My Lai Massacre : My Lai Massacre During The Vietnam War

During the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, there were American soldiers who murdered over 300 civilians in the My Lai village. But also there were some who refused to participate in those types of murderous activities. Once the My Lai massacre was brought to the attention of American citizens, they were questioning why did some soldiers commit atrocities and some of the other soldiers did not?

​Cowardice. Lack of education. Immorality. These are only a few traits to describe the soldiers that went along with the My Lai Massacre in 1968. The My Lai Massacre took place during the Vietnam War in the southern village of My Lai. American troops were told to bomb and kill the “armed” and “dangerous” people of this village because it was believed to be “stronghold for forces of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, or Viet Cong” (My Lai Massacre). These American troops then continued to follow orders although the villagers, mostly women, children and elders, were in fact not dangerous at all. Later, Hugh Thompson, an American soldier, was able to end this massacre. Since then, many people have studied and read up on the brutal actions of the American

Though Ridenhour did not learn about the My Lai massacre until a year after it took place he immediately wrote a letter to current president, Richard Nixon, who began an investigation. However, the events in the small Vietnamese village did not come to the public’s attention until Haeberle, who had been present at the time of the massacre, published pictures in Life and Time magazines toward the end of 1969 (Cookman 159). As previously discussed, most coverage of Vietnam in the early

A genocide that is still currently happening is the one in Laos which is the result of the Vietnam War. It was a war against the communist North and the democratic South with the help of the U.S. The U.S got involved because they want to prevent the spread of communism, which is known as the “domino theory” where if a surrounding country falls into the ideology of … then the rest will fall with it. The leader of North Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh, a strong dictator that managed to get support of his people. He states that the South was being used as a puppet state by the American. A lot of American dislikes this war and many oppose it, however many Americans don’t know that there was actually another war going on known as the Secret War.

Section 1: I think one of the main reasons why the My Lai Massacre occurred was due to conformity. Conforming to a group of norm is powerful when it comes to ambiguous and confusing situations as what happened at My Lai. The soldiers were instructed to kill everyone in sight, whether they were old people, children, babies, or animals. The soldiers followed orders because they felt obligated to obey an authoritative figure who had power over them. The soldiers at My Lai were influenced by other soldiers who were given the same brutal task.

The word Genocide can be described many ways, but is customarily utilized in the same inchoation within eight stages of Genocide. In South Vietnam, the killings all commenced from the different regime views on communism. The adamant murdering of the Vietnamese people in South Vietnam falls within the the eight stages. Dolefully, genocide does not come to a halt by itself because there needs to be a substantial ceasing power to put it to rest. It is very hard for me to grasp what authentically transpired and those inculpable people killed in South Vietnam. I didn't realize how the U.S. did so many preposterous killings to reprehensible unarmed civilians using inhumane ways such as gas bombs, poisonous gas, toxic chemicals, white phosphorus bombs, napalm, and B-52 bombers.

The Olson and Roberts book, My Lai is based upon the March 18, 1968, assault on My Lai. By examining the material, an explanation of why this massacre occurred is drawn. The main factors that lead to the My Lai assault were difficulty engaging with the enemy and the problem of distinguishing between the enemy soldiers and civilians, which both led to rage and frustration among soldiers and a misinterpretation of the mission.

The Fall of Saigon represented an end to the horrendous Vietnam War that had been raging for almost 20 years. Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam and was taken April 30th 1945. Vietnam had been a separating force in the United States for over 19 years when it started in 1955. One of the worlds greatest superpowers had been defeated by a skinny country in Southern Asia. Vietnam is still one of the most debated military conflicts of all time. The Start of the Vietnam war is one of the many problems people had with The Vietnam War. The United States had intentionally had got involved in the war to stop the spread of communism in another country. The United States was determined to stop communism at all costs. They had already lost in Korea and they weren't going to let another country in Asia fall. The Fall of Saigon was the end to an era

On March 16, 1968, over 300 unarmed civilians were killed in South Vietnam during an indiscriminate, mass murder event known as the My Lai Massacre. Conducted by a unit of the United States Army, the My Lai Massacre ranked one of most appalling atrocities carried out by US forces in an already savage and violent war. All victims involved were unarmed civilians, many of which were women, children, and the elderly. Victims were raped, tortured and beaten, even mutilated before being killed. The massacre was forever seared into the hearts and minds of the American people as the day “the American spirit died.”

On the morning of March 16th the company moved in. They were instructed by Lieutenant William Calley to shoot every living thing in sight, from animals to babies, for the animals would feed the Vietcong and the babies would one day grow up to be them. From many soldiers’ accounts, non-of the people shot that day seemed to pose any threat to the American soldiers. In fact, women, children and old men made up a huge majority of the victims. Barely any weapons were found and according to most of the soldiers the Vietnamese people were trying to cooperate but there was the barrier of language. When the soldiers yelled things in Vietnamese they weren’t even sure if they were saying the right thing because Vietnamese is a language based on inflection in the voice. LT Calley ordered his soldiers to kill all of the Vietnamese in massive slaughters. They were herded into big groups, and some groups were forced into ditches and then fired upon. “The few that survived did so because the were covered by the bodies of those less fortunate.” (Linder) After the massacre was over there was an extensive cover-up, the commanders even reported My Lai as a success with 123 enemy deaths and some weapon recoveries. It wasn’t until a man named Ronald Ridenhour,

Viet Cong took everything away from my mom’s family and my grandma was left with 7 little kids, no house, no money, and had to live on the street. I understand that horrible horrible things happened to both sides but the attitude of the US government going into the war was all wrong and even though they paid the price heavily for it, I’m still extremely angry about the US involvement in the Viet Nam war. I don’t know if the US had the best intentions or not but invaded a country that had done nothing to them was a mistake. And about the My Lai massacre, it disgusts me so much, who would think it’s a good idea to find the enemy by killing everyone in village that had nothing to do with Viet Cong or even the

To succeed politically within South Vietnam itself the United States had to ‘win the hearts and minds of public’. However the atrocities which had struck Vietnam, caused disarray with the public of Vietnam, one case where this is true was the Massacre at My Lai in March 1968; this was the killing of 300 villagers mainly women and children who were raped, murdered, and mutilated; this was carried out by American soldiers who thought the villagers were supposedly harbouring Vietcong. Lieutenant William Calley was charged with the crime but only served

The fall of Saigon was quick and swift. US aids was drastically cut, troops have been pull back, with less than 2,000 combat/advisor troops, and AVRN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) spread thin, with main forces by the DMZ. With supplies running out and little defense forces, Hue and Da Nang fall within days. General Van Tien Dung of the PAVN (The People’s Army of Vietnam), quickly move toward Saigon. The drive toward Saigon became known as the “Ho Chi Minh Campaign”, they encountered the final line of defense, the 18th ARVN Division at Xuan Loc, perhaps the best unit in the ARVN. Despite being badly outnumbered, and with supplies running out, the 18th ARVN Division as able to repel attacks for nearly two weeks, until they were overwhelmed.

The Vietnam War was one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Vietnam. Vietnam use to be a peaceful country until the idea of communism started spreading across Vietnam. Many wanted to stay democratic but saw what happened to the Germans and started to lean towards communism. Many also wanted to stay democratic and still had it hopes high that it will soon get their lives and economy back on track.

Ho Chi Minh was a tiny man, frail in appearance and extremely deferential. He wore simple shorts and sandals. To his followers, he was known simply as “Uncle Ho.” Inspired by Woodrow Wilson’s call for universal self-determination, Ho wrote,” all subject peoples are filled with hope by the prospect that an era of right and justice is opening to them.” Ho wanted to meet Wilson and plead the cause of Vietnamese independence. Wilson ignored his request. Ho then traveled to Moscow, where Lenin had declared war against imperialism. While in the Soviet Union, Ho embraced socialism. By the early 1920s, he was actively organizing Vietnamese exiles into a revolutionary force. In 1941, Ho returned to Vietnam. The time was right, he believed, to free Vietnam