Night of the General

ARMED FORCES Night of the General

Part of the outcry and the anguish over William Galley's conviction for multiple murders at My Lai came from the sense of many Americans that the young lieutenant was only a scapegoat. Punish sergeants, lieutenants, perhaps captains, but let the big brass alone. The Nixon Administration and the U.S. Army are troubled and embarrassed by that sentiment. Partly as a result, there is one big figure who is unlikely to get away without a murder charge.

TIME Correspondent John Mulliken has learned that after a lengthy investigation by its Criminal Investigation Division, the Army is considering an accusation of murder against a general officer. The brigadier general, who is currently serving a tour of duty in the Pentagon, has been accused by helicopter pilots and some of those who flew with him of murdering perhaps six Vietnamese in Quang Ngai province late in 1968. The officer in question, a West Point graduate, was an infantry brigade commander at the time; he was supposedly scouting the area in his Huey command helicopter when he did the shooting, taking potshots at Vietnamese peasants on the ground below. He has admitted the killings in private, making a fine distinction between innocent civilians and possible Communists by saying he shot those who "took evasive action" as his chopper whirred overhead.

The decision as to how to proceed with the general's case now rests with the Army's Chief of Staff. General William Westmoreland, and Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor. If they choose to have charges preferred, the general will undergo an investigation under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military equivalent of a grand jury inquiry. This would consist of a formal investigation, conducted by a superior officer of the accused general, who in turn would be permitted to cross-examine. If there is sufficient evidence, the military would then proceed with a court-martial. In the wake of the Calley verdict, it is unlikely that the Government will look the other way, despite the stars on the officer's shoulders.