My Lai Massacre
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.
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2 The massacre 3 Cover-up 4 Courts martial 5 Further reading 6 External links 7 See also |
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, and this fueled the 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 of local peoples. Together with the inability to close with an elusive enemy, pervasive fear of ambush, and well founded 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.
They found no insurgents in the village on the morning of March 16, 1968, but they had been psychologically prepared for a major attack. Under the orders of Lt. William Calley, the soldiers killed hundreds of civilians – primarily old men, women, children, and babies. The precise number killed varies from source to source, with 347 and 504 being the most commonly cited figures. The soldiers also engaged in torture and rape of the villagers. According to a South Vietnamese army lieutenant to his superiors, it was an "atrocious" incident of revenge.
The attack was halted by a US Army scout helicopter crew who landed their vehicle between the attacking American troops and the remaining Vietnamese who were alive. The 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 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 were credited with saving at least 11 lives. Exactly thirty years later, the three were awarded the Soldier's Medal, the army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.
Initial investigations of My Lai were undertaken by the 11th Brigade's CO, Col Oran Henderson, under orders from Americal's Ass't CO, BG 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.
Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh 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. The carnage at My Lai would have gone unknown in history if not for another soldier who, independent of Glen, sent a letter to his Congressman. 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.
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 and eventually got Calley charged with murder in September 1969. It was another two months before the American public learned about the massacre.
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.
Seymour Hersh published a story after discussions with Ron Ridenhour.
Cover-up
Courts martial
Further reading
External links
See also