Trials: A Second Soldier Charged

Five weeks after making its decision to court-martial Lieut. William Calley on charges of premeditated murder, the Army announced that a second man would be tried in connection with the alleged massacre of South Vietnamese civilians at My Lai. He is Staff Sergeant David Mitchell, 29, who led one of the three squads in Calley's platoon on March 16, 1968. He was charged last week with committing, with intent to murder, "an assault upon a group of 30 Vietnamese nationals, more or less, by shooting at them with an M-16 rifle." If convicted, he would face a maximum penalty of 20 years at hard labor.

A tall, husky career Army man, Mitchell was one of 15 children of the black pastor of Rasberry Baptist Church in Saint Francisville, La. He entered the Army in 1960 and served in Korea and Hawaii before going to Viet Nam in December 1967. He loved the Army, and recently, when asked to describe himself, replied, "I'm a hell of a soldier." He told a news conference last month that he had seen no massacre at My Lai and doubted that one had taken place. Last week in Washington he said simply, "I am not guilty."

Twenty-four more former members of C Company are under investigation. One high-ranking officer offered the opinion last week that at least 20 of these would eventually be charged.