been able to comprehend how a group of American soldiers went so far off the rails as to rival the German SS of WWII in gunning down helpless civilians. I realize the horrors of combat desensitizes soldiers to bloody violence but this was cold blooded murderous insanity. How in the hell can a sane person put a child in a ditch and shoot it? I can see the innocent becoming victims during a firefight when everyone is in a kill or be killed frame of mind. My Lai was a completely different thing.