My Lai Massacre It doesn’t matter who is fighting, what countries are involved, or which weaponries are used; innocent civilians die in every combat. The My Lai Massacre was one of the most ungodly times in the Vietnam War. On the morning of March 16, 1968 a collection of American GIs arrived on the settlement of My Lai, located in the Quang Ngai Province in central Vietnam. The Vietnam War arose in the 1940’s as a conflict of liberties between Vietnamese nationalists known as the Viet Minh and the French who had control in Vietnam. Foreseeing a communist takeover if the North Vietnamese succeeded, the United States contributed economic and military assistance and by 1967 the United States had approximately 400,000 troops in the country (My …show more content…
Regardless of the guiltless people, the US troops continued to investigate and demolish (American Atrocity: Remembering My Lai). House after house, family after family, the soldiers burned down buildings, beat and raped young girls and women, and murdered basically anyone in sight. Varnado Simpson, a squaddie who was sent to My Lai, indicated in December 1969: “Everyone who went into the village had in mind to kill. We lost a lot of buddies and it was a VC stronghold. We considered them either VC or helping the VC.” Though exact quantities remain hearsay, it is alleged that as many as 500 people comprising of women, children and the elderly were murdered in the My Lai Massacre (American Experience: TV 's Most-watched History Series). The most disturbing thing I saw was one boy and this is what haunts me … A boy with his arms shot off, shot up and hanging on and he just had this bewildered look on his face like what did I do, what’s wrong… he couldn’t comprehend (Quotations about the My Lai Massacre (1968). The massacre allegedly concluded when an army helicopter pilot, Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson landed his helicopter in between the US soldiers and the villagers, menacing to open fire if the GIs continued the butchery. Knowing news of the bloodbath would instigate …show more content…
High-ranking army officers sheltered the proceedings at My Lai, until one combatant, Ron Riden Hour, overheard the incident second hand and composed it in a memo to President Richard Nixon. The letter was largely overlooked until late that year. Analytical reporter, Seymour Hersh got his hands on the story and cross-examined William Calley as soon as possible. The story broke out and hit front pages and headlines. In March 1970, an authoritative US Army inquiry board accused fourteen sergeants, including Calley and his company commander-in-chief, Captain Ernst Medina, of the misconduct involving My Lai ( My Lai Massacre Takes Place in Vietnam). Calley was personally condemned of murdering twenty-two individuals. In March 1971, Calley was given a life sentence for his role in leading the massacres at My Lai. Several saw Calley as a culprit, and his judgment was condensed upon appeal to twenty years and later to ten (My Lai Massacre). The My Lai massacre some military spectators concluded My Lai revealed the necessity for additional and better volunteers to provide greater leadership for the companies. The number of well trained and skilled soldiers on the front lines plummeted, which the public declared the lack of the many bright young men who avoided the army caused the talent pool for new officers to become very low (My Lai Massacre). This massacre also provided
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a Japanese soldier barge into your house, rape your mother and sister, and then kill your father, all while you’re being forced to watch? Hopefully not, but unfortunately at one point in our history, that has happened to hundreds of thousands of people of Nanking, China. This Rape of Nanking or Massacre of Nanking can sometimes be referred to as the “forgotten Holocaust of WWII” seeing as it took place close to the start of the Second World War and is not nearly talked about as much as the German Holocaust with the Jews. It all happened in December of 1937, when Nanking fell to the Japanese.
It happened on a rainy night on February 17, 1970 at the base of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Military police were responding to a call from Green Beret surgeon Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, which they thought was a routine call. When the military police arrived they discovered the slaughtered bodies of MacDonald’s wife, Colette, who was twenty six, and his two daughters Kimberley, five, and Kristen, two.
In the pursuit of safety, acceptance, and the public good, many atrocities have been committed in places such as Abu Ghraib and My Lai, where simple, generally harmless people became the wiling torturers and murderers of innocent people. Many claim to have just been following orders, which illustrates a disturbing trend in both the modern military and modern societies as a whole; when forced into an obedient mindset, many normal and everyday people can become tools of destruction and sorrow, uncaringly inflicting pain and death upon the innocent.
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
The “Man I Killed” takes us into the Vietnam War and tell us about a soldiers first time of killing another individual. The author describes a Viet Cong soldier that he has killed, using vivid, physical detail with clear descriptions of the dead mans’ fatal wounds. O'Brien envisions the biography of this man and envisions the individual history of the dead Vietnamese soldier starting with his birthplace moving through his life, and finished with him enrolling in the Vietnamese Army. O'Brien also describes some of the dead soldiers’ hopes and dreams. The author uses this history in an attempt to make the dead man more realistic to the reader
The My Lai Massacre of 1968 was a horrific blemish of brutality on America’s past. During this massacre, a company of American soldiers callously massacred the majority of the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai civilians, including women, children, and elderly. To this day, it remains unclear precisely how many South Vietnamese lives were taken during the massacre, but it was estimated to be as many as 500 civilians. (My Lai Cover-up Attempt) Higher-ranking U.S. Army officers covered up the events at My Lai and downplayed the fatalities among other soldiers. After a year of silence, a soldier knowledgeable of the My Lai event, searched to find justice for the South Vietnamese who were murdered by revealing the brutality of the American company. This act sparked a surge of intercontinental outrage and brought specific investigation to the issue. In 1970, only one of the fourteen officers charged with misconducts associated to the dealings of My Lai was
The Carnage that occurred in My Lai may have gone unknown to history if not for, Ron Ridenhour, a former member of Charlie Company and helicopter gunner, didn't independently from Tom Glen send out his our letters. Ridenhour had heard of the massacre that happened at My Lai fr...
The sensitive subject of whether the 7th Calvary killed innocent men, women, and children at No Gun Ri arose years after the end of the Korean War. Some sources argue that the killings were unprovoked, while others claim that the Communist enemy was mixed within the refugee lines. One source claims the killings numbered over 350 innocent people and others claim it was a mere 35. Although there is a major discrepancy in the number of civilians killed, the fact that innocent men, women, and children were murdered does not disappear. Therefore, whether the casualties were 35 or 350, the United States army engaged in a massacre of innocent Korean refugees. Therefore, the killings at No Gun Ri can not be denied, whether they casualty count is high or low.
Before we can discuss the Nanking massacre we have to understand what a massacre is. A massacre is a specific incident in which a military force, mob, or other group kill many people, and the perpetrating party is perceived as in total control of force while the victimized party is perceived as helpless or innocent. There is no clear line or criteria which defines when a mass killing is a massacre. The public perception during and after the event plays a big role in this defining, also the way a nation or culture wants to hold on to the memory.
The Vietnam War was one of the longest and most expensive wars in American history. It started from 1955 till April 30, 1975. This war lasted for almost 20 years. According to the article "How the U.S Got Involved In Vietnam" by Jeff Drake the U.S attacked Vietman and this wasn't supposed to happen. This war could have been avoidable. The 58,000 Americans didn’t have to die, nor did the 2,000,000 Vietnamese. The U.S government was responsible for their deaths. What the government told the public from the very beginning was that they were going to war because they had to stop the communist menace in Vietnam or other countries would follow suit; that they had to defend the democratic South Vietnamese government against the gathering Red hordes. While other people say it was an attempt by the U.S to suppress a heroic Vietnamese national liberation movement that had driven French colonialism out of its country (Drake, 1993).
There were many events that lead up the Vietnam War, it started in 1945 with the hostilities between the French and Vietminh. “Geopolitical Strategy, economics, domestic US politics, and cultural arrogance shaped the growing American involvement in Vietnam” (Anderson 1). As a matter of fact, the Vietnam War was several wars, but it was not until 1962 that America had their first combat mission, however, Americans were killed during ambushes by the Vietnamese before the first combat mission. There is much controversy over the reasons for the Vietnam War, supported by the several different books and articles written about the war. “The most famous atrocity occurred in a tiny hamlet called My Lai in March 1968” (Detzer 127). History shows that the reaction of many Americans to the attack by US soldiers on the village of My Lai during the Vietnam War was opposition, and the actions of the US soldiers during the My Lai Massacre will be forever remembered as a significant part of the Vietnam War and American History.
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.
In Vietnam, friendly fire was common. The United States soldiers often shot innocent civilians. When the U.S viewed the brutality of the war and the torture of countless Vietnamese citizens through journalism, the President knew the public’s reaction was to such a point that he would never get re-elected, therefore he didn’t run, and his party lost the election.
“Photographs like the one that made the front page of the most newspapers in the world in 1972- a naked South Vietnamese child just sprayed by american napalm, running down a highway toward the cameras, her arms open, screaming with pain-- probably did more to increase the public revulsion against the war than a hundred hours of televised barbarities”(476)
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.