On March 16, 1968 a terrible massacre occurred at My Lai, called The My Lai Massacre. The following massacre should have never happened and the event's that followed the massacre are typical of any American wrongdoing. That's why it wasn't in my US History book. They covered it up and the people involved in the massacre received no punishment except for one soldier. My US History book: The Story of America Volume 2 doesn't even touch on this dark moment in US history. The closest that they come to my topic is the eight pages about the Vietnam War. Within these pages they talked about Nixon being elected to presidency in 1968. He received 43 percent of the popular vote only 1 less than Humphrey. He …show more content…
Captain Ernest Medina ordered the Charlie Company, Task Force Baker, Eleventh Brigade of the Americal Division, to search and destroy My Lai. My Lai is a small village located on the coast of Vietnam, near the South China Sea. Lt. William Calley led 150 fully armed and ready soldiers into Son My villiage to destory the hamlet called My Lia. But it wasn't clear as what to do with any civilians they encountered
(The My Lai Massacre). The Charlie Company soldiers were brought by helicopter (Gettleman). The soldiers entered My Lai expecting fierce combat with a Viet Cong battalion believed to be at My Lai. "For the past three months the American unit had been in no major battles but had suffered a lot of casualties from snipers, mines, and booby traps. The soldiers were ready to prove themselves, ready to exact revenge on the enemy"(The My Lai Massacre).
The Charlie Company soldiers met no Viet Cong soldiers though. Then William Calley ordered the slaughter of the civilians of My Lai. This should have never happened just because you don't find the enemy doesn't give you the right to kill the villagers. Also the inhumane way they killed these villagers which were mostly elderly woman and men and children. The following is a few of the ways they killed the villagers
According to eyewitness reports offered after the event, several old men were bayoneted and praying women and children were shot in the back of
The Vietnam War, as many know it as the secret war, because the United States consider it an “Extended Military Engagement”. It is the thread that stitch me to Tim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried”. The alliance of the Hmong’s to the American troops brought about the deaths of many, including my grandfather. My grandfather help guide the American troops through the jungle and as word got to the Viet Cong’s, they came for the whole village. They came in the still of night and raid the huts. The Viet Cong were after my grandfather and our family to punish them for being traitors. My father, the oldest and at 16 years old was now in charge. My father took my mother, my older sister, his mom, seven siblings and ran. My grandfather stayed
Cowardice. Lack of education. Immorality. These are only a few traits to describe the soldiers that went along with the My Lai Massacre in 1968. The My Lai Massacre took place during the Vietnam War in the southern village of My Lai. American troops were told to bomb and kill the “armed” and “dangerous” people of this village because it was believed to be “stronghold for forces of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, or Viet Cong” (My Lai Massacre). These American troops then continued to follow orders although the villagers, mostly women, children and elders, were in fact not dangerous at all. Later, Hugh Thompson, an American soldier, was able to end this massacre. Since then, many people have studied and read up on the brutal actions of the American
Americans were able to see the war in action on television and were able to witness the horrifying images of war, casualties, and massacres. One of the most horrifying massacres that Americans saw was the My Lai Massacre. My Lai is a very small town 100 miles south of Saigon in South Vietnam. On March 16, 1968, American troops enveloped the town and murdered between four hundred and five hundred innocent civilians. These troops were acting under the command of Captain Ernest Medina and Lieutenant William Calley, Jr. Their justification for this attack was their belief that the citizens of My Lai were working with the Viet Cong by harboring them in their homes.
After reading the book Bloods, I learned new things about the Vietnam war and got a soldiers point of view. Also, how it made them feel after fighting in Vietnam. First, a soldier should go from house to house to find the enemy and protect civilians. But, they did the complete opposite. Instead Private Reginald states, “We didn’t go into the village and look.
North Vietnamese General Chu Huy Man and his headquarters element planned operations in the central highlands area of South Vietnam. His objectives were to attack American forces and control the western plateau consisting of Kontuam, Pleiku, binhdinh, and Phubon Provinces. The campaign began in the fall and by the end of October 1st Calvary Division was going the offense against General Man’s 32n d and 33rd Regiments following failed
Before we ask about My Lai Massacre, we need to know what is My Lai Massacre the My Lai massacre is My Lai massacre has indiscriminately shot unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. The genocide was the duty of an officer of Charlie Company in the United States to lead a team in search of Vietnam. Their teams occupied a place called My Lai and slaughtered civilians under the direction of the high commander. Charlie Company entered South Vietnam in December 1967. In the first month there was no fighting, but in mid-March, five members of the team were killed by booby traps. Moreover, Vietnam’s 48th Battalion attacked US forces in the South Vietnam. The place of the incident occurred not far from where civilians live. This time, the US military was very angry and determined a massive counterattack the villages. Colonel Oran K Henderson orders Charlie Company to commit a massacre. The civilians who lived there were mainly woman, children and the elderly. American soldiers cruelly murdered and mocked them after receiving get permission. In the massacre more than 500 civilians were slaughtered and many women were raped and murdered. They attempted to conceal the events they had committed and led to an antisense sentiment that further divided the United States during the Vietnam War. However, some US military testimonies make their world known to their cruelty, including genocide and rape. In this paper, I will write down things about the behavior of the US
Spearheaded by Second Lieutenant William Calley and his platoon, US forces began attacking human and animal targets alike. Men, women and children were killed indiscriminately with firearms, grenades and bayonets. After the initial attack, backup forces came in and dealt with the “remaining resistance,” killing every living person they could find. Although most soldiers did not or refused to participate in the My Lai Massacre, they neither resisted nor attempt to prevent the killings.
“A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behaviour, nor restrain men from doing things men have always done” (O’Brien) Platoon is a movie that is free from the chains of an overarching sense of morality. There are no morals to be found in this movie, and it’s nihilistic depiction of war allows no room for morality to come to fruition. One way that Stone accomplishes this is by not establishing a clear “us” (Americans) and “them” (Viet Cong) throughout the entire movie, and instead we see the confusion, anger, hatred, and fear that overcomes the American soldiers sent into a war where the enemy is never fully known. There is a scene in the movie Platoon that is based on the My-Lai
On the morning of March 16th the company moved in. They were instructed by Lieutenant William Calley to shoot every living thing in sight, from animals to babies, for the animals would feed the Vietcong and the babies would one day grow up to be them. From many soldiers’ accounts, non-of the people shot that day seemed to pose any threat to the American soldiers. In fact, women, children and old men made up a huge majority of the victims. Barely any weapons were found and according to most of the soldiers the Vietnamese people were trying to cooperate but there was the barrier of language. When the soldiers yelled things in Vietnamese they weren’t even sure if they were saying the right thing because Vietnamese is a language based on inflection in the voice. LT Calley ordered his soldiers to kill all of the Vietnamese in massive slaughters. They were herded into big groups, and some groups were forced into ditches and then fired upon. “The few that survived did so because the were covered by the bodies of those less fortunate.” (Linder) After the massacre was over there was an extensive cover-up, the commanders even reported My Lai as a success with 123 enemy deaths and some weapon recoveries. It wasn’t until a man named Ronald Ridenhour,
Viet Cong took everything away from my mom’s family and my grandma was left with 7 little kids, no house, no money, and had to live on the street. I understand that horrible horrible things happened to both sides but the attitude of the US government going into the war was all wrong and even though they paid the price heavily for it, I’m still extremely angry about the US involvement in the Viet Nam war. I don’t know if the US had the best intentions or not but invaded a country that had done nothing to them was a mistake. And about the My Lai massacre, it disgusts me so much, who would think it’s a good idea to find the enemy by killing everyone in village that had nothing to do with Viet Cong or even the
To succeed politically within South Vietnam itself the United States had to ‘win the hearts and minds of public’. However the atrocities which had struck Vietnam, caused disarray with the public of Vietnam, one case where this is true was the Massacre at My Lai in March 1968; this was the killing of 300 villagers mainly women and children who were raped, murdered, and mutilated; this was carried out by American soldiers who thought the villagers were supposedly harbouring Vietcong. Lieutenant William Calley was charged with the crime but only served
On March 16, 1968. Charlie Company was ordered to enter the Hamlet of My Lai to clear out the Viet Cong's forty-eighth battalion that was believed to be in the vicinity. The soldier's mission would be to engage the forty-eighth battalion and destroy the village of My Lai. The attack was to begin at seven-thirty in the morning. Military leaders believed the women and children would be out of the village heading for the local market by this time, leaving only the Viet Cong. The soldiers were ordered to explode brick homes, set fires to thatch homes, shoot livestock, poison wells, and destroy the enemy.
You could never tell who was the enemy was therefore you treated everyone with suspicion- Thomas Giltner, US Soldier Contested SpacesThe foreign US soldiers had no knowledge of the geography of Vietnam (jungles, mountains, rainforests, and climate) but the VC did, and used it to their advantage. The US, by engaging in massive firepower, killing many non-combatants, destroyed the US credibility in the minds of the people. The VC sympathised with the peoples hardships and this was effective as they won the people over. The VC had extensive knowledge of guerrilla warfare, it was their war, and the US fought tractional conventional warfare which did have some effected, but eventually the US ran out of will. The military operations were
This act to dismantle the communist north violated the Cambodian neutrality and prompted protests nationally. There was such outrage and chaos one demonstration ended in a shooting at Kent State University killing four students. The bloodshed has left numerous Americans wondering if the war was necessary (Learn about Vietnam War).
It’s a known fact that that the Vietnam War was fought by young American soldiers that bled and died next to one another in the jungles of Vietnam. With many wins and loses throughout the war there were over 58,000 American casualties by wars end. The movie, “We Were Soldiers” focuses on the role of the United State’s 7th Calvary Regiment in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first large-unit battle of the Vietnam War. Lt. Col. Hal Moore commanded the 7th Calvary Regiment that landed a helicopter in an area named “X-Ray” located in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam. LT. Col. Moore found himself and his men defending an area no bigger than