+

My Lai Massacre & End of

Vietnam War

Arnav Ghosh 10.3

"I had prayed to

God that this

thing was

fiction.‖- William Wilson,

Combat Veteran

―North Vietnam

cannot defeat or

humiliate the

United States.

Only Americans

can do that.‖ Richard Nixon, 1969

+My Lai Massacre - Background

Tet Offensive Aftermath (January 1968)

- Americans assumed assumed that the 48th Battalion of the NLF

had then dispersed & taken refuge in Son My village

(specifically in My Lai 1, 2, 3 & 4)

Captain Ernest Medina believed all the civilians of the

village would have left for

the market by 7 a.m, any

remaining were soldiers of

the NLF or their sympathizers :

“They‟re all V.C, now go &

get them.”

(Extreme Right) Captain Ernst

Medina, (Right) Lt. William

Calley

+My Lai – The Massacre

7:30: Artillery fire clears a landing area for

helicopters bringing in 120 soldiers 8:40 – 11:00 : 1st & 2nd platoons go

in to complete the ‗search & destroy‘

mission, 3rd platoon responsible for

„mop up‘ duties

Troops found no enemy fighters in the village presumed V.C were

hiding under the houses

Over 3 hours: 504 Vietnamese civilians killed (2 V.C soldiers & 3

weapons recovered)

+My Lai - Helicopter Intervention

Thompson: But, these are human beings,

unarmed civilians, sir.

Calley: Look Thompson, this is my show. I'm in

charge here. It ain't your concern.

Thompson: Yeah, great job.

Thompson: Hey listen, hold your fire. I'm

going to try to get these people out of this

bunker. Just hold your men here.

Brooks: Yeah, we can help you get 'em out of

that bunker—with a hand grenade!

Thompson: Just hold your men here. I think I

can do better than that.

Major Hugh Thompson

Jr. – My Lai Hero

+ My Lai – Cover Up & Investigations

Five O‘ Clock Follies: “In action today Americal Division forces

killed 128 enemy near Quang Nai City” – 16/03/1968

General William Westmoreland congratulated the unit for an

‗outstanding job‘ & the event began to be described as one of

America‘s greatest victories after the Tet Offensive

March 1969: Ronald Ridenhour sends a letter to Congress

about the Mai Lai incident after hearing about it from members

of the Charlie Company: “rather dark & bloody did indeed

occur”

Seeing the evidence provided an

inquiry was ordered, over 400

witnesses were questioned & 200

pages of testimony published

(Extreme Right) Lt. Calley – the only out of 30

to be convicted, (Right) My Lai – A symbol for

the Vietnam War

+ My Lai – Army & Trial September 1969: Lt. William Calley & 10 others charged with

the murder of 109 people

Unable to handle so many charges, Calley is thrust with the

complete responsibility of the massacre with higher officials

denying that he was acting under any orders.

March 1969: Calley found

guilty of 22 counts of

premeditated murder &

sentenced to life in prison

causing a public outcry:

- Calley was being used as a

scapegoat by the army in

order to shield the overall

war in Vietnam(Extreme Right) TIME Magazine

questioning the verdict, (Right) A

―Free Calley‖ Protest

+ My Lai – Viet Cong Reactions

Broadcast: American Evil Appears (Let the American Enemy Pay

this Bloody Debt)

―Crazy American enemy used light machineguns and all kinds

of weapons to kill our innocent civilian people…most of them

were women, kids, there were some just born babies and

pregnant women….There were 26 families killed completely -

no survivors‖

―The fierce devils… They have dropped down their priest

covers to become barbarous, and cruel. American wolfs have

forgotten their sheep - like appearance. They opened their

mouths to eat, drink our people blood with all their animal

barbarity.‖

―Vietnam officers, soldier brother…What are you waiting for…to

avenge our people, to wash out insult to our nation and save

your proud and your own life.

+

My Lai – Media &

Domestic Outrage

+My Lai – Media & Domestic Outrage

5th December 1969: The first images

of the My Lai Massacre are published

in ‗The Plain Dealer‘ causing protests

all over America & various parts of the

world, including the November 1969

protests where 700,000 people turned

up against the atrocities in the war

+My Lai Massacre – Protests &

Propaganda Protest Forms:

- Teach-ins on why the USA should leave Vietnam

- Railway Blocks with human barricades, Campus Demonstrations

- Huge Public Demonstrations, Burning Draft Papers

Propaganda Art

Implied Message: In Vietnamese, babies were also looked at as enemy combatants (ie: the war was immoral)

Further solidified the stereotypical belief that US soldiers were ‗drug addled baby killers‘

"easily the most successful poster to vent the outrage

that so many felt about the conflict in Southeast Asia."

+ My Lai - Survivors Ha Thi Quy, My Lai Villager: I never would have imagined, never

would have thought Americans would kill us. When my children

came home and asked if American soldiers were killers, I

said, "No. Americans don't kill.‖

"Everyone in my family was killed in the My Lai massacre -- my

mother, my father, my brother and three sisters," said Tuyet, who

was 8 years old at the time. "They threw me into a ditch full of dead

bodies. I was covered with blood and brains."

(Left) Survivors pointing to a ditch where many of the dead lay (Right) A My Lai

Massacre Memorial - 2008

+My Lai Massacre - Effects

Military

- My Lai showed the need to provide stronger leadership for troops Pointing to Calley, a young, unemployed college dropout as an example of raw recruits being rushed into training

- Questioning the Army command order hierarchy

Political

- Culture of Concealment: Prime example of the Pentagon & defense establishment's lack of integrity & reluctance to probe it‘s officers & their willingness to use single officers as scapegoats

- Increased domestic & world pressure on the government to stop the war after seeing the ruthlessness & brutality of soldiers participating in the war, acting on incorrect information & displayed the low morale among troops