Massacre at My Lai March 16, 1968

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Massacre at My LaiMarch 16, 1968
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What happened at My Lai?

• On March 16, 1968, the men of Charlie Company,
  11th Brigade, Americal Division entered the
  village of My Lai.
• This is what youve been waiting for--search and
  destroy-- and youve got it, said their superior
  officers.
• A short time later the killing began.
• Vietnam Online, PBS

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Where is My Lai?

• My Lai is in the South Vietnamese district of Son
  My, a heavily mined area of Vietcong
  entrenchment.
• Many members of Charlie Company had been maimed
  of killed in the area during the preceding weeks.
• This time Charlie Company, led by Lt. William
  Calley, was willing and ready for an engagement
  with the Vietcong.
• Vietnam Online, PBS

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Timeline of the Events at My Lai

• First arrivals were Lieutenant Calley and the
  First Platoon.
• The mission of the First Platoon was to secure
  the landing area for the helicopters.
• This was shortly after eight in the morning.
• BBC News

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Timeline of the events of My Lai, continued

• After securing the landing area, the First
  Platoon entered the village of My Lai.
• Calley ordered his men to enter the village
  firing, though there had been no report of
  opposition fire.
• Soon, the search and destroy mission had
  degenerated into the massacre of over 300
  apparently unarmed civilians, which included
  women, children, and the elderly- all in the
  course of three hours.
• Vietnam Online, PBS

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Atrocities at My Lai

• Families who had huddled together for safety in
  huts or bunkers were shown no mercy.
• Those who surrendered with their hands held high
  were murdered.
• Women were gang raped.
• Vietnamese who had bowed to greet the Americans
  were beaten with fists and tortured.
• Some victims were mutilated with the signature C
  Company carved into the chest.
• BBC News

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Atrocities at My Lai

• Calley, for his part, was said to have rounded up
  a group of the villagers, ordered them into a
  ditch, and mowed them down in a blast of machine
  gun fire.
• Vietnam Online, PBS

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Victims at My Lai
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Victims at My Lai
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The Burning of My Lai
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One wounded member of Charlie Company

• Only one member of Charlie Company was wounded.
• A GI shot himself in the foot while clearing his
  pistol.
• BBC News

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Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson

• Pilot of an army helicopter that arrived at My
  Lai around 9am.
• Witnessed the senseless killings and reported
  them to headquarters.
• Evacuated 9 civilians, including 5 children, by
  putting himself between the Vietnamese and
  Calleys men
• Told his crew to open up on the Americans if
  they fired on the civilians
• Returned a second time to save a baby clinging to
  its dead mother
• Famous Trials

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Who was Charlie Company?

• Charlie Company came to Vietnam in December,
  1967.
• Charlie Companys commanding officer was Ernest
  Medina, a thirty-three year old from New Mexico,
  who was popular with his soldiers
• One of the platoon leaders was William Calley, a
  twenty-four year old, who was described as a kid
  trying to play war.
• By March 1968, many in the company had given in
  to an easy pattern of violence.
• Famous trials

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Why Charlie Company? continued

• On March 14, a small squad from C Company ran
  into a booby trap, killing a popular sergeant,
  blinding one GI, and wounding several others.
• At the funeral service the following evening,
  Medina gave a pep talk about the next mornings
  mission.
• He told his soldiers that the women and children
  would be out of the hamlet, and that all would be
  left would be the enemy. They would destroy the
  enemy completely.
• Famous Trials

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The Cover-Up

• It took more than a year for the shocking story
  of the My Lai massacre to reach the news stands.
• Medina realized that the news of the event could
  cause trouble. For instance, when he was
  questioned by a superior, he maintained that
  between 20 and 28 civilians had been killed by
  gun-ship and artillery fire.

• Medinas account of the events was echoed in a
  report submitted in a month later by the
  commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade, Colonel
  Oran K Henderson. 20 civilians had been killed
  inadvertently, he claimed.
• However, rumors began to be spread of the true
  events that had occurred at My Lai.
• BBC News

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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.
• Famous Trials

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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.

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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 jewelry store of his father-in-law in
  Columbus, Georgia.

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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
  non-combatants.
• Still present in the military mind. Commanders
  sent troops in Desert Storm into battle with the
  words , No My Lais--you hear?

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Bibliography

• An Account of the My Lai Courts-Marital by Doug
  Linder
• http//www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/m
  ylai/Myl_intro.html
• BBC News My Lai the cover-up
• http//news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_rep
  ort/1998/03/98/mylai/
• Vietnam Online- The American Experience
• http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/myla
  i.html
• When War Becomes A Crime The Case of My Lai
• httpwww.coe.ufl.edu/courses/edtech/vault/SS/vietn
  amwar/mylai.html
• BBC News Murder in the name of war- My Lai
• http//news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk.hi/english/world/asia-
  pacific/newid_64000/6