My Lai Massacre: Vietnam's Brutal Truth Revealed

American soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment entered the village of My Lai in Quang Ngai Province on March 16, 1968, expecting to find Viet Cong fighters. They found women, children, and elderly men. Over the next four hours, soldiers under Lieutenant William Calley's command systematically murdered between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians. Women were raped. Livestock was slaughtered. The village was burned. Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, a helicopter pilot observing from above, landed his aircraft between the soldiers and a group of fleeing villagers, ordering his door gunner to open fire on the Americans if they continued shooting. Thompson's intervention saved at least ten lives. The massacre was covered up for over a year until journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story in November 1969. Only Calley was convicted, receiving a life sentence that was reduced to three and a half years of house arrest. The revelation shattered whatever remained of American public support for the war.