My Lai
A Brief History with DocumentsSecond Edition ©2020
The massacre at My Lai on March 16, 1968 continues to haunt students of the Vietnam War as a moment that challenges notions of American virtue. James Olson and Randy Roberts have combed unpublished testimony and have gathered a collection of eyewitness accounts from those who were at My Lai and repo...
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Institutional Prices
The massacre at My Lai on March 16, 1968 continues to haunt students of the Vietnam War as a moment that challenges notions of American virtue. James Olson and Randy Roberts have combed unpublished testimony and have gathered a collection of eyewitness accounts from those who were at My Lai and reports from those who investigated the incident and its cover up. This new edition of My Lai includes an examination of the massacre’s long-term impact on American public opinion and foreign policy. With five new sources, including documents from the fiftieth anniversary of the massacre, the second edition of the text provides eyewitness testimony of participants, thus helping students to evaluate the behavior of those involved in My Lai and its cover-up from a wider range of perspectives. Updated questions for consideration, chronology, and bibliography supplement the firsthand accounts. Available in print and e-book formats.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
PART ONE. Introduction: The Road to My Lai
America’s Longest War
The Ground War in Quang Ngai
Charlie Company
The My Lai Massacre
Aftermath
Heroes and Villains
PART TWO. The Documents
1. The Official Story
1. Jay A. Roberts, Press Release, March 1968
2. Frank A. Barker Jr., Combat Action Report, March 28, 1968
3. William Westmoreland, Testimony before Congressional Committee, 1970
2. The Official Rules of Modern Warfare
4. William Westmoreland, Testimony before Congressional Committee, 1970
5. Wallet Cards
Training in the Rules of Land Warfare
6. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
7. Peers Commission, Training of 11th Brigade, 1970
3. Experience in War: December 1967 to March 14, 1968
8. Peers Commission, Military Situation in Quang Ngai Province, 1970
9. Michael Bernhardt, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
10. William L. Calley, Combat Experiences before My Lai, 1970
11. Jay A. Roberts, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
4. The Briefings: March 15, 1968
12. Peers Commission, Pre-Operation Briefings, 1970
13. Eugene Kotouc, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
14. Ernest L. Medina, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
15. Max D. Hutson, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
16. Gregory T. Olsen, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
17. Harry Stanley, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
18. Ronald L. Haeberle, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
19. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
20. Robert W. T’Sourvas, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
21. Thomas R. Partsch, Journal Entry, March 15, 1968
22. Robert E. Maples, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
23. Nguyen Dinh Phu, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
24. Michael Terry, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
25. Dennis Conti, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
5. The Assault on My Lai
26. Dennis Conti, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
27. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
28. Michael Terry, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
29. Robert E. Maples, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
30. Larry Polston, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
31. Varnado Simpson, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
32. Hugh Thompson Jr., Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
33. Ernest L. Medina, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969
34. Nguyen Hieu, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
35. Nguyen Bat, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
36. Summary of Rapes, 1970
37. Do Vien, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1970
38. William L. Calley, Testimony at Court-Martial, 1970
6. The Cover-Up
39. Hugh Thompson Jr., Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
40. Carl Creswell, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
41. Ernest L. Medina, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
42. H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, Handwritten notes from a meeting with President Nixon, 1969
43. Henry A. Kissinger and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, Transcript of Phone Conversation, 1969
Testimony from Charlie Company
44. Michael Bernhardt, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
45. Dennis Conti, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
46. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
47. Oran K. Henderson, Report of Investigation, April 24, 1968
48. Oran K. Henderson, Statement to Peers Commission, 1970
49. Vietcong Leaflet, 1968
50. National Liberation Front Committee Notice, March 28, 1968
51. Summary of Son My Chief’s Letter, April 11, 1968
52. Tran Ngoc Tan, Report to Quang Ngai Province Chief, March 28, 1968
53. Thomas R. Parsch, Journal Entries, March 16-18, 1968
54. Brian Livingston, Letters Home, March 16 and 18, 1968
55. Samuel Koster, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970
7. Exposure and Investigation
56. Ronald Ridenhour, Letter to Military and Political Leaders, March 29, 1969
57. William Wilson, “I Had Prayed to God That This Thing Was Fiction,” 1990
Newspaper Accounts
58. Photographs from Life Magazine, 1969
Public Reaction
59. Notes and Comment, December 20, 1969
60. The Great Atrocity Hunt, December 16, 1969
8. Culpability
61. William L. Calley, Testimony at Court-Martial, 1970
62. Peter Steinfels, “Calley and the Public Conscience,” April 12, 1971
63. Richard M. Nixon, From RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, 1978
64. William C. Westmoreland, From A Soldier Reports, 1976
9. Remembering My Lai
65. Jason Berry, “The Long Shadow of My Lai,” 1994
66. Matthew Dallek, “How the Army’s Cover-Up Made the My Lai Massacre Even Worse,” 2018
67. Robert Hodierne, “My Lai: 50 years after, American Soldiers’ shocking crimes must be remembered,” 2018
APPENDICES
Glossary
A My Lai Chronology (1967-1974)
Questions for Consideration
Suggested Readings
Authors
James S. Olson
James S. Olson is a Distinguished Professor of History at Sam Houston State University. He is a historian of recent U.S. history as well as popular culture. He also has a special interest in Vietnam and has edited the Dictionary of the Vietnam War (1988) and written The Vietnam War: Handbook of the Literature and Research (1993) and with Randy Roberts, Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, Second Edition (1996). Olson is the author of many other books and articles, including The Ethnic Dimension in American History, Second Edition (1995); Saving Capitalism (1988); and with Randy Roberts, John Wayne: American (1995).
Randy Roberts
Randy Roberts is Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University. His primary research areas are sports and popular culture within the larger context of recent American history. He is an award-winning biographer and is highly visible in the field of post-1945 American history. Among his more important books are Heavy Justice: The State of Indiana v. Michael G. Tyson (1994); Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler (1979); Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes (1983); “But They Can’t Beat Us”: Oscar Robertson and the Crispus Attucks Tigers (1999); and Joe Louis: Hard Times Man (2010); and with James S. Olson, John Wayne American (1995); A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory (2000); Winning Is the Only Thing: Sports in America Since 1945 (1989); and Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-1990 (1989). Roberts has served frequently as a consultant for PBS News, HBO, and the History Channel.
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