A result of the "
search-and-destroy" objectives of the
American command during the
Vietnam War. It was where 150
US soldiers apparently stormed a
civilian hamlet, and within minutes, 500 innocents were
dead. The only
casualty on the American side was one
soldier who shot himself in the
foot.
Charlie Company was considered one of the best units in the Army, however, in the three months in Vietnam, they engaged in no "real" battles, but suffered numerous casualties to snipers, traps and mines. I would imagine they would be pretty pissed off by the time they were ordered to move into the hamlet of My Lai to flush out some Viet-Cong that were supposed to be hiding there.
They met no enemies. So they started killing civilians in a rage. They were rounded up in ditches and machine-gunned. No one escaped, not even women and children. Some of the dead had "C Company" carved onto their chests. Some were disemboweled. Even babies did not escape the slaughter.
There was only one hero that day, a helicopter pilot who managed to save some civilians by placing his chopper between the civilians and the soldiers and ordering his gunner to fire on anyone who moved. He managed to save a couple children.
In the investigation that followed, only one soldier, Lt. William Calley, the person in charge of the unit, was charged, he was sentenced to life in prison. Three days later he was transferred to house arrest.
There were also reports of at least three other similar massacres in hamlets around Vietnam. No one was charged.