The History of the My Lai Massacre
The Vietnam War in recent decades has had a deep impact on the world, especially for the Vietnamese and the Americans. The Vietnam War was perhaps the most unpopular war in which the Americans fought in and even today, the after-shocks can still be felt. This is due, in part, to the horrendous My Lai massacre.
The horrifying story of the My Lai massacre broke out in November 1969, a year and half after it happened on 16th March 1968. The reports, from a reliable news source, stated that a United States Army unit had completely destroyed a defenceless village in Songmy province and coldly exterminated hundreds of women, children, and old men. All the victims were defenceless, yet the United States army unit originally reported that it had engaged in "bloody day-long battle with Communists". Indeed, the American commander based in Vietnam "officially con- gratulated the American soldiers for outstanding action".
The facts of the My Lai massacre would have never been known if not for one ex-GI, named Ronald Ridenhour, called the matter to the attention of some vocal members of Congress.
The first mention of this came to light on 5th September 1969, when two days prior to his discharge, Lt. William Calley was indicted for the massacre of 109 civilians of My Lai. The public outcry of this became more apparent in late November when the story was aired that a repentant participant related the shocking details in a nationwide CBS-TV interview.
As resentment heightened, high administration officials hurried to describe the incident as one "wholly unrepresentative of the manner in which our forces conduct military operations in Vietnam."The Peers Panel was created to begin an enquiry into the way the military handled the incident.
The panel concluded that "Army officers had 'suppressed information' concerning the My Lai massacre". In 1970, the Army charged 13 officers, including former commander of United States forces in Vietnam, with the violation of one or more provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by their failure to investigate and report the My Lai incident accurately.
The facts of the matter came to light. The men of Charlie Company, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, American Division, US Army, entered the village of Son My, on the coast of Central Vietnam, led by Captain Ernest Medina. Lt. William Calley was in charge of the company's 1st Platoon.
The men encountered no armed forces and no opposing fire at all. The American Army units killed over 400 people that day, the majority of them women and children. The women had been viciously raped before being killed. Others were horrendously tortured and mutilated before death. The majority of the killing was undertaken by the 1st Platoon, although not all of it.
The American Commanders were aware of civilians being killed and were acknowledged as 'small-scale and accidental', the result of long-rang artillery fire. The rumours of the massacre were put down by officials as propaganda.
"The My Lai incident, the first officially-admitted United States atrocity against civilians, offers an ideal context in which the American public might assess the credibility of those reports charging that basic United States policies encourage the sort of reckless disregard for civilian welfare so blatantly manifested by the My Lai massacre".
For the American people, the massacre at My Lai provoked questions regarding their identity as a nation. After Calley had been convicted, the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr asserted "this is a moment of truth when we realize that we are not a virtuous nation". Responding to the verdict against Calley, Ohio Governor John J. Gilligan stated "the guilt assigned by the court must be shared by his superiors, by members of Congress, by the Administration and, in truth, by all of us who have tolerated the continuation of this awful war".
The Vietnam War and the horrors which took place in it had a deep impact on both American and Vietnamese history; it was a time of horror for the people in Vietnam. For America, the my Lai massacre coming to light provided the fuel for the Anti-Vietnam war and stimulated criticism into the way the United States military established themselves and their cover-ups.
Bibliography:
Oliver, Kendrick (2003) Atrocity, Authenticity and American Exceptionalism: (Ir)rationalising the Massacre at My Lai, Journal of American Studies, Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Association for American Studies.
Russell, Kent A. (1970) My Lai Massacre: The Need for an International Investigation, California Law Review, California Law Review Inc.