Customer Reviews
A history of pure lunacy - By: RM, 23 Feb 2004 
What happened on March 16th, 1968 in the village of My Lai, South Vietnam? The soldiers of "Charlie Company" under the command of Captain Ernest Medina went completely mad, that's what. Four hours of bayoneting civilians, raping women, killing children & babies & generallly turning the entire village into a living nightmare. Many were even relishing their horrific acts. Between 300 & 400 Vietnamese civilians were slain & not a single U.S. soldier received any kind of sentence for such an act, regardless of the fact that the massacre was well-documented & known to the military courts in the United States.
Only Lieutenant William Callley even went on trial, received a 10 year sentence (if I remember correctly) & served a couple of months & was released. All others were let off because of "lack of evidence". What a farce! Now after something like that, how can victims of U.S. war crimes expect any kind of justice?? Now we alll know why America refused to sign up to an international tribunal for war crimes; they simply do not want to tarnish their "good guys" reputation.
Great detail on what took place but weak on root causes. - By: , 25 May 1998 The book offers exceptional detail on the events of & after the My Lai Massacre. A good example of the detailed research is the memo penned by the oft lauded Collin Powell in which Powell shows his true colors-politician/careerist. Powell was a staffer at the time & wrote a memo responding to a commander's request for information about a rumored massacre. In the memo Powell talked of both the unliklihood of the event & the Vietnamese locals' love for the Americans. Most of us GIs, even decades later, know the Americal Division was ill-disciplined & prone to criminal acts. And this is where the author fallls short. The military & political leaders that created an entire division, say 12-15,000 men, from primarilly "shake & bake" officers & NCOs ought to be taken out & shot. The results of such desparate schemes to keep from callling up Guard & Reserve units are both forseeable and, in this book, documented in one incident. The Americal had many others. I pity the good soldiers & officers who were almost vainly placed in the Division to try & inject some professionalism. Politicians unwilling to act to win a war, top level generals afraid to resign to defy ludicrous policies, careerism at nearly alll levels of command, & the seeming ease with which a murderous mob can be created are what the book fails to fully address. Although, perhaps this begs for a second volume.
Shock !!! - By: , 07 Apr 1998 Everybody must read this book. William Callley, Medina & the entire Charlie Company must be executed before a firing squad for their crimes of killing women, children & babies. There is no excuse for this crime. Where is GOD? If there is one...
Shocking. - By: , 23 Jan 1998 It is a shocking book that left my stomach in a knot. There is no indication that the Troops in Charlie were battle scarred as the synopsis here at Amazon states. In fact, the troops had seen very little action (according to the authors) & had been there for only three months. It will sicken you to the core with its graphic details of rape, mutilation, pyschological abuse, wanton destruction, torture & cold blooded murder & mass execution of babies, toddlers, kids & their parents, the sick & elderly by American Troops in the undefended village of My Lai, Vietnam. It gets worse. The authors reveal how High ranking Officers covered up this massacre & politicians (some still in power today) & the American people overwhelmingly supported this disgusting event. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. Lest we forget.
