Interviews with My Lai veterans
Interviews with five American soldiers who were present at the My Lai massacre which took place during an attack on a Vietnamese village by American forces on March 6, 1968 during the Vietnam War. The massacre occurred during the last stages of the Tet Offensive. In this unflinching documentary, Richard Hammer interviews American combat veterans about their participation in the attack on My Lai and what occurred on March 6, 1968. There were numerous incidents of reported atrocities during the Vietnam War and In most cases, no one was prosecuted. The My Lai massacre was unique because of photographs that were taken in the immediate aftermath of the attack and the fact that these images were widely published in the US press. "According to accounts that suddenly appeared on TV and in the world press last week, a company of 60 or 70 U.S. infantrymen had entered My Lai early one morning and destroyed its houses, its livestock and all the inhabitants that they could find in a brutal operation that took less than 20 minutes. When it was over, the Vietnamese dead totaled at least 100 men, women and children, and perhaps many more. Only 25 or so escaped, because they lay hidden under the fallen bodies of their relatives and neighbors." Time Magazine "Clean cut young Americans, now back in civilian life, recount with defensive smiles, false indifference and concealed remorse how and why they murdered. Disassociated from their acts, destroyed by war, dead in life, alien to guilt, they emerge as victims as well as executioners." Amos Vogel
Film, English, 1970
Joseph Strick, United States, 1970