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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1969WanJ Ails T* 4-5232 All owjartmwiti TRHome Deliveries •Oc per weektin CSNTSSOLDIER ADMITS ROLE IN MASSACRE, NEW' YORK (AP) - A former soldier says ill an NBC News .interview he killed at least 10'SouWi Vietnamese civilians;, including a. woman and a 2-year-old boy, in the village of My : Lai - on. “a direct order’’ from an officer..NEC-correspondent Bill Mat-ney identified the veteran as Veriiardo Simpson of Jackson, Miss., where the interview took place.’ Following is the interview asbroadcast on the Huntley-Brink-■ ley Report and recorded in New York: ’ .Simpson: ■ Well,• that aftemoon we got briefed on this going into• the -village by our company commander,- Captain -Medina. 1 That' we was too —that when' we• leave out the village, that there . .shouldn’t be.anything-standing,that’s villagers; women, chil-- dren, babies, ■ pigs,- chickens;.anything. 'And we set out that -• -morning about 9 or. 9:30 and our platoon was the second platoon'a 2-Year-Old Boyin and wc was on the left blank of the village. And as we proceeded through there, we had orders to search and destroy everything. And.we came upon Mie huts,, well, we searched; the huts, searched all around the area and-everything;.-If there was anything in-there, well, we was to.-destroy it -and everything. And as-1 came up on it, there was a woman, a man and a child, running awav from it, towards, the huts. So, I' told' them , to stop in their language and everything,- and then they didn’t, and I had orders to shoot . them down and I did this. This is what I did, I shot them, the lady and fee little, boy.;- Matney; About -how old .was the1 little boy? ■;., ..• A; Oh, about 2 years .old.Q.'; . How many rounds do’- you estimate you fired during -that engagement; as . you- . ;swept ! through the city? , - - -' -• 1 A:? The whole- engagement?'Q. Yes.A. Oh, about 15 magazines, 20-round clips.Q. And you say that you—-you estimate, you accounted pcrson-ally-for about 10?A. Yes.Q. Were any of the men in the company reluctant to follow this order to destroy everything in sight?A.. Yes, there were. Well, I was reluctant, but I was following a direct order. And if I didn’t do this, with feat order, when T get back, I could stand court-martial for not following a direct order.Q. What was said immediately afterwards, -when you were withdrawing from the village?A. What was said?Q. Yeah.A. There wasn’t much said about it—everyone was talking 'about, you: know, who they killed and. how many they killed 'and everything, but after we got. back to that base camp the next day, or. the couple of days after that, we was told not to mentionthis about what went on and everything. That was all.Q. Who was-who told you not to mention it?A. Well, it come from our platoon sergeant, but I guess he had ' orders from, somewhere else.Q. After it was all over, and the excitement was over, and the fellows started thinking about it, was there a conversation that perhaps it shouldn’t have been done, in talking It over with your friends, your buddies?A. Yes, there was. And we had—we was talking about it, but everytime we would bring it up, you know, we would—well, we would just—the Army,: you . know, we are in: the Army to fight and everything. We don’t have too much say so, because ' they have a 'higher rank over us. And if we did try to do anything,1 well, maybe something would come about that, so everyone just probably was scared to say anything about it.”★ ★ ★★ ★ ★
Newspaper Details
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Nov 26, 1969
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Jeanette R.
NA, 31 Dec 2018
Other Publications Near Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester Reporter
Chester Evening Times
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester Times
Chester Daily Times
