My Lai the Great Massacre

My Lai the Great Massacre

The Olson and Roberts book, My Lai is based upon the March 18, 1968, assault on My Lai. By examining the material, an explanation of why this massacre occurred is drawn. The main factors that lead to the My Lai assault were difficulty engaging with the enemy and the problem of distinguishing between the enemy soldiers and civilians, which both led to rage and frustration among soldiers and a misinterpretation of the mission.

On March 17, 1968, a mission was given to the Charlie company to go into the village of My Lia or Pinktown, and engage in battle with the enemy. The area was said to be heavily populated with Vietcong, the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong sympathizers (Olson, T'Souvas, CID Statement, p.68). On March 18, 1968, the Charlie company went to My Lia to seek and destroy the Vietcong's 48th Local Force Battalion. The mission turned into a great massacre of harmless civilians. Old men, women and children were gathered together in groups and then executed. Everything that moved was killed. Pfc. Charles Gruver, a soldier at My Lai said to Ronald Ridenhour, "We went in there and killed everybody." After the massacre the military was trying to cover the incident up to keep it from the public. On the report for the battle of My Lai it was listed

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that 128 enemies killed but only three weapons recovered (Olson, p.23). It was evident to what had actually happened.

The difficulty engaging with the enemy was a factor leading up to the massacre. The Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army were highly skilled in hit-and-run guerrilla tactics. The Vietcong made extensive use of land mines and boobytraps. Women, children and old men helped the Vietcong to construct ...

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.... Some soldiers got the impression to kill everything and others got the impression to not kill women and children (Olson, Maples, CID, p.70).

In conclusion the lack of engagement with the enemy, difficulty identifying the enemy, rage and frustration among American soldiers and the misinterpretation of the mission all led to the My Lai massacre. The mission was based upon lack of intelligence information about the occupancy of the enemy within the area of My Lai. I feel that the incident is excusable due to the circumstances. The soldiers followed orders given on what was said to be the enemy. Due to the many factors that lead to the My Lai massacre, no action should have been made on the select few.

Bibliography:

Bibliography Page

Olson, James S. and Roberts, Randy, My Lai, Bedford Books, Boston, New York 1998.