Editing My Lai massacre (section)

==Operation==
[[File:Son My operations 16 April 1968.jpg|thumb|right|Sơn Mỹ operations, 16 March 1968]]
[[Company (military unit)|Charlie Company]], 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, [[11th Infantry Brigade (United States)|11th Brigade]], [[23rd Infantry Division (United States)|23rd Infantry Division]], arrived in South Vietnam in December&nbsp;1967. Though their first three months in Vietnam passed without any direct contact with [[People's Army of Vietnam]] or [[Viet Cong]] (VC) forces, by mid-March the company had suffered 28 casualties involving [[Antipersonnel mine|mines]] or [[Booby trap|booby-traps]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Howard|date=2017|title=My Lai: Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent into Darkness|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|at=Kindle location 684|isbn=978-0-195-39360-6}}</ref>

During the [[Tet Offensive]] in January 1968, attacks were carried out in [[Quảng Ngãi]] by the VC 48th Local Force Battalion. U.S. military intelligence assumed that the 48th Battalion, having retreated and dispersed, was taking refuge in the village of Sơn Mỹ, in [[Quảng Ngãi province]]. A number of specific hamlets within that village – designated Mỹ Lai (1) through Mỹ Lai (6) – were suspected of harboring the 48th. [[Sơn Mỹ Memorial|Sơn Mỹ]] was located southwest of the [[Batangan Peninsula]], a VC stronghold throughout the war.

In February and March 1968, the U.S. [[Military Assistance Command, Vietnam]] (MACV) was aggressively trying to regain the strategic initiative in South Vietnam after the Tet Offensive, and the [[Search and destroy|search-and-destroy]] operation against the 48th Battalion thought to be located in Sơn Mỹ became a small part of the U.S. military's overall strategy. [[Task Force Barker]] (TF Barker), a battalion-sized ad hoc unit of 11th Brigade, was to be deployed for the operation. It was formed in January 1968, composed of three rifle companies of the 11th Brigade, including Charlie Company, led by [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] (LTC) Frank A. Barker. Sơn Mỹ village was included in the area of operations of TF Barker. The area of operations (AO) was codenamed [[Operation Muscatine|Muscatine AO]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.11thlib.com/1-20.html |title=History of the 20th Infantry: 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820080034/http://11thlib.com/1-20.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 August 2013|publisher=11th Light Infantry Brigade Veterans Association}}</ref> after [[Muscatine County, Iowa]], the home county of the 23rd Division's commander, Major General [[Samuel W. Koster]].

In February 1968, TF Barker had already tried to secure Sơn Mỹ, with limited success.<ref>[http://lawofwar.org/calley.htm United States v. First Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr]. 46 Court of Military Review, 1131 (1973).</ref> After that, the village area began to be referred to as ''Pinkville'' by TF Barker troops.<ref>[http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/voices-in-time/the-pinkville-incident.php?page=all "The 'Pinkville' Incident"]. ''[[Lapham's Quarterly]]'', 14 September 2013.</ref> The U.S. Army slang name for the hamlets and sub-hamlets in that area was ''Pinkville'',<ref>{{cite web|title=My Lai – Letters|url=http://www.11thlib.com/myLaiLet.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820085113/http://11thlib.com/myLaiLet.html|archive-date=20 August 2013|publisher=11th Light Infantry Brigade Veterans Association}}</ref> due to the reddish-pink color used on military maps to denote a more densely populated area, and the carnage was initially referred to as the '''Pinkville Massacre'''.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Remember My Lai|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/714.html|series=Frontline|network=PBS|date=23 May 1989|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506072757/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/714.html|archive-date=6 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The My Lai Massacre: Seymour Hersh's Complete and Unabridged Reporting for the ''St. Louis Post Dispatch'', November 1969 / Candide's Notebooks|url=http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/library/wf-200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715083719/http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/library/wf-200.htm|archive-date=15 July 2011|access-date=18 June 2011|website=Pierretristam.com}}</ref>

On 16–18 March, TF Barker planned to engage and destroy the remnants of the 48th Battalion, allegedly hiding in the Sơn Mỹ village area. Before the engagement, Colonel [[Oran Henderson|Oran K. Henderson]], the 11th Brigade commander, urged his officers to "go in there aggressively, close with the enemy and wipe them out for good".<ref>{{cite magazine|date=25 January 1971|title=TRIALS: My Lai: A Question of Orders|url=https://time.com/archive/6838471/trials-my-lai-a-question-of-orders/|url-status=live|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608001157/https://time.com/archive/6838471/trials-my-lai-a-question-of-orders/|archive-date=2024-06-08|access-date=2024-06-08}}</ref> In turn, LTC Barker reportedly ordered the 1st Battalion commanders to burn the houses, kill the livestock, destroy food supplies, and destroy or poison the wells.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000125220322/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/summary_rpt.html Summary Report: ''The Son My Village Incident'']<br />Significantly, he gave no instructions about segregating and safeguarding non-combatants. [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/ecktragedy.html ''My Lai: An American Tragedy''] by William George Eckhardt. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107024402/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/ecktragedy.html|date=2000|access-date=7 November 2007}}</ref>

On the eve of the attack, at the Charlie Company briefing, Captain [[Ernest Medina]] told his men that nearly all the civilian residents of the hamlets in Sơn Mỹ village would have left for the market by 07:00, and that any who remained would most likely be [[Viet Cong|VC]] or VC sympathizers.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19990508015038/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/medina.html Peers Report: The Omissions and Commissions Of CPT Ernest L. Medina], law.umkc.edu; accessed 24 February 2018.</ref> He was asked whether the order included the killing of women and children. Those present later gave differing accounts of Medina's response. Some, including platoon leaders, testified that the orders, as they understood them, were to kill all VC and North Vietnamese combatants and "suspects" (including women and children, as well as all animals), to burn the village, and pollute the wells.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Karen D. |date=December 6, 2000 |title=American soldiers testify in My Lai court martial |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/120600/fri_120600-36.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095728/http://amarillo.com/stories/120600/fri_120600-36.shtml |archive-date=2007-09-29 |access-date= |website=Amarillo Globe-News}}</ref> He was quoted as saying, "They're all VC, now go and get them", and was heard to reply to the question "Who is my enemy?", by saying, "Anybody that was running from us, hiding from us, or appeared to be the enemy. If a man was running, shoot him, sometimes even if a woman with a rifle was running, shoot her."<ref>[[Walzer, Michael]]. ''[[Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations]]''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=du-2AAAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22hiding+from+us%22 Preview] through [[Google Books]]. New York: [[Basic Books]], 1977. p. 310, {{ISBN|978-0465052707}}.</ref>

At Calley's trial, one defense witness testified that he remembered Medina instructing to destroy everything in the village that was "walking, crawling or growling".<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UiM0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=2OAIAAAAIBAJ&pg=2172,1587244&dq=roschevitz+my+lai&hl=en Calley's Trial Puts Emphasis on CO]. ''[[Bangor Daily News]]'', 21 December 1970.</ref>

Charlie Company was to enter the village of Sơn Mỹ spearheaded by 1st [[Platoon]], engage the enemy, and flush them out. The other two companies from TF Barker were ordered to secure the area and provide support if needed. The area was designated a [[Free-fire zone#Vietnam War|free-fire zone]], where American forces were allowed to deploy [[field artillery|artillery]] and air strikes in populated areas, without consideration of risk to civilian or non-combatant lives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/my-lai-charlie-company-and-massacre/|title=Charlie Company and the Massacre {{!}} American Experience|website=www.pbs.org|language=en|access-date=25 September 2018}}</ref> [[Varnado Simpson]], a rifleman in Charlie Company, said, "We were told to leave nothing standing. We did what we were told, regardless of whether they were civilians."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Neale|first1=Jonathan|title=A People's History of the Vietnam War|date=2003|publisher=The New Press|isbn=1565848071|pages=122–23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Bilton |first=Michael |title=Four Hours in My Lai |author2=Sim |first2=Kevin |date=1993 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780140177091 |page=130}}</ref>

===Killings===
[[File:My Lai massacre woman and children.jpg |thumb|right|upright|Photograph taken by Ronald L. Haeberle of South Vietnamese women and children in Mỹ Lai before being killed in the massacre.<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llmlp/RDAR-Vol-IIIBook6/RDAR-Vol-IIIBook6.pdf |title=Report of the Department of the Army review of the preliminary investigations into the Mỹ Lai incident|volume=III, Exhibits, Book 6 – Photographs|date=14 March 1970 |page=50 |website=Library of Congress|lccn=97042604}}</ref> According to Haeberle, soldiers had attempted to rip the blouse off the woman in the back while her mother, in the front of the photo, tried to protect her.<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llmlp/RDAR-Vol-IIBook11/RDAR-Vol-IIBook11.pdf|title=Report of the Department of the Army review of the preliminary investigations into the Mỹ Lai incident|volume=II, Testimony, Book 11|date=14 March 1970|page=18|website=Library of Congress|lccn=97042604|quote=Haeberle: they started stripping her, taking her top off, and the mother, if that was her mother, was trying to protect her. The GI's were punching her around and one of them kicked her in the ass.}}</ref>]]

On the morning of 16 March at 07:30, around 100 soldiers from Charlie Company led by Medina, following a short artillery and helicopter gunship barrage, landed in helicopters at Sơn Mỹ, a patchwork of individual homesteads, grouped settlements, rice paddies, irrigation ditches, dikes, and dirt roads, connecting an assortment of hamlets and sub-hamlets. The largest among them were the hamlets Mỹ Lai, Cổ Lũy, Mỹ Khê, and Tu Cung.{{sfn|Oliver|2006|pp=1–2}}

The GIs expected to engage the Vietcong Local Force 48th Battalion, which was one of the Vietcong's most successful units.<ref name="Hersh">{{Cite magazine|last=Hersh|first=Seymour M.|title=The Massacre at My Lai|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/01/22/coverup|date=January 22, 1972|access-date=2021-05-25|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}</ref> Although the [[G.I.|GIs]] were not fired upon after landing, they still suspected there were VC guerrillas hiding underground or in the huts. Confirming their suspicions, the gunships engaged several armed enemies in the vicinity of Mỹ Lai, killing four; later, one weapon was retrieved from the site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Ccompany.html|title=Company C Actions at My Lai|website=law2.umkc.edu}}</ref>

According to the operational plan, 1st Platoon, led by Second Lieutenant (2LT) [[William Calley]], and 2nd Platoon, led by 2LT Stephen Brooks, entered the hamlet of Tu Cung in line formation at 08:00, while the 3rd Platoon, commanded by 2LT Jeffrey U. Lacross,<ref>Robert Lester, [http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/academic/upa_cis/3220_PeersInqMyLai.pdf The Peers Inquiry of the Massacre at My Lai]. A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of Vietnam War Research Collections.</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171028063216/http://www.1-20infantry.org/croster68.htm 20th Infantry Regiment: C Company Roster{{snd}}1968]}}, research and compilation by Daniel Malin.</ref> and Captain Medina's command post remained outside. On approach, both platoons fired at people they saw in the rice fields and in the brush.<ref>[http://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/Vietnam/mylailondontimesmag89.pdf My Lai: A Half Told Story], ''Sunday Times Magazine'' (London), 23 April 1989, pp. 24–35.</ref>

Instead of the expected enemy, the GIs found women, children and old men, many of whom were cooking breakfast over outdoor fires.<ref name="Hersh"/> The villagers were getting ready for a market day and at first did not panic or run away as they were herded into the hamlet's common spaces and homestead yards. Harry Stanley, a machine gunner from Charlie Company, said during the [[United States Army Criminal Investigation Division|U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division]] inquiry that the killings started without warning. He first observed a member of 1st Platoon strike a Vietnamese man with a [[bayonet]]. Then the same trooper pushed another villager into a well and threw a grenade in the well. Next, he saw fifteen or twenty people, mainly women and children, kneeling around a temple with burning [[incense]]. They were praying and crying. They were all killed by shots to the head.<ref name="The Milwaukee Journal">Hersh, Seymour. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tAsqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7340,3372984&dq=varnado+simpson&hl=en My Lai: Soldiers' Bullets Silenced Pleas, Prayers of Victims] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928082149/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tAsqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7340%2C3372984&dq=varnado%20simpson&hl=en |date=28 September 2015 }}, ''The Milwaukee Journal'', 27 May 1970.</ref>

Most of the killings occurred in the southern part of Tu Cung, a sub-hamlet of Xom Lang, which was a home to 700 residents.<ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/myl_bvillagers.htm "The Villagers of My Lai"], umkc.edu; accessed 23 February 2018.</ref> Xom Lang was erroneously marked on the U.S. military operational maps of Quảng Ngãi Province as Mỹ Lai.

A large group of approximately 70–80&nbsp;villagers was rounded up by 1st&nbsp;Platoon in Xom Lang and led to an irrigation ditch east of the settlement. They were then pushed into the ditch and shot dead by soldiers after repeated orders issued by Calley, who was also shooting. PFC Paul Meadlo testified that he expended several [[M16 rifle]] magazines. He recollected that women were saying "No VC" and were trying to shield their children.<ref name="The Milwaukee Journal"/> He remembered that he was shooting old men and women, ranging in ages from grandmothers to teenagers, many with babies or small children in their arms, since he was convinced at that time that they were all booby-trapped with grenades and poised to attack.<ref>Bigart, Homer. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/13/archives/mylai-gi-feared-babies-held-grenades.html "Mỹ Lai G.I. Feared Babies Held Grenades"], ''The New York Times'', 13 January 1971.</ref> On another occasion during the security sweep of My Lai, Meadlo again fired into civilians side by side with Lieutenant Calley.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gDMsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xMsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5423,1838497&dq=nicholas+capezza&hl=en Meadlo Testifies He Shot Women and Their Babies]. ''Herald-Journal'', 13 January 1971.</ref>

PFC Dennis Konti, a witness for the prosecution,<ref>[http://instruct.westvalley.edu/kelly/Distance_Learning/History_17B/Readings/My_Lai.htm "Dennis Conti, Witness for the Prosecution"], westvalley.edu; accessed 23 February 2018.</ref> told of one especially gruesome episode during the shooting, "A lot of women had thrown themselves on top of the children to protect them, and the children were alive at first. Then, the children who were old enough to walk got up and Calley began to shoot the children".<ref>[https://archive.today/20130910044024/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k30yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-bUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5564,5496672&dq=harry+stanley+my+lai&hl=en "...They were killing everything in the village"], ''The Palm Beach Post'', 29 May 1970.</ref> Other 1st Platoon members testified that many of the deaths of individual Vietnamese men, women and children occurred inside Mỹ Lai during the security sweep. To ensure the hamlets could no longer offer support to the enemy, the livestock was shot as well.<ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/summary_rpt.html Summary of Peers report], umkc.edu; accessed 23 February 2018.</ref>

When PFC Michael Bernhardt entered the subhamlet of Xom Lang, the massacre was underway:

{{blockquote|I walked up and saw these guys doing strange things&nbsp;... Setting fire to the [[Hooch (disambiguation)#Other uses|hootches]] and huts and waiting for people to come out and then shooting them&nbsp;... going into the hootches and shooting them up&nbsp;... gathering people in groups and shooting them&nbsp;... As I walked in you could see piles of people all through the village&nbsp;... all over. They were gathered up into large groups. I saw them shoot an [[M79 grenade launcher]] into a group of people who were still alive. But it was mostly done with a machine gun. They were shooting women and children just like anybody else. We met no resistance and I only saw three captured weapons. We had no casualties. It was just like any other Vietnamese village&nbsp;– old papa-sans, women and kids. As a matter of fact, I don't remember seeing one military-age male in the entire place, dead or alive.<ref name="PlainDealer">Hersh, Seymour M. [http://www.cleveland.com/plain-dealer-library/index.ssf/2009/11/eye_witness_account_of_the_my_lai_massacre_story_by_seymour_hersh_nov_20_1969.html Eyewitness accounts of the My Lai massacre; story by Seymour Hersh], ''The Plain Dealer'', 20 November 1969.</ref>}}

One group of 20–50 villagers was herded south of Xom Lang and killed on a dirt road. According to U.S. Army photographer Sgt. [[Ronald L. Haeberle|Ronald Haeberle]]'s eyewitness account of the massacre, in one instance,

{{blockquote|There were some South Vietnamese people, maybe fifteen of them, women and children included, walking on a dirt road maybe {{convert|100|yd|m|disp=sqbr|sigfig=1}} away. All of a sudden the GIs just opened up with M16s. Beside the M16 fire, they were shooting at the people with M79 grenade launchers&nbsp;... I couldn't believe what I was seeing.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-bNjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qOYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5798,8044893&dq=women+children+died+in+village&hl=en Women, children died in village.] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 21 November 1969.</ref>}}

Calley testified that he heard the shooting and arrived on the scene. He observed his men firing into a ditch with Vietnamese people inside, then began to take part in the shooting himself, using an M16 from a distance of no more than {{convert|5|ft}}. During the massacre, a helicopter landed on the other side of the ditch and the pilot asked Calley if they could provide any medical assistance to the wounded civilians in Mỹ Lai; Calley admitted replying that "a hand [[grenade]] was the only available means he had for their evacuation". At 11:00 Medina radioed an order to cease fire, and 1st Platoon took a break, during which they ate lunch.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7twNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7172,3311030&dq=my+lai+medina&hl=en Defense Rests in Calley Trial: Capt. Medina Called Fine, Strict Officer]. ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', 25 February 1971.</ref>
[[File:Dead man and child from the My Lai massacre.jpg|thumb|right|An unidentified man and child who were killed on a road]]

Members of 2nd&nbsp;Platoon killed at least 60–70 Vietnamese, as they swept through the northern half of Mỹ Lai and through Binh Tay, a small sub-hamlet about {{convert|400|m}} north of Mỹ Lai.<ref name="summaryreport">{{cite web |title=Summary of Peers Report |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/summary_rpt.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000125220322/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/summary_rpt.html |archive-date=25 January 2000 |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=[[University of Missouri–Kansas City]]}}</ref> After the initial sweeps by 1st and 2nd Platoons, 3rd Platoon was dispatched to deal with any "remaining resistance". 3rd Platoon, which stayed in reserve, reportedly rounded up and killed a group of seven to twelve women and children.<ref name=summaryreport/>

Since Charlie Company had not met any enemy opposition at Mỹ Lai and did not request back-up, Bravo Company, 4th&nbsp;Battalion, [[3rd Infantry Regiment (United States)|3rd&nbsp;Infantry Regiment]] of TF Barker was transported by air between 08:15 and 08:30 {{convert|2|mi|km|0|order=flip|abbr=on}} away. It attacked the subhamlet My Hoi of the hamlet known as Cổ Lũy, which was mapped by the Army as Mỹ Khê. During this operation, between 60 and 155 people, including women and children, were killed.<ref name=omens>Hersh, Seymour M. [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/16/opinion/my-lai-and-its-omens.html "My Lai, And Its Omens"], ''The New York Times'', 16 March 1998.</ref>

Over the remaining day, both companies were involved in the further burning and destruction of dwellings, as well as continued mistreatment of Vietnamese detainees. While it was noted in the Courts Martial proceedings that some soldiers of Charlie Company did not participate in any killings, it was noted they neither openly protested against them nor filed complaints later to their superiors.<ref name="autogenerated2">Eckhardt, William George. [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/ecktragedy.html My Lai: An American Tragedy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107024402/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/ecktragedy.html|date=7 November 2007}}. An evaluative essay of the chief prosecutor in the Mỹ Lai cases William G. Eckhardt, Teaching Professor of Law at UMKC School of Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2002.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed, if any --></ref>

William Thomas Allison, a professor of Military History at Georgia Southern University, wrote, "By midmorning, members of Charlie Company had killed hundreds of civilians and raped or assaulted countless women and young girls. They encountered no enemy fire and found no weapons in My Lai itself".<ref name="Allison">Allison, William Thomas. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=std2t1r25s8C&dq=2nd+Platoon+Lieutenant+Stephen+Brooks&pg=PR10 My Lai: An American Atrocity in the Vietnam War]''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.<!-- 9781421406459 --></ref>

By the time the killings stopped, Charlie Company had suffered one casualty{{snd}}a soldier who had intentionally shot himself in the foot to avoid participating in the massacre{{snd}}and just three enemy weapons were confiscated.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rowling|first1=Charles|last2=Sheets|first2=Penelope|last3=Jones|first3=Timothy|date=2015|title=American Atrocity Revisited: National Identity, Cascading Frames, and the My Lai Massacre|journal=Political Communication|volume=32|issue=2|pages=310–11|doi=10.1080/10584609.2014.944323|s2cid=143846178|via=Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group}}</ref>

=== Rapes ===
{{see also|Rape during the Vietnam War}}
According to the Peers Commission Investigation, the U.S. government allocated commission for inquiry into the incident, concluded at least 20 Vietnamese women and girls were raped during the Mỹ Lai massacre. Since there had been little research over the case other than that of the Peers Commission, which solely accounts the cases with explicit rape signs like torn cloth and nudity, the actual number of rapes is not easy to estimate. According to the reports, the rape victims ranged between the ages of 10 and 45, with nine being under 18. The sexual assaults included gang rapes and sexual torture.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Good |first1=Jennifer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xDlQBwAAQBAJ&dq=%E2%80%9CAN+EVERYDAY+AFFAIR%E2%80%9D+Violence+Against+Women+during+the+Vietnam+War&pg=PA132 |title=Mythologizing the Vietnam War: Visual Culture and Mediated Memory |last2=Lardinois |first2=Brigitte |last3=Lowe |first3=Paul |date=2014-10-16 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6948-5 |language=en}}</ref>

No U.S. serviceman was charged with rape. According to an eyewitness, as reported by [[Seymour Hersh]] in his book on the massacre, a woman was raped after her children were killed by the U.S. soldiers. Another Vietnamese villager also noticed soldiers rape a 13-year-old girl.<ref name=":2"/>

===Helicopter crew intervention===
[[Warrant officer (United States)|Warrant Officer]] [[Hugh Thompson Jr.]], a helicopter pilot from Company B (Aero-Scouts), 123rd Aviation Battalion, Americal Division, saw dead and wounded civilians as he was flying over the village of Sơn Mỹ, providing close-air support for ground forces.<ref name="angers">{{cite book |last=Angers |first=Trent |title=The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story, Revised Edition |location=[[Lafayette, Louisiana]] |publisher=Acadian House |year=2014 |isbn=0925417904 |pages=59–80, 86}}</ref> The crew made several attempts to radio for help for the wounded. They landed their helicopter by a ditch, which they noted was full of bodies and in which they could discern movement by survivors.<ref name="angers"/> Thompson asked a sergeant he encountered there (David Mitchell of 1st Platoon) if he could help get the people out of the ditch; the sergeant replied that he would "help them out of their misery". Thompson, shocked and confused, then spoke with 2LT Calley, who claimed to be [[superior orders|"just following orders"]]. As the helicopter took off, Thompson saw Mitchell firing into the ditch.<ref name="angers"/>

Thompson and his crew witnessed an unarmed woman being kicked and shot at [[point-blank range]] by Medina, who later claimed that he thought she had a hand grenade.<ref name=Thompson_obit>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/hugh-thompson-ghwf0cmvtwr|work=The Times|location=London|title=Hugh Thompson: Helicopter pilot who intervened to save lives during the U.S. Army massacre of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai |date=11 January 2006|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> Thompson then saw a group of civilians at a bunker being approached by ground personnel. Thompson landed, and told his crew that if the soldiers shot at the villagers while he was trying to get them out of the bunker, then they were to open fire on the soldiers.<ref name="angers"/>

Thompson later testified that he spoke with a lieutenant (identified as Stephen Brooks of 2nd Platoon) and told him there were women and children in the bunker, and asked if the lieutenant would help get them out. According to Thompson, "he [the lieutenant] said the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade". Thompson testified that he then told Brooks to "just hold your men right where they are, and I'll get the kids out." He found 12–16&nbsp;people in the bunker, coaxed them out and led them to the helicopter, standing with them while they were flown out in two groups.<ref name="angers"/>

Returning to Mỹ Lai, Thompson and other air crew members noticed several large groups of bodies.<ref>Bock, Paula. [http://seattletimes.com/pacificnw/2002/0310/cover.html The Choices Made: Lessons from My Lai on Drawing the Line] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008060011/http://seattletimes.com/pacificnw/2002/0310/cover.html|date=8 October 2014}} ''The Seattle Times'', 10 March 2002.</ref> Spotting some survivors in the ditch, Thompson landed again. A crew member, [[Specialist (rank)|Specialist 4]] [[Glenn Andreotta]], entered the ditch and returned with a bloodied but apparently unharmed four-year-old girl, who was then flown to safety.<ref name="angers"/>

Upon returning to the LZ Dottie base in his OH-23, Thompson reported to his section leader, Captain Barry Lloyd, that the American infantry were no different from Nazis in their slaughter of innocent civilians: <blockquote>It's mass murder out there. They're rounding them up and herding them in ditches and then just shooting them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Howard|title=My Lai : Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent into Darkness|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|page=127}}</ref> </blockquote>Thompson then reported what he had seen to his company commander, Major Frederic W. Watke, using terms such as "murder" and "needless and unnecessary killings". Thompson's statements were confirmed by other helicopter pilots and air crew members.<ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero.html#RON The Heroes of My Lai: Hugh Thompson's Story] Thompson's own account during the conference on Mỹ Lai at [[Tulane University]] in New Orleans, Louisiana, in December 1994.</ref>

For his actions at Mỹ Lai, Thompson was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]], while his crew members [[Glenn Andreotta]] and [[Lawrence Colburn]] were awarded the [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]]. Glenn Andreotta was awarded his medal posthumously, as he was killed in Vietnam on 8 April 1968.<ref>[http://thewall-usa.com/info.asp?recid=1110 Glenn Urban Andreotta profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317213205/http://thewall-usa.com/info.asp?recid=1110|date=17 March 2014}} ''Names on the Wall'', The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.</ref> As the DFC citation included a fabricated account of rescuing a young girl from Mỹ Lai from "intense crossfire",<ref name="bilton">{{cite book|last1=Bilton|first1=Michael|last2=Sim|first2=Kevin|title=Four hours of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story|publisher=LA Acadian House|year=1992|pages=204–05|isbn=978-0-925417-33-6}}</ref> Thompson threw his medal away.<ref name="nymag">{{cite magazine|first=Rhoda|last=Koenig|year=1992|title=Books: Enemies of the People|magazine=New York Magazine|volume=25|issue=11|page=86|issn=0028-7369|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R-QCAAAAMBAJ&q=thompson+my+lai+distinguished+flying+cross |access-date=19 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="jones">{{cite book|first=Adam|last=Jones|title =Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction|publisher =Taylor & Francis|year=2010|page=408|isbn =978-0-415-48618-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdVudSuTRIC}}</ref> He later received a [[Purple Heart]] for other services in Vietnam.<ref name="johnson">{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Claudia D.|last2=Johnson|first2=Vernon Elso| url=https://archive.org/details/understandingody0000john|url-access=registration|quote=My Lai.|title=Understanding the Odyssey: a student casebook to issues, sources, and historic documents|publisher=Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/understandingody0000john/page/206 206]|isbn=978-0-313-30881-9}}</ref>

In March 1998, the helicopter crew's medals were replaced by the [[Soldier's Medal]], the highest the U.S.&nbsp;Army can award for bravery not involving direct conflict with the enemy. The medal citations state they were "for heroism above and beyond the call of duty while saving the lives of at least 10 Vietnamese civilians during the unlawful massacre of non-combatants by American forces at My Lai".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/03/98/mylai/62924.stm|title=BBC News &#124; World &#124; Heroes of My Lai honoured|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

Thompson initially refused to accept the medal when the U.S. Army wanted to award it quietly. He demanded it be done publicly and that his crew be honored in the same way.<ref name="zutz">{{cite journal|first=John|last=Zutz|year=1998|title=My Lai|journal=The Veteran|volume=28|issue=1|publisher=[[Vietnam Veterans Against the War]]|url=http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=244|access-date=19 April 2011}}</ref><ref name=Thompson_obit /><ref>{{Cite journal|year=2003|title=Moral Courage In Combat: The Mỹ Lai Story|url=http://www.usna.edu/Ethics/publications/documents/ThompsonPg1-28_Final.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324030925/http://www.usna.edu/Ethics/publications/documents/ThompsonPg1-28_Final.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 March 2012|journal=USNA Lecture}}</ref>