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My Lai 4: A Book Report


	On March 16, 1968, "Charlie Company" was sent into a small Viet
Cong village called (by the U.S.) My Lai 4.  Their instructions by
commanding officers were: "... kill every man, woman, child and animal in
the village.  Burn all the homes .... nothing should be walking, growing
or crawling."
     Orders were followed, and as I read the first 65 pages of this book,
I was exposed to the detailed death of 306 civilians, mostly women, small
children, and old people.  There was no threat to any American GIs ...
there were no Viet Cong Solders in the area.  I read of the rape of a 14
year old girl by twenty GIs ... in front of the parents.  They were all
shot after the GIs were "done with their business."  This was only one of
many. Most of the murders were conducted, BY ORDER OF OFFICERS, to
round-up the families from their homes, forced into ditches, and shot. 
Women dove to cover their children.  Later, children just old enough to
walk crawled out from under their mutilated mothers' bodies, only to be
shot as target practice by the GIs. It is later estimated that
approximately 500 civilians were murdered, and (probably) no VC were in
the area.
     I could go into detail about the killing.  However, most of the book
was devoted to the time before the massacre, and afterward.  The officers
and GIs of "Charlie Company" were introduced in the beginning of the book:
the officers had been social outcasts all their life (LT. Calley & Medina).
 Both had decided to devote their life to the military.  The GIs were
selected for "Charlie Company" specifically because they had all scored
too low on the initial exam to be put into a regular battalions.
     After the massacre, nothing was done.  As a matter of fact, "Charlie
Company" was praised for having the "most kills" in one day. By late 1969,
most of the GIs in Charlie Company were civilians again, and a few began
to tell what they had seen (and participated in).  A Government
Investigation was called against Lt. Calley (who ordered, and participated
in the murders).  Some of the photographs from the massacre were published.
 You wouldn't believe what the civilian response was!  The overwhelming
public response was to drop the charges; they thought that there was
nothing wrong with the massacre, OR they didn't believe it really happened.
 As a matter of fact, Lt. Calley had become a hero as an AMERICAN!  There
was a hugely-supported donation drive to pay for Calley's legal fees.
     The final outcome: nothing.  Calley was demoted to a Army "Office
Job" after the murders were proved.  The soldiers of Charlie Company went
on with life, most of whom are/were suffering mental disorders from the
scaring event.  Calley's officer above him (who REALLY gave the initial
orders) was never investigated, though it was proven that he also
participated in the massacre. The author, Seymour M. Hersh, wrote (I read
that book 3 years ago), which is credited with having a major influence
on this country's decision to stop production of biological weapons.  Mr.
Hersh began his journalism career as a police reporter for the city news
bureau in Chicago, and later covered the Pentagon for the Associated Press.
 Mr.  Hersh was press secretary for the Senator Eugene McCarthy early in
his campaign for Democratic Presidential nomination.  He won a special
George Polk Memorial Award in February, 1970, and the Worth Bengham Prize
in March, 1970, for his reporting on the My Lai 4 massacre.  He is married
and lives in Washington, D.C.
     As I have read 2 books by this man, I feel that he provides some
really good, controversial information.  He has obviously done a lot of
studying.  From the information I could find on him, I cannot determine if
he has had any past occurrences that motivated him to find out about
atrocities of war.  However, he may be like me .... and has a bit of
compassion for others, and hates to see others hurt by unnecessary wars!
In the preface of this book, Mr Hersh made a point to outline his sources.
Everything in the book is a compilation of quotes from different people
who participated in the massacre, and people who saw it.  He published
letters written by the GIs after the massacre (some of them I had seen in
Zinn's book too!).  He printed public opinion polls of the time, and
generally avoided printing his own opinion. However, as any book written,
he definitely projected the event as a negative occurrence; but, with as
little of his own printed opinion as possible.
     Also at the end of the book, there is a notes section.  If a quote or
fact was really in question, he has all of his sources are listed. This
was a good-read.  A very serious situation was wrote about, in a way that
there was nothing but quotes and facts presented.  At the same time, it
was INTERESTING!  I was able to read half the book in an afternoon easily!
However, the only thing I  would change, if I wrote the book would be the
EMOTION behind it.  I have studied the Vietnamese culture myself from
other books ... I want to know how THEY feel and believe.  This side was
not presented; but, because of personal knowledge, his information was
very useful.
     Without a doubt, I would recommend this book to anyone who supports
wars or the Army in general.  Too many people are isolated from what war
IS, and how it effects civilians.  Perhaps it would force today's ignorant
people to THINK about our recent "police action:” DESERT STORM.  For some
reason (the Media), nobody thinks that anyone DIED!  I love the last line
in the book: "The people didn't know what they were dying for, and the
guys didn't know why they were shooting them."

Quote: Carter, Soldier in Charlie Company.

Word Count: 993