Calley was found guilty of personally murdering 22 civilians and sentenced to life imprisonment, but his sentence was reduced to 20 years by the Court of Military Appeals and further reduced to 10 years by the Secretary of the Army. But the situation was complicated. While the criminal investigation was ongoing, a parallel inquiry, launched by Lieut. American âHueyâ helicopters in flight during the My Lai massacre on March 16, 1968 in My Lai, South Vietnam; the controversial cover of Esquire, November 1970, featuring Lt. Calley. The meeting was the climax of years of discussions between the two nations concerning the means to curb the Cold War arms race. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. The massacre began when one soldier â whose name has never been confirmed â suddenly stuck a Vietnamese man with his bayonet. The My Lai massacre was initially covered up, but came to light a year later. Frustrated by unanswered losses due to snipers and mines, the soldiers took out their anger on the villagers, indiscriminately shooting innocent people as they ran from their huts. Two days after the incident at My Lai, the Charlie Company broke camp early and began moving south. My Lai was a sub-hamlet of the village of Song My located in Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam. I was sitting in my office, and my supervisor walked in, closed the door, looked at me March 29, 2016 12:15 PM EDT T he shooting of hundreds of people in the Vietnamese village of My Lai in 1968 marked a pivotal turning point in Americaâs feelings about the the Vietnam War. In the end, Army lawyers decided only 14 officers should be charged with crimes and 30 soldiers with the crimes of murder, rape, sodomy, and mutilation (5). The prosecution stressed that all the killings were committed despite the fact that Calley’s platoon had met no resistance and that no one had fired on the men. My Lai: Massacre, Trial and Aftermath Douglas Linder, University of Missouri March 16, 2016 Two tragedies took place in 1968 in Viet Nam. The other was the cover-up of that massacre. During the trial, Chief Army Prosecutor Capt. Captain Ernest Medina at his trial in 1971. My Lai Program Transcript Aubrey Daniel, Army Prosecutor: It was the summer of 1969. The lowlands of the Netherlands near the North Sea were densely populated at the ...read more, On November 17, 2003, ex-soldier John Muhammad is found guilty of one of a series of sniper shootings that terrorized the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and dominated national headlines in October 2002. My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and Its Aftermath, my second book, was published in June 1970. All Rights Reserved. Only One Man Was Found Guilty for His Role in the My Lai Massacre. A 2.4-hectare (5.9-acre) Son My Memorial dedicated to victims of the Son My (My Lai) massacre was create⦠Not surprisingly, the U. S. operations led some within the native population of Quang Ngai Province to distrust Americans. They'd herded the people into the center of a small hamlet called My Lai and held them at gunpoint, ordering them to produce the hidden Viet Cong forces that the Americans imagined they were hiding. In some villages, children hissed at soldiers and adults kept quiet. The Mai Lai massacre was an indiscriminately violent and horrific act. The Articles had been signed by Congress two days earlier, after 16 months of debate. Charlie Company had arrived in Vietnam three months before the My Lai massacre. My Lai Trial Transcript: Captain Ernest Medina. When police arrived at the scene, Antony was calmly placing a telephone order for Chinese food. While they might not have wanted to acknowledge it, the fans of 1960s protest folk probably owed the very existence of the movement to three guys in crew cuts and candy-striped shirts who ...read more, On November 17, 2003, the actor and former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in as the 38th governor of California at the State Capitol in Sacramento. Bickering over land claims between Virginia and Maryland delayed final ratification for ...read more. The My Lai massacre took place shortly after the Tet offensive. My Lai: An American Tragedy by William George Eckhardt (2000) Lawyering for Uncle Sam When He Draws His Sword by William George Eckhardt (William Eckhardt, former chief prosecutor in the My Lai cases (ground action), is a professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.) On the 30th anniversary of the My Lai massacre (March 16, 1998), a groundbreaking ceremony for the My Lai Peace Park was held 2 km (1 mi) away from the site of the massacre. (U.S. Army) (U.S. Army) Early in the morning on 16 March 1968, Lieutenant Calley and his platoon were airlifted by helicopter to My Lai, a sub-hamlet of the village of Song My in ⦠The 27-year-old commander could receive the death penalty or life imprisonment after the massacre which saw US soldiers open fire on civilians in My Lai and neighbouring villages in central Vietnam in March 1968. Ernest Medina, were charged with crimes. Ernest Lou Medina (August 27, 1936 â May 8, 2018) was a captain of infantry in the United States Army. (Photo by Ronald S. Haeberle/The One was the massacre by United States soldiers of as many as 500 unarmed civilians-- old men, women, children--in My Lai on the morning of March 16, 1968. The My Lai courts-martial are the stories of two tragedies growing out of American involvement in Viet Nam. The Mai Lai trials represent one of the United States Armed Forces darkest moments. He was the commanding officer of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry of the 11th Brigade, Americal Division, the unit responsible for the My ⦠HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Military officials declared the province a "free-fire zone" and subjected it to frequent bombing missions and artillery attacks. The U. S. targeted the province for the first major U.S. combat operation of the war. The premiere was held at La Scala, Italy’s most prestigious theater. The other was the ⦠At first, the soldiers were only holding the villagers hostage. Other natives detested North Vietnamese Army regulars, and in some native villages, children would gather around American jeeps and try to sell Cokes or offer to polish boots. In search of the 48th Viet Cong Local Force Battalion, the unit entered the village but found only women, children, and old men. 1. The massacre at My Lai was not the only time American troops committed war crimes against Vietnamese civilians, but it was the single worst instance; its ⦠Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency ...read more, On November 17, 1777, Congress submits the Articles of Confederation to the states for ratification. Charlie Company had suffered 28 casualties, including five dead. Antony’s great-grandfather, Leo ...read more, Soviet and U.S. negotiators meet in Helsinki to begin the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). Once an NCO, his leadership skills allowed him to get promoted from an enlisted man to an officer (Rielly). One was the massacre by United States soldiers of as many as 500 unarmed civilians-- old men, women, children-- in My Lai on the morning of March 16. A sergeant had ordered the group to stop on the side of a hill, but Calley ordered the men to continue up the hill (although strategically there was nothing to be gained). The demonstration sets off what will become known as the Velvet Revolution, the non-violent ...read more, On November 17, 1863, Confederate General James Longstreet places the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, under siege. Under the instructions that everyone in My Lai was VC, the soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed villagers, and additionally raped and tortured many, including women and children, prior to executing them. After two weeks and one failed attack, he abandoned the siege and rejoined General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Though their first three months in Vietnam passed without any direct contact with People's Army of Vietnam or Viet Cong (VC) forces, by mid-March the company had suffered 28 casualties involving mines or booby-traps. Daniel Mitchell to “finish off the rest” of the rounded-up villagers. Below is Lt. William Calleyâs testimony as a witness for the defense in the Mai Lai trials. Warning: Graphic images On February 23, 1971, US Army Lieutenant William Calley began his second day of testimony in his court-martial, in which he stood accused of killing 109 unarmed civilians early in the morning of March 16, 1968, in the village SÆ¡n Mỹ, mainly the hamlet of Mỹ Lai, in Quảng Ngãi province, South Vietnam. The massacre and other atrocities revealed during the trial divided the U.S. public and contributed to growing disillusionment with the war. My Lai holds a special place in American and Vietnamese collective memory. The Mai Lai Massacre, Americaâs Darkest Moment in a Messy War. Ft. Meade, MD. An Army board of inquiry, headed by Lt. Gen. William Peers, investigated the massacre and produced a ⦠The My Lai courts-martial are the stories of two tragedies growing out of American involvement in Viet Nam. One was the massacre by United States soldiers of as many as 500 unarmed civilians-- old men, women, children--in My Lai on the morning of March 16, 1968. I was an Army prosecutor at Fort Benning, Georgia. The preparatory barrage was intended to clear a landing area for Charlie Companyâs helicopters , but its actual effect was to force those civilians who had begun leaving the area back to My Lai in search of cover.