THE BEDFORD SERIES IN HISTORY AND CULTURE

MyLai A Brief History with Documents

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THE BEDFORD SERIES IN HISTORY AND CULTURE

MyLai A Brief History with Documents

James S. Olson Sam Houston State University

and

Randy Roberts Purdue University

Palgrave Macmillan

To Marjie, who knows why. RR

For Bedford/St. Martin's President and Publisher: Charles H. Christensen General Manager and Associate Publisher: Joan E. Feinberg History Editor: Katherine E. Kurzman Developmental Editor: Charisse Kiino Managing Editor: Elizabeth M. Schaaf Production Editor: Bridget Leahy Copyeditor: Barbara G. Flanagan Text Design: Claire Seng-Niemoeller Indexer: Steve Csipke Cover Design: Richard Emery Design Cover Art: Ron Haeberle/ Lifo Magazine.© Time Inc. Composition: ComCom Printing and Binding: Haddon Craftsmen, Inc.

library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 97-7 4967

Copyright © 1998 by Bedford Books

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except as may be expressly permitted by the applicable copyright statutes or in writing by the Publisher.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

9 8 7 n m I k

For information, write: Bedford/St. Martin's, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116 (617-319-4000)

(paperback)

Transferred to Digital Printing 2008 Acknowledgments

Fred Graham, "Army Lawyers Seek Way to Bring Ex-G.I.'s to Trial." Copyright© 1969 by The NewYorkTimes Co. Reprinted by Permission.

'The Great Atrocity Hunt."© 1969 by National Review, Inc. Reprinted by permission. E. W. Kenworthy, "Resor Called to Testify About Alleged Massacre." Copyright© 1969

by The NewYorkTunes Co. Reprinted by Permission. Samuel Koster, Testimony to Peers Commission. Reprinted from Four Hours in My Lai,

by Michael Bilton and Kevin Sim. Copyright© 1992 by Michael Bilton and Kevin Sim. Used by pennission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.

J. Anthony Lukas, "Meadlo's Home Town Regards Him as Blameless." Copyright© 1969 by The New York Tunes Co. Reprinted by Pennission.

Richard M. Nixon, from The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. Reprinted by permission of Warner Books, Inc., New York, New York, U.S.A Copyright© 1978. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments and copyrights are continued at the back of this book on page 212, which constitutes an extension of the copyright page. It is a violation of the law to reproduce these selections by any means whatsoever without the written permission of the copyright holder.

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-14227-8ISBN 978-1-349-61754-8 ISBN 978-1-137-08625-9 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-08625-9

Foreword

The Bedford Series in History and Culture is designed so that readers can study the past as historians do.

The historian's first task is finding the evidence. Documents, letters, memoirs, interviews, pictures, movies, novels, or poems can provide facts and clues. Then the historian questions and compares the sources. There is more to do than in a courtroom, for hearsay evidence is welcome, and the historian is usually looking for answers beyond act and motive. Different views of an event may be as important as a single verdict. How a story is told may yield as much information as what it says.

Along the way the historian seeks help from other historians and per­haps from specialists in other disciplines. Finally, it is time to write, to decide on an interpretation and how to arrange the evidence for readers.

Each book in this series contains an important historical document or group of documents, each document a witness from the past and open to interpretation in different ways. The documents are combined with some element of historical narrative-an introduction or a biographical essay, for example-that provides students with an analysis of the primary source material and important background information about the world in which it was produced.

Each book in the series focuses on a specific topic within a specific his­torical period. Each provides a basis for lively thought and discussion about several aspects of the topic and the historian's role. Each is short enough (and inexpensive enough) to be a reasonable one-week assign­ment in a college course. Whether as classroom or personal reading, each book in the series provides firsthand experience of the challenge- and fun-of discovering, recreating, and interpreting the past.

v

Lynn Hunt David W. Blight

Bonnie G. Smith Natalie Zemon Davis

Ernest R. May

Preface

The idea for a book about My Lai first germinated years ago when we spoke about Vietnam at a Rotary Club luncheon. Our initial presentation remained relatively academic until we ventured into the question of morality and atrocities in general and My Lai in particular. The audience instantly polarized into two clear camps: one outraged at what happened at My Lai and in its aftermath; the other more tolerant, not condoning the massacre but trying to explain it. In subsequent years, in our classes on the Vietnam War, we have noticed that undergraduate students sim­ilarly divide themselves on the meaning of My Lai.

My Lai continues to haunt Americans because it challenges long-held notions of national virtue. Ever since Puritans first set foot on Massa­chusetts soil in 1629, a sense of mission has imbued American popular culture. We have viewed ourselves as fundamentally different from the rest of the world, free from the abuse of despots and the inhumanity of other humans. Throughout much of the twentieth century, we have also assumed responsibility for promoting human rights and ending human suffering around the world. My Lai continues to resonate because the atrocity raises the possibility that Americans are not so different after all, that all our protestations of virtue might just be so much delusion and propaganda.

When Bedford Books launched The Bedford Series in History and Culture, a publishing venture highlighting primary texts, we decided that a book on My Lai would be a perfect fit. We spent several weeks at the Army Crimes Records Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and the National Archives Complex at College Park, Maryland, collecting the testimony of those who were at My Lai on March 16, 1968, and of those who inves­tigated the incident and its cover-up. We have organized the documents so that students can examine the eyewitness testimony of participants and evaluate the behavior of those involved in My Lai and its cover-up. Students thus should be able to determine for themselves whether war crimes took place at My Lai, whether My Lai was an exception or the

vii

viii PREFACE

rule in Vietnam, whether the nature of guerrilla warfare made such inci­dents more likely to occur, and whether the punishments meted out to participants were justified.

NOTE ON THE SOURCES The paper trail left by My Lai is now extensive, a singular irony consid­ering the cover-up attempt. In an effort to reconstruct some of the nar­ratives of the event, we spent time following that trail. The largest body of unpublished material is at the National Archives Complex in College Park, Maryland. Many of the military records formerly at the Federal Records Center and National Archives branch in Suitland, Maryland, have been moved to College Park. We particularly made use of the mul­tivolume Department of Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations in the My Lai Incident (commonly known as the Peers Report) and the trial records of William Calley.

We also examined the reports on My Lai conducted by the United States Army's Criminal Investigation Division (commonly known as the CID Reports). Conducted by Chief Warrant Officer Andre C.R Feher, these documents are essential for understanding what happened at My Lai. Housed in the U.S. Army Crimes Records Center at Fort Belvoir, Vir­ginia, they provide haunting reminders of the complexities and horrors of war.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to express our appreciation to the archival staffs at the Army Crimes Records Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and at the National Archives Complex at College Park, Maryland, for their skill and unfail­ing good humor in putting up with our requests. We are also indebted to the following scholars who offered critical appraisals of the manuscript: Marilyn Young, New York University; Stephen Kneeshaw, College of the Ozarks; Craig Lockard, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; Daniel Czitrom, Mount Holyoke College; Bruce Schulman, Boston University; and Michael Barnhart, State University of New York, Stony Brook. We also extend our gratitude to the following people at Bedford Books: Charles Christensen, publisher; Joan Feinberg, associate publisher; Katherine Kurzman, sponsoring editor; Elizabeth Schaaf, managing edi­tor; Bridget Leahy, production editor; Barbara Flanagan, copy editor; and

PREFACE ix

Richard Emery and Terry Govan for the cover design. Finally, we are grateful to Charisse Kiino, our developmental editor at Bedford Books, for an extraordinary job in seeing this project to completion.

James S. Olson Randy Roberts

Contents

Foreword v

Preface vii

Introduction: The Road to My lai

America's Longest War The Ground War in Quang Ngai Charlie Company The My Lai Massacre Aftermath

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 Modem Warfare

4. William Westmoreland, Testimony before

1

3 6

10 20 23

26

27

28

32

34

Congressional Committee, 1970 35 5. Wallet Cards 38

Training in the Rules of Land Warfare 41

6. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 42 7. Peers Commission, Training of 11th Brigade, 1970 43

xi

xii CONTENTS

3. Experience in War: December 1967 to March 14, 1968 44

8. Peers Commission, Military Situation in Quang Ngai Province, 1970 45

9. Michael Bernhardt, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 49

10. William L. Calley, Combat Experiences before My Lai, 1970 52

11. Jay A Roberts, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 54

4. The Briefings: March 15, 1968 56

12. Peers Commission, Pre-Operation Briefings, 1970 57 13. Eugene Kotouc, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 59 14. Ernest L. Medina, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 62 15. Max D. Hutson, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 63 16. GregoryT. Olsen, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 64 17. Harry Stanley, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 65 18. Ronald L. Haeberle, Testimony to U.S. Army CID,

1969 66 19. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 67 20. Robert W. T'Souvas, Testimony to U.S. Army CID,

1969 68 21. Thomas R. Partsch,]ournal Entry, March 15, 1968 69 22. Robert E. Maples, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 69 23. Nguyen Dinh Phu, Testimony to Peers Commission,

1970 70 24. Michael Terry, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 72 25. Dennis Conti, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 73

5. The Assault on My Lai 75

26. Dennis Conti, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 76 27. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 79 28. Michael Terry, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 82 29. Robert E. Maples, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 83 30. Larry Polston, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 86 31. Varnado Simpson, Testimony to U.S. Army CID,

1969 88 32. Hugh Thompson Jr., Testimony to Peers Commission,

1970 90

CONTENTS xiii

33. Ernest L. Medina, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1969 93 34. Nguyen Hieu, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 94 35. Nguyen Bat, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 97 36. Summary of Rapes, 1970 99 37. Do Vien, Testimony to U.S. Army CID, 1970 102 38. William L. Calley, Testimony at Court-Martial, 1970 108

6. The Cover-Up 113

39. Hugh Thompson Jr., Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 115

40. Carl Creswell, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 117 41. Ernest L. Medina, Testimony to Peers Commission,

1970 119

Testimony from Charlie Company 122

42. Michael Bernhardt, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 122

43. Dennis Conti, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 124 44. Herbert L. Carter, Testimony to Peers Commission,

1970 125 45. Oran K. Henderson, Report of Investigation,

Apri/24, 1968 127 46. Oran K. Henderson, Statement to Peers Commission,

1970 129 4 7. Vietcong Leaflet, 1968 133 48. National Liberation Front Committee Notice,

March 28, 1968 136 49. Summary of Son My Chief's Letter, Aprilll, 1968 139 50. Tran Ngoc Tan, Report to Quang Ngai Province Chief,

March 28, 1968 140 51. Thomas R Partsch,]ournal Entries, March 16-18, 1968 141 52. Brian Livingston, Letters Home, March 16 and 19, 1968 143 53. Samuel Koster, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 144

7. Exposure and Investigation 146

54. Ronald Ridenhour, Letter to Military and Political Leaders, March 29, 1969 147

55. William Wilson, "I Had Prayed to God That This Thing Was Fiction," 1990 152

xiv CONTENTS

Newspaper Accounts 163

56. Robert M. Smith, Officer Kept in Army in Inquiry Into Killing of Vietnam Civilians, November 13, 1969 163

57. E. W. Kenworthy, Resor Called to Testify About Alleged Massacre, November 26, 1969 166

58. Fred P. Graham, Army Lawyers Seek Way To Bring Ex-G.!. 's to Trial, November 26, 1969 170

59. Photographs from Life Magazine, 1969 172

Public Reaction 17 4

60. Notes and Comment, December 20, 1969 174 61. The Great Atrocity Hunt, December 16, 1969 176

8. Culpability 178

62.]. Anthony Lukas, Meadlo's Home Town Regards Him as Blameless, November 26, 1969 179

63. William L. Calley, Testimony at Court-Martial, 1970 182 64. Paul Meadlo, Testimony to Peers Commission, 1970 186 65. Lewis B. Puller Jr., From Fortunate Son: The Auto-

biography of Lewis B. Puller ]r., 1991 187 66. Peter Steinfels, "Calley and the Public Conscience,"

Apri/12, 1971 189 67. Richard M. Nixon, From RN: The Memoirs of

Richard Nixon, 1978 191 68. William C. Westmoreland, From A Soldier

Reports, 1976 193

APPENDICES

Glossary 200 A My Lai Chronology (1967 -197 4) 203 Questions for Consideration 205 Suggested Readings 207 Maps 210

Index 213

THE BEDFORD SERIES IN HISTORY AND CULTURE

MyLai A Brief History with Documents