In Loving Memory ... 1Lieut Steven Karl Brooks.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in your family and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
STEVEN KARL BROOKS - Army - 1LT - O2
Age: 21
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Mar 28, 1948
From: DADE CITY, FL
Religion: METHODIST
Marital Status: Single - Parents: Father, Hugh C. Brooks (Retired Army)Born, Oct. 10, 1914 and Died, Feb. 22, 1990 and Mother, Helen E. Brooks, Born, Aug. 13, 1917 and Died, Feb. 20, 2008, both of Saint Petersburg, Florida. He has NO children.
***** ( Photo - Photo taken May 1969 on LZ Baldy, Lt. Brooks and our platoons Dog 'Crash')
***** The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed. We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body. A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been. Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed. Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
***** I was there! I was wounded in an explosion that took both legs of one of our guys, that we affectionately called, "Magoo." While waiting for a medivac, we heard an explosion. I learned that 3 guys had lost their lives, including 1LT. Brooks. Never thought that could happen to him, he had been talking about staying in Nam for another year. Miss you and all, the guys I fought with.
Donald Welch
***** Steve and I arrived, in Vietnam together. we drove up, from Quin Nhon, wondering, what we had gotten ourselves into. Once we were posted, we didn't see each other often. But Steve was in Chu Lai in August 1968, I think and we really tied one on. He was one of those people who was just a 'good guy.' I have thought of him often over the past forty years. I have had the opportunity to live a wonderful life. I wished the same, for Steve.
Daniel Flynn
1LT - O2 - Army - Length of service 2 years
His tour began on Dec 5, 1967
Casualty was on Jul 7, 1969
MILITARY DATA:
Service: Army of the United States
Grade at loss: O2
Rank: First Lieutenant
ID No: 265882383
MOS: 1542: Infantry Unit Commander
Length Service: 02
Unit: A CO, 1ST BN, 52ND INFANTRY, 198TH INFANTRY BDE, AMERICAL DIV, USARV
CASUALTY DATA:
Start Tour: 12/05/1967
Incident Date: 07/07/1969
Casualty Date: 07/07/1969
Age at Loss: 21
Location: Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died outright
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
Casualty Detail: Other explosive device
In QUANG NGAI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 21W - Line 74
In Incident: 1Lieut Steven Karl Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara.
July 7, 1969, The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed.
We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body.
A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been.
Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed.
Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
************************************************
Twenty Years Later, My Lai Remains a Symbol of Shame
March 13, 1988|GEORGE ESPER | Associated Press
Of Calley, the central figure of My Lai, the Peers Report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of many noncombatants in and around My Lai. He personally participated in the killing of some noncombatants."
Of the leader of the 2nd Platoon, Lt. Steven K. Brooks, one of four officers involved in My Lai who were killed in action in the following months, the report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of at least 60 to 70 noncombatants. Although he knew that a number of his men habitually raped Vietnamese women in villages during operations, on 16 March, 1968, he observed, did not prevent and failed to report several rapes by members of his platoon while in My Lai . . . and Binh Tay."
Some Vietnamese were spared by the courage of an American helicopter pilot who threatened to fire on his fellow soldiers if they harmed a group of 12 to 16 Vietnamese women, children and old men cowering in a bunker.
Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson landed his helicopter near the bunker and ordered his crew to fire on the American infantrymen if they fired on the Vietnamese while he was trying to get them evacuated.
Thompson said he asked a lieutenant to help get the women and children out, and the infantry officer replied that the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade. Thompson snapped back to the lieutenant: "Just hold your men right where they are and I'll get the kids out." The Vietnamese were safely evacuated.
The outside world knew nothing of My Lai for more than a year. The Peers inquiry cited 28 officers ranging from generals to enlisted men for covering up the massacre.
On March 29, 1969, Ron Ridenhour, a Vietnam veteran, sent letters to 30 military and congressional leaders saying he had heard many reports from soldiers who had served in Charlie Company that something "very black" had happened in My Lai and a public investigation should be made.
Calley Court-Martialed
Eight months later, on Nov. 24, 1969, Calley was ordered court-martialed on charges of premeditated murder of 109 Vietnamese.
"If I have committed a crime," Calley said in his defense, "the only crime that I have committed is in judgment of my values. Apparently I have valued my troops' lives more than I did that of the enemy. When my troops were getting massacred and mauled by an enemy that I couldn't see, I couldn't feel and I couldn't touch, that nobody in the military ever described as anything other than communism.
"They didn't give it a race, they didn't give it a sex, they didn't give it an age. They never let me believe it was just a philosophy in a man's mind. That was my enemy out there, and when it came between me and that enemy, I had to value the lives of my troops. And I feel that is the only crime I have committed."
In March, 1971, a jury of six senior officers convicted Calley of first-degree murder of at least 22 villagers, including a boy fleeing in terror whom Calley tossed into a ditch and shot.
Life Sentence - Calley was ordered to spend life in prison.
His conviction and sentence touched off a public outcry in his support, including national petition campaigns, angry speeches in Congress and appeals to then-President Richard M. Nixon to pardon him. Five months later, Nixon reduced his sentence to 20 years.
Calley actually served three years under house arrest at Ft. Benning, Ga. He was released when his conviction was overturned by a federal district judge. He was not returned to house arrest when the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the conviction.
Calley was the only soldier convicted in the My Lai massacre, but it became the graveyard for several Army careers.
Six of 25 Tried
Initially, 25 officers and enlisted men were charged, 13 of them accused of direct involvement in the killing. But only six were actually tried, including Medina, the company commander.
The highest-ranking officer tried, Col. Oran K. Henderson, commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade, of which Charlie Company was a part, was acquitted of charges of failing to conduct an investigation after he was told that civilians had been killed.
Administrative action was taken against two generals, one of them demoted and the other censured.
The Peers Report said that no single factor was the cause of My Lai.
Barker's Plan Faulted
The battle plan by Lt. Col. Frank A. Barker, commander of the task force bearing his name, contained inaccurate intelligence on the strength and whereabouts of the Viet Cong and wrongly assumed that no civilians would be in the area, the report said. It said Barker and his subordinates failed to make any clear distinction between soldiers and civilians.
Barker was killed in a helicopter crash three months later.
****************************************
.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in your family and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
STEVEN KARL BROOKS - Army - 1LT - O2
Age: 21
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Mar 28, 1948
From: DADE CITY, FL
Religion: METHODIST
Marital Status: Single - Parents: Father, Hugh C. Brooks (Retired Army)Born, Oct. 10, 1914 and Died, Feb. 22, 1990 and Mother, Helen E. Brooks, Born, Aug. 13, 1917 and Died, Feb. 20, 2008, both of Saint Petersburg, Florida. He has NO children.
***** ( Photo - Photo taken May 1969 on LZ Baldy, Lt. Brooks and our platoons Dog 'Crash')
***** The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed. We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body. A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been. Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed. Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
***** I was there! I was wounded in an explosion that took both legs of one of our guys, that we affectionately called, "Magoo." While waiting for a medivac, we heard an explosion. I learned that 3 guys had lost their lives, including 1LT. Brooks. Never thought that could happen to him, he had been talking about staying in Nam for another year. Miss you and all, the guys I fought with.
Donald Welch
***** Steve and I arrived, in Vietnam together. we drove up, from Quin Nhon, wondering, what we had gotten ourselves into. Once we were posted, we didn't see each other often. But Steve was in Chu Lai in August 1968, I think and we really tied one on. He was one of those people who was just a 'good guy.' I have thought of him often over the past forty years. I have had the opportunity to live a wonderful life. I wished the same, for Steve.
Daniel Flynn
1LT - O2 - Army - Length of service 2 years
His tour began on Dec 5, 1967
Casualty was on Jul 7, 1969
MILITARY DATA:
Service: Army of the United States
Grade at loss: O2
Rank: First Lieutenant
ID No: 265882383
MOS: 1542: Infantry Unit Commander
Length Service: 02
Unit: A CO, 1ST BN, 52ND INFANTRY, 198TH INFANTRY BDE, AMERICAL DIV, USARV
CASUALTY DATA:
Start Tour: 12/05/1967
Incident Date: 07/07/1969
Casualty Date: 07/07/1969
Age at Loss: 21
Location: Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died outright
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
Casualty Detail: Other explosive device
In QUANG NGAI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 21W - Line 74
In Incident: 1Lieut Steven Karl Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara.
July 7, 1969, The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed.
We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body.
A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been.
Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed.
Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
************************************************
Twenty Years Later, My Lai Remains a Symbol of Shame
March 13, 1988|GEORGE ESPER | Associated Press
Of Calley, the central figure of My Lai, the Peers Report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of many noncombatants in and around My Lai. He personally participated in the killing of some noncombatants."
Of the leader of the 2nd Platoon, Lt. Steven K. Brooks, one of four officers involved in My Lai who were killed in action in the following months, the report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of at least 60 to 70 noncombatants. Although he knew that a number of his men habitually raped Vietnamese women in villages during operations, on 16 March, 1968, he observed, did not prevent and failed to report several rapes by members of his platoon while in My Lai . . . and Binh Tay."
Some Vietnamese were spared by the courage of an American helicopter pilot who threatened to fire on his fellow soldiers if they harmed a group of 12 to 16 Vietnamese women, children and old men cowering in a bunker.
Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson landed his helicopter near the bunker and ordered his crew to fire on the American infantrymen if they fired on the Vietnamese while he was trying to get them evacuated.
Thompson said he asked a lieutenant to help get the women and children out, and the infantry officer replied that the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade. Thompson snapped back to the lieutenant: "Just hold your men right where they are and I'll get the kids out." The Vietnamese were safely evacuated.
The outside world knew nothing of My Lai for more than a year. The Peers inquiry cited 28 officers ranging from generals to enlisted men for covering up the massacre.
On March 29, 1969, Ron Ridenhour, a Vietnam veteran, sent letters to 30 military and congressional leaders saying he had heard many reports from soldiers who had served in Charlie Company that something "very black" had happened in My Lai and a public investigation should be made.
Calley Court-Martialed
Eight months later, on Nov. 24, 1969, Calley was ordered court-martialed on charges of premeditated murder of 109 Vietnamese.
"If I have committed a crime," Calley said in his defense, "the only crime that I have committed is in judgment of my values. Apparently I have valued my troops' lives more than I did that of the enemy. When my troops were getting massacred and mauled by an enemy that I couldn't see, I couldn't feel and I couldn't touch, that nobody in the military ever described as anything other than communism.
"They didn't give it a race, they didn't give it a sex, they didn't give it an age. They never let me believe it was just a philosophy in a man's mind. That was my enemy out there, and when it came between me and that enemy, I had to value the lives of my troops. And I feel that is the only crime I have committed."
In March, 1971, a jury of six senior officers convicted Calley of first-degree murder of at least 22 villagers, including a boy fleeing in terror whom Calley tossed into a ditch and shot.
Life Sentence - Calley was ordered to spend life in prison.
His conviction and sentence touched off a public outcry in his support, including national petition campaigns, angry speeches in Congress and appeals to then-President Richard M. Nixon to pardon him. Five months later, Nixon reduced his sentence to 20 years.
Calley actually served three years under house arrest at Ft. Benning, Ga. He was released when his conviction was overturned by a federal district judge. He was not returned to house arrest when the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the conviction.
Calley was the only soldier convicted in the My Lai massacre, but it became the graveyard for several Army careers.
Six of 25 Tried
Initially, 25 officers and enlisted men were charged, 13 of them accused of direct involvement in the killing. But only six were actually tried, including Medina, the company commander.
The highest-ranking officer tried, Col. Oran K. Henderson, commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade, of which Charlie Company was a part, was acquitted of charges of failing to conduct an investigation after he was told that civilians had been killed.
Administrative action was taken against two generals, one of them demoted and the other censured.
The Peers Report said that no single factor was the cause of My Lai.
Barker's Plan Faulted
The battle plan by Lt. Col. Frank A. Barker, commander of the task force bearing his name, contained inaccurate intelligence on the strength and whereabouts of the Viet Cong and wrongly assumed that no civilians would be in the area, the report said. It said Barker and his subordinates failed to make any clear distinction between soldiers and civilians.
Barker was killed in a helicopter crash three months later.
****************************************
.
In Loving Memory ... 1Lieut Steven Karl Brooks.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in your family and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
STEVEN KARL BROOKS - Army - 1LT - O2
Age: 21
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Mar 28, 1948
From: DADE CITY, FL
Religion: METHODIST
Marital Status: Single - Parents: Father, Hugh C. Brooks (Retired Army)Born, Oct. 10, 1914 and Died, Feb. 22, 1990 and Mother, Helen E. Brooks, Born, Aug. 13, 1917 and Died, Feb. 20, 2008, both of Saint Petersburg, Florida. He has NO children.
***** ( Photo - Photo taken May 1969 on LZ Baldy, Lt. Brooks and our platoons Dog 'Crash')
***** The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed. We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body. A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been. Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed. Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
***** I was there! I was wounded in an explosion that took both legs of one of our guys, that we affectionately called, "Magoo." While waiting for a medivac, we heard an explosion. I learned that 3 guys had lost their lives, including 1LT. Brooks. Never thought that could happen to him, he had been talking about staying in Nam for another year. Miss you and all, the guys I fought with.
Donald Welch
***** Steve and I arrived, in Vietnam together. we drove up, from Quin Nhon, wondering, what we had gotten ourselves into. Once we were posted, we didn't see each other often. But Steve was in Chu Lai in August 1968, I think and we really tied one on. He was one of those people who was just a 'good guy.' I have thought of him often over the past forty years. I have had the opportunity to live a wonderful life. I wished the same, for Steve.
Daniel Flynn
1LT - O2 - Army - Length of service 2 years
His tour began on Dec 5, 1967
Casualty was on Jul 7, 1969
MILITARY DATA:
Service: Army of the United States
Grade at loss: O2
Rank: First Lieutenant
ID No: 265882383
MOS: 1542: Infantry Unit Commander
Length Service: 02
Unit: A CO, 1ST BN, 52ND INFANTRY, 198TH INFANTRY BDE, AMERICAL DIV, USARV
CASUALTY DATA:
Start Tour: 12/05/1967
Incident Date: 07/07/1969
Casualty Date: 07/07/1969
Age at Loss: 21
Location: Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died outright
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
Casualty Detail: Other explosive device
In QUANG NGAI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 21W - Line 74
In Incident: 1Lieut Steven Karl Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara.
July 7, 1969, The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed.
We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body.
A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been.
Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed.
Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
************************************************
Twenty Years Later, My Lai Remains a Symbol of Shame
March 13, 1988|GEORGE ESPER | Associated Press
Of Calley, the central figure of My Lai, the Peers Report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of many noncombatants in and around My Lai. He personally participated in the killing of some noncombatants."
Of the leader of the 2nd Platoon, Lt. Steven K. Brooks, one of four officers involved in My Lai who were killed in action in the following months, the report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of at least 60 to 70 noncombatants. Although he knew that a number of his men habitually raped Vietnamese women in villages during operations, on 16 March, 1968, he observed, did not prevent and failed to report several rapes by members of his platoon while in My Lai . . . and Binh Tay."
Some Vietnamese were spared by the courage of an American helicopter pilot who threatened to fire on his fellow soldiers if they harmed a group of 12 to 16 Vietnamese women, children and old men cowering in a bunker.
Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson landed his helicopter near the bunker and ordered his crew to fire on the American infantrymen if they fired on the Vietnamese while he was trying to get them evacuated.
Thompson said he asked a lieutenant to help get the women and children out, and the infantry officer replied that the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade. Thompson snapped back to the lieutenant: "Just hold your men right where they are and I'll get the kids out." The Vietnamese were safely evacuated.
The outside world knew nothing of My Lai for more than a year. The Peers inquiry cited 28 officers ranging from generals to enlisted men for covering up the massacre.
On March 29, 1969, Ron Ridenhour, a Vietnam veteran, sent letters to 30 military and congressional leaders saying he had heard many reports from soldiers who had served in Charlie Company that something "very black" had happened in My Lai and a public investigation should be made.
Calley Court-Martialed
Eight months later, on Nov. 24, 1969, Calley was ordered court-martialed on charges of premeditated murder of 109 Vietnamese.
"If I have committed a crime," Calley said in his defense, "the only crime that I have committed is in judgment of my values. Apparently I have valued my troops' lives more than I did that of the enemy. When my troops were getting massacred and mauled by an enemy that I couldn't see, I couldn't feel and I couldn't touch, that nobody in the military ever described as anything other than communism.
"They didn't give it a race, they didn't give it a sex, they didn't give it an age. They never let me believe it was just a philosophy in a man's mind. That was my enemy out there, and when it came between me and that enemy, I had to value the lives of my troops. And I feel that is the only crime I have committed."
In March, 1971, a jury of six senior officers convicted Calley of first-degree murder of at least 22 villagers, including a boy fleeing in terror whom Calley tossed into a ditch and shot.
Life Sentence - Calley was ordered to spend life in prison.
His conviction and sentence touched off a public outcry in his support, including national petition campaigns, angry speeches in Congress and appeals to then-President Richard M. Nixon to pardon him. Five months later, Nixon reduced his sentence to 20 years.
Calley actually served three years under house arrest at Ft. Benning, Ga. He was released when his conviction was overturned by a federal district judge. He was not returned to house arrest when the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the conviction.
Calley was the only soldier convicted in the My Lai massacre, but it became the graveyard for several Army careers.
Six of 25 Tried
Initially, 25 officers and enlisted men were charged, 13 of them accused of direct involvement in the killing. But only six were actually tried, including Medina, the company commander.
The highest-ranking officer tried, Col. Oran K. Henderson, commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade, of which Charlie Company was a part, was acquitted of charges of failing to conduct an investigation after he was told that civilians had been killed.
Administrative action was taken against two generals, one of them demoted and the other censured.
The Peers Report said that no single factor was the cause of My Lai.
Barker's Plan Faulted
The battle plan by Lt. Col. Frank A. Barker, commander of the task force bearing his name, contained inaccurate intelligence on the strength and whereabouts of the Viet Cong and wrongly assumed that no civilians would be in the area, the report said. It said Barker and his subordinates failed to make any clear distinction between soldiers and civilians.
Barker was killed in a helicopter crash three months later.
****************************************
.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in your family and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
STEVEN KARL BROOKS - Army - 1LT - O2
Age: 21
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Mar 28, 1948
From: DADE CITY, FL
Religion: METHODIST
Marital Status: Single - Parents: Father, Hugh C. Brooks (Retired Army)Born, Oct. 10, 1914 and Died, Feb. 22, 1990 and Mother, Helen E. Brooks, Born, Aug. 13, 1917 and Died, Feb. 20, 2008, both of Saint Petersburg, Florida. He has NO children.
***** ( Photo - Photo taken May 1969 on LZ Baldy, Lt. Brooks and our platoons Dog 'Crash')
***** The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed. We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body. A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been. Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed. Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
***** I was there! I was wounded in an explosion that took both legs of one of our guys, that we affectionately called, "Magoo." While waiting for a medivac, we heard an explosion. I learned that 3 guys had lost their lives, including 1LT. Brooks. Never thought that could happen to him, he had been talking about staying in Nam for another year. Miss you and all, the guys I fought with.
Donald Welch
***** Steve and I arrived, in Vietnam together. we drove up, from Quin Nhon, wondering, what we had gotten ourselves into. Once we were posted, we didn't see each other often. But Steve was in Chu Lai in August 1968, I think and we really tied one on. He was one of those people who was just a 'good guy.' I have thought of him often over the past forty years. I have had the opportunity to live a wonderful life. I wished the same, for Steve.
Daniel Flynn
1LT - O2 - Army - Length of service 2 years
His tour began on Dec 5, 1967
Casualty was on Jul 7, 1969
MILITARY DATA:
Service: Army of the United States
Grade at loss: O2
Rank: First Lieutenant
ID No: 265882383
MOS: 1542: Infantry Unit Commander
Length Service: 02
Unit: A CO, 1ST BN, 52ND INFANTRY, 198TH INFANTRY BDE, AMERICAL DIV, USARV
CASUALTY DATA:
Start Tour: 12/05/1967
Incident Date: 07/07/1969
Casualty Date: 07/07/1969
Age at Loss: 21
Location: Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died outright
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
Casualty Detail: Other explosive device
In QUANG NGAI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 21W - Line 74
In Incident: 1Lieut Steven Karl Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara.
July 7, 1969, The column, had come to a halt earlier when someone had hit a booby trap up ahead. We sat in fear, as word filtered back to us that someone had been killed.
We were new guys in country less than a month and Lt. Brooks and Sgt. O'Hara told us to stay put and keep our eyes open, then they moved forward to recover the body.
A few moments later, another terrible explosion rang out, only a few yards from where the first one had been.
Both Brooks and O'Hara were killed.
Officers and NCOs., who later led our infantry company probably would have ordered their men to do the grim work of retrieving a blown apart body. But Brooks and O'Hara weren't like that and so they ended up paying the ultimate price so that a scared, new guy, could live, to tell their story to others.
God bless you, both.
Tom Chilcote
************************************************
Twenty Years Later, My Lai Remains a Symbol of Shame
March 13, 1988|GEORGE ESPER | Associated Press
Of Calley, the central figure of My Lai, the Peers Report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of many noncombatants in and around My Lai. He personally participated in the killing of some noncombatants."
Of the leader of the 2nd Platoon, Lt. Steven K. Brooks, one of four officers involved in My Lai who were killed in action in the following months, the report said: "He directed and supervised the men of his platoon in the systematic killing of at least 60 to 70 noncombatants. Although he knew that a number of his men habitually raped Vietnamese women in villages during operations, on 16 March, 1968, he observed, did not prevent and failed to report several rapes by members of his platoon while in My Lai . . . and Binh Tay."
Some Vietnamese were spared by the courage of an American helicopter pilot who threatened to fire on his fellow soldiers if they harmed a group of 12 to 16 Vietnamese women, children and old men cowering in a bunker.
Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson landed his helicopter near the bunker and ordered his crew to fire on the American infantrymen if they fired on the Vietnamese while he was trying to get them evacuated.
Thompson said he asked a lieutenant to help get the women and children out, and the infantry officer replied that the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade. Thompson snapped back to the lieutenant: "Just hold your men right where they are and I'll get the kids out." The Vietnamese were safely evacuated.
The outside world knew nothing of My Lai for more than a year. The Peers inquiry cited 28 officers ranging from generals to enlisted men for covering up the massacre.
On March 29, 1969, Ron Ridenhour, a Vietnam veteran, sent letters to 30 military and congressional leaders saying he had heard many reports from soldiers who had served in Charlie Company that something "very black" had happened in My Lai and a public investigation should be made.
Calley Court-Martialed
Eight months later, on Nov. 24, 1969, Calley was ordered court-martialed on charges of premeditated murder of 109 Vietnamese.
"If I have committed a crime," Calley said in his defense, "the only crime that I have committed is in judgment of my values. Apparently I have valued my troops' lives more than I did that of the enemy. When my troops were getting massacred and mauled by an enemy that I couldn't see, I couldn't feel and I couldn't touch, that nobody in the military ever described as anything other than communism.
"They didn't give it a race, they didn't give it a sex, they didn't give it an age. They never let me believe it was just a philosophy in a man's mind. That was my enemy out there, and when it came between me and that enemy, I had to value the lives of my troops. And I feel that is the only crime I have committed."
In March, 1971, a jury of six senior officers convicted Calley of first-degree murder of at least 22 villagers, including a boy fleeing in terror whom Calley tossed into a ditch and shot.
Life Sentence - Calley was ordered to spend life in prison.
His conviction and sentence touched off a public outcry in his support, including national petition campaigns, angry speeches in Congress and appeals to then-President Richard M. Nixon to pardon him. Five months later, Nixon reduced his sentence to 20 years.
Calley actually served three years under house arrest at Ft. Benning, Ga. He was released when his conviction was overturned by a federal district judge. He was not returned to house arrest when the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the conviction.
Calley was the only soldier convicted in the My Lai massacre, but it became the graveyard for several Army careers.
Six of 25 Tried
Initially, 25 officers and enlisted men were charged, 13 of them accused of direct involvement in the killing. But only six were actually tried, including Medina, the company commander.
The highest-ranking officer tried, Col. Oran K. Henderson, commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade, of which Charlie Company was a part, was acquitted of charges of failing to conduct an investigation after he was told that civilians had been killed.
Administrative action was taken against two generals, one of them demoted and the other censured.
The Peers Report said that no single factor was the cause of My Lai.
Barker's Plan Faulted
The battle plan by Lt. Col. Frank A. Barker, commander of the task force bearing his name, contained inaccurate intelligence on the strength and whereabouts of the Viet Cong and wrongly assumed that no civilians would be in the area, the report said. It said Barker and his subordinates failed to make any clear distinction between soldiers and civilians.
Barker was killed in a helicopter crash three months later.
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