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Ernest Medina

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Ernest Medina
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branchUnited States Army
RankCaptain
Unit1st Battalion, 20th Infantry of the 11th Brigade, Americal Division
CommandsCompany C, 1/20 Americal
Battles / warsVietnam War

Ernest Lou Medina (born August 27, 1936) was a Captain in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He was the commanding officer of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry of the 11th Brigade, Americal Division, the unit responsible for the My Lai Massacre of 1968.

Biography

Background

Ernest Medina was born into a Mexican-American family in Springer, New Mexico. He was known as a "tough, able soldier" who had excelled as a non-commissioned officer, and graduated fourth in his class of two hundred at Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Court-Martial

According to the 1970 investigation by General William R. Peers, Medina[1]:

  • Informed his men that any of the residents in Son My Village might be Viet Cong or sympathizers. This caused many of the men in his company to believe they would find only armed enemy in the hamlets and directly contributed to the killing of noncombatants which followed.
  • Planned, ordered, and supervised the execution by his company of an unlawful operation against inhabited hamlets in Son My Village, which included the destruction of houses by burning, killing of livestock, and the destruction of crops and other foodstuffs, and the closing of wells; and impliedly directed the killing of any persons found there.
  • Possibly personally killed as many as three noncombatants in My Lai.
  • Actively suppressed information concerning the killing of noncombatants in Son My Village.

Captain Medina was court-martialed in 1971 for willingly allowing his men to murder My Lai noncombatants.[2] Medina's defense team, led by F. Lee Bailey, alleged that he did not become aware that his troops were out of control until it was too late.

Medina was ultimately found not guilty of all charges relating to the deaths of more than 100 South Vietnamese civilians in the massacre.[3] His trial lasted approximately 60 minutes. Nevertheless, his military career was finished.

Lieutenant William Calley, a platoon leader serving in Medina's company during the massacre and who claimed he was following orders from Medina, was found guilty of various crimes. Calley ultimately served 3½ years of house arrest in his quarters at Fort Benning, Georgia and was released in 1974 by a federal judge.

Post military

After resigning from the army, Medina went to work at an Enstrom Helicopter Corporation plant owned by Francis Lee Bailey in Menominee, Michigan.[4].

Cultural References

Medina is mentioned by name in the first stanza of Pete Seeger's Vietnam protest song "Last Train to Nuremberg".

"Do I see Lieutenant Calley? Do I see Captain Medina? Do I see Gen'ral Koster and all his crew?"

The book "Word of Honor" by Nelson DeMille mentions and uses the Medina trial, and issues raised therein as a key theme.

See also

References

  1. ^ Peers Report: Captain Ernest Medina
  2. ^ Judge Howard's summary of the evidence surrounding the crucial question of knowledge in United States v. Captain Ernest L. Medina
  3. ^ http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1971/12295509436546-1/#title "1971 Year in Review, UPI.com"
  4. ^ Biography of Ernest L. Medina
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