My Lai Massacre Research Paper
The My Lai Massacre and its Aftermath
Resulting from the American fear of spreading communism in South East Asia, the Vietnam War was America's longest and most exhausting conflict. President Lyndon B. Johnson inherited this problem of spreading communism in 1964, and was at first somewhat against the prospect of conflict having known it may hurt his reelection chances. However, as conditions worsened in South Vietnam Johnson began to slowly launch the massive war effort beginning with an unrelenting bombing campaign on the Viet Cong.
Eventually the exhausting war escalated into guerilla warfare, and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese civilians were killed in the close fighting. Although the Viet Cong were responsible for some of these deaths, American forces in the area also were responsible for the killings unbeknownst to the American public. American soldiers during the war were sent on search and destroy missions in which they would ravage villages killing and destroying everyone. Americans were taught that the Vietnamese were not human, and …show more content…
As a result, Lieutenant Calley was court-martialed in 1971 on his war crimes. In his trial Calley stated that he was only following the orders of Captain Earnest Medina. Medina however denied giving any orders to murder any civilians, and said that Lieutenant Calley should have used common sense. Calley was sentenced to life in prison for murder, but having earned sympathy from President Nixon, was moved to house arrest. After numerous appeals he was released in three years. Medina was found not guilty in his trial after Haberle's photos and other crucial evidence were kept from the jury. Captain Medina was later unremorseful for his actions and stated publicly that the murdered Vietnamese civilians were responsible for land mines which killed American
Resulting from the American fear of spreading communism in South East Asia, the Vietnam War was America's longest and most exhausting conflict. President Lyndon B. Johnson inherited this problem of spreading communism in 1964, and was at first somewhat against the prospect of conflict having known it may hurt his reelection chances. However, as conditions worsened in South Vietnam Johnson began to slowly launch the massive war effort beginning with an unrelenting bombing campaign on the Viet Cong.
Eventually the exhausting war escalated into guerilla warfare, and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese civilians were killed in the close fighting. Although the Viet Cong were responsible for some of these deaths, American forces in the area also were responsible for the killings unbeknownst to the American public. American soldiers during the war were sent on search and destroy missions in which they would ravage villages killing and destroying everyone. Americans were taught that the Vietnamese were not human, and …show more content…
As a result, Lieutenant Calley was court-martialed in 1971 on his war crimes. In his trial Calley stated that he was only following the orders of Captain Earnest Medina. Medina however denied giving any orders to murder any civilians, and said that Lieutenant Calley should have used common sense. Calley was sentenced to life in prison for murder, but having earned sympathy from President Nixon, was moved to house arrest. After numerous appeals he was released in three years. Medina was found not guilty in his trial after Haberle's photos and other crucial evidence were kept from the jury. Captain Medina was later unremorseful for his actions and stated publicly that the murdered Vietnamese civilians were responsible for land mines which killed American