What happened at MY Lai?

Answer 1

The exact events at My Lai are clouded by conflicting versions of evidence and testimony. The first battalion of the 20th Infantry / 11th Brigade of the Americal Division was given orders to wipe out all Viet Cong and NLF sympathisers by Lt. Col. Frank Barker. The simple version is that C Company of that battalion allegedly took sniper fire from the vicinity of My Lai village. They moved into the village and searched it. They did not find any enemy snipers. Whether they found military gear is subject to argument. They did find that some civilians had been wounded in their assault on the village. The precise sequence of events that followed is unclear, but 2nd platoon of C Company led by Lt. William Calley began shooting a large number of civilians. Many were forced into an irrigation ditch and murdered. 1st platoon separately began killing large numbers of civilians. When both companies moved out, 3rd platoon moved in and killed survivors and wounded. In all between 350 and 540 people were killed in My Lai / Son My villages.

Lt. Calley was the only one ever officially punished. That the orders had come from the battalion commander and had been passed on by the company CO was quite clear but these people were never brought to court.

My Lai was one of the events that convinced the American people that the war could not be continued.

Answer 2

There was a huge military base owned by the Vietcong in My Lai. The U.S. general had orders to kill every Vietcong soldiers.