Hillstrom K., Hillstrom L.C. Vietnam war. Almanac

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had consulted with only a handful of legislators [before

approving the operation], all of them sympathetic. Many,

including Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, were outraged at

having been kept in the dark, and others were infuriated by

Nixon’s broadening of the war.”

212 Vietnam War: Almanac

The My Lai Massacre was one of

the most horrible events of the entire

Vietnam War. It took place on March 16,

1968, in My Lai, a small hamlet located in

northern South Vietnam. On that day, a

squad of U.S. soldiers commanded by Lt.

William Calley entered the village. Charged

with searching for enemy forces, the

soldiers quickly determined that the

hamlet and its civilian population—

primarily women, children, and elderly

people—posed no danger to them.

But rather than move on, the

soldiers abruptly went on a murderous

killing spree, massacring between 300 and

500 unarmed villagers over a period of

several hours. During this time, the soldiers

torched houses, raped dozens of women

and children, and shot or stabbed terrified

villagers who tried to escape. The

American troops executed most of the

villagers by lining them up in ditches and

shooting them in heavy bursts of rifle fire.

The slaughter ended when U.S.

helicopter pilot Hugh C. Thompson flew

over My Lai during a reconnaissance

(information gathering) mission. Alarmed

by the scene below, he quickly landed his

helicopter in the village. Once he landed,

the pilot realized that Calley and his

platoon intended to wipe out the entire

village. Thompson knew that he could not

stop the slaughter by himself. But he

immediately loaded a large group of

terrified villagers onto his helicopter to

evacuate them, instructing his door

gunner to shoot Calley if he interfered.

After the slaughter was over,

Calley’s commander, Captain Ernest L.

Medina, covered up the incident in his

reports. Thompson submitted his own

report on the atrocities (extremely cruel or

brutal acts) committed at My Lai, but his

account was ignored until March 1969. At

that time, an American ex-soldier named

Ronald Ridenhour heard rumors about the

massacre and sent a series of letters to

military authorities. Ridenhour’s letters

triggered an investigation headed by

Lieutenant General William R. Peers.

The investigation was kept quiet

until November 1969, when New York

Times reporter Seymour Hersh learned of

the incident. His report on the massacre,

which appeared in the New York Times and

other newspapers across the country on

The My Lai Massacre

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:09 PM Page 212

On June 26, 1970, the Senate voted to repeal (abolish)

the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This 1964 resolution had given

presidents Lyndon Johnson (1908–1973; president 1963–

1969) and Nixon authority to “take all necessary measures”

against Communist forces in Indochina. Both presidents had

Nixon’s War (1969–70) 213

November 13, shocked an already war-

weary American public.

Over the next few months, Calley,

Medina, and two dozen other American

soldiers received military trials on a variety

of charges, from murder to covering up

evidence of the atrocity. Calley alone was

charged with 102 counts of murder. In the

meantime, the U.S. Congress and the

American public engaged in a fierce debate

over the massacre and Calley’s role in it.

Many people—including many American

soldiers and officials—were horrified by the

incident and wanted to see Calley and the

others punished for their war crimes. But

many other people actually defended

Calley as a pawn in the larger debate over

the war. “To supporters of the war, Calley

was being railroaded by the antiwar

protestors [for doing his duty],” explains

Harry G. Summers Jr., in Historical Atlas of

the Vietnam War. “To the latter, he was

being unfairly singled out, for they believed

that such atrocities were commonplace,

and were condoned [accepted] and even

encouraged by the Army itself.”

Calley was sentenced to life in

prison for the murder of 22 Vietnamese

civilians on March 29, 1971. All the other

soldiers brought to trial were acquitted

(found not guilty) of the charges. But many

Americans expressed anger at the sentence

imposed on Calley. In August, Calley’s

sentence was reduced to ten years by

Secretary of the Army Howard Calloway.

On November 9, 1974, President Nixon

ordered Calley released from prison with a

dishonorable discharge from the Army.

Lt. William Calley (far right).

Reproduced by permission of the

Columbus Ledger–Enquirer.

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:09 PM Page 213

used the broad authority of the resolu-

tion to take whatever actions they

wanted in Vietnam, without asking the

permission of Congress. In December,

the House of Representatives voted to

repeal the measure as well.

The congressional repeal of the

resolution did not strip Nixon of his

power to conduct the war as he wanted.

After the repeal, he used his constitu-

tional authority as commander in chief to

pursue his military goals in Vietnam. But

the congressional decision to revoke the

resolution did symbolize the nation’s

deep unhappiness with the war. It was

widely interpreted as a way of punishing

Nixon for his actions in Cambodia.

The My Lai Massacre

revealed

In November 1970, the war-

weary American public received yet

another shock that increased calls for a

swift withdrawal of all U.S. troops from

Vietnam. The New York Times revealed

that in March 1968, a platoon of U.S.

soldiers had murdered hundreds of

unarmed Vietnamese civilians—mostly

women and children—in the hamlet of

My Lai. The newspaper also reported

that army investigators had known of

the massacre for eighteen months but

covered it up.

News of the My Lai incident and the army cover-up

triggered strong emotions of shame, disgust, and anger among

millions of ordinary Americans. They were joined by antiwar

activists, who saw the My Lai massacre as a horrible symbol of

an immoral and vicious war. They claimed that the incident

showed that the war was turning young American men into

monsters. But millions of Americans refused to believe that the

214 Vietnam War: Almanac

Honor guards in front

of a memorial to the

My Lai Massacre, where

504 people died.

Reproduced by permission

of AP/World Wide Photos.

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:09 PM Page 214

incident had even taken place. They could not imagine U.S. sol-

diers taking part in such a terrible slaughter of innocent people.

Sources

Ambrose, Stephen E. Nixon. 3 vols. New York: Simon and Schuster,

1987–1991.

Garfinkle, Adam. Telltale Hearts: The Origins and Impact of the Vietnam Anti-

war Movement. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.

Gibson, James W. The Perfect War: The War We Couldn’t Lose and How We

Did. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986.

Herring, George C. America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam,

1950–1975. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979.

Kimball, Jeffrey. Nixon’s Vietnam War. Lawrence, KS: University Press of

Kansas, 1998.

Levy, David. The Debate Over Vietnam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer-

sity Press, 1991.

Nixon, Richard. No More Vietnams. New York: Arbor House, 1985.

Schulzinger, Robert D. A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam,

1941–1975. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Shawcross, William. Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cam-

bodia. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.

Summers, Harry Jr. Historical Atlas of the Vietnam War. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 1995.

Wicker, Tom. One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream. New York:

Random House, 1991.

Young, Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars, 1945–1990. New York: Harper-

Collins, 1991.

Nixon’s War (1969–70) 215

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:09 PM Page 215

he war in Vietnam finally ended in 1975, when North Viet-

namese troops captured the South Vietnamese capital of

Saigon. The following year, the Communist leaders of North

Vietnam reunited the two halves of the country to form the

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV). They also introduced a

series of changes designed to transform Vietnam into a social-

ist society. For example, the government took control of all

farmland and business activities and placed restrictions on the

lives of the Vietnamese people.

These changes created terrible hardships for the Viet-

namese. “Rebuilding Vietnam would have been a stupendous

task under the best of circumstances. The war shattered its

economy, disrupted its social texture, and exhausted its popu-

lation in both the north and the south,” comments Stanley

Karnow in Vietnam: A History. “The war left Vietnam in sham-

bles, and the Communists aggravated the devastation after

their victory.” Before long, hundreds of thousands of Viet-

namese people decided that they could not live under the new

government. Many tried to escape the poverty and repression

(denial of their basic rights and freedoms) by fleeing the coun-

257

Vietnam Since the War

(1976-Present)

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:10 PM Page 257

try by water in small boats. These Vietnamese refugees became

known around the world as the “boat people.”

In the meantime, old rivalries and disagreements

heated up between Vietnam and its neighbors, Cambodia and

China. In 1979, Vietnam successfully invaded Cambodia and

258 Vietnam War: Almanac

Cambodia Southeast Asian nation located

on the western border of South Vietnam.

During the Vietnam War, Cambodia

experienced its own civil war between its

pro-U.S. government and Communist

rebels known as the Khmer Rouge.

Communism A political system in which the

government controls all resources and

means of producing wealth. By elimi-

nating private property, this system is

designed to create an equal society with

no social classes. However, Communist

governments in practice often limit per-

sonal freedom and individual rights.

Hanoi The capital city of Communist North

Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and

the capital of the reunified Socialist

Republic of Vietnam afterward.

Indochina The name sometimes given to

the peninsula between India and China

in Southeast Asia. The term narrowly

refers to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam,

which were united under the name

French Indochina during the colonial

period, 1893–1954.

Khmer Rouge Communist-led rebel forces

that fought for control of Cambodia

during the Vietnam War years. The

Khmer Rouge overthrew the U.S.-

backed government of Lon Nol in

1975, but were removed from power

by Vietnamese forces in 1979.

North Vietnam The Geneva Accords of

1954, which ended the First Indochina

War (1946–54), divided the nation of

Vietnam into two sections. The northern

section, which was led by a Communist

government, was officially known as the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam, but

was usually called North Vietnam.

Saigon The capital city of U.S.-supported

South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Also an unofficial shorthand way of

referring to the South Vietnamese gov-

ernment.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) The

country created in 1976, when North

Vietnam won the Vietnam War and was

reunited with South Vietnam.

South Vietnam Created under the Geneva

Accords of 1954, the southern section

of Vietnam was known as the Republic

of South Vietnam. It was led by a U.S.-

supported government.

Words to Know

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:10 PM Page 258

overthrew its brutal government. But

China and other nations reacted

angrily to Vietnam’s actions. In fact,

Chinese troops invaded the northern

part of Vietnam. The United States and

other countries established an eco-

nomic embargo (a legal order prevent-

ing trade) to punish Vietnam.

The situation in Cambodia

only complicated the problems within

Vietnam. By the mid-1980s, the situa-

tion had become so desperate that the

Communist leaders reversed their ear-

lier policies and introduced a series of

economic reforms. Since then, Viet-

nam’s economy has recovered signifi-

cantly. In addition, the Vietnamese

government has improved its relation-

ship with a number of foreign powers,

including China and the United States.

Although Vietnam continues to struggle with poverty and

other problems, many people feel that the country is well on

its way to recovering from the devastation of the Vietnam War.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

In April 1975—two years after American troops left Viet-

nam—North Vietnamese forces captured the South Vietnamese

capital of Saigon to win the Vietnam War. North Vietnamese

political leaders immediately began making plans to reunite the

two halves of the country. In July 1976, they announced the for-

mation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The capital city of

the new nation would be Hanoi (pronounced huh-NOY), which

had served as the capital of North Vietnam during the war.

Many figures in the new government were former officials of

the North Vietnamese government and leaders of the Commu-

nist Party. But a few politicians from South Vietnam were

assigned positions in the government as well.

Although Vietnam was reunified fairly quickly after

the war ended, the country still faced a number of serious

problems. For example, its land and cities had suffered heavy

Vietnam Since the War (1976-Present) 259

People to Know

Nguyen Van Linh (1915–) Leader of the

Communist Party who was the man

behind Vietnam’s doi moi economic

reform program.

Pol Pot (1928–1998) Head of the Commu-

nist-led Khmer Rouge forces that took

control of Cambodia in 1976. As prime

minister of Cambodia from 1976 to

1979, he oversaw a violent transforma-

tion of society that resulted in the

deaths of up to two million citizens.

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:10 PM Page 259

damage during the war. In the South, 25 million acres of farm-

land and 9,000 villages had been destroyed. In the North, all

six major industrial cities had been severely damaged. In addi-

tion, many areas of the country continued to experience neg-

ative effects of the war. Each day, farmers were injured by land

mines and unexploded bombs that littered the countryside.

Many Vietnamese children were born with birth defects

because their mothers had been exposed to defoliants and her-

bicides (poisonous chemicals used to kill trees and other vege-

tation) during the war.

In addition to the physical damage to the people and

the land, Vietnam also faced tough economic problems after

the war. In the South, about four million people were unem-

ployed. Many of these people, including former government

officials and soldiers in the South Vietnamese Army, had

depended on aid from the United States in order to survive.

But when the Americans left and North Vietnam took control,

there was very little money to support them.

South Vietnamese are “re-educated”

As North Vietnamese leaders took steps to reunite the

two halves of their battered country, they expressed a willing-

ness to work with the people of the South. They emphasized

that their victory in the Vietnam War was a victory for all Viet-

namese people over foreign invaders. Many people in the

South were happy to have peace at last. Some had secretly sup-

ported the Communists during the war by hiding guerilla

fighters (guerrillas are small groups of fighters who launch sur-

prise attacks) or providing them with supplies. As a result,

many people in the South seemed hopeful about the reunifi-

cation of their country under Communist rule. They believed

that their lives might get better with a new political system.

Before long, however, North Vietnamese leaders began

punishing people who had fought against them during the

war. “When the Communists drove into Saigon in 1975, they

were prudently [wisely] greeted by a dazed population yearn-

ing for peace and prepared to cooperate,” Karnow notes. “But

instead of proceeding gently, they embarked on a program of

wholesale repression.”

260 Vietnam War: Almanac

VWAlm 187-294 7/30/03 3:10 PM Page 260

Within a short time, about 400,000 South Vietnamese

people who were viewed as threats to Communist rule were

sent away to be “re-educated,” or forced to go along with the

government. These people included not only former South

Vietnam Since the War (1976-Present) 261

Many Vietnamese people found

living conditions very difficult in their

country after the Vietnam War ended. But

the situation was even worse for the

mixed-race children known as Amerasians.

Amerasian children had American soldiers

as fathers and Vietnamese women as

mothers. The approximately 30,000

children born out of these wartime

relationships were treated as outcasts in

Vietnamese society.

In Vietnamese culture, a person’s

identity comes from his or her father. But

the fathers of the Amerasian children had

either died in the war or returned to the

United States in the early 1970s, when

American troops were withdrawn from

Vietnam. Most of these children had very

little information about their fathers. In fact,

some of them were abandoned by their

mothers after the war ended. As Vietnam

struggled to recover from the war, many

Vietnamese people resented anything that

reminded them of Americans. For this

reason, they looked down upon Amerasians

as “children of the enemy.”

The children of African American

fathers received especially poor treatment in

Vietnam. “All my life people had been

mean to me [in Vietnam] because of my

color,” an Amerasian named Huong told

Steven DeBonis in Children of the Enemy.

“My skin is black, and my hair is curly, not

like the Vietnamese, and they didn’t like

that.”

Because of the poor treatment they

received, most Amerasians wanted to leave

Vietnam for the United States. U.S. policy

toward Amerasians evolved during the

1980s. The Amerasian Immigration Act of

1982 recognized Amerasians as American

citizens, but the lack of diplomatic relations

between the United States and Vietnam

prevented many Amerasians from

immigrating. The Amerasian Homecoming

Act of 1987 put specific programs in place

to help Amerasians and their families leave

Vietnam and adjust to life in the United

States.

By 1990, about 22,000 Amerasians

had settled in the United States.

Unfortunately, only about 2 percent were

able to locate and establish relationships

with their fathers. Without ties in either

American society or the community of

Vietnamese immigrants in the United

States, many Amerasians had trouble

adjusting to their new home.

Amerasians

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Vietnamese government officials and army officers, but also

doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists, engineers, and other

intellectuals. They were held in prisons that had been used

during the war or sent away to work farms. Many were forced

to perform hard labor and received very little food.

North Vietnamese leaders initially planned to re-edu-

cate people they viewed as political enemies for five years. But

262 Vietnam War: Almanac

Modern-day Vietnamese

schoolchildren, riding bikes

past a poster celebrating

Vietnamese independence

from French rule.

Reproduced by permission of

AP/World Wide Photos.

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