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We don& #39;t talk enough about soldiers who resisted orders to murder civilians at My Lai, even at risk to themselves. We all know who Hugh Thompson, Larry Colburne, and Glenn Andreotta were, but what about troops on the ground?
Robert Maples refused to turn his M-60 machine gun on civilians when Calley gave him a direct order to shoot them, throwing it to the ground. When Calley aimed his rifle at Maples, other soldiers intervened.
Harry Stanley, Maples& #39; assistant gunner, was the most extreme example of resistance. Stanley refused a direct order from Calley to murder unarmed civilians and Calley threatened to execute him on the spot for disobeying an order in combat.
Stanley drew his sidearm, and told Calley “We all going to die here anyway. I just as soon go out right here and now – but I ain& #39;t killing no women and children.”
There is some controversy over Maples& #39; actions, with some accounts indicating that Maples threw down his weapon, and others indicating that he refused to give it to Calley when he wanted to use it on the villagers in the ditch. Bilton and Sim, Four Hours in My Lai, 123;
Duncan, "What Went Right at My Lai,”, 103-104. Belknap, The Vietnam War on Trial, 161; Report of the Department of the Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations into the My Lai Incident, Vol. II, Book 25, 66 (1970) (testimony of Robert Maples);
Report of the Department of the Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations into the My Lai Incident, Vol. II, Book 31, 527 (1970) (testimony of Harry Stanley); Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai, 115-116.
