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Photographs of the My Lai massacre provoked world outrage and became a national scandal.
The My Lai massacre (pronounced "Me Lie") was a massacre of hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. It prompted widespread outrage around the world and reduced public support for the war in the United States.
Background
During the Vietnam War, the Quang Ngai Province of South Vietnam was suspected of being a haven for guerrillas of the People's Liberation Armed Forces and other cadres of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, also known as the "Viet Cong" or "VC". Informally renamed Pinkville by the U.S. military, the province was frequently bombed and shelled. By 1968 almost all homes in the province had been destroyed or damaged. Soldiers were encouraged by higher command to exaggerate body counts in order to give the impression of military success. According to University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Doug Linder, GIs joked that "anything that's dead and isn't white is a VC" for body count purposes. There is no doubt that many civilians had been killed in the province, fueling existing Anti-American sentiment in the region.
Insurgents were sometimes housed and sheltered by civilians in the area, and American soldiers were frustrated with the perceived complicity other local people. Together with their inability to close with an elusive enemy, pervasive fear of ambush, and suspicion that the war was being lost, this resentment made violent reprisals against civilians more likely.
The massacre
Into this context, Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division arrived in December of 1967. Having lost a well-liked sergeant to a trap days earlier, the soldiers were angry. They were told enemy guerrillas were hiding in My Lai, one of the nine hamlets grouped near the village of Song My.
The soldiers found no insurgents in the village on the morning of March 16, 1968, although they had been psychologically prepared for a major attack. Under the orders of Lt. William Calley, the soldiers tortured, raped, and slaughtered hundreds of civilians – primarily old men, women, children, and babies. Dozens were herded into a ditch and executed with automatic weapons. The precise number killed varies from source to source, with 347 and 504 being the most commonly cited figures. According to a South Vietnamese army lieutenant to his superiors, it was an "atrocious" incident of revenge.
A US Army scout helicopter crew famously halted the massacre by landing between the American troops and the remaining Vietnamese hiding in a bunker. The 24 year-old pilot, Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr., confronted the leaders of the troops and told them he would open fire on them if they continued their attack on civilians.
While the other two members of the helicopter crew — Spc. Lawrence Colburn and Spc. Glenn Andreotta — brandished their heavy weapons at the men who had participated in the atrocity, Thompson directed an evacuation of the village. The crewmembers have been credited with saving at least 11 lives, but were long thereafter reviled as traitors. It was not until exactly thirty years later, following a television report concerning the incident, that the three were awarded the Soldier's Medal, the army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.
Cover-up
Initial investigations of My Lai were undertaken by the 11th Brigade's Commanding Officer, Colonel Oran Henderson, under orders from Americal's Assistant Commanding Officer, Brigadier General Young.
Six months later a young soldier of the 11th Light Infantry (The Butcher's Brigade) named Tom Glen, wrote a letter accusing the Americal division (and other entire units of the U.S. military, not just individuals) of routine brutality against Vietnamese civilians; the letter was detailed, its allegations horrifying, and its contents echoed complaints received from other soldiers. Colin Powell, then a young US Army Major, was charged with investigating the massacre. Powell wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent." Later, Powell's refutation would be called an act of "white-washing" the news of the Massacre, and questions would continue to remain undisclosed to the public.
The carnage at My Lai might have gone unknown to history if not for another soldier who, independent of Glen, sent a letter to his Congressman. Veteran Ron Ridenhour learned about the events at My Lai second-hand, by talking to members of Charlie Company. He then appealed to Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon. Eventually, Calley was charged with murder, in September 1969. It was another two months before the American public learned about the massacre.
Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, after extensive conversations with Ridenhour, broke the My Lai story on November 12, 1969 and on November 20 The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) published explicit photographs of dead villagers killed at My Lai. As is evident from comments made in a 1969 telephone conversation between National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, revealed recently by the National Security Archive, the photos of the war crime were too shocking for senior officials to stage an effective cover-up. Secretary of Defense Laird is heard to say, There are so many kids just lying there; these pictures are authentic.
Courts martial
On March 17, 1970 the United States Army charged 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
U.S. Army Lt. William Calley was convicted in 1971 of premeditated murder in ordering the shootings and initially sentenced to life in prison; two days later, however, President Richard Nixon ordered him released from prison. Calley served 3½ years of house arrest in his quarters at Fort Benning, Georgia and was then ordered freed by a federal judge. Calley claimed that he was following orders from his captain, Ernest Medina: Medina denied giving the orders and was acquitted. There were no other convictions.
Aftermath
The explosive news of the massacre fueled the outrage of the American peace movement, which demanded the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. It also led more potential draftees to file for conscientious objector status. Those who had always argued against the war felt vindicated; those on the fringes of the movement became more vocal.
The more pivotal shift, however, was in the attitude of the general public towards the war. People who had not previously been interested in the peace/war debates began to analyze the issue more closely, and even those who had despised the "peaceniks" for their supposed cowardice or lack of loyalty and patriotism could not defend the slaughter of naked women and children. The horrific stories of other soldiers began to be taken more seriously, and other abuses came to light. For the first time the American leadership began to feel that the average citizen did not support the war.
Some of the public's anger was turned towards the soldiers themselves. With vivid media images of this and other massacres fresh in the minds of homebound Americans, soldiers returning from Vietnam did not always find the warm heroes' welcome that had greeted the returning veterans of other wars. The troubled image of Vietnam veterans greatly increased the difficulties of soldiers struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and homelessness. Help and understanding from public, private, and even military institutions has sometimes been lacking.
Some miltary observers concluded that My Lai showed the need for more and better volunteers to provide stronger leadership among the troops. As the Vietnam combat dragged on, the number of well-educated and experienced career soldiers on the front lines dropped sharply as casualties and combat rotation took their toll. These observers claimed that the absence of the many bright young men who did not participate in the draft due to college attendance or homeland service caused the talent pool for new officers to become very shallow. They pointed to Calley, a young unemployed college dropout, as an example of the raw and inexperienced being rushed through officer training.
Further reading
External links
See also
af:My Lai menseslagting
de:Massaker von My Lai
fr:Massacre de My Lai
it:Massacro di My Lai
no:My Lai
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