Why did the My Lai Massacre occur?
The My Lai Massacre remains one of the most horrific cases of violence against unarmed civilians. The My Lai massacre, which occurred during the Vietnam War, claimed the lives of more than 500 unarmed and unresisting civilians, including children and women. A company of American soldiers landed on the small village of My Lai, heavily armed and ready to face the National Liberation Front (NLF) or the Viet Cong. My Lai was believed to be a stronghold of the guerillas, and as such, the American soldiers were expecting a heavy fire exchange. However, upon reaching the My Lai village, the Charlie Company, part of the Americal Division’s 11th Infantry Brigade; found a quiet town full of unarmed civilians. Even though the occupants of the village were defenseless children, women and old men, the villagers were rounded into groups and shot to death. Furthermore, women were raped and mutilated, and their houses burnt down to ashes. The massacre was covered up by the military officials, and the incident got unearthed much later, almost a year after the massacre. At present, it still remains unclear why the Charlie Company platoon shot at the unarmed villagers of My Lai village. Many decades after the massacre, the effects of the incidents can still be felt in My Lai, commonly known as the “Ghosts of My Lai”. The purpose of this essay is to establish reasons as to why the My Lai massacre occurred.
The American soldiers were under high influence of drugs. In line with Shuster, the use of heroin by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The Vietnam War was filled with terror, and many untrained soldiers got drafted in the war. The lack of support from home, as well as the horrors of the war, led many soldiers to use heroin to make their situation more tolerable. One of the effects of heroin usage is confusion as well as intense pleasure as the pain gets suppressed. Since most of the soldiers in Vietnam were under the influence of heroin, it is possible that the effect of the drug played a vital role in the My Lai massacre.
Furthermore, the soldiers were supplied with drugs meant to maintain their focus on the battlefield. According to Harvey, while marijuana use was considered illegal, the use of amphetamines such as Dexedrine was not only encouraged, but, the United States government supplied the drug. The drug was handed generously by commanding officers to keep the foot soldier on their feet on the battlefield. Also, units were provided with steroids that were meant to increase their alertness and efficiency on the ground. Therefore, the soldiers were plugged with drugs and steroid when they undertook some assignments as well as executing orders. As such, it is possible that the Charlie Company soldiers were under the influence of amphetamines when they killed the villagers on My Lai on that fateful day.
Weak communication structures also led to the My Lai massacre. When the Charlie Company soldiers arrived at My Lai, they were shocked when they did not find the enemy they expected to fight. In line with Borch, Calley, the Lieutenant who commanded the Charlie Company, and his soldiers, who had been planning to engage the 48th VC Battalion, were not sure what to do in the absence of any enemy, much less any resistance to their entry into My Lai. It is claimed that Calley ordered one of the soldiers under his command to “watch” the residents on My Lai and by “watch”, Calley meant to kill. To demonstrate what he said, Calley led in the shooting of the first group of My Lai villagers. When Captain Medina learned that a large group of Vietnamese was responsible for slowing down the movement of the Charlie Company platoon, he ordered Calley to “get rid of them”. Lieutenant Calley interpreted the words of Captain Medina as kill the Vietnamese group that was slowing the soldiers down. Such inferior forms of communication contributed to the My Lai massacre. Furthermore, the army commanders gave the orders, and junior soldiers had no choice but to go through with the orders. It is common knowledge that military orders are followed in order of seniority. Therefore, poor communication skills showcased by the American army commanders contributed significantly to the My Lai massacre.
Superiority complex also contributed to the My Lai massacre. America was a great and civilized country compared to the war-stricken Vietnam. As such, American soldiers were under the belief that the Vietnamese were lesser and inferior human beings. When going into the war, the American soldiers had a superiority complex that America was a superior country, and any country that stood in the way of America had to be destroyed. Therefore, the soldiers were under the belief that all Vietnamese were in one way or another in support of the Viet Cong. As such, the soldiers believed that by eliminating Vietnamese, they reduced the number of potential members or sympathizers of the Viet Cong.
Also, the American army had recruited young and unsanctioned soldiers into the Vietnam War. As attacks from the Viet Cong continued to intensify, America saw the need to increase the number of foot soldiers in Vietnam. Due to the low number of draftees to the army, America held Army drafts where young Americans were forcefully drafted into the war. Due to the urgency of the war, the draftees were not adequately trained before they were ordered to join the battle. Most of these unsanctioned draftees served as foot soldiers. The primary role of the foot soldiers was to patrol Vietnam by foot and eliminate any imminent threats before calling for back up from other troops. It is obscene that such a delicate operation was left in the hands of half-trained and unsanctioned soldiers. Under poor leadership, the soldiers most of who never had prior exposure of such intense battles followed orders as they came. One of those rogue orders included killing the unarmed civilians on My Lai. Had the American soldiers been thoroughly trained, they would not have executed such warrants. Also, better trained soldiers would have known how to handle noncombatants.
Also, the American soldiers harboured bitter feelings towards Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Before the My Lai massacre, the Charlie Company platoon had faced attacks from the Viet Cong and lost some of the platoon members. According to Lévesque, soon after its deployment in Vietnam, Charlie Company began to take heavy casualties from booby traps and ambush attacks. Lieutenant Calley grew to hate and fear the local Vietnamese after losing his radio telephone operator, William Weber, to a sniper’s bullet while carelessly leading his men along the top of a dike between rice paddies to keep them out of the water. Therefore, the Charlie Company troop was angry towards the Viet Cong and the soldiers were prepared to eliminate the enemy as soon as they landed in My Lai. Due to the disappointment, the platoon faced after they found a village full of unarmed civilians, the troop resorted to killing the villagers who they considered as Viet Cong potential soldiers and sympathizers.
The Charlie Company soldiers lacked professional ethics. It is against humanitarian and military ethics to kill unarmed and unresisting civilians. My Lai village comprised of women, children among them infants and old defenseless men. None of the village occupants fitted the description of the firm and heavily armed Viet Cong guerillas. Although the people the Charlie Company unit found at My Lai never posed any threat since they were defenseless, the troop went ahead and shot the unarmed civilians. In line with Fish, William Calley admitted that he fired into a ditch with 50 to 100 dead or dying civilians and made a comment to a superior that it was no big deal, they were the enemy. But why children? He said that “they grow up to be Viet Cong.” As such, according to the soldier who took part in the My Lai massacre, all Vietnamese were either Viet Cong, Viet Cong potential soldiers or Viet Cong sympathizers, and as a result, they had to be killed. Apart from killing unarmed civilians, the soldiers raped and mutilated the My Lai women and burnt down their houses. The lack of professional ethics among the American soldiers led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians.
Besides, the Army officials demonstrated poor leadership skills during the My Lai massacre. Initially, the Vietnam War was meant to eliminate Viet Cong to prevent the spread of the communist group to neighbouring countries. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of the war was justified because it would curb the effects of Viet Cong right from the roots. The mission can be likened to cutting off a cancerous cell before it spreads to the rest of the body. However, as the Vietnam War intensified, the American Army lost focus of what had brought them to Vietnam in the first place. The hostility the American Army faced from Viet Cong blinded the soldiers, including their officials. The officials demonstrated poor leadership as they watched and allowed soldiers to abuse civilians without legal actions. For instance, Captain Medina allowed his troops to use prisoners as human mine detectors and personally beat captives during interrogations (Levesque). Therefore, the soldiers were used to abusing civilians as their superiors looked on. My Lai was no different. Since the American Army officials had made civilian abuse a norm among the soldiers, the soldiers did not feel as if they were breaking the law by massacring hundreds of innocent, unarmed and unresisting civilians.
The prolonged Vietnam War lost its purpose. As stated earlier, the original goal of the Vietnam War was to eliminate Viet Cong before the communist group spread to neighbouring countries. It is important to note that Viet Cong also terrorized innocent Vietnamese who did not support the communist movement. As such, by eliminating Viet Cong, America was also protecting innocent Vietnamese civilians. Such innocent victims of the war included the My Lai residents. However, as the fighting intensified and more American soldiers got killed, the American troops got blinded by rage and vengeance. With no specific or definite way of differentiating civilians from Viet Cong, the forces took to killing anyone that was not on their team. Although the Vietnam War was not against civilians, they are the ones who paid the highest price and suffered the most loss and pain. In an interview, when a soldier was asked the method they used to differentiate civilians from Viet Cong, he answered, “Kill them all and let God sort them out.” Such rogue measures were clear indicators that the war had lost its original course. A fight that was meant to protect innocents had turned into a massacre of defenseless civilians.
The Charlie Company troops were under the impression that they were seeking revenge. After a series of deadly booby traps and attacks from the Viet Cong, Captain Medina told the Charlie Company unit that they could not afford any more casualties. Therefore, they needed to intensify their search for the enemy and get vengeance for the fallen comrades. Since Captain Medina knew that the Viet Cong’s most lethal unit, the 48th local battalion, was based in My Lai, he briefed the Charlie Company unit on the mission that awaited them (Levesque). When the soldiers got to My Lai, they were convinced that they were in a vengeance mission and everyone on the village was either Viet Cong or a Viet Cong sympathizer.
Power hungry army officials oversaw the My Lai massacre. Lieutenant Colonel Baker got blinded by his career ambitions which would be determined by his success in conquering the Viet Cong (Levesque). Therefore, Lieutenant Colonel Baker urged the Charlie Company unit to be very aggressive in the My Lai mission. In a war that the soldiers aimed to win by body count, it was only sensible for them to kill innocent civilians to increase the body count. Furthermore, the strict instructions to be increasingly aggressive were communicated unclearly since the soldiers thought that the Colonel had asked them to kill all unarmed civilians at My Lai.
There were unclear instructions on how to deal with civilians. The Vietnam War was only against Viet Cong, and there were no clear guidelines on how to handle civilians. Before the My Lai massacre occurred, all My Lai villagers had been rounded up into groups, and the Charlie Company unit awaited instructions on how to deal with the civilians. Lieutenant Calley asked his soldiers to take care to the people that had been rounded up and left. When the Lieutenant came back, he asked his soldiers why they had not taken care of the civilians because what he meant by taking care was killing them.
On the other hand, Lieutenant Calley was under pressure from his captain to move his troop through My Lai, and the civilians who had been rounded up were slowing down their movement. Unsure of how to deal with the noncombatants and under pressure from his superiors, Lieutenant Calley ordered for the My Lai massacre. As such, lack of clear guidelines on how to deal with civilians also contributed to the My Lai massacre.
All unidentified people were considered as enemies. The American army consisted of mostly unsanctioned soldiers, some of who were fresh from high school. The soldiers were under the pressure of getting out of the battlefield and heading back home. Therefore, the soldiers were vigorous in their mission of flushing out and killing Viet Cong. In the process, the soldiers ended up killing innocent Vietnamese who they could not identify. Also, since the soldiers viewed Vietnamese as inferior people, they did not see any loss in killing noncombatants. According to Charlie Company unit, all unidentified people were considered as enemies.
In conclusion, the causes of the My Lai massacre lie squarely on the American Army. The soldiers were drug addicts, and their leaders were not skilled enough to lead such battles. Furthermore, there were poor communication channels which created ambiguity and misunderstandings. Therefore, if the American Army would have been better organized with thoroughly trained and sanctioned soldiers, the My Lai massacre would have been prevented. The My Lai massacre saw the American Army take more precautions and enact policies to prevent a repetition of events.
Works cited
SHUSTER, ALVIN M. G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam. 16 May 1971. 7 June 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/16/archives/gi-heroin-addiction-epidemic-in-vietnam-gi-heroin-addiction-is.html
Harvey, Ian. How Soldiers Escaped Reality in the Jungles of Vietnam. 26 October 2018. 7 June 2019 https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/10/26/drugs-in-vietnam/
Fish, Eric. ‘Descent Into Darkness’: Looking Back at the My Lai Massacre. 18 September 2017. 7 June 2019 https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/descent-darkness-looking-back-my-lai-massacre
Borch, Fred. What Really Happened on 16 March 1968? What Lessons Have Been Learned? A Look at the My Lai Incident Fifty Years Later. 4 May 2018. 7 June 2019 https://armyhistory.org/my-lai/
.Levesque, Christopher J. The Truth Behind My Lai. 16 March 2018. 7 June 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/opinion/the-truth-behind-my-lai.html