Ronald Haeberle, Witness for the Prosecution

Direct examination by Aubrey Daniels for the prosecution:

A: They were sitting in their kind of squat. First there were five soldiers standing in front of the group. the people were all sitting there facing north. Then three of the GI's walked off into the distance. Then I heard automatic fire. I looked back. the automatic fire was coming from one of the two soldiers. He was firing toward the people. Some of the people were trying to get up and run. They couldn't and fell down. This one woman, I remember, she stood up and tried to make it--tried to run--with a small child in her arms. But she didn't make it.

Q: Were any of the people standing when it was over?

A: No. I didn't see anyone

Cross examination by George Latimer:

Q: Did you not testify that you never saw a lieutenant?

A: Yes sir.

Q: When did you first see a lieutenant?

A: I did not see a lieutenant all that day.

Q: Then you did not see Lieutenant Calley?

A: I did not see Lieutenant Calley.

Q: Do you not have a definite interest in the outcome of the suit?

A: Yes, sir, I do have an interest in it.

Q: And isn't that interest in selling books and magazine articles?

A: No, sir.

Q: Then what is your interest?

A: In seeing a fair trial.

Q: Did you have an interview with Captain Doyle in May?

A: Yes.

Q: Did you not make the following statement to him: that you wished you'd waited until after the court-martial to sell the pictures because you would have made more money?

A: No, sir, I did not.

Q: From the time you took those pictures until after you got back to the United States, no one had been told of the color film, is that right? Did you ever tell any officer about what you'd seen?

A: I can't specifically recall. Jay and I talked about it. But I can't specifically recall.

Q: You never told anyone in the chain of command about the atrocity and massacre?

A: No, sir.

Q: Weren't you shocked at what you'd seen? Weren't you upset by what you'd seen? Why didn't you report it?

A: I felt it was unusual but I wasn't the one to bring it up. We decided to keep quiet until someone came to us and not to start the ball rolling. . .

Q: Have you never heard of a MAC-V order of 1967 that says it is the responsibility of all military personnel to report to their commanding officer any war crime they know of, that they should make every effort to discover war crimes, report them and preserve the physical evidence?

A: I never heard of that regulation before.

Q: Do you know that it is a serious offense not to comply with a regulation, known or unknown?

A: No.

Q: Did you ever consider the impact of your failure to disclose that you had these pictures or information to your commander or senior commanders?

A: No, sir, I did not.

Q: You had no feeling that failure to disclose that information was a dereliction of duty?

A: I've heard that.

Q: Is that the best excuse you can give us, that you didn't want to start the ball rolling?

A: That's what Jay Roberts and I talked about.

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