My Lai massacre

E25688

atrocity massacre war crime

The My Lai massacre was a notorious 1968 atrocity during the Vietnam War in which U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, becoming a symbol of the conflict’s brutality and sparking widespread outrage.

Aliases (2)

My Lai hamlet ×1
Son My massacre ×1

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	atrocity → massacre → war crime →
alsoKnownAs	Son My massacre →
civilianCasualties	hundreds →
commandingOfficer	Ernest Medina → William Calley →
commemoration	My Lai Memorial in Son My →
conflict	Vietnam War →
countryInvolved	South Vietnam → United States →
date	1968-03-16 →
estimatedNumberOfVictims	347 → 504 →
exposedBy	Seymour Hersh →
firstMajorPressRevelationYear	1969 →
impact	heightened criticism of U.S. military conduct → increased anti-war sentiment in the United States →
legalOutcome	conviction of William Calley for murder → court-martial of William Calley →
location	My Lai hamlet → Quang Ngai Province → Son My village → Son Tinh District → South Vietnam →
mediaOutlet	Dispatch News Service →
militaryOperationContext	Search and destroy mission →
notableVictimGroup	children → elderly people → infants → women →
pardonOrClemencyBy	Richard Nixon →
perpetrator	United States Army soldiers →
perpetratorUnit	11th Infantry Brigade → Americal Division → Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment →
publicReaction	international condemnation → widespread outrage in the United States →
sentence	life imprisonment for William Calley →
sentenceModification	reduced to house arrest →
symbolOf	brutality of the Vietnam War → civilian suffering in war →
typeOfCrime	mass killing → mass rape → war crime against civilians →
victims	Vietnamese civilians → unarmed villagers →
whistleblower	Hugh Thompson Jr. →
whistleblowerRole	U.S. Army helicopter pilot →
year	1968 →

Referenced by (4)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
My Lai massacre ("Son My massacre") →	alsoKnownAs
Nuremberg and Vietnam: An American Tragedy →	discusses
My Lai massacre ("My Lai hamlet") →	location
Vietnam War →	significantEvent