Case Study on the My Lai Massacre - How Representative Is the My Lai Massacre as Evidence of American Experience in Vietnam?

Case study on the My Lai massacre

How representative is the My Lai massacre as evidence of American Experience in Vietnam?

“In war, truth is the first casualty”

Aeschylus

        Word count 1998        

Sanders, Samantha

007006 0056

Contents Table

A. Plan of the investigation............................................................................................3

B. Summary of Evidence...............................................................................................4

C. Evaluation of sources................................................................................................6

D. Analysis.....................................................................................................................8

E. Conclusion...............................................................................................................11

F. Bibliography............................................................................................................12

A. Plan of the investigation

This investigation assesses to what extent the ‘My Lai massacre’ is representative of the

American experience in the Vietnam War. This subject initially aroused my attention because

of the numerous different accounts of My Lai, none of which are consistent with each other.

Therefore within these inconsistency and distortions of the ‘truth’ I will evaluate how these

horrific events and subsequent civilian reaction may or may not represent other experiences

and actions of American soldiers and civilians. The initial report and photographic evidence

are used as sources to investigate this with an evaluation of their origins, purpose, values and

limitations. I then go on to analyse different historians views of My Lai and American

experience with reference to the post-modern viewpoint, considering how much we can really

ever claim to ‘know’ about of My Lai and therefore those involved in Vietnam.

B. Summary of Evidence

During the Vietnam War the North Vietnamese organized themselves into “guerrilla units”₁ initiating a campaign of terrorism against the South Vietnamese and American troops, based on the strategies of guerrilla warfare, leading them to victory. Guerrilla tactics included sabotage, espionage and the use of women and children. Guerrilla units were indistinguishable from ordinary Vietnamese people, as they “wore no uniform”₂, “you can’t afford to guess whether a civilian is Vietcong. Either they shoot you or you shoot them.”₃

The main advantage of guerrilla warfare was the learned discipline to respect civilians. This code of conduct, contrasted directly with that of the South Vietnamese and US soldiers who relied on technological advances. “Search and destroy”₄ missions became a notorious aspect of Vietnam; troops would destroy Vietcong as they found them. Tactics that were designed for the USA because of their reliance on “body counts”₅ not territorial gain as evidence of success. The dropping of napalm bombs “devastated the landscape”₆ and “contributed to rapidly growing support for the Vietcong”. The CIA also introduced “Operation Phoenix”₇  the aim being to interrogate the VC, where “torture was the norm” a soldier described the, “starving to death in a gage of a Vietnamese woman who was suspected of being a …cadre”. American attitude towards the Vietnamese people who they regarded as an inferior race was a major flaw in US strategy, “if they weren’t pro-Vietcong before we got there, they sure as hell where by the time we left”.

The My Lai₈ massacre took place on 16th March 196813 in the Vietnamese village of My Lai led by Lt Calley. Women, men and children were killed, mutilated, tortured and “at least one

______________________________

₁ Edwards, O. The USA and the Cold War, Hodder and Stoughton, 2004, p112

₂ www.vietnampix.com/popvc.htm

₃www.pierretristam.com/bobstlibary

 ₄ Myres, M and S, Gartner, Journal of interdisciplinary history, MIT Press,1995 p337

₅ Sanders, V. The USA and Vietnam 1945-75,Hodder and Stoughton, 2000, p89

₆ Edwards, O. The USA and the Cold War, Hodder and Stoughton, 2004, p113

₇Sanders, V. The USA and Vietnam 1945-75,Hodder and Stoughton, 2000,p89

₈ In the South Vietnamese district of Son My

girl was raped and then shot”. Calley himself “rounded up a group of villagers, ordered them

into a ditch and mowed them down with a fury of with machine gun fire”.₁₄ The number of

victims differentiates greatly between sources, the initial report states that “20 non-combaters

were inadvertently killed” ₁₅ whereas the memorial site lists “504 names”₁₆, a range of

estimations also fall between these numbers.

Described as the “living room war”₁₇, for the first time civilians could watch the drama unfold

from their homes, heavily influencing their attitude. Word of My Lai didn’t reach public news

until over a year later when journalist Seymour Hersh₁₈ published details of the events as a

result of the investigations by Ron Ridehour₁₉. The photos provoked worldwide outrage,

helping to surge the already growing peace movement. Serious questions began circulating