But in Vietnam there was not only one My Lai—there were many.

March 25, 2015 7:46 PM

"The Scene of the Crime: A reporter’s journey to My Lai and the secrets of the past" by Seymour M. Hersh
posted by AElfwine Evenstar (10 comments total)

I still can't believe that more people don't know about My Lai. And the people who do know regard the facts of the case with suspicion, as if they were made up by horrible anti-American activists. I wish that Oliver Stone movie would get made.
posted by Anonymous at 8:31 PM on March 25, 2015

I read this the other day. I was floored when I realized that more than 500 people were killed, and that Task Force Barker (11th Brigade Americal) attacked other villages that same day.

I was also impressed with how Robert McNamara was able to whitewash his reputation in the years that followed, and that any intel provided in confidence by journalists was used by McNamara (according to Hersh in this article) to discredit any reporting about war crimes.

There also seems to be some sort of Al Jazeera documentary out there, where perpetrators of the massacre returned to My Lai 40 some-odd years after the fact.

The program seems to have been a fiasco, and poorly thought out, with no concept of the meaning of reconciliation.

Terrible stuff.
posted by Nevin at 8:47 PM on March 25, 2015

Kill Anything that Moves is an excellent book.
posted by sonic meat machine at 3:03 AM on March 26, 2015

McNamara wasn't the only one who skated; let's not forget Colin Powell.

In his report, Powell wrote, "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between Americal Division soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent."
. . .
"So, in war, these sorts of horrible things happen every now and again, but they are still to be deplored."

Deplored, but not thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

The first quote is addressing a more general report of atrocities committed by Americal soldiers, but not My Lai specifically. The second quote is about My Lai.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:26 AM on March 26, 2015

But in Vietnam there was not only one My Lai—there were many

Yep, My Lai wasn't an aberration.

Well documented in Nick Turse's Kill Anything that Moves
posted by Mister Bijou at 4:45 AM on March 26, 2015

It's so much easier with drones.
posted by grounded at 5:36 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

My Lai was indeed the norm. Everything we did in Iraq, we had already done in Vietnam. Oh, look- here are some GIs casually waterboarding someone.


America's experience in Vietnam was characterized by the complete failure to understand the Vietnamese people, to understand the goals of the North, and to understand the nature of the Southern regime. In warfare, when you don't understand something, you torture it to fit your own reality.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:00 AM on March 26, 2015

Finding out about My Lai when the story finally broke is one of my most vivid college memories; it haunted me for a long time (and will again when I brace myself and read the article), and Hersh will always be a hero to me.
posted by languagehat at 8:04 AM on March 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

TheWhiteSkull, I get a 404 from your link.
posted by fivebells at 1:29 PM on March 26, 2015

It's minute 17 or so of the first episode of Vietnam: The 10,000 Day War on youtube.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:59 PM on March 26, 2015