My Lai

In 1989, during one PoliSci class, Prof. Don Munton asked if any of us had heard of My Lai. I hadn’t but some had. I remember feeling so ignorant. In March 1968, My Lai (pronounced 'me lie') was part of a coastal farming community in central south Vietnam. Thought to be infiltrated by Viet Cong, the area was designated a free-strike zone for US forces. On March 16th, one US Army company landed to search for VC. Over the next 4 hours, the troops systematically destroyed everything and everyone in sight. About 150 unarmed villagers were herded into the ditch, pictured below, and machine gunned. Meeting no resistance, soldiers continued to shoot and bayonet villagers. Two little boys, both wounded, the elder shielding the younger, were summarily executed. All huts and houses were burned and all farm animals destroyed. In all, 504 villagers were massacred: including 182 women (17 were pregnant), 173 children and 37 men over age 60. Four girls or women were raped or gang raped.

On the modern day site, one of the destroyed villages has been re-created. It is a terribly sad place. While there, I met 83-year old Hathi Quy, a rare survivor of the massacre who now helps tend the grounds. Unfortunately, My Lai is not that easy to visit and it is not part of the usual tourist circuit.

Still, such horror is far from over: witness the recent US massacre in Haditha, Iraq.