The My Lai Massacre was a tragic event during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was tragic war with thousands of people killed. The My Lai Massacre was a turning point in the war because they went to a village to kill hundreds of people. Before the My Lai Massacre there were multiply Massacres that happened before. All those Massacres were not certainly known to the public, but they are certainly not prideful events that the United States did. My Lai is a village in the area of a stronghold for NFL and VC. My Lai is a small village located near the Northern Coast of South Vietnam. (“My Lai Massacre” History.com) A Platoon full of soldiers came running into the village. The soldiers, of Charlie Company, a unit of the Americal Division's 11th …show more content…
Lieutenant William L. Calley was the leader of the troops that went storming into My Lai. The soldiers that were with Calley on that mission didn’t know that they were going to the My Lai Village to kill hundreds of innocent civilians. (Sanford 196)
Calley and his means were running through the villages, going into people’s houses and killing them and throwing them outside their house. While Calley and the soldiers were going through the village, the civilians there saw were just eating breakfast and enjoying their mornings with their families. (“My Lai Massacre” Digital Histroy.com) The troops had no resistance from the civilians in My Lai. There were about 700 civilians living in the villages at that time. In the next three hours they killed as many as 504 Vietnamese civilians. Some were lined up in a drainage ditch before being shot. The dead civilians included fifty ages 3 or younger, 69 between 4 and 7, and 27 in their 70s or 80s. (“My Lai Massacre” Digital Histroy.com) Charlie Company lost 28 members that day to death or other injuries. (“My Lai Massacre”
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There was a soldier that refused to fire his gun on people that were in the ditch when his commanding officer told him to. The commanding officer then turned his own gun on the solider. (“My Lai Massacre” Digital Histroy.com) The Pilot of the helicopter is the person that stooped the Massacre from escalating any further. The helicopter was flying over My Lai and Hugh Thompson, the Pilot, threatened to shot any American Soldiers that tried to get in the way of him trying to rescue Vietnamese women and children from the slaughter that the Americans were heading to the Village. (“My Lai Massacre” History.com) Hugh Thompson was still flying in the sky at this point but once Hugh say American Troops making there towards a family he went and landed his helicopter. He ordered his gunmen to go and rescue the civilians and to kill any solders that tried to get in the way with their rescue mission. (“My Lai Massacre” Digital History. com) 30 years after the trail Hugh Thompson and two other members of his crew were given Soldier’s Medal, for heroism not involving conflict with an enemy. (“My Lai Massacre” History.com)
The My Lai Massacre was not heard around the world until a year later. Before the news came out they tired hiding and telling people that only a few civilians died when the number of civilians were much largerThe 11th Brigade claimed to have
Throughout the conflict, rebel militias would burn down villages leaving few, if any, civilians alive. The government military, while more benevolent, was not often in a position to oppose the rebels’ atrocities.
Another atrocity that occurred during this war was the My Lai Massacre. This was the mass murder of unarmed civilians in South Vietnam during March 16, 1968. Around November 1969, the world saw this and was outraged with the killings of innocent civilians prompting and giving the public more reasons to stop the war. Although the war was very unpopular, men and women were still fighting and dying for America. Heroes such as Captain John W, Ripley of Dong Ha, Medal of Honor recipients, and overall troops that gave the ultimate sacrifice were forgotten for a brief period.
Kelman, Herbert C., Hamilton, V. Lee. “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience”. Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Ed. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 266-277. Print.
The United States government initially celebrated the Battle at Wounded Knee as the final conflict between Native Americans and the United States military - after which the western frontier was considered safe for the incoming settlers. Over 20 medals were awarded to the soldiers for their valor on the battlefield. However, the understanding has changed regarding what actually took place at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890. The Hollywood version of the Battle of Wounded Knee accurately presents the case that the Battle at Wounded Knee was actually a massacre of the Sioux - the culminating act of betrayal and aggression carried out by the United States military,
the guards began mistreating the prisoners, not physically, but emotionally and psychologically, taking advantage of the power and authority appointed to them by the experimenter (Zimbardo 109). Crimes of obedience and mistreatment to other human beings are not only found in Milgrim’s and Zimbardo’s experiments. In 1968, U.S. troops massacred over 500 villagers in My Lai. The incident is described by social psychologist Herbert C. Kelman and sociologist V. Lee Hamilton in the article “The My Lai Massacre: a Crime of Obedience.” Lt. William Calley, charged with 102 killings, claims to have followed orders from his superiors, only accomplishing his duty, which is also a theme throughout the movie, A Few Good Men. After presented with a request from William Santiago, a marine on his base, to be transferred, Jessup refuses. The film depicts, through Colonel Jessup 's authority, the refusal to obey a reasonable request as well as the pride one possesses when fulfilling his duty
Captain Earnest Medina was in charge of giving orders to the Charlie Company and in the early evening of March 15th a meeting was called. CPT Medina told the company that the next morning they would be moving into My Lai and attacking Vietcong forces there. He told them that all the civilians would be at the market or would have already been moved out by the time that the soldiers arrived to carry out their planned attack. He said all that would be left in the village would be the Vietcong of the 48th battalion and Vietcong sympathizers. It was never clear what CPT Medina had said to do in the event of coming across civilians. Medina claimed in court that he had told the GI’s not to kill women and children, to us...
Tragic events occur not only in the United States, but also all over the world. From these tragic events communities, families, and the government decide to place memorials for people that were lost and as a thank you for people protecting the citizens of the country. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Wall, in Washington D.C. is one of these cases. However, what exactly was the purpose of this memorial? The purpose of putting up the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was not only to thank the veterans for their bravery, but to remind future generations about happened during the Vietnam War. Also, the memorial is important to help people and the veterans to accept the fact that the war actually
The 1986 during the Vietnam war, the slaughter at My Lai Massacre “is an instance of a class of violent acts that can be described as sanctioned massacres (Kelman, 1973): acts of indiscriminate, ruthless, and often systematic mass violence, carried out by military or paramilitary personnel while engaged in officially
March 16th 1968 oversaw a unit of highly trained US soldiers savagely execute several hundred Vietnamese civilians. They killed majority of the South Vietnamese Hamlet of My Lai. The My Lai massacre is remembered as one of the most vicious episodes of the Vietnam War. The victims of this merciless attack ranges from men, women to even small children. Many of these civilians were additionally sexually assaulted, tortured or injured severely. The plan was put into motion once the “Charlie” Company proposed a plan to torch the village that we’re suspicious of the Viet Cong. “The Viet Cong is a member of the communist guerilla movement in Vietnam that fought the South Vietnamese government forces along with the support of the North Vietnamese arms and opposed the South Vietnamese and US forces in the Vietnam War”( My Lai Massacre. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre). Their mission was to burn houses, kill off livestock, spoil crops, and pollute wells. Thus denying them of food, water, and shelter. The massacre of My Lai was ruthless and downright illegal, breaking the basic rules of Internal Humanitarian Law. Later on in the year of 2003 a similar massacre to My Lai took
"The words "My Lai" are synonymous with a significant breakdown in leadership" (Rielly 17). Implying that the whole event of the My Lai Massacre was a giant lack of success in leadership from Military Officers and government officials. Research shows the failure of the United States Military knowing the difference between the enemy along with morals by the same leadership involved in the My Lai Massacre. The tragic event of the My Lai Massacre occurred On March 16, 1968. Involving the soldiers of Charlie's Company (a platoon in the United States Army) and the citizens of My Lai, (in the village of Son My) in which the Army was ordered to destroy the village and leave nothing behind. When the United States Army arrived at the scene they lined
...nd innocent villagers of My Lai, it was a time when American’s questioned their own as being “bad guys” or “good guys”. Were America’s tortuous and cruel acts to be considered patriotic or dishonorable? Some Americans, with bitter feelings for all the American lives lost in the Vietnam War, gave credit to Lieutenant Calley for leading troops in participating in such an atrocious event. History shows that there is still much debate on some facts of the massacre and many stories and opinions, although we will never know the facts exactly, what we do know is that America will never forget this tragic event, it will be talked about in American History for many years to come, and the Vietminh hearts will always fill with sadness when they think of the many lives that were lost on that tragic day in history, their minds will always have unspeakable memories of that day.
Mass shootings have become a common occurrence in the United States society and have brought our society's safety debate to the attention of American politics. Both sides of the debate agree that we need more safety precautions but neither side can officially agree on what is to be done. What can we do about the raging number of mass shootings? There is no definite solution for mass shootings but there are precautions the United States can take to try to overcome the overwhelming number of mass shootings occurring. Gun Control is a major topic in the debate of how we can keep our society safer but how is what remains a mystery but we can start with altering the second amendment, and having stronger gun laws and background checks.
With the media shining so much light upon this topic, it is evident that mass murders in the United States of America are more frequent and deadly. In fact, studies have found that the USA has more mass public shootings than any other country (Christensen). These numbers have only been increasing in the past decades. This is shocking because the USA holds only 5 percent of the world’s population, but as a nation, contributes to 31 percent of mass murders (Christensen). Although these murders continue to be a rare phenomenon, weak gun laws, the need for fame, and issues with societal views are the main causes of the increase in cases.
The paranoia and fear of death never left them. The My Lai Massacre occurred in 1968, when the village of My Lai was completely destroyed, although it did not contain a single enemy troop. Over a hundred villagers were slaughtered. It became clearer to Americans how soldiers were losing control, and how there was no easy way to win this war.
A war crime is an unjust act of violence in which a military personnel violates the laws and acceptable behaviors of a war. Despite all the violence in a war, a soldier shooting another is not considered a war crime because it is not a violation to the laws and practices of a war, and it is considered just. A war crime is defined as a “violations [violation] of the laws and customs of war” (“War Crimes”), and are attacks “against civilian populations, prisoners of war, or in some cases enemy soldiers in the field” (Friedman). War crimes are typically committed with weapons or by uncommon, cruel, devastating military methods and are “…Committed primarily by military personnel” (Friedman). There are many different types of war crimes one can commit, including “murder, ill treatment…murder or ill treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages or devastation not justified by military necessity” (Friedman). Originally constructed as international law by the London Charter on August 8th, 1945 and further developed by the Hague Conventions of 1899, 1907 and the Nuremberg trials, war crimes are aggressive, unacceptable and unjust actions performed by military workforce that occur during a war.