"My family was eating breakfast when the Americans came, nothing was said to us, no explanation was given," This is what a man named Do Chuc reported to Time Magazine. He claimed to have lost a daughter and a son in the incident that occured in a small village of Vietnam in 1968.The My Lai Massacre is an event that will be forever imprinted on our hearts. The stories of those who survived, and those who are gone. Many things have been written about My Lai, but not all of them are true. So many things were transposed that the facts are hard to find. I feel that I have done a careful job of weeding the true from the false. When one hears about My Lai, they must remember what happened, and the heinous cover-up of these events. All these findings will raise the biggest question of all, why is it important for us to know? In this study of the My Lai Massacre I intend to answer all these elements here mentioned.The attack came without warning on March 16, 1968 at 0725 hours. The orders were simple, the US Army companies A, B, and C were to burn houses, kill livestock, destroy food stocks and perhaps even close wells. The soldiers were lead to assume that only the enemy would be there, that all the civilians would be gone by 0700 hours. They were also told that everyone in the village would be VC's (Viet Cong) or VC sympathizers. This information was recorded in the Army's summary report, edited by Joseph Goldstien (35). The Lieutenant Commanders orders were embellished and replaced with revenge and rage. Two platoons of soldiers swept over the village, killing the livestock and murdering the first 7-12 women and children. The GI's didn't care if the person was old or young, male or female, to them they were all VC. The highest death toll was of old men, women, and children. Even before they reached My Lai the soldiers gunned down fleeing civilians in the rice paddies. The company of 60-70 US men entered My Lai and destroy...
