the mai lai massacre (1968)

• on 16th march 1968, US troops went into action, as they thought, against the VC
• charlie company were sent to the village of my lai, briefed that they would come under VC fire, which did not happen as there were only women, children and old men in the village
• despite there being no shooting, over the next 4 hours, the troops, led by lieutenant calley, killed all the people and animals, and even stopped for lunch
• an army war photographer with them, sergeant ron haeberle, took photos
• the army later said that they had been ordered to killed everyone, and what happened next reinforced the american people's belief that they should believe the media about vietnam, not the government
• at first, the public were not sure what to believe, as the evidence was confusing and contradictory
• 2 military inquiries began, and the CID conducted an investigation into what happened and the peers enquiry looked into whether the army had organised a cover-up
• on 5th december, the photos of the photographer in my lai were shown on CBS news, making it no longer possible to deny the killing of a significant number of civilians
• there was a huge public outcry at the massacre itself and the cover-up
• the CID found that 347 civilians were killed and that 35 members of charlie company should be prosecuted
• the peers enquiry found that calley, while ordering the massacre, was following the orders of his superiors and that the massacre was known about and covered up at a high level, including generals
• the public had been horrified by mai lai, and the various investigations all said the army had covered up the massacre, yet high-ranking officers were never charged
• criminal charges were brought against 18 officers, but only lieutenant calley was brought to a military trial
• on 29th march 1971, calley was convicted of killing 22 civilians and sentenced to life imprisonment
• many people thought it was unfair for calley to be the only one to stand trial, as he had been acting under orders, and felt the army was making him take the blame for more senior officers
• others felt that 'acting under orders' was not a reasonable excuse for what he ordered his men to do
• on 3rd april, president nixon promised to review calley's case himself, and also ruled that, while calley's appeal was heard, calley should be confined at his US miltary base, not in prison
• on appeal, calley's sentence was reduced to 20 years, but was released after 3 and a half years under house arrest on his military base