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.
Many Vietnamese people who weren’t part of the war were killed. In 1968 more than 500 unarmed Vietnamese people were killed in My Lai. This event is known as the My Lai Massacre. Though this event was not mentioned in the book, innocent Vietnamese people were killed and made fun of in some of the stories that Tim O’Brien wrote. For example in the story “The Lives of the Dead” a village was attacked.
Countless Americans lack education of the Vietnam War and what treatment the Vietnamese population received during the war. Many times the behavior conducted towards the Vietnamese portrayed American soldiers mistreating the noncombatants. James W. Loewen’s chapter nine of Lies My Teacher Told Me leads readers through the occurrences in the Vietnam War by elaborating the war crimes enacted by American soldiers, examining the intervention of America in the war, and describing pictures that were taken during the war. One subject Loewen uncovers is the analysis of the war crimes throughout the Vietnam War.
The United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War that was now escalating with the Vietcong before the My Lai Massacre occurred. They had the intention of going to My Lai to find and attack the Vietcong. On the morning of March 16, 1968, US soldiers flew in helicopters into My Lai 4 with the mission of clearing the area of Communists and to only fight the enemy, not civilians. The soldiers landed and started to move through My Lai 4 expecting to battle with the Vietcong, but the area was only occupied by civilians. Despite the mission to not kill any civilians, and seeing no traces of the enemy, Lieutenant Calley “ordered his men to kill the unarmed civilians”
Reading Response Two In the village of My Lia in Vietnam on March 16th 1968 roughly five hundred innocent Vietnamese villagers were executed by, an enraged United State army called Charlie Company which, after decades of being covered up and buried to keep the United States Armed forces images polished will go down in the annals of war history as the My Lia Massacre. Sgt. Ron Haeberle a photographer with Charlie company snapped pictures of burned homes littered with charred villagers and corpses strewn through the dirt paths along with other war photos, which Haeberle published to Life and Time magazines in November of 1969 catapulting the crimes committed to national as well as international spotlight.
“Approximately 58,000 Americans and more than 3 million Vietnamese “ This was a huge casualty for america, but this number was nothing compared to what the Vietnamese lost. No one will ever be able to comprehend how serious war was and is. Tim O’Brien did serve in the Vietnam War but his story Ambush is not a personal story from him. In the story a father tells a story to his daughter about one of his experiences in the war. In Ambush by Tim O’Brien, three messages are shared.
The responsibility was laid out to them clearly, but the decision to downplay this massacre would lead to events soldiers wished never happened. By omission and commission, they suppressed reports of the incident and submitted false or misleading accounts to higher headquarters. (My Lai Massacre) By suppressing the news of the massacre, Calley and his fellow officers just dug themselves a deep hole. Surely they should have expected the cause and effect from this small decision.
“Americans didn’t want to be believe that these things occurred in the name of the American people and for the sake of freedom”, so it was something that was swept under the rug until journalist got a hold of it. I understand now why the Vietnam War caused many to be diagnosed with PTSD and why it was very unpopular war. I am still interested in knowing the South Vietnamese side of the story, as well as the North
The Mai Lai massacre took place March 16, 1968 in the Mai Lai village of South Vietnam and is considered to be one of the most traumatic incidents of violence towards civilians of the Vietnam War. In the massacre, and estimated 347 Vietnamese civilians were brutally killed by American soldiers of the Charlie Company. Soldiers were sent to the village to capture and kill members of the Viet Cong, but when they arrived, they could only find villagers. Instead of retreating, they brutally raped, tortured, and murdered hundreds of civilians; mainly women, children and the elderly, all whom were unarmed. In the defense of these soldiers, many say that they were just doing what they thought was right, what they were ordered to do.
A reporter by the name of Ronald Ridenhour heard rumors about the massacre and decided to investigate more into the rumors. He sent a report of his findings to President Nixon and sixteen congressmen, which resulted in a Pentagon Investigation. “Lieutenant William Calley was charged with premeditated murder of no less than 70 occupants of the My Lai village by means of shooting them with a rifle” (Eckhardt). During the trial, Calley attempted to use multiple arguments to defend himself completely innocent. The questions asked of Lt. Calley during the four-month-long trial showed that he was responsible for the deaths of the many that were killed during the massacre.
From a logical standpoint, we certainly can assign a dollar value to anyone’s life. But from an emotional standpoint it can be and is extremely difficult to determine how much a person’s life is worth. Seeing that emotions often tend to get in one’s way while making decisions, it’s hard for people to decide whether to act with logic or emotions. It should be that everyone’s life has a base value and then what they do for a living and what kind of education or training they have is added on to that base value. Honestly, there is no right way to assign the value of a life and it will always come down to one’s own thoughts and beliefs.
The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases.
Which was a part of the Mi Lai Hamlet ( My Lai Massacre ). The regiment was named Charlie Company Of the American Divisions 11th Infantry Brigade and the soldiers morale was dwindling since the Vietnamese led tet offensive were they lost 100 men ( Mi Lai Massacre ). To make matters worse they were advised by army commanders that whoever was found in Son Mi were considered and should be considered a part of the Vic Cong or active Vic Congo or active Vic Con sympathizers and their order to disintegrate the village ( Mi Lai Massacre ). When they arrived at the village they were met with not a single Vic Cong
“It is a chaotic event that typifies the insanity of the Vietnam War, … In a gesture of compassion, the chief wants to take the girl, the wounded lone survivor, to receive medical care. … Willard shoots the girl through the heart and reminds the chief of his warning not to stop the Sampan” (Roman). The targeting of civilians accelerated due to anxious soldiers which eventually led up to the My Lai Massacre. The massacre did not only show the corruption and evilness that America has created but it showed that there was no purpose of this war and it was only to pursue violence and America's power.
Many people do not know what happened overseas between the United States and other troops, unless you were there to witness it. There are many different things that have been covered up by the government and many of these occurrences do ultimately come out, but some situations do not. The My Lai Massacre was one of the many things that was being covered up by the government and army, that got out and caused a lot of controversy. Seymour Hersh is the journalist that revealed the real truth about what happened in My Lai. Seymour Hersh acted in accordance with the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics to uncover the truth about the My Lai Massacre.
