Culture of Concealment

When I seen this blog, I decided to type in my birthday to see what events would appear. When I look through a list of events, I noticed the My Lai Massacre. This tragic event took place in Vietnam in 1968. The My Lai Massacre was a mass murdering of 340-500 unarmed citizens of the Republic of Vietnam. This act was conducted by the U.S. Army and the majority of the victims were women and children. It started out with just indiscrimate fire then the soldiers began to attack anything that moved with firearms, grenades and bayonets. As time went on, the magnitude of the massacre only became more brutal and inhumane. Many of these women and children were raped, beaten, tortured, and even the dead bodies were mutilated. This uncalled for massacre was successfully covered up for 18 months. The first reports stated that “128 Vietcong and 22 civilians” were killed in a “fierce fire fight”. When the truth came about, this act led to a widespread outrage all around the world. Americans were disappointed by this act of murder and this only added to the antiwar protests. Many of the soldiers were charged with several counts of premeditated murder and other related crimes. The My Lai Massacre was seen as a prime example of the government’s culture of concealment and their need of integrity in their Defense Department.