Alexander CekalaMy Lai Massacre: Vietnam War
Today I'm going to deal with the My Lai massacre, an event that took place during the Vietnam War (which was part of the Cold War).
I haven't decided whether to do this as one post or two...it depends on how long this ends up being.
Background
In the Vietnam war the Viet Cong were often sheltered by the South Vietnamese. As they were guerilla fighters who wore no uniforms they often ambushed American troops and so the American's were often high strung and mistrustful of innocent looking people.
At the same time the American military rated the success of its missions by enemy bodycounts, rather than territory gained and this meant that civilian deaths were often rated as civilian deaths.
After the Tet offensive the American army believed that some Viet Cong troops were hiding in the village hamlets of My Lai, so they prepared an attack.
The My Lai Attack
Before the attack the American soldiers were told that all civilians would have left the village by the time the attack begun. When the attack took place no soldiers were found. However, hundreds of innocent civilians were raped and killed. These ranged from 1 year old to 82 years old and many of them were herded into ditches and machine gunned.
Evacuation
An American military helicopter landed during the massacre and threatened to open fire on the American troops if they continued the massacre. Hugh Thompson, Jr., Spc. Lawrence Colburn and Spc. Glenn Andreotta then evacuated the village, saving at least 11 lives.
However, figures often report casualty figures of 504 people.
Investigations
In 1969 a soldier named Ron Ridenhour sent a letter to government departments and members of congress. This letter detailed the events at My Lai. Eventually a number of people involved were charged for the incident, but only one was convicted and he was later freed.
Affects
The situation encouraged anti-Vietnam war sentiments and aided the peace movement.
Well there we go...
My brief account easily fit into one days work.
Adam
I haven't decided whether to do this as one post or two...it depends on how long this ends up being.
Background
In the Vietnam war the Viet Cong were often sheltered by the South Vietnamese. As they were guerilla fighters who wore no uniforms they often ambushed American troops and so the American's were often high strung and mistrustful of innocent looking people.
At the same time the American military rated the success of its missions by enemy bodycounts, rather than territory gained and this meant that civilian deaths were often rated as civilian deaths.
After the Tet offensive the American army believed that some Viet Cong troops were hiding in the village hamlets of My Lai, so they prepared an attack.
The My Lai Attack
Before the attack the American soldiers were told that all civilians would have left the village by the time the attack begun. When the attack took place no soldiers were found. However, hundreds of innocent civilians were raped and killed. These ranged from 1 year old to 82 years old and many of them were herded into ditches and machine gunned.
Evacuation
An American military helicopter landed during the massacre and threatened to open fire on the American troops if they continued the massacre. Hugh Thompson, Jr., Spc. Lawrence Colburn and Spc. Glenn Andreotta then evacuated the village, saving at least 11 lives.
However, figures often report casualty figures of 504 people.
Investigations
In 1969 a soldier named Ron Ridenhour sent a letter to government departments and members of congress. This letter detailed the events at My Lai. Eventually a number of people involved were charged for the incident, but only one was convicted and he was later freed.
Affects
The situation encouraged anti-Vietnam war sentiments and aided the peace movement.
Well there we go...
My brief account easily fit into one days work.
Adam
