People v. State

fairly undermining public confidence in the administration of justice
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The Face of Evil

March 24, 2011 By: John Kindley Category: Hugh Thompson, Jeff Gamso, Tyrus Coleman, Warmongers

Here it is. The smiling face of Corporal Jeremy Morlock, a disgrace to the human race. Why is the corpse whose head he’s holding up naked? What unspoken and unspeakable atrocities did Morlock and his brothers-in-arms commit against this innocent son of a farmer before they finally killed him for shits and giggles? And Jeff Gamso almost had me convinced that the death penalty is never justified. And here I am in my last post implying that God dwells within each and every human being. Morlock and those like him are the best argument there is against the existence of God.

Or maybe it’s really not Morlock’s fault. Maybe war just does that to people. In which case we should never, ever, go to war, unless it’s actually to defend ourselves. We should bring all of “our” troops home this very minute.

Morlock was sentenced yesterday to a mere 24 years in prison for willful and gratuitous and inexcusable murder. A former client of mine was convicted by a jury and sentenced by a judge to 45 years in prison for justifiably defending himself and his son and friends on his own property from two angry men brandishing guns. I blame myself — but not only myself — for his conviction, and I swear to God if it could free him I’d turn my bar card in to the supreme court in less than a second. Every day I await and look for the decision of five fallible men in Indianapolis, who hold his fate in their hands. Our justice system deserves no respect. Neither does our military. As someone who enlisted at the age of 17 and “served” until the age of 23, I generally feel sorry for those who’ve made the same supreme mistake I did, whose parents didn’t have enough wisdom to impress upon their children that working at Burger King would be infinitely more honorable. But I don’t feel sorry for Morlock. He’d be better off dead. It would be even better if he’d never been born.

And still . . . let me offer an argument for the existence of God, and a sign that a deep and abiding and holy decency remains buried deep within the American spirit, a decency that on occasion even the State is forced to recognize. Let me hold up the example of Hugh Thompson, as described in the words of the citation accompanying the Soldier’s Medal, which he was finally awarded almost 30 years after his heroic actions during the My Lai massacre in Vietnam:

For heroism above and beyond the call of duty on
16 March 1968, while saving the lives of at least 10
Vietnamese civilians during the unlawful massacre of
noncombatants by American forces at My Lai, Quang
Ngai Province, South Vietnam. Warrant Officer
Thompson landed his helicopter in the line of fire between
fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pursuing American
ground troops to prevent their murder. He then
personally confronted the leader of the American ground
troops and was prepared to open fire on those American
troops should they fire upon the civilians. Warrant Officer
Thompson, at the risk of his own personal safety, went
forward of the American lines and coaxed the Vietnamese
civilians out of the bunker to enable their evacuation.
Leaving the area after requesting and overseeing the
civilians’ air evacuation, his crew spotted movement in a
ditch filled with bodies south of My Lai Four. Warrant
Officer Thompson again landed his helicopter and covered
his crew as they retrieved a wounded child from the pile of
bodies. He then flew the child to the safety of a hospital at
Quang Ngai. Warrant Officer Thompson’s relayed radio
reports of the massacre and subsequent report to his
section leader and commander resulted in an order for the
cease fire at My Lai and an end to the killing of innocent
civilians. Warrant Officer Thompson’s Heroism
exemplifies the highest standards of personal courage and
ethical conduct, reflecting distinct credit on him, and the
United States Army.

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