Mỹ Lai Massacre Thảm sát Mỹ Lai |
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Location | Son My village, Sơn Tịnh District of South Vietnam |
Coordinates | 15°10′42″N 108°52′10″E / 15.17833°N 108.86944°ECoordinates: 15°10′42″N 108°52′10″E / 15.17833°N 108.86944°E |
Date | March 16, 1968 |
Target | My Lai 4 and My Khe 4 hamlets |
Attack type
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Massacre |
Deaths | 347 according to the United States Army (not including My Khe killings), others estimate more than 400 killed and injuries are unknown, Vietnamese government lists 504 killed in total from both My Lai and My Khe |
Perpetrators | Task force from the United States Army Americal Division 2LT. William Calley (convicted and then released by President Nixon to serve house arrest for two years) |
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The Mỹ Lai Massacre (Vietnamese: thảm sát Mỹ Lai [tʰɐ̃ːm ʂɐ̌ːt mǐˀ lɐːj], [mǐˀlɐːj]; /ˌmiːˈlaɪ/, /ˌmiːˈleɪ/, or /ˌmaɪˈlaɪ/) was the Vietnam War mass killing of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968. It was committed by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division. Victims included men, women, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated. Twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses, but only Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a platoon leader in C Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but served only three and a half years under house arrest.