My Lai Massacre

Haeberle photo

Mar. 16, 1968 - C Company, First Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Brigade, Americal Division under the command of Lt. William L. Calley, Jr., killed 90-130 men, women, children in the village of My Lai. Helicopter pilot Larry Colburn rescued some villagers during the attack.

Apr. 1969 - helicopter gunner Ronald Ridenhour heard about the massacre from C Company, wrote 30 letters to President Nixon and others, including Arizona Congressman Morris Udall.

April 23 - Army began investigation and charged Calley with the murder of 109 "Oriental human beings."

Sept. 6 - AP released a small story on the charge, published on page 38 of the New York Times.

William Calley

Oct. 22 - free-lance reporter Seymour Hersh began investigating, supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism, interviewed Calley Nov. 11 at Fort Benning.

Nov. 13 - 36 newspapers published Hersh's tory syndicated by the new Dispatch News Service. On this same day, the New York Times ran its own story writted by Bob Smith.

Nov. 20 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer published a second story on the massacre by Hersh, based on his interviews with C Company, with photos by Ronald L. Haeberle.

Dec. 5 - Time magazine published a story on My Lai, followed by Newsweek and Life.

Sources:

  • Belknap, Michal R. The Vietnam War on Trial: The My Lai Massacre and the Court-Martial of Lieutenant Calley. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2002.
  • "Helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson at My Lai," CBS News Sunday Morning, Jan. 8, 2006.
  • Hersh, Seymour M. Cover-up. New York, Random House,1972.
  • "Vietnam My Lai Survivors and Colin Powell," Reuters, July 23, 2001. article


  • revised 4/1/07 by Steven Schoenherr | TV and Vietnam | Vietnam Policies