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    My Lai Massacre

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    Nick Adilah
    The My Lai Massacre occurred on March 16, 1968 when U.S. Army soldiers from Charlie Company killed 347-504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in South Vietnam. Ordered to the village of My Lai as part of a search and destroy mission, the soldiers were told to expect to find Viet Cong and that any remaining civilians would be enemies. The massacre involved the shooting, rape, torture, and mutilation of mostly women, children and elderly villagers. When the events came to light in 1969, it caused widespread outrage and increased opposition to the Vietnam War. Lieutenant William Calley was ultimately found guilty of murder but served only three years after President Nixon pardoned him. The massacre had lasting impacts on how the U.

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    My Lai Massacre

    Uploaded by

    Nick Adilah
    148 views11 pages
    The My Lai Massacre occurred on March 16, 1968 when U.S. Army soldiers from Charlie Company killed 347-504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in South Vietnam. Ordered to the village of My Lai as part of a search and destroy mission, the soldiers were told to expect to find Viet Cong and that any remaining civilians would be enemies. The massacre involved the shooting, rape, torture, and mutilation of mostly women, children and elderly villagers. When the events came to light in 1969, it caused widespread outrage and increased opposition to the Vietnam War. Lieutenant William Calley was ultimately found guilty of murder but served only three years after President Nixon pardoned him. The massacre had lasting impacts on how the U.

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    The My Lai Massacre occurred on March 16, 1968 when U.S. Army soldiers from Charlie Company killed 347-504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in South Vietnam. Ordered to the village of My Lai as part of a search and destroy mission, the soldiers were told to expect to find Viet Cong and that any remaining civilians would be enemies. The massacre involved the shooting, rape, torture, and mutilation of mostly women, children and elderly villagers. When the events came to light in 1969, it caused widespread outrage and increased opposition to the Vietnam War. Lieutenant William Calley was ultimately found guilty of murder but served only three years after President Nixon pardoned him. The massacre had lasting impacts on how the U.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    148 views11 pages

    My Lai Massacre

    Uploaded by

    Nick Adilah
    The My Lai Massacre occurred on March 16, 1968 when U.S. Army soldiers from Charlie Company killed 347-504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in South Vietnam. Ordered to the village of My Lai as part of a search and destroy mission, the soldiers were told to expect to find Viet Cong and that any remaining civilians would be enemies. The massacre involved the shooting, rape, torture, and mutilation of mostly women, children and elderly villagers. When the events came to light in 1969, it caused widespread outrage and increased opposition to the Vietnam War. Lieutenant William Calley was ultimately found guilty of murder but served only three years after President Nixon pardoned him. The massacre had lasting impacts on how the U.

    Copyright:

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    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 11

    MY LAI MASSACRE

    The Vietnam War mass murder of 347504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. 1st Platoon was commanded by Lieutenant William Calley and was ordered to My Lai village. They were part of Task Force Barker the codename for a search and destroy mission. They had been told to expect to find members of the NLF (called Vietcong or VC by the US soldiers) in the vicinity as the village was in an area where the NLF had been very active. On the eve of the attack, at the Charlie Company briefing, Captain Ernest Medina informed his men that nearly all the civilian residents of the hamlets in Son My village would have left for the market by 07:00 and that any who remained would be NLF or NLF sympathizers. He was also asked whether the order included the killing of women and children; those present at the briefing later gave different accounts of Medina's response.

    Some, including platoon leaders, later testified that the orders as they understood them were to kill all guerrilla and North Vietnamese combatants and "suspects" (including women and children, as well as all animals), to burn the village, and pollute the wells. Most of the victims were women, children (including babies), and elderly people. Many were raped, beaten, and tortured, and some of the bodies were later found to be mutilated. The massacre took place in the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe of Son My village. The event is also known as the Son My Massacre or sometimes as the Song My Massacre.

    Where is My Lai?
    My Lai is in the South Vietnamese district of Son My, a heavily mined area of Vietcong entrenchment.

    VICTIMS AT MY LAI

    THE BURNING OF MY LAI

    AFTERMATH
    The incident became public knowledge in 1969, it prompted widespread outrage around the world. The massacre also increased domestic opposition to the US involvement in the Vietnam War. Three US servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and protect the wounded were later denounced by US Congressmen. They received hate mail and death threats and found mutilated animals on their doorsteps. It was 30 years before they were honored for their efforts.

    HOW THE STORY ACTUALLY BROKE?


    After hearing the soldiers boast about what had taken place at My Lai, Ronald Ridenhour, who was a soldier with the 11th Brigade, began to check out the story by confirming the soldiers stories with other soldiers and official documents. In March 1969, Ridenhour composed a letter detailing what he had heard about My Lai and sent the letter to President Nixon, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and members of Congress.

    THE INVESTIGATION
    General Westmoreland, one recipient of the letter, could not believe that his men would engage in mass murder and ordered an immediate inquiry. Over the next few months, evidence was amassed, and it was evident that war crimes had been committed. On September 5, 1969, Calley was charged with 109 counts of murder, and his Court Martial began on November 12th.

    CHARGES AND A PARDON


    On March 29, 1970, Lieutenant Calley was found guilty of the murder of at least 33 oriental human beings, occupants of the village of My Lai, whose names and sexes are unknown, by means of shooting them with a rifle. Calley was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to life in Leavenworth Prison. The sentence was reduced to 20 years by President Nixon. In 1974, after serving just three years, Calley was pardoned by Nixon. Today, Calley, who was married in 1974, works in the jewelery store of his father-in-law in Columbus, Georgia.

    LASTING EFFECTS OF MY LAI


    Two weeks after the Calley verdict, a public opinion poll reported for the first time that a majority of Americans opposed the war in Vietnam. The incident in My Lai also caused the military to re-evaluate its training and handling of noncombatants. Still present in the military mind. Commanders sent troops in Desert Storm into battle with the words , No My Lais--you hear?

    The Mai Lai massacre also impacted on the American Military and its procedures for issuing operational orders during military engagements. The Medina Standard holds that a commanding officer, being aware of a human rights violation or a war crime, will be held criminally liable when he does not take action. Although Medina was eventually found not guilty, all American Army commanders are now fully aware of what might befall them should they fail in their duty to civilians.

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