The My Lai Massacre

Paper Summary:

This paper defines the timeline of anti-war activism during the Vietnam War era by examining government documents, media reports, and historical accounts. The paper concludes that the My Lai Massacre marked the turning point of American support for the war in Vietnam.

From the Paper:

"During the early years of the Vietnam War, the American public was inundated with positive reports of U.S. progress and victories. Reporters typically relied only on "official handouts for their stories" and were accused of "taking pains to avoid offending anyone at the White House." (Murrin) When, for example, Associated Press (AP) reporter Peter Arnett reported the attack on Snoul by the U.S. 11th Armored, American editors declined to publish his accounts of the looting that followed, although international media outlets quickly ran the full story. AP general manager Wes Gallagher later said he chose to "cut inflammatory stories in view of the turmoil erupting in the United States." (Hammond) Gallagher was not alone in his decision to censor Vietnam reports. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chapman, Richard. "Access Denied: Reporting 'The Real GI Experience' not likely in a war today, film maker says." Washington University in Saint Louis, 2003. http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/2003/culture-living/vietnam.html, June 7, 2006.
• Hammond, William H. Reporting Vietnam: Media and Military at War. University Press of Kansas: Kansas, 1998.
• Jackson, Bruce. "Censorship." www.mississippireview.com, June 5, 2006.
• Knightley, Phillip. The First Casualty - From the Crimea to Vietnam: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: New York, 1975.
• Murrin, James M., Paul E. Johnson, James M. McPherson, Gary Gerstle, Emily S. Rosenberg, and Norman L. Rosenberg. Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People. 2nd Ed. Harcourt College Publishers: Fort Worth, 2001.

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