My Lai Massacre Revisited

Posted: 4/23/2015

Trigger

Just watched “AMERICAN EXPERIENCE/ My Lai” for the first time. Here is the Wikipedia entry for this 1.5 hour long documentary.

Remarks

1. To suspect that My Lai village was a stronghold of Vietcong at the time was apparently  an U.S. intelligence disaster. Further, on that day there was apparently no or little counterfire.
2. This is surely a dark chapter of U.S. military history. Nothing was done to stop the ongoing massacre although reports of it came in early over radio. The attempted cover up in the aftermath by higher ups was and remains despicable.
3. Thank God, several courageous U.S. soldiers tried to halt the massacre or to save innocent, unarmed Vietnamese such as Hugh Clowers Thompson, Jr and his helicopter crew (Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn). Finally, in 1998 at least several of them received a Soldier’s Medal (u.S. Army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy) for their heroic efforts.
4. Twenty-six officers and enlisted soldiers, including William Calley and Ernest Medina, were charged with criminal offenses, but all were either acquitted or pardoned.
5. The documentary shows the bizarre reaction (the “Free Calley” movement) of the public in response to the prosecution of William Calley. “Nixon got 260,000 letters and 75,000 telegrams, most opposing the verdict.”
   “Many in America were outraged by Calley's sentence. Georgia's governor, Jimmy Carter, instituted American Fighting Man's Day and asked Georgians to drive for a week with their lights on. The Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, New Jersey, and South Carolina legislatures requested clemency for Calley.[12] Alabama's governor, George Wallace, visited Calley in the stockade and requested that President Nixon pardon him.” (source)
6. It still remains an incomprehensible disgrace that none of the U.S. military war criminals was ever sentenced except for one.
7. Why U.S. President Richard M. Nixon basically pardoned the only convicted war criminal, i.e. William Calley should be seen as another, awful disgrace! “Under mounting pressure from the public, President Richard Nixon intervened on April 1, 1971, and ordered Lieutenant Calley released from the army stockade and placed under house arrest. Calley's sentence was reduced the following August, and reduced again in April of 1974 when he returned to the stockade. When he was released on parole on November 9, 1974, ...” (source, source2)

A Hero In Action

True heroes are rare!

Following is an excerpt taken from the Wikipedia entry on Lawrence Coburn (emphasis added):

“Movement from the ditch indicated to Thompson that there were still people alive in there. Thompson landed his helicopter and dismounted. David Mitchell a sergeant and squad leader in 1st Platoon, C Company, walked over to him. When asked by Thompson whether any help could be provided to the people in the ditch, the sergeant replied that the only way to help them was to put them out of their misery. Second Lieutenant William Calley (1st Platoon Leader, C Company) then came up, and the two had the following conversation:[3]

Thompson: What's going on here, Lieutenant?

Calley: This is my business.

Thompson: What is this? Who are these people?

Calley: Just following orders.

Thompson: Orders? Whose orders?

Calley: Just following...

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.

Calley: You better get back in that chopper and mind your own business.

Thompson: You ain't heard the last of this!

Thompson took off again, and Andreotta reported that Mitchell was now executing the people in the ditch. Furious, Thompson flew over the northeast corner of the village and spotted a group of about ten civilians, including children, running toward a homemade bomb shelter. Pursuing them were soldiers from the 2nd Platoon, C Company. Realizing that the soldiers intended to murder the Vietnamese, Thompson landed his aircraft between them and the villagers. Thompson turned to Colburn and Andreotta and told them that if the Americans began shooting at the villagers or him, they should fire their M60 machine guns at the Americans: "Y'all cover me! If these bastards open up on me or these people, you open up on them. Promise me!":[4] Colburn (whose M60 faced 2nd Platoon) replied, "You got it boss, consider it done." He turned his weapon to face the American soldiers and exchanged stares with them, but privately was uncertain if he could actually fire on his fellow countrymen. Thompson then dismounted to confront the 2nd Platoon's leader, Stephen Brooks. Thompson told him he wanted help getting the peasants out of the bunker:[5]

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.”

“Thompson made an official report of the killings and was interviewed by Colonel Oran Henderson, the commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade (the parent organization of the 20th Infantry). Concerned, senior American Division officers cancelled similar planned operations by Task Force Barker against other villages (My Lai 5, My Lai 1, etc.) in Quang Ngai Province, possibly preventing the additional massacre of further hundreds, if not thousands, of Vietnamese civilians.” (source)

“Thompson was condemned and ostracized by many individuals in the United States military and government, as well as the public, for his role in the investigations and trials concerning the Mỹ Lai Massacre. As a direct result of what he experienced, Thompson suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, divorce, and severe nightmare disorder. Despite the adversity he faced, he remained in the United States Army until November 1st, 1983” (source)

Were There Other Massacres?

Probably yes, but probably only a few massacres occurred between the beginning of heavy U.S. military involvement in 1960 to the end in 1975. When you Google for massacres in vietnam war you come up with one other massacre described e.g. here.

Thus, the U.S. military with respect to massacres is probably more maligned in the global public opinion than is justified.