My Lai Massacre Research Paper

The Sad Truth

In March 1968, the worst incident of cruelty against Vietnamese citizens throughout the entire Vietnam War took place. A squadron of Americans soldiers ended the lives of nearly all who lived in a small southern vietnamese community called My Lai. No one knows the exact death toll caused by the American soldiers, but it is presumed to be around 500 people. Everyone killed was unarmed, and 0 shots were fired by any Vietnamese during the slaughter. Most of the Soldiers did not care who they killed, so many children,women, and elderly people were slaughtered. Important military personnel were able to hide the truth of this terrible event until about a year later when a soldier began to telling others about what really happened. His

The investigation caused 14 United States officers to be charged of war crimes related to the My Lai tragedy, but only one of these men was convicted. These unjust killings and cover-up even further fueled the wide disapproval of the vietnam war among Americans nationwide (History.com).

The small My Lai congregation was believed by the United States to be a stronghold of Viet Cong forces, so the area was often bombed by the U.S. prior to the mass killing. Lieutenant William Calley led a group called Charlie Company on a seek and destroy mission after receiving word that the Viet Cong took over a nearby village. Prior to this event, Charlie Company endured many losses during a previous fight called the Tet Offensive, so many in the Charlie Company’s unit were extremely emotionally unstable because they saw many of their close friends previously die or suffer horrible injuries because of the Viet Cong soldiers. Upon arrival, Charlie Company

soldiers and the devastated remaining villagers whom were all running away. Thompson had to threaten to fire upon his own men to persuade them to stop the unjust killing. Because high ranking officers knew the public would react terribly to knowing the truth of the events in My Lai, many military officials did everything they could to hide what had occurred. Everything was going as planned until a man named Ron Ridenhour broke the silence and began trying to get the truth of the event to the public. Ridenhour was a soldier in Vietnam not present at My Lai, but he had heard the true story from those who were. He wrote to President Richard Nixon, the , State Department, Pentagon, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many congressmen. No one replied. Ridenhour eventually was interviewed by an investigative journalist named Seymour Hersh. Hersh released the story in November of 1969, and it caused a great mixture of feelings nationwide. Some thought that we should support the troops no matter what they do, and some condemned the acts completely. This interview helped prompt the Army to thoroughly investigate the My Lai massacre and determine who helped try to hide the truth. The man in charge of finding the answers to these questions was Lieutenant General William Peers. Him and his associates revealed their findings March of 1970 . They initially determined that at least