On March 16th of 1968 American Lieutenant Colonel Barker ordered his troops to storm the small Vietnamese village of My Lai and shoot at any threatening individuals who may put the American soldiers at risk of being under hostile fire. However, upon arrival, the village was abundant with peaceful civilians going about their daily business—not armed enemies. Nevertheless, the orders of Lieutenant Barker were fulfilled, resulting in the brutal massacre of over 500 unarmed Vietnamese citizens. Using various concepts of social psychology, we can retrospectively examine the events and circumstances that led up to the tragedy of the My Lai massacre. While ambiguous interpretations of the commands given to the soldiers played a large role in their …show more content…
When feeling rushed, one would feel inclined to take a peripheral processing route in order to save time, but this also means that the resulting action is most likely not indicative of their typical behavior. Moreover, when one uses automatic processing, they would be less likely to defy instruction since disobedience typically requires effortful cognitive energy. The culmination of pressure from authority and time constraints directly caused many issues at My Lai, resulting in a nearly thoughtless obedience to the harsh demands of Lieutenant Calley. It is shown in the video that many of the American troops were under the impression that there would be enemy soldiers present at My Lai, therefore invoking an instinct of needing to “kill or be killed” (Remember My Lai, 1989). Despite the lack of enemy fire, Calley’s direct orders of “want[ing] them dead” (6, Kelman & Hamilton, 1989) combined with the perceived potential of a counterattack was enough reason for the soldiers to continue killing. On the contrary, Hugh Thompson’s distanced view of the massacre from a helicopter allowed him enough time to process the horrific reality and begin to take action against orders. Upon spotting wounded civilians, he attempted to notify American troops on the ground so they could help them—to his abhorrence, he watched as they “killed them instead” (7, Kelman & …show more content…
Dehumanization works in less extreme, more general situations as well: if an individual cannot view a physical person, it becomes much easier for the individual to inflict harm or act negatively towards them, especially when there is a force encouraging harm. This can be seen in the form of cyberbullying, when one is more likely to be harsh because they cannot envision the person being bullied as being anything more than a computer. This is similar to the way that people become uncharacteristically aggressive when driving, as one would probably not direct obscene hand gestures to a person who cuts them off while walking. The American soldiers who murdered during the My Lai massacre, however, had no physical barrier to elicit dehumanization—instead, all of their dehumanization happened mentally. This occurred through Calley and other members of authority repeatedly referring to Vietnamese citizens as ‘communists’ and ‘gooks,’ which, through minimizing their humanity to nothing more than a political affiliation or slang term, inherently “deprive[d] the victims of identity and community” (19, Kelman & Hamilton, 1989). The effects of dehumanization are seen throughout the video, especially through the accounts of numerous soldiers, all recalling that they felt as if any inhibition to kill had left them as they mercilessly took life after life (Remember My Lai,
When discussing the truths that were revealed to Kerry through his experience at Vietnam he states, “We learned the meaning of free-fire zones, shooting anything that moves, and we watched while America placed a cheapness on the lives of Orientals.” Here Kerry shows the dehumanization that occurred as a result of the Vietnam war. By showing they were simply “shooting anything that moves” shows the how war sent these men to a thoughtless and barbaric state. He ultimately shows the loss of humanity. Kerry also gives insight into the many atrocities these men committed such as how they “cut off heads” and have “blown up bodies”. Through these graphics, Kerry takes a very distant war and makes it personal to his audience. He does not sugarcoat or dance around the barbarity of the war. Rather Kerry faces it head on and these descriptions create a truly barbaric
Combat requires a certain emotional inertness. I am unable to kill something I empathize with as a human being. I need a reason to hate the enemy I am at war with; I need to be able to dehumanize the target. At first, as Caputo did, I would be unable to ignore the fact that the Vietcong are human beings with every right to live as I have. Following the brutal attempts to kill me, I will easily lose my own humanity as well as that of the enemy. It is the ethical wilderness that facilitates this dehumanizing transition. Once it is recognized that the enemy has dehumanized you, it is commonplace to return the favor.
Throughout the battle, you see numerous Army Values and Warrior Ethos being used. “I will never leave a fallen comrade”, was the etho used the most, to reach the separated platoon. The battle also shows that not all tactical orders are effective, but as a leader you must never second guess yourself.
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.
“How nice- to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive” (Vonnegut 181).
In the novel All quiet on the western front by Erich Maria Remarque one of the major themes he illustrates is the effects of war on a soldier 's humanity. Paul the protagonist is a German soldier who is forced into war with his comrades that go through dehumanizing violence. War is a very horrid situation that causes soldiers like Paul to lose their innocence by stripping them from happiness and joy in life. The symbols Remarque uses to enhance this theme is Paul 's books and the potato pancakes to depict the great scar war has seared on him taking all his connections to life. Through these symbols they deepen the theme by visually depicting war’s impact on Paul. Paul’s books represent the shadow war that is casted upon Paul and his loss of innocence. This symbol helps the theme by depicting how the war locked his heart to old values by taking his innocence. The last symbol that helps the theme are the potato pancakes. The potato pancakes symbolize love and sacrifice by Paul’s mother that reveal Paul emotional state damaged by the war with his lack of happiness and gratitude.
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 and baring superiority.
of the rape of a 14 year old girl by twenty GIs ... in front of the
On March 16, 1968, in the Quang Ngai region of Vietnam, specifically My Lai, the United States military was involved in an appalling slaughter of approximately 500 Vietnamese civilians. There are numerous arguments as to why this incident even had the capacity to occur. Although some of the arguments seem valid, can one really make excuses for the slaughter of innocent people? The company that was responsible for the My Lai incident was the Charlie Company, and throughout the company, there were many different accounts of what happened that reprehensible day. Therefore, there are a few contradictions about what had occurred, such as what the commanding officers' exact instructions for the soldiers were.
War has always been an essential ingredient in the development of the human race. As a result of the battles fought in ancient times, up until modern warfare, millions of innocent lives have ended as a result of war crimes committed. In the article, “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience,” Herbert C. Kelman and V.Lee Hamilton shows examples of moral decisions taken by people involved with war-related murders. This article details one of the worse atrocities committed during the Vietnam War in 1968 by the U.S. military: the My Lai Massacre. Through this incident, the question that really calls for psychological analysis is why so many people are willing to formulate , participate in, and condone policies that call for the mass killings of defenseless civilians such as the atrocities committed during the My Lai massacre. What influences these soldiers by applying different psychological theories that have been developed on human behavior.
...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.
The political and societal ramifications of Vietnam's Tet Offensive indubitably illustrate the historical oddity of 1968. 1967 had not been a bad year for most Americans. Four years after the profound panic evoked by the assassination of John Kennedy, the general public seemed to be gaining a restored optimism, and even the regularly protested Vietnam War still possessed the semblance of success (Farber and Bailey 34-54). However, three short weeks following the eve of 68, Americans abruptly obtained a radically different outlook. The Tet Offensive, beginning on January 30, 1968, consisted of a series of military incursions during the Vietnam War, coordinated between the National Liberation Front's People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF), or "Viet Cong," and the ...
There was also confusion over unity of command. Admiral McDonald, commander of LANTCOM, made two errors in command and control. He did not assign one his subordinate commanders to act as the overall director of ground forces no matter what the service and he did not select the commander of XVIII Airborne Corps as the leader of Army forces. The lack of a single commander meant that coordination between the Marines and the Army was minimal. The lack of a designated ground force commander and the omission of XVIII airborne Corps muddied the commander’s intent. The services would have been ...
The Rape of Nanking, also known as the Nanking Massacre was a six week period when mass numbers of Chinese men and woman were killed by the Japanese. Embarrassed by the lack of effort in the war with China in Shanghai, the Japanese looked for revenge and finally were able to win the battle. The Japanese moved toward the city of Nanjing also known as Nanking and invaded it for approximately six months. Even though the people of Nanjing outnumbered the 50,000 Japanese, they were not as masterful in warfare as their opponents. Chinese soldiers were forced to surrender to the Japanese and the massacre began in which around 300,000 people died and 20,000 women were raped. The Japanese leaders had different methods of killing that were instructed to the soldiers. However, the prisoners of this “City of Blood” soon found their liberation and their justice was served.
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.