The Massacre
The My Lai hamlet is part of the village of Son My, it was at Quang Ngai province. It was trusted to be the stronghold of the National Liberation Front/Viet Cong. It got targeted many times from the U.S. and bombing attacks from the South Vietnamese. On March 1968, Charlie Company of Americal's Division's 11th Infantry Brigade obtained info that Viet Cong guerrillas took control of Son My. It was led by Lieutenant William L. Calley. The group was sent to the village on search-and-destroy mission on March 16th. The army commanders told the soldiers in the Charlie Company that anyone who was found in Son My might not be a Viet Cong sympathizer, and ordered them to destroy the village.
When Charlie Company arrived, soldiers discovered no Viet Cong, but killed hundreds of civilians-mostly woman, old men, and children in a extremely brutal way. Elders got stabbed, women were raped then killed, kids got shot in the head, and one girl got raped. Lastly, William Calley dragged countless people, including young children, he dragged them into a ditch before shooting them down in the ditch. None of the civilians shot back at the Charlie Company. Several elders were bayoneted, women were raped and then killed, and the younger kids got shot in the head, and at least one girl that was still a pre-teen got raped and then killed.