I just finished the (excellent) My Lai series. I particularly enjoyed learning I had been saying it incorrectly all my life.

And I couldn't help but wonder...

Calley had men under his command who committed an atrocity.

Hugh Thomas - the helicopter pilot - had men under his command who - when ordered to do so - turned their guns on C company (fellow Americans) to prevent them from harming a group of villagers.

Here is my question - what would have happened if the men in each 'squad' were flipped? What was it that made helicopter men act in a selfless and heroic manner, even though it went against all their training, but C company men commit horrific, unthinkable acts? In both cases, they were given orders.

Would the men on the helicopter have engaged in the massacre if they were under Calley's command? Would the C company men have protected innocents if they had been under Thomas'?

I can't stop thinking about this.