On the retirement of General Kieth B. Alexander (aka Lt. Cally)
Calley was charged on September 5, 1969 with six specifications of premeditated murder for the deaths of 104 Vietnamese civilians near the village of My Lai, at a hamlet called Son My, more commonly called My Lai in the U.S. press. As many as 500 villagers, mostly women, children, infants, and the elderly, had been systematically killed by American soldiers during a bloody rampage on March 16, 1968. Upon conviction, Calley could have faced the death penalty.
Calley's original defense that the death of the villagers was the result of an accidental helicopter or aerial airstrike was quashed by the few prosecution witnesses. In his new defense, Calley claimed he was following the orders of his immediate superior, Captain Ernest Medina. Whether this order was actually given is disputed; Medina was acquitted of all charges relating to the incident at a separate trial in August 1971. Taking the witness stand, Calley, under the direct examination by his civilian defense lawyer George Latimer, claimed that on the previous day, his commanding officer, Captain Medina, made it clear that his unit was to move into the village and that everyone was to be shot for they all were Viet Cong. Twenty-one other members of Charlie Company also testified in Calley's defense, corroborating the orders. But Medina publicly denied that he had ever given such orders and stated that he had meant enemy soldiers, while Calley assumed that his order to "kill the enemy" meant to kill everyone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Calley
Previous to the 9/11 attack, the NSA stood for "No Such Agency," one of the largest and most diverse intelligence agencies on Earth. Analysts at the National Security Agency fully understood and advised Director Alexander that following misguided orders of two Commanders In Chiefs to eavesdrop on all US citizens would make existence of the agency high profile in a negative way. Previous to unpopular, public, data gathering missions, the NSA coordinated code and gathered intelligence for the military in overseas operations. Rest assured NSA operatives did not relish the extra work or the bad reputation; but like any general must do, Alexander followed orders.