My Lai Massacre Research Paper

The massacre at My Lai 4, often referred to as the “Pinkville Operation” by military officials, quickly became an event surrounded by outrage on the behalf of anti-war activists and soldiers alike. As stories leaked from letters sent to congressmen, and interviewed soldiers, outrage quickly boiled and conservatives and liberals were forced to ask: how could American soldiers commit atrocities so detestable? Newspapers, magazines, and tabloids presented stories all with a similar title. Headlines such as, “First Photos of Mass Viet Slaying” and, “One Hundred Killed; Calley To Blame” helped draw attention to Charlie Company, the soldiers involved, while the spotlight fell on one particular soldier, Lt. Calley, who many blamed as the main instigator of the massacre. While Lieutenant Calley and his fellow members of Charlie Company are responsible for many of their actions during the massacre, the policies instituted by the American government and military are responsible as well, due to the helped violent and detesting nature of American soldiers against the Vietnamese they fostered that caused My Lai.

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?

Ron Ridenhour was the reason for the coverup to stop. He was in the 11th Bridge and had heard a lot of the reports of the massacre but he hadn't been there to participate. He had gotten told by pfc. Charles Gruver about what had happend in Pinkville. At first Ridenhour didn’t fully believe him because Gruver had been drinking but as months wore on more soldiers that were there had told him the same story and even more. For example one soldier that was deeply religious Mormon had old him that he and another soldier had eaten lunch next to a large number of the villagers that had been shot and not all of them were dead. They were there suffering and crying out but there was no help to come. The two men had put their plates down grabbed their guns and shot them until they were dead. Then they went back to their lunch. When Ridenhour had gone back to the U.S. he had finally wrote a letters to President Richard Nixon, State Department, the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs of Staff and a couple congressmen what had gone on in pinkville on March 29, 1969. After not getting a response he went to the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh for an interview that was released in November 1969. In the 1970s, the war effort America had in Vietnam was winding down Nixon had continued the policies of Vietnamization, there was withdrawal of troops and the control of ransfer over the ground operations to the South Vietnamese. The American troops had gone thru a lot of anger and frustration and started using drugs and more than ⅓ of the U.S. Army was addicted. “The revelations of the My Lai massacre caused morale to plummet even further, as GIs wondered what other atrocities their superiors were concealing. On the home front in the United States, the brutality of the My Lai massacre and the efforts

March 16, 1968 was when over 300 civilians were killed in the My Lai village and was hidden by American soldiers from the American people. November 1969 was when the My Lai massacre was brought to the attention of the American people. People wondered why did some soldiers commit atrocities and others did not, also some of the different choices the soldiers made instead of following orders, and can anyone ever judge anyone? Also Pham Thi Trinh was one of the Vietnamese witnesses that lost her family on this tragic day.

In the town of My Lai on March 16, 1968 was not a day you would be wanting to visit. U.S troops were ordered to conduct a massacre killing 500 plus innocent old men, women, and children.

The My Lai massacre remains one of the bloodiest and most shocking incidents in the history of the Vietnam War and yet it is not widely known as an important episode within the context of the war. The reasons for this are the attempted cover up of the incident by the US Army and then the US government and also the complete lack of consequences that the perpetrators received. In this essay the event and the relevant instigators along with the lack of appropriate action that was taken against them will be discussed. There are various reports and articles that outline the basic blueprint for what happened in My Lai and also the conflicting stories about just who should take responsibility for the deaths of the 504 people killed that day.

“When my troops were getting massacred and mauled by an enemy I couldn't see, I couldn't feel, I couldn't touch... nobody in the military system ever described them anything other than Communists.” (Simkin) These were Second Lieutenant William Calley’s words in response to the My Lai Massacre, but were an example of how most soldiers felt at the time. The My Lai Massacre was a killing of over 500 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in March 16th, 1968. During this time, The Vietnam war was growing and US support towards the war was increasing.

Helicopter gunner Ron Ridenhour wrote a series of letters to congressional and military officials documenting the events that took place in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. Through Ridenhour’s letters the cover up became exposed. Once the My Lai massacre was unveiled to the American public sentiment toward the Vietnam War, and the U.S. military in general, began to shift. The My Lai massacre is said to have contributed to the early withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam and the end to war in Southeast

William Calley testified that the sight of men killed in a land mine during an operation brought out feelings of hate and fear towards the Vietnamese (Olson, Calley, p.52). While the American soldiers were being wounded or killed the enemy was rarely to be seen or shot at. The soldiers were frustrated that their friends were being killed by the enemy, but they could not find the enemy to kill them. This lead American soldiers into My Lai with the attitude to seek revenge for previous casualties and that nothing would stop them (Olson, Roberts, Peers Report, p.54).

The My Lai massacre took place in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968. To some, the occasion is considered the worst event in American military history. A group of American soldiers attacked and killed between 300 and 500 Vietnamese men, women, and children. About a year later people learned of the violent attacks made on these innocent people by newspapers and newscasts. When people heard of the attacks, it increased the animosity against war and gave the public another reason to resent the Vietnam veterans. Hugh Thompson is a soldier that felt the story of My Lai should be known. He stopped multiple violent attacks against the Vietnamese by intervening and risking his own life, by putting himself between the Vietnamese and American soldiers with

Initially, the first reports stated that over 100 Vietcong were killed along with 22 civilian casualties caught in the crossfire during the fierce firefight. The operation was seen as a military victory and a strategic success. General William C. Westmoreland even congratulated involved forces for doing an “outstanding job.” However, letters of distraught and remorse from servicemen and soldiers that were previously engaged in the My Lai operation revealed the true nature

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,

The My Lai Massacre is a prime example of America’s actions in an attempt to preserve their image, but this genocide also indepthly grasps the concept of the transitional period from war to sadism. The 23rd Infantry Division of the Charlie Company under the command of Lieutenant William Calley Jr. committed this heinous massacre, in sum murdering around 500 unarmed civilians. The victims included men, women, children, elderly ... no one was spared. According to Dr. O’Connell, a sociology professor in UC Irvine among various other universities, men in Vietnam were taught to mutilate jack rabbits starting from the throat to their genitalia and afterwards perform that exact action on Vietnamese villagers who were unlucky enough to meet their

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

On March 16, 1968. Charlie Company was ordered to enter the Hamlet of My Lai to clear out the Viet Cong's forty-eighth battalion that was believed to be in the vicinity. The soldier's mission would be to engage the forty-eighth battalion and destroy the village of My Lai. The attack was to begin at seven-thirty in the morning. Military leaders believed the women and children would be out of the village heading for the local market by this time, leaving only the Viet Cong. The soldiers were ordered to explode brick homes, set fires to thatch homes, shoot livestock, poison wells, and destroy the enemy.