Essay on The My Lai Massacre - Vietnam War

Vietnam was so significant to the United States partly as it would be the first war they would lose. It also had a tremendous financial impact on the country and the casualties were also more in the public eye than ever before due to the media. They learnt that: "a long war for limited objectives, with its steady stream of body bags, will not be supported by the American people" (Martino, 1996, p37). Some suggest that the US should have avoided any involvement in the 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

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).

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

According to Tim O 'Brien, the Viet Cong 's and United States ' fighting tactics were a waste of people 's lives. The Viet Cong used guerrilla warfare tactics which resulted in Americans being killed and in turn caused innocent civilians to die. The Viet Cong planted mines along the paths and in the jungles to injure American soldiers. The Viet Cong were never out in the open and had the sympathy of the Vietnamese living there. Many young Vietnamese children and women planted mines, spied, and killed American soldiers. The American soldiers could not tell the difference between the enemy and the innocent, so the soldiers indiscriminately killed everybody. The American strategy was to find the Viet Cong and kill them. The American soldiers walked from village to village in search of the Viet Cong. As they went from place to place, soldiers would

“You could never tell who was the enemy was … therefore you treated everyone with suspicion”- Thomas Giltner, US Soldier “Contested Spaces”The 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 people’s 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

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

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

“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,

The My Lai Massacre is, to this day, still known to be one of the most horrifying acts of violence against neutrals that occurred during the Vietnam war. A company of American soldiers, under the order of their superior, violently attacked and killed most of the population of South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lia. This village, made up mostly of women, children, and the elderly, did not fire one single shot

The village of My Lai was home about 500 woman children and the elderly who were all raped, tortured, and killed by the 11th brigade. This tragedy was so bad the higher ups decided to cover this up for a whole year until Ronald Ridenhour exposed it to a reporter in 1968. 14 officers were brought up on charges of war crimes, but of the 14 only one was convicted and his name was William Calley. Calley served a third of a 10 year sentence after being pardoned by Richard Nixon

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.

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.

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