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My Lai Massacre

My Lai Massacre. A tragedy we’ll never forget.

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My Lai Massacre

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  1. My Lai Massacre A tragedy we’ll never forget

  2. On the morning of March 16th, 1968, the men of Charlie Company, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, American Division, US Army, entered the hamlet of Tu Cung, in the village of Son My, on the coast of central Vietnam. The company was assigned to a temporary battalion-sized unit named Task Force Barker, and it was led by Captain Ernest Medina. In charge of the company's 1st Platoon was Lieutenant William Calley. Inside Tu Cung the company encountered no enemy forces, no opposing fire of any kind. Its only casualty was self-inflicted. Nevertheless, by early afternoon, well over 300 residents of the hamlet lay dead. Those killed were predominantly women, old men and small children. A number of the women had been raped before being killed. Other victims had been tortured, mutilated, and then killed. Much of the killing, though not all, had occurred in the sub-hamlet of Xom Lang, known to the Americans as My Lai. Much of the killing, though not all, had been conducted by 1st Platoon. (Oliver Kendrick)

  3. The troops were ordered to go into a Viet Cong area that had no enemy fire. They were ordered to take out the civilians there They came into a village, where all the Viet Cong men had left and the only civilians left were women, the elderly, and children Without any questioning, they carried out their orders

  4. They barged in burning down huts and homes They raped many women and then executed them They destroyed everything They even killed those that surrendered

  5. They cold heartedly murdered the elderly and the children of the village They threw victims into a ditch following with a grenade Many of the victims were under the age of seven

  6. Names and ages of some of the victims "So we started to gather more people, and we had about seven or eight, and we put them in the hooch and then we dropped a hand grenade in there with them. And then they had about 70-75 people all gathered up by a ravine, so we threw ours in with them and Lieut. Calley told me, 'Meadlo, we got another job to do.' And so he walked over to the people, and he started pushing them off and started shooting. We just pushed them all off and just started using automatics on them." Over 300 civilians were brutally murdered during this tragedy. The troops killed innocent and helpless people

  7. Who was in Charge? Lieutenant William Calley He was in charge of the company’s 1st platoon and gave the order He was charged with the murders of 109 victims in 1970

  8. Excuses Troops claimed that they were just doing what they were ordered. Troops say they did it out of frustration because they lost so many brothers. Many told themselves that this was war and that this is what happens in war. Soldiers blame Vietnam for what happened.

  9. The Trial

  10. The Cover Up It took over a year for the horrible news to hit the public. There are recordings and documents that prove that certain high position officials tried to hide everything from breaking out. MY LAI The news became public after a couple of G.I.'s admitted to being part of the killings or heard about them. After a serious investigation occurred they found that many others were involved, but only Calley was charged.

  11. The Punishment He was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor. Three days later, he was out of prison, pending appeal, on the instructions from the President, Richard Nixon. The next three years, he was under house arrest in Georgia. In 1974, his sentence was reduced down to 10 years. Later that year, he was paroled and only served a third of the sentence.

  12. Is This What America Stands For? Is it American to… Be animalistic and heartless? Harm, rape, and murder innocent people? Execute children? Cover up our mistakes? Let people in high power go free after committing a crime?

  13. Or Is This American? Huge Thompson (top) and Lawrence Colburn (bottom) stood up against what they knew was wrong. They were pilots, who flew in and rescued as many civilians as they could that day. They risked their lives to save others. Without them, many more would have been casualties of this tragedy. These men exemplify the true core values of being an American. Thompson and Colburn reunited with one of the children of My Lai that they had rescued 30 years before

  14. Over 30 years later We must always remember My Lai Monument

  15. Work Referenced 1) Dao, Mai, March 1st, 2007. Interview 2) Linder, Doug. 1999. My Lai, An Account to the My Lai Court Trial. Famous American Trials. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/mylai.htm 3) March 29, 1971. 1971: Calley guilty of My Lai Massacre. BBC News. News Article. 4) My Lai: An American Tragedy. December 5th, 1969. Time Magazine. News Article. 5) Oliver, Kendrick. (Feb 2006)Coming to terms with the past: My Lai: Kendrick Oliver revisits the scene of an infamous massacre that became a watershed in public perceptions of the Vietnam war, and asks what it means to America, almost forty years on.(TODAY'S HISTORY).  In History Today, 56, p37(3). Retrieved February 3, 2007, from Expanded Academic ASAP via Thomson Gale:  http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-

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