The My Lai Massacre

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the My Lai massacre of unarmed civilians in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It describes the prelude to the massacre and the events that occurred. The paper then discusses the events that occurred after the massacre, including the investigation into the conduct of the members of the platoon. The paper focuses on the role of Lt. William Calley who was charged with 109 murders.

From the Paper:

"The case was more than judicial and soon transformed into a PR campaign, with Calley selling his story to Esquire magazine and planning to start working on a book in which he would give his own side of the story. Some of the soldiers' confessions, such as Meadlo's, who proceeded to give a full account of the killings in one of the ditches, however, did not do much to help the defense. Calley's testimony used the idea of submitting to orders to justify the killings. According to his stance, his orders had included wiping out the village where Vietcong troops were supposedly hidden and he simply carried those out without considering the difference between men, women or children. This did not help, however, as he was convicted for the murder of at least twenty - two Vietnamese civilians . He was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. However, because the case had been so publicized and politicized, he would eventually serve only several years under house arrest, and was eventually paroled in 1974."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Linder, Doug. An Introduction to the My Lai Courts-Martial. On the Internet at http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_intro.html. Last retrieved on January 5, 2008
• The My Lai Massacre. On the Internet at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html. Last retrieved on January 5, 2008
• Into the Dark. The Crime Library. On the Internet at http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/lai/dark_5.html. Last retrieved on January 5, 2008

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