My Lai: "Smoke coming from the muzzle"
A little over 40 years ago Ronald Haeberle walked into the offices of the Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio, clutching a set of pictures that were to change history. He held in his hands photographs of people's bodies lying in the dirt of Vietnam who had been killed by US soldiers.
On the 16 March 1968 more than 500 men, women, children and babies were murdered in the village of My Lai and surrounding areas, but it was not until 1969 that news of this came to light following an investigation by the journalist Seymour Hersh. The inquiry that followed resulted in the court martial in 1970-71 of Lieutenant William Calley - a member of Charlie Company who was tried and convicted of murdering 22 "Oriental human beings" in My Lai on that morning in 1968.
Behind closed doors an internal army investigation in to the massacre revealed the true extent of the operation that involved two companies: Bravo and Charlie. Both received orders from their commanding officers, permitting them "to kill everything and anything".
Until now it has always been accepted that US Army photographer Haeberle did not photograph any of the actual shooting, he focused his lenses on the dead and those about to die.
Haeberle carried two cameras with him that day, one was an army camera and with it he was charged with photographing the mission to obtain pictures that would be used in the US press to say to the public "here's what we accomplished"; the other was his personal camera.
It was this one that contained a roll of colour-slide film which he used to record the day. He processed the film himself on his return to the US a couple of weeks after the events in My Lai. The film included pictures that, as he puts it, show "smoke coming from the muzzle".
In a recent interview with the Plain Dealer, Haeberle now admits that he did indeed take pictures of some of those doing the killing but later destroyed them. He said: "There are some photographs that after I arrived home [in the US] I realised that there is no way I can release photographs showing who the actual persons are doing what. I figured I'm not going to point my finger at any one soldier. I'm there. I'm part of it. I'm as guilty as anybody else, not for shooting a person, but for not reporting it... it's like one big cover up. There are photographs I could have pinpointed who did what."
You can hear and see the full interview on the Plain Dealer website.
But what does it say about the role of the photographer. Some commentators have pointed out that during the inquiry into the event and even with the pictures of the massacre that survived, many Americans did not believe US soldiers could commit such acts.
Would Haeberle's pictures of the actual killing have changed that, or would they even have been printed? I doubt it, but as David Quigg said on the BBC World Service they would have helped create the context for the pictures we have seen.
Quigg goes on to mention that today we'd press the delete button, and indeed he calls it the "cover-up button".
I think that's possibly a little too simplistic. To follow that through for example you could argue that by simply not taking a picture we are effectively pressing the delete button. A photograph is but a representation of something and the decision to point the camera one way or another will change perceptions of the event depicted. It's also a flat representation and as well as revealing truths some would rather hide, it can also create untruths just as easily.
Haeberle's pictures are without doubt some of the most powerful from the conflict in Vietnam, a conflict that photographically speaking was arguably the high point of photo-journalism. His pictures changed public opinion and there are not many that can make such a claim.
You can read about the events in My Lai in a BBC report marking the 30th anniversary in 1998 and details of the recordings from the army investigation can be read here.
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" I realised that there is no way I can release photographs showing who the actual persons are doing what. I figured I'm not going to point my finger at any one soldier. I'm there. I'm part of it."
Sounds like he chickened out and is simply trying to justify his decision. Destroying images like that is plain wrong.
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In his book "The Road Less Traveled", Dr M Scott Peck says: ... I was once directed by the Chief of Staff of the Army to prepare an analysis of the psychological causes of the My Lai atrocities and their subsequent cover-up, with recommendations for research that might prevent such behavior in the future. The recommendations were disapproved by the Army general staff on the basis that the research recommended could not be kept secret. "The existence of such research might open us up to further challenge. The President and the Army don't need more challenges at this time," I was told. Thus an analysis of the reasons for an incident that was covered up was itself covered up.
Lt. Calley was grant a Presidential Pardon after, I think, 3 years by President Nixon. He has recently show great remorse over what happened.
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It's impossible to sit in judgment on soldiers, not having been in their situation and not having experienced the horrors that they witness. Soldiers are indoctrinated to regard the enemy as less than human, and it's easy to do so if there are marked physical and cultural differences between the protagonists, to the point where killing the enemy is not much different than killing an animal.
What happened at My Lai was horrible, but these type of events are all too common in war, no matter who fights them. Human beings quickly take on the group mentality; in fact, it's part and parcel of being a soldier. I well remember the scenes when those two soldiers strayed into a Catholic/Republican funeral in Northern Ireland and watching transfixed as the crowd turned into a savage, bloodthirsty mob. All too easily, humans descend into barbarism.
However, instead of demonising individuals, we should be looking at those who start, promote and profit from wars.
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@ NEARPOSTHEADER:
Are, or were you, a soldier? And crucially, are/were you an American soldier?
I highly doubt that American soldiers - or soldiers in any Western nation - are indoctrinated to believe civilians are subhuman - even when the Vietnam War was taking place. They are indoctrinated to follow orders, and I can see how some might believe that the ends justify the means (i.e. if you hurt them hard enough, they might surrender faster, saving more lives in the long run). In the case of My Lai, it would have been 'by doing this, civilians will fear the Americans more than the Vietcong, and so won't harbor Vietcong and will aid - or at least not obstruct - the Americans/South Vietnamese government).
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@ AnonymousCalifornian
I am sure the thousands of civilians killed in American conflicts since WWII would disagree with your perception of how American soldiers behave in war and how American soldiers view civilians in war zones. Just read the news and you cannot miss the new scandals emerging from ongoing conflicts. It seems My Lai was not an exception or a one-off lapse of judgement after all.
Besides the scandals that have been coming out of Iraq over the past months and years, a "great" example is the collateral damage in drone strikes in Pakistan. Will any American soldier be punished or prosecuted for killing civilians using a drone? Instead of learning from My Lai, it seems the American military has perfected the technique for killing indiscriminately.
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And the USA continues to police the world in the name of Peace.
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The job of a 'true' news journalist or photographer is to capture the truth and expose it to the world. To do otherwise is a betrayal of not only of their duty but conscience.
As for american/allied combatants of the Vietnam war, they are no better than murderers, even worse in the case of My Lai. I agree with nearpostheader that these so called 'soldiers' (to use the word 'soldier' for these scums is an insult to true soldiers who fight for peace/justice defending ones own country or innocent life for example) are for sure brainwashed to treat the percieved enemy as subhuman hence making it justifiable to kill them in anyway possible. This has happened since they mostly wiped out true Native Americans and also the japanese during the 2nd world war. But I firmly believe that no matter whatever the situation one may find oneself in, there is a fine line one should never cross and to do so, you will have committed murder in cold blood. That fine line is the killing of the INNOCENT (defenceless children, men and women) committed on many occasions by american and korean combattants during the Vietnam war. Americans citizens have not suffered the true hell and devastation of mordern warfare on their country proper and therefore have no idea of the true sorrow and pain suffered by those to which they have unleashed hell and committed war crimes against, ie. small countries like mine (Vietnam) when we had no quarrel with them. And until they experience this, they will not truely know or change. It is like until one has experienced a certain pain or illness, one will not truely know what it is really like. The europeans have in the 2nd world war and so knows this pain and suffering of terrible mordern war. Vietnamese and Americans fought together side by side including 'ho chi minh' against the japanese in the pacific. Ho Chi Minh even wrote to trueman asking for assistance after the 2nd world war but instead trueman decided to help the french to retake Vietnam. The rest is history (the resistance against french and american imperialism began in earnist as any nation would do when they have been invaded by foreigners). By the way, I am an Anti-Communist/American Vietnamese who believes in social justice, equality and government transparency/accountability like most people in our small planet.
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Who gave Calley his orders?
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The My Lai massacre was a brutally shocking war crime. It is worth mentioning that although the killings and rapes were carried out by a platoon of US troops commanded by Lt. William Calley, the massacre was eventually stopped – and civilian lives saved – by three other US soldiers once they had realised what was happening.
Chief warrant officer Hugh Thompson flew a helicopter over My Lai whilst the massacre was taking place and saw many bodies on the ground.
He landed, realised a massacre by US troops was taking place, confronted the commander of the ground troops (at one point he told his crew to "open up on the Americans" if they continued to fire at civilians) and managed to arrange the evacuation of some Vietnamese survivors.
It was also thanks to Thompson and some other US service personnel, including Haeberle, who refused to let the matter be covered up that the US military was forced to mount an investigation that later led to the court martial and conviction of Lt Calley.
Thompson died in 2006 from a cancer. A biography of him ‘The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story’ was published in 1999.
There is a documentary film ‘Return to My Lai’ about Hugh Thompson’s role in confronting Lt Calley, rescuing Vietnamese civilians and subsequent refusal to allow the massacre to be covered up.
It has been shown once late at night on TV. I can’t remember which channel it was on; I hope it is shown again, it is immensely powerful.
There are some accounts of the massacre, Thompson’s role in ending it and his testimony to Lt Calley’s court martial on the pages below.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0129380/events/mylai.html
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero.html#HUGH THOMPSON:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_intro.html
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9803/16/my.lai/
Should Haeberle have published the photographs he destroyed?
Yes, at the very least he should have kept the negatives in case an inquiry occurred. To both bear witness and to apportion responsibility.
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Before going on, I must first distinguish between the American civilian population and the American military and their supporters.
The American military in Vietnam, and subsequently in Iraq ans Afghanistan, had based their strategy on "superior firepower and the suppression of the enemy military and civilians by *ANY* means" !! The killing and dehumanising of civilians was *NOT* condemned or was tacitly condoned by the higher ups. My Lai was only the most publicised incident of its kind in the Vietnam War but was *NOT* an isolated incident !! There were many more of such incidents that happened but were not publicised.
In Iraq, crimes against civilians include the Abu Ghaib prison incidents and the gang-rape and murder of a 15 year old girl and the murder of her family to cover up the rape !!
In Afghanistan, the indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan that have been so casually and off-handedly described as "collateral damaged" will ensure that the hatred generated will keep the fighting at an ever-escalating level of violence until one side or the other is exhausted.
If killing Afghan and Pakistani civilians can be described as "collateral damage" then killing American civilians can also be so similarly described. This puts American civilians up as *legitimate targets of war* !! Therefore, attacks on American civilians should not be described as "terrorist attacks" but should simply be known as "collateral damage" of the American war effort(s) !!
This prevalent attitude of the American military is why the Americans have *NEVER* won a war against guerrillas - from Geronimo through to the Moros of the Philippines, through Vietnam to the present day !! Even with the superior firepower of their repeating rifles and their Gatling guns, the Americans could not suppress the spear- and sword-wielding Moros of the Philippines !! The simple reason for not winning this and other such wars is that the American military had NO *moral* superiority !! In a guerrilla war, propaganda and moral superiority count for much more than superior firepower !!
Therefore, incidences like My Lai hands free and potent ammunition to their enemies !!
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My Lai can easily be scrutinised with the benefit of hindsight and from the comfort of one's armchair. It can only ever be understood by those who were present. Haeberle did eventually come forward and this is his salvation. Think what would history be like without the poignant and terrible images of war captured by Haeberle, Capa, Rosenthal and such?
Images alone do not tell all the story but have the power to compel. Hopefully these images will make people more interested in history and willing to learn the facts. Sadly it seems many participating in this commentary are woefully ignorant, biased and uninformed.
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Having witnessed the head of internal audit of a major UK charity lying in court about an investigation into fraud, nothing surprises me about what people will try to get away with. The existence or not of the pictures are nothing without someone brave enough to testify about their relevance.
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I understand everyone knows the old cliche " Don't try and understand and visualize what happens in War, unless you have been there.."
Lt Calley and his squad, had been under morter fire, sniper fire all day, when they found this village. 90% of them were scared and wetting their pants. There is no excuse for what happened, but its been over 40 years, lets not keep talking about it.
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@padrebill: I watched Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain - Britain in Second World War on BBC2 tonight. I can't remember how many times I have watched Britain's cities were bombed by German in WW2 on TV. That happened long time before My Lai. Lets not keep talking about it??
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#9 is spot on. Its worth repeating that one of the helicopter pilots at Mai Lai fired on US troops and circled a group of civillians protecting them. A few americans at Mai Lai really distinguished themselves and their bravery should be praised... firing on your own guys to protect civillians is serious courage.
On a wider note why is O.K to judge 'America' on the actions of a few hundred americans 40 years ago, yet completely unacceptable to judge 'Germany' by the actions of tens if not hundreds of thousands of nazis 60 years ago? A clear case of double standards.
Equally Mai Lai is well known but how many know about the thousands of teachers, cops, civil servants etc in Hue during the tet offensive. They were all ordered to report for 'reducation' the next day, shot in the head and dumped into ditches filled with lime. The vietcong were not 'the good guys'
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