How Did The Official Version Of My Lai Assault Differ From Testimonies

Alecia Moore

Chapter 13

How did the official version of the My Lai assault differ from the soldiers’ testimonies? Why were they so different from each other?

On March 16, 1968 in a village called My Lai “U.S. forces killed 128 enemy troops” (Gorn et al 2010), this is what the Army’s Public Information Department released. The official version of My Lai made the massacre sound as if it was an effective search-and-destroy mission that had killed suspected enemy soldiers of the Vietcong.

“[Leader of the operation, Lieutenant Colonel Frank] Barker said to his superiors in his combat action report, noting that the ‘operation was well planned, well executed and successful.’” (Gorn et al 2010) In reality this was a massacre of over 500 innocent

But then the orders were given to kill the civilians, and some soldiers went on a rampage. There were mass murders, rapes and torture.” (Gorn et al 2010). This proves that My Lai Massacre was not “executed” properly because the purpose of going into My Lai was not to kill everything in sight. The intent of going into My Lai was so the enemies would be dealt with properly, “successful” is the complete opposite word of how the operation ended. Barker also stated that “the infantry unit on the ground and helicopters were able to assist civilians in leaving the area and in caring for and/or evacuating the wounded.” (Gorn et al 2010) Captain Brian Livingston’s testimony contradicts Barker’s claims completely; “…Livingston, a helicopter commander wrote his wife

The official document also made it appear that the officers gave the soldiers the commands and that they were executed correctly. Most likely Officers lied about the massacre to make it look like they did what the United States Government expected them to do in My Lai, I suspect that they did this to keep their jobs. The soldier’s testimonies later revealed that the official story told was completely just the opposite. The testimonies showed that the officers lacked communication with the soldiers of the rules that were in place for this mission. If the soldiers would have been aware of the rules most likely My Lai wouldn’t have turned out the way it