DESCRIPTION:
My Lai and Calley songs: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/JBrummer/vietnam_war__my_lai_and_lt__william_calley_songs/
Released in 1970, the country song "Ballad of My Lai" (Danrite Records # DR-115), released on a Dallas, Texas based label. Composed by Thurman McKinney and Donald Peck, produced by Chas Wright. The narrator blamed the massacre of women and children on the politicians and military, not on Calley, because they had "placed the gun in his hand". This song also noted that Vietnam was a "war we could never win" - perhaps indicating that the war had been a mistake, a view in line with public opinion polls. It does not really fit into either the "anti-war" or "patriotic" song category. It largely dealt with how the war affected soldiers and civilians.

"There once was an army Lieutenant, handsome, dashing, and gay...
One day at the start of a battle, near a village in South Vietnam
People were running and hiding...Women and children alike...
In a ditch they were found, their blood stained the ground...
Now who will stand in the judgement...We sent him into the battle
A war we could never win, we placed the gun in his hand
And sent him to that foreign land...Now the judgement is in the higher hands"