My Lai Massacre (1968)

Sat Mar 16, 1968

Image (NSFW):

Image: When Haeberle's (the photographer's) group made it to the edge of the village, other soldiers had already been interrogating Vietnamese citizens. Haeberle testified he did not see what happened to this man and children. [pbs.org]

On this day in 1968, the My Lai Massacre took place when U.S. troops in the Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam massacred hundreds of unarmed civilians, including women, children, and infants. The event was a war crime and suppressed by the U.S. military despite multiple whistleblowers coming forward. Estimates of the total killed range between 347 and 504.

Although two soldiers wrote letters to their superiors about the possibility of a war crime having taken place, the U.S. government claimed that the event was a military victory for several months after it occurred. It was only after an independent journalist broke the story and the true nature of the massacre became public that twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses.

Only one, Lieutenant William Calley Jr., was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but served only three and a half years under house arrest. The incident sparked global outrage and spurred the domestic anti-war movement.

Three U.S. servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and rescue civilians were shunned and denounced as traitors, including by multiple members of Congress.

"It is why I’m old before my time. I remember it all the time. I’m all alone and life is hard. Thinking about it has made me old...I won’t forgive as long as I live - think of the babies being killed, then ask me why I hate them."

- A Vietnamese survivor of the My Lai massacre

• Date: 1968-03-16
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.workers.org, alphahistory.com, www.pbs.org.
• Tags: #Massacre, #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org