The My La Massacre (pronounced mee-lye) (Vietnam.docVIP

The My Lai Massacre (pronounced mee-lye) (Vietnamese: th?m sát M? Lai) was a massacre committed by U.S. soldiers on hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children, on March 16, 1968, in the hamlet of My Lai, during the Vietnam War. It prompted widespread outrage around the world and reduced American support at home for the war in Vietnam. The massacre is also known as the Son My massacre (Vietnamese: th?m sát S?n M?) or sometimes as the Song My massacre. [1] The massacre Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, Americal Division arrived in Vietnam in December 1967. Their first month in Vietnam passed without any direct enemy contact. US military intelligence formed the view that the 48th Battalion, having retreated, was taking refuge in the village of Song My. A number of specific hamlets within that village—labelled My Lai 1, 2, 3 and 4—were suspected of harboring the 48th. US forces planned a major offensive on those hamlets. On the eve of the attack, U.S. military command advised Charlie Company that any genuine civilians at My Lai would have left their homes to go to market by 7 a.m. the following day. They were told they could assume that all who remained behind were either Viet Cong or active Viet Cong sympathizers. They were instructed to destroy the village. At the briefing, Captain Ernest Medina was asked whether the order included the killing of women and children; those present at the briefing later gave different accounts of Medinas response. Many suspected there were Viet Cong in the village, hiding underground in the homes of their elderly parents or their wives. Nevertheless, the American soldiers, one platoon which was led by Lt William Calley, killed hundreds of civilians — primarily old men, women, children and babies. Dozens were herded into a ditch and executed with automatic firearms. At one stage, Calley expressed his intent to throw hand grenades into a trench filled with villagers. T