Why Not Following Illegal Orders Is Important [View all]

Many people here and elsewhere do not remember the Vietnam War My Lai massacre and its aftermath. Everyone should know about it, though. It is the perfect example of a situation where orders which were blatantly illegal were followed without resistance. In the process war crimes were committed by United States personnel.

This is why the UCMJ is clear about refusing to carry out unlawful orders. Everyone is trained in that, and has been for a very long time. We tend to forget that sometimes, though.

I'm not going to go through that incident in any detail, but if you don't know anything about it, you should read the Wikipedia account at the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre