The Fate of Lt. William Calley
1971 · Stars and Stripes U.S.A. 001 · Arnold, Missouri
- Artist
- Glenn Reifsteck
- Title
- The Fate of Lt. William Calley
- Release
- The Fate of Lt. William Calley / Spiders Web
- Year
- 1971
- Label
- Stars and Stripes # U.S.A. 001
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Arnold, Missouri, USA
- Songwriter
- Reef-Stek
- Genre
- Country · Country
- Primary theme
- US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs
Annotation
The country music song "The Fate of Lt. William Calley" (Stars and Stripes U.S.A. # 001) took an overall patriotic position, presenting the conflict in Vietnam as a fight to "keep you and me free" - in line with government rhetoric. Yet the narrator, unlike the US government and military, viewed the My Lai massacre as a case of self-defense, either "to kill or to be killed", thus relieving Calley of responsibility for the incident. Released in 1971, in Arnold, Missouri.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: It's time to get together and praise our fighting men / They go through hell for us, say a little prayer for them / God bless all our soldier, all our men overseas / Calley was fighting to keep you and me free / They were scared beyond words, Calley led up the hill with his gun in his hand / He'd been taught to kill the enemy around him... / To kill or to be killed / He lay his life on the line
Notes
Stars and Stripes U.S.A., 1939 Melody Lane, Arnold, Missouri 63010, 001-A, Side 1, yellow label; "The Fate of Lt. William Calley" (Reef-Stek), time 2:38, published by Reifco Music, BMI; Glenn Reifsteck. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Themes
My Lai · Patriotic · Pro-Calley · Calley-Danger · Calley-Order · Calley-Chaos · Anti-War · Pro-Soldier
In collections
My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]