Tet (Part Two): The My Lai Massacre

On the morning of March 16th, 1968, the soldiers of Charlie Company entered the hamlet of My Lai expecting to meet a Viet Cong battalion. They met villagers eating breakfast. Over the next four hours, more than 500 civilians were killed. Nobody fired at the Americans that morning, and only one man ever went to prison.

Time Period Covered: December 1967 to March 1968

What role does the Tet Offensive play in the My Lai Massacre? What circumstances in troop deployment and officer training influenced what happened? Why were more than 500 civilians murdered by Charlie Company?

In this episode, Lachlan confronts the horrors that occurred in My Lai on the 16th of March 1968. He attempts to answer why more than 500 civilians were killed, what the context of these killings was, as well as the role that officers such as William Calley had in producing the massacre.

For Photos and Maps of the My Lai Assault please visit https://www.shadowsofutopia.com/episodes/tet-part-two-the-my-lai-massacre

** Be advised of a mistake in the episode. Hugh Thompson did not receive the "Medal of Honour", but a US Army Soldier's Medal. I meant this as a generality but forgot there is a genuine "Congressional Medal of Honour". Apologies. **

Sources

The Peers Inquiry of the Massacre at My Lai 1970
Edward Miller The Vietnam War: A Documentary Reader
William Thomas Allison My Lai
The Vietnam War Geoffrey War and Ken Burns
The Vietnam War Mark Atwood Lawrence
Anatomy of US and South Korean Massacres In the Year of the Monkey Heonik Kwon