My Lai Massacre Analysis

Throughout the course of HH216 the Naval Vignette Worksheets have allowed students to gain a greater understanding of that week’s larger topics being discussed. These worksheets have covered a wide variety of naval battles from the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 to the bombing of the USS Cole (DDG-67) on October 12, 2000. With each worksheet completed students receive one of a possible (15) points for the semester. However, even though each have the same point value some prove more beneficial to the Midshipmen’s HH216 learning experience such as, Panay compared to the My Lai Massacre. While Panay had an effect on the Americans’ opinion of Japan in 1937, the lack of topics covered in the course on the Vietnam War fails to identify historical

However, the lack of material covered on the Vietnam War further proves that the war remains an event Americans attempt to forget. In America today, the Vietnam War continues to be looked at negatively, which provides further proof of why we must learn about American troops’ ethical lapses in war and how this affected world power and human rights. In the My Lai Massacre, platoon leader LT William Calley Jr. and his men of Charlie Company murdered a village and gang-raped the population. It was not until helicopter pilot; Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Hugh Thompson landed his helicopter and stopped the killing of the innocent civilians by Calley and his men. This event is referred as, “the most shocking episode of the Vietnam War.” By adding the My Lai Massacre to the Naval Vignettes students will meet the required learning objective of identifying factors that shape change over time. This is evident by the United States Naval Academy (USNA) curriculum, where the events from My Lai and the bravery of CWO Hugh Thompson are discussed in NL110 and