Massacre at My Lai
March 16, 1968
What happened at My Lai?
• On March 16, 1968, the men of Charlie
Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division
entered the village of My Lai.
• “This is what you’ve been waiting for-search and destroy-- and you’ve got it,” said
their superior officers.
• A short time later the killing began.
• Vietnam Online, PBS
Where is My Lai?
• My Lai is in the South
Vietnamese district of Son My,
a heavily mined area of
Vietcong entrenchment.
• Many members of Charlie
Company had been maimed of
killed in the area during the
preceding weeks.
• This time Charlie Company, led
by Lt. William Calley, was
willing and ready for an
engagement with the Vietcong.
• Vietnam Online, PBS
Timeline of the Events at My Lai
• First arrivals were
Lieutenant Calley and
the First Platoon.
• The mission of the
First Platoon was to
secure the landing area
for the helicopters.
• This was shortly after
eight in the morning.
• BBC News
Timeline of the events of My Lai,
continued
• After securing the landing area,
the First Platoon entered the
village of My Lai.
• Calley ordered his men to enter
the village firing, though there
had been no report of
opposition fire.
• Soon, the “search and destroy”
mission had degenerated into
the massacre of over 300
apparently unarmed civilians,
which included women,
children, and the elderly- all in
the course of three hours.
• Vietnam Online, PBS
Atrocities at My Lai
• Families who had huddled
together for safety in huts or
bunkers were shown no mercy.
• Those who surrendered with
their hands held high were
murdered.
• Women were gang raped.
• Vietnamese who had bowed to
greet the Americans were
beaten with fists and tortured.
• Some victims were mutilated
with the signature “C
Company” carved into the
chest.
• BBC News
Atrocities at My Lai
• Calley, for his part,
was said to have
rounded up a group of
the villagers, ordered
them into a ditch, and
mowed them down in
a blast of machine gun
fire.
• Vietnam Online, PBS
Victims at My Lai
Victims at My Lai
The Burning of My Lai
One wounded member of Charlie
Company
• Only one member of
Charlie Company was
wounded.
• A GI shot himself in
the foot while clearing
his pistol.
• BBC News
Chief Warrant Officer Hugh
Thompson
• Pilot of an army helicopter that
arrived at My Lai around 9am.
• Witnessed the senseless killings
and reported them to
headquarters.
• Evacuated 9 civilians, including
5 children, by putting himself
between the Vietnamese and
Calley’s men
• Told his crew to “open up on
the Americans” if they fired on
the civilians
• Returned a second time to save
a baby clinging to its dead
mother
• Famous Trials
Who was Charlie Company?
• Charlie Company came to
Vietnam in December, 1967.
• Charlie Company’s
commanding officer was Ernest
Medina, a thirty-three year old
from New Mexico, who was
popular with his soldiers
• One of the platoon leaders was
William Calley, a twenty-four
year old, who was described as
“a kid trying to play war.”
• By March 1968, many in the
company “had given in to an
easy pattern of violence.”
• Famous trials
Why Charlie Company?
continued
• On March 14, a small squad
from “C” Company ran into a
booby trap, killing a popular
sergeant, blinding one GI, and
wounding several others.
• At the funeral service the
following evening, Medina
gave a pep talk about the next
morning’s mission.
• He told his soldiers that the
women and children would be
out of the hamlet, and that all
would be left would be the
enemy. They would destroy the
enemy completely.
• Famous Trials
The Cover-Up
• It took more than a year for the
shocking story of the My Lai
massacre to reach the news
stands.
• Medina realized that the news
of the event could cause
trouble. For instance, “when he
was questioned by a superior,
he maintained that between 20
and 28 civilians had been killed
by gun-ship and artillery fire.”
• Medina’s account of “the events
was echoed in a report
submitted in a month later by
the commander of the 11th
Infantry Brigade, Colonel Oran
K Henderson. 20 civilians had
been killed inadvertently, he
claimed.”
• However, rumors began to be
spread of the true events that
had occurred at My Lai.
– BBC News
How the story actually broke
• After hearing the soldiers boast
about what had taken place at
My Lai, Ronald Ridenhour,
who was a soldier with the 11th
Brigade, began to check out the
story by confirming the soldiers
stories with other soldiers and
official documents.
• In March 1969, Ridenhour
composed a letter detailing
what he had heard about My
Lai and sent the letter to
President Nixon, the Pentagon,
the State Department, the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, and members of
Congress.
The Investigation
• General Westmoreland, one
recipient of the letter, could not
believe that his men would
engage in mass murder and
ordered an immediate inquiry.
• Over the next few months,
evidence was amassed, and it
was evident that war crimes had
been committed.
• On September 5, 1969, Calley
was charged with 109 counts of
murder, and his Court Martial
began on November 12th.
Charges and a Pardon
• On March 29, 1970, Lieutenant Calley was found guilty of
the murder of at least 33 “oriental human beings,
occupants of the village of My Lai, whose names and
sexes are unknown, by means of shooting them with a
rifle.”
• Calley was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to life
in Leavenworth Prison.
• The sentence was reduced to 20 years by President Nixon.
• In 1974, after serving just three years, Calley was
pardoned by Nixon.
• Today, Calley, who was married in 1974, works in the
jewelry store of his father-in-law in Columbus, Georgia.
Lasting Effects of My Lai
• Two weeks after the Calley verdict, a public
opinion poll reported for the first time that a
majority of Americans opposed the war in
Vietnam.
• The incident in My Lai also caused the military to
re-evaluate its training and handling of noncombatants.
• Still present in the military mind. Commanders
sent troops in Desert Storm into battle with the
words , “No My Lais--you hear?”
Bibliography
• An Account of the My Lai Courts-Marital by Doug Linder
• http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_intro.ht ml
• BBC News: My Lai: the cover-up
• http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/03/98/mylai/
• Vietnam Online- The American Experience
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/mylai.html
• When War Becomes A Crime: The Case of My Lai
• http:www.coe.ufl.edu/courses/edtech/vault/SS/vietnamwar/mylai.html
• BBC News: Murder in the name of war- My Lai
• http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk.hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newid_64000/6