The My Lai Massacre

AI True Crime: The My Lai Massacre

On March 16, 1968, soldiers of Charlie Company entered the Vietnamese hamlet commonly known as My Lai expecting to encounter Viet Cong forces. Instead, American soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians, including women, children and elderly people. The killings were followed by false reports, failed investigations and an attempt to portray the operation as a military success.

In this episode of AI True Crime, we examine the massacre itself, Lieutenant William Calley and Charlie Company, the extraordinary intervention of helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson and his crew, the Army's initial response, Ronald Ridenhour's effort to expose what happened, Seymour Hersh's reporting, the Peers Inquiry, the court-martial of Calley, and the enormous gap between the scale of the crime and the punishment that followed.

Sources and Further Reading

Report of the Department of the Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations into the My Lai Incident, Volume I — The Peers Report

The Army's extensive investigation into the massacre, the command structure surrounding it and the failure of earlier investigations. The Library of Congress provides the complete report online.

https://www.loc.gov/item/74603407/

The Peers Inquiry of the Massacre at My Lai — Library of Congress

Library of Congress catalog and digital access to material from Lieutenant General William R. Peers' investigation.

https://www.loc.gov/item/97042604/

Investigation of the My Lai Incident — U.S. House Armed Services Investigating Subcommittee

Congressional investigation into the massacre, including testimony and examination of the Army's response.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2011525307/

Complete hearings:

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llmlp/MyLaiHearings/MyLaiHearings.pdf

Investigation of the My Lai Incident — Congressional Report

The report of the House Armed Services Investigating Subcommittee following its investigation of the massacre.

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llmlp/MyLaiReport/MyLaiReport.pdf

The Moral Courage Paradox: The Peers Report and My Lai — Army University Press

Detailed modern U.S. Army study of the massacre, the Peers investigation, command responsibility, the cover-up and the actions of Hugh Thompson, Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn.

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/books/browse-books/ibooks-and-epubs/the-moral-courage-paradox/

The Peers Inquiry — Military Review / Army University Press

An examination of General Peers' investigation and the institutional and command failures identified in the Army's inquiry.

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20090630_art006.pdf

My Lai at 50 — U.S. Army Combined Arms Center

Army retrospective on the massacre, the investigation and the moral courage of Thompson and his helicopter crew. Thompson, Andreotta and Colburn were awarded the Soldier's Medal in 1998 for their efforts to save civilians.

https://usacac.army.mil/Article-Library/View-Content/My-Lai-at-50?ArtMID=575\&ArticleID=1355

My Lai — PBS American Experience

Documentary and supporting historical material examining Charlie Company, the massacre, survivors, investigators and the people who exposed what happened.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/mylai/

Interview with Lawrence Colburn — PBS American Experience

Colburn describes serving as the gunner aboard Hugh Thompson's helicopter and the crew's intervention to protect Vietnamese civilians from American soldiers.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/my-lai-interview-larry-colburn/

Charlie Company and the Massacre — PBS American Experience

Timeline and background on Charlie Company before, during and after the events of March 16, 1968.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/my-lai-charlie-company-and-massacre/

Seymour Hersh — 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting

Hersh received the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting exposing the My Lai massacre.

https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/seymour-m-hersh

“I Sent Them a Good Boy and They Made Him a Murderer” — The Pulitzer Prizes

Background on Hersh's investigation, his search for William Calley and the reporting that brought My Lai to national attention.

https://www.pulitzer.org/article/i-sent-them-good-boy-and-they-made-him-murderer

The Photographer Who Showed the World What Really Happened at My Lai — TIME

The story of Army photographer Ronald Haeberle and the color photographs that gave the American public visual evidence of the massacre. Warning: this page contains extremely disturbing photographs.

https://time.com/5200422/my-lai-massacre-ron-haeberle-photographs/

Only One Officer Found Guilty of My Lai Atrocities — Library of Congress

Library of Congress material on William Calley's court-martial, conviction for the murder of twenty-two civilians and the extraordinary fact that he was the only officer convicted for the massacre.

https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/federal-and-special-courts/only-one-officer-found-guilty-of-my-lai-attrocities/

Captain Medina Testifies at Calley's Court-Martial — Library of Congress

Contemporary courtroom artwork and historical background concerning Charlie Company commander Captain Ernest Medina's testimony during Calley's trial.

https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/federal-and-special-courts/capt-medina-testifies-at-calleys-court-martial/

William Calley, Face of My Lai Massacre in Vietnam War, Dies at 80 — Reuters

Report on Calley's April 2024 death and a concise account of his conviction, sentence, presidential intervention, eventual release and later apology.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-soldier-calley-face-my-lai-massacre-vietnam-war-dies-80-2024-07-30/

Next time on AI True Crime: San Francisco, the 1970s, a series of attacks on gay men, and a killer whose identity remains one of the city's most enduring mysteries.

The Doodler.

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