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Call all him a hero, call him a villain / His name is William Calley and he's history / A man by the grace of god, a soldier by Uncle Sam / A second lieutenant, down in Vietnam / We took him away from his home USA / Gave him instructions with a gun in his hand / Said 'son this is war, it is up to you to survive / But nobody made exception to a place called My Lai / He understand and he took his riffle / Heading for a hill he had never known / He came to serve his country by fighting this war / He never hesitated, with a 'why or what for' / Young Bill Calley, Vietnam is your nation's story / We made you a soldier, a good one at heart / Them put you in prison.... / Calley wasn't guilty all alone / He had help at hand

Notes

K.O. Records PMI-102, 511 W. Alabama, Houston, Texas, 713/526 6397; "Young Bill Calley" (Lee Ofman), 3:15, LOSAC Music, BMI; Lee Ofman with Wayne Chaney & Friends; produced by Joe Ford & Lee Ofman. Red label. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Lee Ofman was an American songwriter and musician who grew up in Galveston, Texas, graduating from Galveston Ball High School in 1964, played the Louisiana club circuit, and is best remembered for writing 'Miami' (1972), the Miami Dolphins fight song; he later qualified in law and established a practice in Franklin, Tennessee, among whose clients was the country singer Mindy McCready. [Source: Discogs (artist profile)]

Themes

My Lai · Patriotic · Pro-Calley · Anti-Government · Pro-Soldier

In collections

Garage Rock Songs · My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]