The Forgotten Atrocities of My Lai
My Lai is a hamlet in the Quang Ngai province of Vietnam. It is the site of one of the most gruesome tragedies of the Vietnam War. On March 1968, U.S soldiers of Charlie Company, 1st battalion, 11th infantry brigade entered the hamlet and massacred 300 to 500 unarmed civilians[1]. Most of the victims were women, children, infants and the elderly. Soldiers rounded villagers up and shot them in ditches. Some of the bodies were later found to be mutilated and many women raped and subsequently murdered. Furthermore, live stock was killed, wells poisoned and buildings burnt[2].
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| Villagers rounded up by U.S troops moments before they were shot. [15] |
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| A soldier burning down a hut in My Lai village. [16] |
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| The horrific results of the massacre. [17] |
After the perpetration of the atrocities, members of the brigade and divisional staffs succeeded in covering it up for a significant amount of time. The American people were not to learn of the hideous incident until a year later. When the incident became public knowledge it further added to the strong opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Numerous soldiers were trialled and convicted with war crimes but subsequently had their charges dropped or else they were acquitted. All that is, except Lieutenant William Calley[3].
The Crimes of War
A war crime is an action carried out during the conduct of a war that violates accepted international rules of war. Such as ill-treatment of Prisoners of war, murder of civilians, the wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages, and any devastation not justified by military, of civilian necessity[4]. There is no doubt that what occurred that day was a multitude of war crimes.
A war crime is an action carried out during the conduct of a war that violates accepted international rules of war. Such as ill-treatment of Prisoners of war, murder of civilians, the wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages, and any devastation not justified by military, of civilian necessity[4]. There is no doubt that what occurred that day was a multitude of war crimes.
Can War Crimes be Justified?
These crimes are certainly something not new to warfare. War crimes can be traced back to the 14th century where the Holy Roman Empire convicted Peter von Hagenbach of war crimes regarding command responsibility[5]. His defence was, “I was only following orders.” This is a statement that is all too familiar to war crime trials. Lieutenant William Calley also pleaded the same case[6].
These crimes are certainly something not new to warfare. War crimes can be traced back to the 14th century where the Holy Roman Empire convicted Peter von Hagenbach of war crimes regarding command responsibility[5]. His defence was, “I was only following orders.” This is a statement that is all too familiar to war crime trials. Lieutenant William Calley also pleaded the same case[6].
The history of war crimes has shown to be a complicated mixture of humane treatment of individuals and justification. In Larry May’s book ‘War crimes and just war’ he argues that the rules of war should uphold humane treatment first and justification second[7]. That is, with mercy and compassion rather than the individuals conception of justice. To May, principles of humane treatment are more unified in people's minds than principles of justice. There may be countless justifications for an action but limited conceptions of human compassion and mercy. In the film ‘four hours in My Lai’, My Lai veterans involved in the massacre gave their own account of the incident[8]. All the veterans certainly did not deny that what happened in the hamlet was inhumane, what does vary is justification. Some of the veterans found no justification in their actions. Others justify the massacre by explaining that in a war when the enemy and civilian are not easily distinguishable it is justified. Given that only one individual was held responsible for the massacre; should there be no punishment for all these individuals that carried out the massacre in person, whether they think it’s right or not?
In the documentary the soldiers are represented as being victims of My Lai. They are shown to be emotionally overwhelmed and just another causality of war. In one scene the film camera pans across the veterans table to reveal medications prescribed for war caused anxiety, highlighting his fragility. In terms of the May perspective they should all be held accountable for their actions, although the documentary reflects the opposite.
In the documentary the soldiers are represented as being victims of My Lai. They are shown to be emotionally overwhelmed and just another causality of war. In one scene the film camera pans across the veterans table to reveal medications prescribed for war caused anxiety, highlighting his fragility. In terms of the May perspective they should all be held accountable for their actions, although the documentary reflects the opposite.
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| A magazine cover highlighting the problem of responsibility and justification. [18] |
War Crimes, Military and the Media: an internal war
The relationship between the media and military can be seen as a tense power struggle[9]. This struggle is inevitable; the army is a rigid disciplined institution often hostile to outsiders, while the media is (ideally) functionally independent of any other institution, without rules and regulations. Both have distinct goals in mind, the media wants to tell the story, whereas, the military want to win the war. Ideologically they are polar opposites, the media stand for freedom and the military stands for control. In the case of My Lai, the military sort for control and suppression of the information surrounding the war crimes. How the media responded to this is an interesting case.
The U.S. army immediately attempted to cover their tracks and to change their war crimes to no less than a moment of heroic feat. The first reports of the My Lai massacre claimed that “128 Viet Cong and 22 civilians” were killed in a “fierce fire fight.” This was published by the army magazine “Stars and Stripes[10].” In terms of a media portrayal, the military wanted to be seen as legitimate, progressing and a successful force in the Vietnam War. To be seen this way body counts were broadcasted as measures of success and details of war crimes had to be omitted. The U.S military involvement was already strongly opposed by the public, to be represented poorly in the media would have devastating results. To support the war the military would need to manufacture consent in the American public.
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| A satirical comic of the U.S military cover up. [19] |
In the beginning months after the My Lai incident, the top news networks were presented with the true story behind My Lai by former Vietnam veteran turned investigative journalist Ron Ridenhor and others[11]. Although this was crucial information to be broadcasted, no network would take on such a story. Rather than employing critical investigative journalistic media coverage, mainstream media aligned itself with the government and military pro-war stance. The pressure to broadcast pro-war sentiments was too much[12].To broadcast the abhorrent truth behind My Lai would be too radically out of line from the military and government wants. If the media were not able to critically investigate the Vietnam War on a day to day level, how were they to blow the whistle on the atrocious war crimes of My Lai?
Mainstream media failed to fulfill its position as a watchdog.[13] It was the efforts of a young investigative journalist, Seymour Hersch that began to illuminate the truth behind the My Lai incident. Like Ridenhor, Hersch proposed his story to mainstream media outlets, such as life and look magazine, but his story was declined. In response to this Hersch turned to an independent news agency, Dispatch News Service[14]. With the assistance of My Lai soldiers and the evidence they put forth the My Lai massacre was exposed. When the full dimensions of what had happened became apparent, there was little inclination on the part of the defence department to hide anything. For the military and the government the unthinkable had become real. The carefully cultivated image of the good American soldier who sheltered orphans and distributed candy was falling into doubt.
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| Media outlets soon adopted anti-Vietnam war positions. [20] |
Notes
[1] Bertrand, R 1970, War Crimes in Vietnam, George Allen & Unwin LTD, London.
[2] Gray, T & Martin, B 2008, ‘My Lai: the struggle over outrage’, Peace & Change, vol.33, no.1, pp90-113.
[3] A large group of about 70–80 villagers, rounded up by the 1st Platoon in the center of the village, were killed on an order given by Calley, who also participated. Moss, G 1990, Vietnam: an American ordeal, Patience Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
[4] Gutman, R & Rieff, D 1999, Crimes of War: what the public should know, W.W. Nortan & Company, New York.
[5] Schabas, W 2000, ‘An introduction to the international criminal court’, Cambridge University Press.
[6] Calley's defence in his war cimes trial: "I was ordered to go in there and destroy the enemy. That was my job that day. That was the mission I was given. I did not sit down and think in terms of men, women and children. They were all classified as the same, and that's the classification that we dealt with over there, just as the enemy. I felt then and I still do that I acted as I was directed, and I carried out the order that I was given and I do not feel wrong in doing so." Peers W, 1970, Report of the Department of the Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations into the My Lai Incident: Volume I the Report of the Investigation, Department of the Army, Washington D.C.
[7] May, L 2007, War Crimes and Just War, Cambridge University Press, New York
[8] Chepickle 2008, Four Hours in My Lai, accessed 1/6/2012, http://www.youtube.com/
[9] Hammond, W 1998, Reporting Vietnam: media & military at war, University Press of Kansas, Kansas.
[10] In a time where measuring success of the Vietnam War was difficult, it is not surprising that these figures were released. The only clear measure that could be used to see any kind of progress was the body count. It was such an important key measure in the U.S military that rewards were centred on this. Promotions were given due to high body counts and further rewards were given in the form of family visits and holidays. Hammond, W 1998, Reporting Vietnam: media & military at war, University Press of Kansas, Kansas.
[11] Gray, T & Martin, B 2008, ‘My Lai: the struggle over outrage’, Peace & Change, vol.33, no.1, pp90-113.
[12] Pressures such as government and military sources and network TV policies against airing footage that might offend soldiers’ families prevented investigative journalism in TV. Pictures of U.S. causalities were rare, Vietnamese civilian victims almost nonexistent. Hammond, W 1998, Reporting Vietnam: media & military at war, University Press of Kansas, Kansas.
[13] The idea of the media acting as a watch dog implies that due to the media’s power to act independent of any other institutions they are able to create an information transparent society. That is, be capable of distributing information about political concerns to the public. Hammond, W 1998, Reporting Vietnam: media & military at war, University Press of Kansas, Kansas.
[14] Bertrand, R 1970, War Crimes in Vietnam, George Allen & Unwin LTD, London.
[15] Haberle, R 1968, 'My Lai massare' photograph, accessed 4/6/12, http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/
[16] Haberle, R 1968, 'My Lai massare' photograph, accessed 4/6/12, http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/
[17] Haberle, R 1968, 'My Lai massare' photograph, accessed 4/6/12,http://www.globalresearch.ca/
[18] McKinley, J 1970, 'The Calley verdict', accessed 2/6/12, http://www.pogues.com/
[19] Hughes, W 2000, 'The My Lai ditch claims another victim', accessed 4/6/12, http://www.edb.utexas.edu/
[20] Horsely, A 1998, 'First photos of viet mass slaying' accessed 3/6/12, http://electronpencil.com/category/curtis-lemay/
[15] Haberle, R 1968, 'My Lai massare' photograph, accessed 4/6/12, http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/
[16] Haberle, R 1968, 'My Lai massare' photograph, accessed 4/6/12, http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/
[17] Haberle, R 1968, 'My Lai massare' photograph, accessed 4/6/12,http://www.globalresearch.ca/
[18] McKinley, J 1970, 'The Calley verdict', accessed 2/6/12, http://www.pogues.com/
[19] Hughes, W 2000, 'The My Lai ditch claims another victim', accessed 4/6/12, http://www.edb.utexas.edu/
[20] Horsely, A 1998, 'First photos of viet mass slaying' accessed 3/6/12, http://electronpencil.com/category/curtis-lemay/
