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Media Coverage In World War 2, news broadcasts were heavily censored. The horrors of war were rarely witnessed, instead the victories of the army was highlighted, using triumphant music. But by the 1960’s many homes had a Television for the first time , and by the late 1960’s this was colour TV. Censored cinema Newsreel was now out of date.
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Vietnam has been called the ‘first media war’ and the ‘first war fought on TV’. Censorship disappeared with TV and other media reporting the war as they saw it. This meant the coverage was not always favourable to the US forces. Every night, bulletins brought the horrors of war to people’s living rooms.
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Magazines were often heavily biased against the Viet Cong but included shocking images The image that came out of North Vietnam was of an undeveloped nation resisting the power of the USA. The nature of photo journalism made it difficult for the American government to control and censor as images could quickly be taken and published. The reality of war was seen by the ordinary public for the first time.
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Walter Cronkite was the ‘first anchorman’ of CBS News from 1962- 81. He was often polled as the ‘most trusted man in America’. He frequently gave reports that indicated American gains. In 1968 he travelled to Vietnam to cover the aftermath of the Tet offensive. Upon his return he compiled a report that turned coverage of the war on its head. On hearing the report, President Johnson is rumoured to have said ‘If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.’ • Several weeks later Johnson announced he would not seek re-election as President. My Lai • Believed to be a VC stronghold & identified for a ‘search & destroy’ mission. • 16 March 1968, 9 Helicopters carrying 3 platoons of US soldiers landed – shortly after the Tet Offensive. • 700 people lived in the village but offered no resistance to the soldiers. • In the next two hours, up to 504 innocent people were killed, ages ranging from 1-82. • • • •
Lieutenant Calley, leader of one of the platoons, ordered that all in the village should be destroyed. In his trial later, he claimed soldiers were ‘just doing their duty’. However, 119 were killed below the age of 7, and some were mutilated with the signature ‘C Company’. There had been My Lai atrocities before in history.
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This time, however, pictures were taken of the attack and they were published. Shortly after a soldier, Paul Meadlo was interviewed on television. He admitted killing “ten or fifteen men, women and children” at My Lai. His admission caused much shock and a great deal of pressure was put on the US military to launch an investigation. The My Lai massacre became a turning point in the War. Images were quickly transmitted around the world. Public opinion turned against the war and soon people were openly protesting. The 11th Brigade claimed to have killed 128 Viet Cong during the operation. Charlie Company’s commanding officer, Ernest Medina maintained that between 20 and 28 civilians had been killed by gunship and artillery fire. This was echoed by the commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade, Col Oran K Henderson who claimed that 20 civilians had been killed inadvertently. After My Lai, Ron Ridenhour, another soldier in Vietnam but not in Charlie Company spoke with some of the soldiers involved in My Lai. He was shocked by events and wrote letters to 30 congressional & military officials detailing the events of My Lai. An investigation was undertaken & 403 witnesses were interviewed. Hugh Thompson was a helicopter pilot during My Lai. He saw a number of civilians shot dead for no reason, angering him. He landed and levelled his gun at some US soldiers, threatening them if they killed any more villagers, and ensured that around 12 villagers were taken to safety. He also rescued a child from a ditch that looked injured. It later turned out the child wasn’t injured but covered in other people’s blood. He was later awarded for his efforts. Charges should have been brought against 28 officers involved in the cover up, including the brigade commander & commanding officer. Army investigators concluded that 33/105 members of Charlie company participated in the massacre & 28 in the cover up. Charges were brought against only 13 men (as the others had left the army). In the end, only one soldier, Lieutenant Calley, was charged. His offence was the murder of 104 My Lai villagers. He was given life imprisonment. It could be said that My Lai was just another incident in a violent war and soldiers were just doing their duty. Conditions in Vietnam had made it difficult to fight under normal conditions. It showed the problems the US forces were having in trying to defeat guerrilla warfare, but the trial was very controversial.
For Calley • Senior officers had briefed him and were aware of the massacre. • A further 5 or 6 soldiers were guilty of shooting villagers. • VC’s lack of uniform meant he could not be sure if the villagers were really innocent. • WW2 veterans claimed similar incidents had occurred and they had gone unpunished. • He was doing his duty and following orders, failure to do so would have resulted in a court-marshall. • A psychiatric report showed that Calley did not feel as if he was killing humans, rather they were animals. Conditions in Vietnam had built this feeling up over time. Against Calley • Innocent villagers were shot without remorse. • This included women and children and lasted for 2 hours. • Intelligence was clearly wrong and My Lai was not a VC village. • Not a single shot was fired at the US soldiers. • Calley had broken Geneva conventions by killing non-combatants. • This also meant Calley had broken ‘The Law of Land Warfare’ in the U.S. Army Field Manual. • After hearing about My Lai, Seymour Hersh broke the story publically. • Not every news company wanted to run it, but eventually most did. • Many in America were outraged with My Lai and Calley’s actions. • Others felt he was being made a scapegoat for the atrocity. A poll held in 1971 found: • 78% disagreed with the final outcome. • 70% felt he was being made a scapegoat for the incident. • 79% felt he life sentence was too harsh. • 77% felt soldiers in My Lai were just following orders. • In parts of America, flags were flown at half mast. • Pro-Calley rallies were held demanding his release. • Criticism of the government came from different media sources. • Three US servicemen who tried to stop the massacre were criticised by some US Congressmen and received hate mail and death threats. • WW2 veterans claimed worse atrocities had gone unpunished and some returned medals won in the conflict. • The protestors even tried to turn Calley into a hero who was just doing his job. • All of them felt he was being punished unfairly. • My Lai was part of war, if Calley was in the wrong, many more were too. • Even Seymour Hersh admitted that Calley was "as much a victim as the people he shot."
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A song was produced that got to #37 in the charts.
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Many couldn’t believe an American soldier could have done such a thing, others were appalled by the apparent lack of morals. Details of My Lai increased levels of public protest to the Vietnam war. Many now argued that Vietnam did not need ‘saving’ from communism.
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