On March 16, 1968, a platoon of American soldiers brutally killed up to 500 unarmed civilians in My Lai, one of the small villages near the north coast of South Vietnam. The crime, which was kept a secret for almost two years, later became known as the My Lai Massacre.
In March 1968, a platoon of Charlie Company soldiers learned that Viet Cong guerrillas had taken cover in the Quang Ngai village of Son My. The platoon entered one of the village’s four hamlets, My Lai 4, on a search and destroy mission on the morning of March 16. Instead of guerrillas, they found unarmed villagers, mostly women, children and the elderly.
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The soldiers had been informed before the attack by the army command that anyone in My Lai could be considered VC sympathizers or active VC sympathizers, and were told to destroy the village. They acted with extraordinary brutality, raping and torturing villagers before killing them and dragging dozens of people, including young children and babies, into a ditch and executing them with automatic weapons. The massacre was said to have ended when an Army helicopter pilot, Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, landed his plane between soldiers and retreating villagers and threatened to open fire if they continued their attacks .
My Lai’s events were covered up by high-ranking officers until investigative reporter Seymour Hersh told the story. Soon My Lai made headlines and an international scandal.
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