The My Lai Massacre

Paper Summary:

This essay discusses the events that took place on March 16, 1968 in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. It explores the days prior to the massacre and what role obedience played in the actions of the American soldiers. The paper explains the results and concepts learned in psychological experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram in the "Perils of Obedience". The paper also investigates why these experiments are crucial to the understanding why these men executed hundreds of unarmed civilians.

From the Paper:

"The disconcerted troops, who were under the command of Lt. William Calley, entered the village ready to engage in warfare with the Vietcong. The troops were part of a "search and destroy" mission, which soon became the massacre of over 300 unarmed civilians, which included children, women, and the elderly. Lt. Calley ordered the men to enter the village firing, in spite of the fact that there were no reports of opposing fire. (My Lai Massacre)
According to eyewitness reports offered after the event, several old men were bayoneted, praying women and children were shot in the back of the head, and at least one girl was raped, and then killed. For his part, Calley was said to have rounded up a group of the villagers, ordered them into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of machine gun fire. (My Lai Massacre)"

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