What was the purpose of the My Lai massacre?

On March 16, 1968, Capt. Ernest Medina led his infantry company in an assault on the village of Son My, along the central coast of South Vietnam, as part of a mission to find and destroy a battalion of the National Liberation Front, also known as the Vietcong. One of the hamlets within the village was called My Lai.

What happened to Captain Medina?

Medina, the Army captain who was accused of overall responsibility for the March 1968 mass killings of unarmed South Vietnamese men, women and children by troops he commanded in what became known as the My Lai massacre, but was acquitted at a court-martial, died on Tuesday in Peshtigo, Wis. He was 81.

When was My Lai massacre exposed?

My Lai was first revealed to the American public on November 13, 1969—almost two years after the incident—when freelance journalist Seymour Hersh published a story through the Dispatch News Service. The story threatened to undermine the U.S. war effort and severely damage the Nixon presidency.

When did the cover up of the My Lai massacre begin?

November 26, 1969
While the criminal investigation was ongoing, a parallel inquiry, launched by Lieut. Gen. William Peers on November 26, 1969, probed the cover-up of the My Lai incident at virtually every level of command.

Why do people call soldiers baby killers?

Because they actually did kill babies. This was because of the My Lai Massacre where American soldiers attacked and killed between 347–504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, men, women, children and babies. The North Vietnamese were outraged and started calling the American soldiers “Baby Killers.”

Who is Captain Ernest?

Ernest Lou Medina (August 27, 1936 – May 8, 2018) was a captain of infantry in the United States Army. He served during the Vietnam War….

What was Charlie Company?

Charlie Company is a halfway house for Vietnam War veterans located on a farm north of Ventura, California, roughly 40 miles from Los Angeles. The facility is operated by retired Colonel Gordon Scales. It houses 24 resident inmates at a time, thirty to forty per year, all veterans of Vietnam combat.

Who was Varnado Simpson and what did he do?

Varnado Simpson. Private First Class Varnado Simpson (October 7, 1948 – May 4, 1997) was an American soldier of the US Army who participated in the My Lai Massacre, murdering, raping, torturing and mutilating Vietnamese civilians. He was wracked with remorse after the killings, and eventually committed suicide nearly 30 years later.

How old was Varnado Simpson when he killed the villagers?

Under Captain Medina’s command, Simpson participated in the massacre at the village of My Lai, where he reportedly killed at least eight unarmed villagers, including a mother and her baby. TIME magazine quotes him as stating: “I shot them, the lady and the little boy. He was about two years old.”.

What did Varnado Simpson do in four hours in my Lai?

In the words of Varnado Simpson, a member of Second Platoon who was interviewed for the book Four Hours in My Lai, “I cut their throats, cut off their hands, cut out their tongue, their hair, scalped them. I did it. A lot of people were doing it, and I just followed. I lost all sense of direction.”

How old was Simpson when he joined the Army?

He was wracked with remorse after the killings, and eventually committed suicide nearly 30 years later. Simpson joined the U.S. Army in 1967, at the age of 18, and the following year was posted to South Vietnam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEW5TD9hMBs