The Mai Lai Massacre

On March 16th, 1968, one of the most horrific events occurred during the Vietnam war called the My Lai massacre.  This horrific event involved the mass killing of the citizens of My Lai.  The majority of the people killed were unarmed civilians, not soldiers, and they were brutally murdered, and raped.  Up to 500 civilians died, most of them being young children and women (My Lai Massacre).  The massacre started as a typical search and destroy mission with the intent to destroy Vietcong resources.  The U.S soldiers aimed artillery at the rice paddies around My Lai, but many shells landed near civilian homes.  Their goal was to harass the enemy soldiers, the only issue is that there were no Vietcong in My Lai at the time.  After the artillery, the U.S army decided to go into My Lai.  The soldiers were not under any fire from the Vietnamese civilians, but the constant bombardment from their helicopters made it seem as if they were under fire and there was a threat in the town.  Unknowing who were civilians and who were Vietcong soldiers, the U.S army was ordered to kill all the villagers of My Lai (Levesque).  After the mass killing, the U.S army tried to cover up the massacre, realizing how terrible it was. They were unable to successfully do so, letters began to appear, and the word got out.  This struck a substantial controversy, and many people were put to trial including Lieutenant William Calley, who led the assault and was sentenced to life in prison (Schweikart, 741).  His sentence was reduced twice, to only three years in prison (Zinn, 479).  The Mai Lai massacre was unjustified because the soldiers knew what they were doing and whom they were murdering.

Howard Zinn, an American historian and the author of “A People’s History of The United States,” believes that the My Lai massacre was justified.  Zinn’s unpopular opinion is that this incident was not an isolated incident and that this was just representative of the brutality of the rest of the war.   Zinn stated, “Indeed, My Lai was unique only in its details” (Zinn, 479).  For Zinn, it was unfair to prosecute one person for the millions killed during the war and for the events at My Lai.  Zinn believed that this event was just one of hundreds, and this one just happened to catch the attention of the media.  Zinn quotes a GI’s letter sent to his parents saying “The huts here are thatched palm leaves. Each one has a dried mud bunker inside. These bunkers are to protect the families. Kind of like air raid shelters.  My unit commanders, however, chose to think that these bunkers are offensive” (Zinn, 480).  Zinn believes that many of the soldiers did not realize the actual reality of who was in the village, the soldiers thought they were Vietcong.  Even though Zinn believe the massacre was not much different from other events during the war, he still knows it was wrong, but just feels that it was something that happens due to war. 

However, another historian and the author of “A Patriot's History of the United States,” Larry Schweikart believes that the My Lai massacre was unjustified.  Schweikart believes that the soldiers knew what they were doing and whom they were murdering, but they proceeded to do it anyway.  Schweikart stated, “A psychiatric team who examined the men concluded that they were sane, and had known what they were doing at the time” (Schweikart, 741).  Since Lieutenant William Calley and the rest of the men were sane during the attack and they knew whom they were murdering, Schweikart believes the soldiers should be tried and prosecuted. Schweikart believes it was completely unjustified and that someone should be held accountable for the murdering of up to 500 civilians.  He also stated that as the events at My Lai circulated, more people joined the antiwar movement calling the soldiers of Vietnam “baby killers” (Schweikart, 742).  The use of the phrase baby killers implies that the soldiers knew what they were doing and whom they were killing, and this event caused a greater divide in America at the time.  Schweikart’s beliefs are generally a more popular opinion as well.
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In my opinion, the My Lai massacre was a war crime, and the U.S army generals who gave the commands should be punished.  I do not believe that everyone who participated should be punished because many of them were just following given orders, but the people in command, who had control over what happened that day should be tried and punished.  After reading Ron Ridenhour's letter to Congress, I have concluded that the massacre was unjustified and that someone should be accountable for the mass murdering of hundreds of civilians.  Ridenhour was a GI who was not involved with the incident in My Lai but heard many stories from fellow soldiers and used those different views to write this letter a year after the incident.  Ridenhour talked to Sargent Larry La Croix, and he stated "It was terrible. They were slaughtering villagers like so many sheep" (Ridenhour).  The soldiers knew what they were doing, but they were just following orders from higher officers.  If they did not listen to their orders, these soldiers would have been punished, so they had no reason not to follow orders.  Ridenhour also stated “After hearing this account I could not quite accept it. Somehow I just couldn't believe that not only had so many young American men participated in such an act of barbarism, but that their officers had ordered it” (Ridenhour).  Ridenhour was a GI and couldn’t imagine soldiers doing this horrific act, but after hearing many of the accounts, it came to his realization that it actually happened.  It would be wrong not to punish the officers that gave the orders to murder hundreds of civilians of My Lai.  The events in My Lai were unjust because the officers knew exactly what they were doing and they deserved to be punished.

Works Cited:
        Levesque, Christopher J. “The Truth Behind My Lai.” The New York Times, The New /                York Times, 16 Mar. 2018,                                                                                                 www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/opinion/the-truth-behind-my-lai.html.
        “My Lai Massacre.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009,                                   www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre-1.
        Ridenhour, Ron. “Ron Ridenhour's My Lai Account.” Received by Congressmen, 1416                East Thomas Road #104 , 29 Mar. 1969, Phoenix, Arizona.
        Schweikart, Larry. A Patriot's History of the United States: from Columbus's Great                       Discovery to the War on Terror. New York :Sentinel, 2004. pp 741-742.                            Print.
        Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.              pp 478-480. Print.