What happened in Vietnam at My Lai? Did the US go in and kill and rape innocent civilians for revenge? Or is this anti-American propaganda? All the websites seem to have a strong bias.
No cites - but basically, yes it did happen and yet the US soldiers were at fault. It was attributed to a Lieutenant. It’s a case study in officer training about not following orders which are unlawful. It’s also used to train military folk about the laws of armed conflict.
Pepsi Classic, I’m going to try to be polite about this. I presume that you were born after the Vietnam War. My Lai is a famous part of the war. Innocent civilians were killed there. (I don’t recall that anyone was raped.) One can argue about whether My Lai was an aberation or something common. Discussion about the Vietnam War will quickly turn this into a Great Debates thread. What you need to do is read a book about the Vietnam War, not just ask questions here or read websites. You might start with Stanley Karnow’s Vietnam: A History.
A US Army platoon led by Lt William Calley did go into the village on March 16, 1968, and warcrimes were committed by some of those soldiers. It was not a US sanctioned series of events.
This appears to be a fact-based site, with Court Martial testimony for the Lt and the Company Commander, who was acquited of charges (he was not on the scene). F. Lee Bailey was his lawyer.
Yes, I born well after the end of the war. I don’t really know a lot about it. I am going to the library tomorrow and will check out the book you recommend.
I should clarify that there is conflicting testimony about the Captain’s (Company Commander’s) whereabouts during the killings.