The My Lai Massacre

After the Geneva Accords in 1954, which temporarily split Vietnam along the 17th parallel, an election was supposed to occur to unify Vietnam. However, North and South Vietnam soon broke out in conflict following Diem’s refusal to take part in the election, and the gradual loss of stability of the Diem government due to the lack of support, starting the Vietnam War. The U.S. soon joined this conflict with the mindset of preventing the spread of Communism after what happened during the Cold War. As the Vietnam War went on, questionable actions of the U.S. government caused Americans to question if the information the government was telling the public was true, as the United States started increasing with the efficiency in spreading news, such
In an attempt to find the Vietcong, American troops went on a search-and-destroy mission through South Vietnam, including a small hamlet called My Lai. The soldiers murdered between three hundred to five hundred innocent civilians (Benson). However, the brutal executions of the American soldiers were not reported, but instead, superiors simply claimed that American troops had a victory over the Vietcong. It was not until months later, the true story of the incident was reported to the public (“Vietnam War”). Once the true story was revealed, the credibility gap would widen since the U.S. government chose to keep this incident a secret and claim it as a “victory” for the United States, when in reality, the event was morally tragic. The murderous acts were unimaginable to the public, and the fact that the government chose not to reveal the true facts, caused the public to feel deceived by its own
government, including information about the Vietnam War (“The Pentagon Papers”). For example, the Pentagon Papers revealed that the U.S. government hid from the public the expansion of military operations in Laos and Cambodia ("The New York Times Publishes”). This event was the “last straw” for the public, and caused a major outrage. The feeling of betrayal felt by the people will obviously make it more difficult for the public to trust the government. The release of the Pentagon Papers to the public was proof that the government clearly lied about their actions. As the government tried to block the document from being released through the press, it further demonstrated how much the government hides from the public, ultimately leading to the increase of the credibility