High-ranking Army officers protected the proceedings at My Lai, until a fighter, Ron Riden Hour, heard about the incident secondhand and wrote it down in a memo to the President Richard Nixon. The letter was largely overlooked until the end of that year. Analytical journalist Seymour Hersh got his hands on the story and cross-examined William Calley as soon as possible. The story broke and hit the front pages and headlines. In March 1970, an authoritative U.S. Army board of inquiry charged fourteen sergeants, including Calley and his company commander in chief, Captain Ernst Medina, of misconduct involving My Lai (The My Lai Massacre Happens in Vietnam). Calley was personally convicted of the murder of twenty-two people. In March 1971, Calley was sentenced to life in prison for his role in leading the My Lai massacres. Many saw Calley as guilty, and his sentence was condensed on appeal to twenty years and later to ten (My Lai Massacre). The My Lai massacre, according to some military spectators, My Lai revealed the need for additional and better volunteers to provide greater leadership to the companies. The number of well-trained and qualified soldiers on the front line has plummeted, which the public has claimed that the lack of many bright young men shunning the army has meant that the talent pool for new officers has become very low (massacre of My Lai). This massacre was also foreseen