My Lai Massacre (March 16, 1968): Vietnamese women and children before being killed by the US Army

Image from preview.redd.it and submitted by flyingcatwithhorns
image showing My Lai Massacre (March 16, 1968): Vietnamese women and children before being killed by the US Army

jxj24 on March 16th, 2023 at 19:41 UTC »

Read about it here. Some highlights:

It was innitially reported as a "bloody day-long battle" where "U.S. infantrymen had killed 128 Communists". General Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, congratulated the unit on the "outstanding job". Eventually it was admitted that some 20 civilians were "inadvertently" killed, though there was no initial mention of the multiple rapes, including those of numerous children.

There probably wouldn't have even been an investigation, except that the deaths of perhaps 500 civilians (the US Army only admits to about 350) turned out to be somewhat difficult to sweep under the rug, though many, including then-Major Colin Powell, tried. Fortunately there were enough eyewitnesses, including a helicopter crew that tried to intervene, who would not keep quiet.

Of the 26 men initially charged, Second Lieutenant William Calley was the only one convicted. At the conclusion of his court martial he was sentenced to life in prison. Due to the direct intervention from Richard Nixon, he eventually served three years of house confinement on base.

His only semi-public apology came over forty years after the massacre.

IronMike34 on March 16th, 2023 at 20:37 UTC »

118 women, 173 children including 53 infants. These people faced a fear that doesn’t even register for us.

morbihann on March 16th, 2023 at 20:49 UTC »

On another note, the US pilot who threatened to open fire on his own troops to stop the massacre was shunned from the army. His efforts and valor were not recognized for many years.

The perpetrators mostly walked away free.