Jack Doxey / San Diego Veterans For Peace, Hugh Thompson Memorial Chapter
March 16th 2017 marks the 49th anniversary of the My Lai Massacre that occurred in Vietnam. To say that it was a sad day in the history of our country is a gross understatement. Our United States military systematically slaughtered over 500 Vietnamese women, children, infants and old men in the tiny village of My Lai.
Our country’s attention span is short; and revisiting old wounds, as we all know, can be painful. The result is that this event has been relegated to the “dust bin” of history. Nevertheless, I beseech our government and every American citizen to not forget, and learn from the events that unfolded 49 years ago. One obvious lesson is that war is not the answer.
To some extent, the youthful soldiers with limited life experiences were duped into believing the people they were killing were some kind of sub species and with that mindset, accompanied by direct orders from their superiors, it allowed them to drop their moral compass and carry out this terrible atrocity.
Our current government’s “Might Makes Right and Them Against Us” mantra is being communicated on a daily basis to the American people. President Trump’s planting of seeds of hatred could thrust us into another major war and in turn spark more My Lai Massacres. We, the people, have an obligation not to let this happen.
It is estimated that the United States currently has 1,000 military bases throughout the world and 250,000 US military deployed worldwide. At the same time, our current government is strongly arguing that our military force has been weakened and advocates that we spend billions more to shore it up. The truth is that we have a military budget of approximately 600 billion dollars per year. This is more than the combined spending of most industrialized nations throughout the world.
If ever the citizens of the United States should be vigilant and question their government — now is the time. Seeking the truth and speaking out when you believe your country is not taking the moral high ground is not an option. It is a responsibility. Dissent, rather than being unpatriotic, is the highest form of patriotism.
In spite of it all, I see a hint of “blue sky” on the horizon. I believe that much of the world is embarking on a period of transition brought on by witnessing sustained military violence. It has jolted many of us into the reality that all people and all nations exist, at best, on a fragile planet. This type of introspection is happening right now amongst thousands of US citizens and has triggered a ground swell of activism. Many of us, perhaps for the first time, are standing up and protesting what is happening to our nation today.
Let us remain steadfast and get the job done.
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Jack Doxey is a local San Diego resident and Korean War combat veteran (1952-1954).
Chris says
Aside from William Calley, I’m always curious how the rest of Company C feels. For obvious reasons no one involved in My Lai will likely ever speak in any sort of public forum (except Paul Meadlo), but I always wonder what have been their thoughts and feelings over the years? Any sense of remorse or lack thereof? How has this experience affected their lives over the time? Their relationships? People they meet? Should we care? Should we forgive? Should that depend case by case on the individuals involved? I guess we’ll never know.
Anne Barron says
I remember the My Lai massacre…it was my awakening at 9 years old. I remember my Civics teacher who had us read the newspaper every Friday, and I read a short news story. Dad was in Nam at the time, so I was horrified. He came back, like almost all soldiers, very different man. There were many MyLai, it comes from occupying territory by force.
Nadine Scott says
Such a sad event, but they are the ones who got caught, I’m sure. War does sickening things to normal people and I can only imagine how damaged our soldiers are for having witnessed this multiple times and places and some even participating in atrocities War is UGLY. Peace is the way to go.
Chris says
I just found this. Here is the first of a several part series featuring interviews of several supposedly My Lai veterans. They see to have varying degrees of remorse or lack of. Being that these were filmed only a few years after the massacre, there still wasn’t a lot of time for these guys to fully process what they were involved with. Chances are their feeling are very different now.
John P. Falchi says
The My Lai massacre was one of the most publicized events of the Vietnam War, however it proved to be only the tip of the iceberg. Many of my students who returned from Vietnam had stories of what they, too, had participated in, leading to the death of countless women and children, as well as soldiers. The destruction of whole villages, as detailed in Le Ly Hayslip’s book “Beyond Heaven and Earth,” vividly told the story of the devastation that was taking place in Vietnam, particularly with the use of ingredients like Agent Orange. These horrors, coupled with the deaths of over 50,000 of our own men, helped to catalyze the movement that got us out of Vietnam.
Chris says
Every war we’ve ever been in has resulted in civilian casualties. My Lai is the most notorious (well then again Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Even as far back as the American Civil war. The general consensus is the Confederates were the bad guys and the Union were the good guys, but do some research and there are countless stories of Union soldiers mercilessly killing unarmed civilians, including the elderly and children and enjoying it. Both WWs there are plenty atrocities committed by our troops who did what they did knowingly, and not always “following orders”. The thing with the WWs is our side won so any crimes committed were pretty much swept under the rug, or if charged were filed and punishment administered, it was more or less hidden from the public. WW2 is interesting because in the minds of most Americans, all Germans were Nazis and deserved whatever we inflicted on them. The Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor and the truth is they were a horrible regime at the time. Besides, they were different and funny looking so who cares about them? (Sarcasm). Add to the sad fact we even incarcerated our own American citizens for having the misfortune of being of Japanese descent. Korea was largely ignored but there’s plenty of info out there of American soldiers committing atrocities. Vietnam changed everything. Aside from the fact that it was the first war where many Americans questioned our involvement, much of what happened was televised and reported to the general public so it gave us our first real glimpse into just how ugly war really is. Obviously soldiers who experienced war (and their friends and family members) already knew. Sadly, Vietnam created such a deep divide that solders who returned home were unfairly and inexcusably treated by so many of their fellow citizens. Some of what we were told I think is a bit of a myth like protesters waiting in airports and then spitting on veterans as they get off the plane. Still, veterans were unfairly targeted and vilified. Don’t get me wrong, there are soldiers who should have been spending the rest of their lives in a cell.
Vaishali says
War has never brought good for anyone. People always discuss the consequences which happen after the war is over but never try to resolve the smaller issues which led to the war itself.