He went away, then he came back and said, “I thought I told you to take care of these people. We’ll get on line and we’ll fire into them. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The My Lai massacre, which took place on the morning of March 16, 1968, was a watershed in the history of modern American combat, and a turning point in the public perception of the Vietnam War. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment ...read more, The Vietnam War started in the 1950s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the 1800s. Q: Isn’t it a fact that you were taking penicillin for venereal disease? They were unarmed and huddled together. Q: Were they sleeping or did they appear to be dead? Thirty or forty. Oh, yeah you’re right. A: He was standing on the village side of the people. He couldn’t fire into the people any more. I took her out and put her on the ground. ( Log Out / The My Lai massacre reportedly ended only after Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, an Army helicopter pilot on a reconnaissance mission, landed his aircraft between the soldiers and the retreating villagers and threatened to open fire if they continued their attacks. All were acquitted except for Calley, who was found guilty of premeditated murder for ordering the shootings, despite his contention that he was only following orders from his commanding officer, Captain Medina. This seeming miscarriage of justice remains controversial and responsibility for Mai Lai is the source of lasting debate. There were bursts and single shots for two minutes. He gave me his weapon into my hands. Calley was reported to have dragged dozens of people, including young children, into a ditch before executing them with a machine gun. At the time, morale among U.S. soldiers on the ground was dwindling, especially in the wake of the North Vietnamese-led Tet Offensive, which was launched in January 1968. Forty years on, a former US soldier present at the massacre returns to Vietnam. The 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre is an appropriate time not only to honor the victims and those who challenged that infamous event, but also to bring to light less known or still unknown atrocities. I don’t know what happened…. In 1998, Thompson and two other members of his crew received the Soldier’s Medal, the U.S. Army’s highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy. A: Calley told me and Meadlo to take the people off and push them in a rice paddy. It was just like any other Vietnamese village—old papa-sans [men], women and kids. Below is the testimony of Dennis Conti, witness for the prosecution in the Mai Lai Trials. Q: Do you remember you went into a hootch and started to rape a woman and Lieutenant Calley told you to get out? Conti’s decision to participate as little as he could in the violence was in rebellion of his orders. Everywhere we’d look, we’d see bodies. Vietnam 1968, and the Descent into Darkness, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2017, ... November 1969. 31 Dec 2008 . “We met no resistance and I only saw three captured weapons. In March 1971, Calley was given a life sentence for his role in directing the killings at My Lai. They people were pretty well messed up. William Peers: Report of the Department of … Revisiting the My Lai massacre. In the course of three hours more than 500 Vietnamese civilians were killed in cold blood at the hands of US troops. As a reasonable person this misunderstanding is natural, as killing civilians they were supposed to be protecting would be counterproductive and immoral. “If they’re going to be killed, I’m not going to do it. But it was mostly done with a machine gun. Q: Did you see any dead bodies at My Lai? Brad Lendon/CNN I get up close to get a detail shot. On March 16, 1968 the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai… Charlie Company was sent to the area on March 16 for a search-and-destroy mission. He said he couldn’t do any more. Conti, a grenadier and minesweeper under the command of Lt. Calley begins by recounting his carrying out Calley’s order to “round up the people”. — How many? The massacre was committed by U.S army soldiers of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, America Division. A: That’s right I didn’t have any ammunition left. He said, “I mean, kill them. The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. Huts were set on fire, and anyone inside who tried to escape was gunned down. At that time there was only a few kids still alive Lieutenant Calley killed them one-by-one. Q: Weren’t you a constant marijuana smoker? ( Log Out / After writing letters to President Richard M. Nixon, the Pentagon, State Department, Joint Chiefs of Staff and several congressmen—with no response—Ridenhour finally gave an interview to the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who broke the story in November 1969. Q: And weren’t you under the influence of marijuana on March 16, 1968? Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. (April 15, 1943 – January 6, 2006) was a United States Army Major, and a former warrant officer in the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division.He is credited with ending the Mỹ Lai Massacre of the South Vietnamese village known as Sơn Mỹ on March 16, 1968, alongside and above-hierarchically Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn. The My Lai massacre was one of the worst atrocities of the Vietnam War. Following the North Vietnamese-led Tet offensive in late January 1968, the U.S. military increased their efforts to track down and destroy the Viet Cong, a pro-Communist militia force. He was just there. “We kept flying back and forth … and it didn’t take very long until we started noticing the large number of bodies everywhere. When Calley clarifies his instructions, and says, “I mean kill them” Conti was shocked. The My Lai Massacre Share: Copy Link. When Conti refuses to line up and fire into the civilians, it is clear that he is trying to separate himself morally from what the others are doing. The brutality of the My Lai killings and the official cover-up fueled anti-war sentiment and further divided the United States over the Vietnam War. BBC News. Whats so shocking about it is that it was orchestrated by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division. Later investigations have revealed that the slaughter at My Lai was not an isolated incident. We took them out there, pushed them off the trail and made them squat down and bunch up so they couldn’t get up and run. That was it. In addition to killing unarmed men, women and children, the soldiers slaughtered countless livestock, raped an unknown number of women, and burned the village to the ground. Meadlo’s decision to follow orders lasts only until he can no longer physically kill any more and breaks down. While the My Lai Massacre is widely recognized as a military atrocity and an act of mass murder committed on civilians and non-combatants, true appreciation of the event as an act of mass rape and sexual abuse has never clearly materialized in the American consciousness, in spite of public data and testimony shortly after the massacre happened. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Change ). All women and children I remember one old man. By failing to carry out the orders he was given, in a way he was betraying his duty as an infantryman whilst trying to keep his morality intact. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Although the militiamen claimed they were seeking revenge for Indian raids on their frontier settlements, the Indians they ...read more, The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. The story was mostly ...read more, On March 8, 1782, a group of Pennsylvania militiamen slaughtered some 90 unarmed Native Americans at the Moravian mission settlement of Gnadenhutten, Ohio. He said, “Come around this side. Q: Didn’t you go around and tell members of your platoon about the number of times you’d raped Vietnamese women? シーモア・ハーシュ,My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and its Aftermath, Random House, 1970. MY LAI MASSACRE In one of the most horrific incidents of violence against civilians during the Vietnam War, a company of American soldiers brutally killed the majority of the population of the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai in March 1968. I waited until they got to the line and fired off four or five grenades. Amid the international uproar and Vietnam War protests that followed Ridenhour’s revelations, the U.S. Army ordered a special investigation into the My Lai massacre and subsequent efforts to cover it up. Quang Ngai province was therefore a frequent target of U.S. and South Vietnamese bombing attacks, and the entire region was heavily strafed with Agent Orange, the deadly herbicide. Q: Didn’t you cuss Lieutenant Calley out because he stopped you from performing a perverse, unnatural sex act at My Lai? The Heroes of My Lai. The coverup of the My Lai Massacre continued until Ron Ridenhour, a soldier in the 11th Brigade who had heard reports of the massacre but had not participated, began a campaign to bring the events to light. There was an old woman in a under. I said, “No, I’ve got a grenade launcher. But in 1998, Thompson attended a memorial service at My Lai on the 30th anniversary of the massacre. Q: Isn’t it a fact that you were going through My Lai that day looking for women? By the early 1970s, the American war effort in Vietnam was winding down, as the Nixon administration continued its “Vietnamization” policy, including the withdrawal of troops and the transfer of control over ground operations to the South Vietnamese. Transcript of 1994 Tulane University My Lai Conference. By James Griffiths, CNN. Updated 0155 GMT (0955 HKT) February 24, 2018 (CNN)Tran Thi … They were all messed up. ( Log Out / The small village of My Lai is located in Quang Ngai province, which was believed to be a stronghold of the communist National Liberation Front (NLF) or Viet Cong (VC) during the Vietnam War. Though most of the Union garrison surrendered, and thus should have been taken as ...read more, The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. We had no casualties. The old woman wouldn’t go, so I left her there. A company of American soldiers brutally killed more than … Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. He couldn’t kill anymore people. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I stood behind them and they stood side by side. Random House, 1970 ISBN 0-394-43737-3. Meadlo fired a little bit and broke down. When Calley first orders him to “take care of these people”, he misunderstands Calley. This kind of dilemma faced by the average soldier helps to highlight to violent and yet pointless nature of the war. Did you know? The Viet Cong, commonly referred to amongst American soldiers as simply “Charlie”, was much more feared … The Mai Lai massacre and testimony like that of Conti help to show the American public the horrific acts at Mai Lai while humanizing it so that what happened can be better understood and seen from multiple perspectives. Q: Mr. Conti, isn’t it a fact that you’d like to see Lieutenant Calley hanged? Below is the testimony of Dennis Conti, witness for the prosecution in the Mai Lai Trials. Q: Did you ever open your pants in front of a woman in the village of My Lai? The monochrome photographs he took were made using an Army camera and were either subject to censorship or did not depict any South Vietnamese casualties when published in an Army newspaper. We stayed there and guarded the. Many saw Calley as a scapegoat, and his sentence was reduced upon appeal to 20 years and later to 10; he was paroled in 1974. Nixon shortened his sentence to house arrest and parole shortly after (Olson & Roberts 204). Clip The My Lai Massacre: A National Shame. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre-1. Modern Influence of My Lai; Vietnam War Era; Bibliography; Search. Conti, a grenadier and minesweeper under the command of Lt. Calley begins by recounting his carrying out Calley’s order to “round up the people”. Army commanders had advised the soldiers of Charlie Company that all who were found in the Son My area could be considered VC or active VC sympathizers, and ordered them to destroy the village. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Despite finding only a few weapons, Calley ordered his men to begin shooting the villagers. I’ll watch the tree line. Seymour Hersh: My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and Its Aftermath. A notorious military operation called Speedy Express killed thousands of Vietnamese civilians in the Mekong Delta, earning the commander of the operation, Major General Julian Ewell, the nickname “the Butcher of the Delta.”. Ten years ago, Al Jazeera’s Josh Rushing, a former marine himself, visited My Lai … A: So I did, rounded up the people. Ronald L. Haeberle (born circa 1940) is a former United States Army photographer best known for the photographs he took of the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968.. 500 people including women, children and the elderly were killed in the My Lai Massacre. Calley told me. The New Yorker. My Lai Massacre Vietnamese citizens photographed during the My Lai Massacre, March 16, 1968. The Scene of the Crime, by Seymour Hersh. Q: Were you under medical treatment that day? A: I brought them back to Calley on the trail. When they arrived shortly after dawn, the soldiers—led by Lieutenant William Calley—found no Viet Cong. They couldn’t. President Nixon saw Calley as a scapegoat and victim of politics. The revelations of the My Lai massacre caused morale to plummet even further, as GIs wondered what other atrocities their superiors were concealing. The Army would later charge only 14 men, including Calley, Captain Ernest Medina and Colonel Oran Henderson, with crimes related to the events at My Lai. You remember that night? “I saw them shoot an M79 (grenade launcher) into a group of people who were still alive. So they — Calley and Meadlo — got on line and fired directly into the people. Let Lieutenant Calley do it, I told him. The My Lai massacre happened on March 16 1968, and the Peers Report concludes that between 190 and 230 civilians – including women and children – were killed, many of … ...read more. On March 16, 1968, U.S. Army soldiers acting on orders from their commanding officers massacred several hundred innocent Other atrocities, such as a similar massacre of villagers at My Khe, are less well known. From this point on the confusion and horror have an apparent effect on his willingness to carry out orders. The My Lai massacre is probably one of the most infamous events of the Vietnam War. Instead, they came across a quiet village of primarily women, children and older men preparing their breakfast rice. Transcript of 1994 Tulane University My Lai Conference. Was My Lai just one of many massacres in Vietnam War? James S. Olson, Randy Roberts: My Lai: A Brief History with Documents. The New Yorker. Eyewitness accounts of the My Lai massacre; story by Seymour Hersh Nov. 20, 1969. Who Was Responsible For the My Lai Massacre? Not a single shot was fired against the men of Charlie Company at My Lai. The public perception of Calley was very divided. The horrific events are known as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of ...read more, The Rosewood Massacre was an attack on the predominantly African American town of Rosewood, Florida, in 1923 by large groups of white aggressors. Get ‘em! Watch part two. So I gave Meadlo back his weapon. The 'forgotten' My Lai: South Korea's Vietnam War massacres. Q: Didn’t you carry a woman half-nude on your shoulders and throw her down and say that say was too dirty to rape? Among the victims were 182 women—17 of them pregnant—and 173 children, including 56 infants. The town was entirely destroyed by the end of the violence, and the residents were driven out permanently. He seems to follow the orders he is given without question until Calley gives the order to shoot. Thompson and his crew flew dozens of survivors to receive medical care. Three young men were shot and killed, and ...read more, In late 1937, over a period of six weeks, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people–including both soldiers and civilians–in the Chinese city of Nanking (or Nanjing). ( Log Out / A: Lieutenant Calley came out and said take care of these people. Though horrific, the events at Mai Lai only lead to a single conviction, Lt. Calley. Among the American troops still in Vietnam, morale was low, and anger and frustration were high. I took the other woman and child to the group. I guess they tried to get up, too. In March 1968, Charlie Company—part of the Americal Division’s 11th Infantry Brigade—received word that VC guerrillas had taken control of the neighboring village of Son My. Conti’s testimony and the testimony of many others makes it clear that Calley was not a victim of Mai Lai, but the leader of the massacre and a man who forced others to commit heinous and violent acts. As a matter of fact, I don’t remember seeing one military-age male in the entire place, dead or alive,” Bernhardt said. Then I saw a man running away. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. My Lai was a village of about 700 inhabitants some 100 miles to the southeast of the US base of Danang. Coverup—I, by Seymour Hersh. Q: Isn’t it a fact that the medic was carrying penicillin to give you that day on the mission? © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The My Lai massacre took place on March 16 th 1968. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. By the time the My Lai massacre ended, 504 people were dead. There were five or six, mostly women and children. Paul Meadlo, father of two, and one of the soldiers involved in the massacre. It was automatic. He seen us and he took off. As a soldier in Mai Lai individuals were forced to choose between following orders and doing what was moral. Howard Jones: My Lai. You did do that, didn’t you? Specialist Fourth Class … Q: Weren’t you mad at Lieutenant Calley for reporting you? The names of three 1-year-olds, victims of the My Lai massacre, are grouped together on a memorial wall at a museum in Son My, Vietnam. These were infants, two- three-, four-, five-year-olds, women, very old men, no draft-age people whatsoever,” Thompson stated at a My Lai conference at Tulane University in 1994. Q: Didn’t you smoke it before getting into the helicopters that morning? But an even more devastating Vietnam War tragedy is often forgotten: The My Lai Massacre. I dropped my gear and checked out a hootch with a woman and a child in it. The people screamed and yelled and fell. I was a little stunned and I didn’t know what to do. This put soldiers like Conti and Meadlo in the uniquely awful and difficult situation of having to make a decision. Michael Bernhardt, a soldier at the scene, later told a reporter. "Ron Ridenhour’s Last Talk: My Lai and Why it Matters" a moving talk, the last he made, on the 30th anniversary of the massacre, given at Tulane University on youtube here "My Lai: Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent into Darkness" by Howard Jones (Amazon summary here) "Four Hours in My Lai" by Michael Bilton and Howard Sim, published in 1993 Drug use increased among soldiers, and an official report in 1971 estimated that one-third or more of U.S. troops were addicted. On the home front in the United States, the brutality of the My Lai massacre and the efforts made by higher-ranking officers to conceal it exacerbated anti-war sentiment and increased the bitterness regarding the continuing U.S. military presence in Vietnam. The shots were coming from My Lai 4, a mile and a half to the southwest, where by this time Charlie Company was in the midst of massacre. Conti’s testimony helps to show that Calley as the commanding officer forced many men in to committing violent acts they otherwise likely may not have. Q: As a matter of fact, you hated him didn’t you? Vietnam War • Mỹ Lai massacre: William Laws Calley Jr. (born June 8, 1943) is a former United States Army officer and war criminal convicted by court-martial for the premeditated killings of 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the Mỹ Lai massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. Hugh Thompson, the helicopter pilot who stopped the My Lai massacre, later told the news program "60 Minutes" that he was ostracized and received death threats upon his return from Vietnam. A: I didn’t dislike him; I didn’t like him. The My Lai massacre is often held to have been an aberration but investigative journalist Nick Turse has uncovered evidence that war crimes were committed by … He was crying. On the morning of March 16, 1968, U.S. Army soldiers entered a Vietnamese hamlet named My Lai 4 on a search-and-destroy mission in a region controlled by Viet Cong forces that the Army referred to as “Pinkville.” The soldiers didn’t encounter any enemy troops. The villagers were rounded up into groups as the soldiers inspected their huts. I was getting shots. “Get ‘em! . So we said, okay, so we stood there and watched them. Some soldiers balked at Calley’s command, but within seconds the massacre had begun, with Calley himself shooting many men, women and children. All Rights Reserved. There were others there. Mothers who were shielding their children were shot, and when their children tried to run away, they too were slaughtered. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. The 1968 My Lai Massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War.
Las Palmas Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Immobilien Amrum Sparkasse, Instagram Alexa Mädchen Wg, Was Macht Guido Buchwald, Maxi Garden Eurovision,
Neueste Kommentare