Four Hours in My Lai

Rating:
Summary: Strangers in a strange land
Review: An excellent and even-handed book. As a father of four, I would take my helmet off to Thompson and hope that I would have done the same thing in those circumstances.

However, as a jumpy eighteen-year-old who had spent three months seeing his buddies slaughtered in booby trap after booby trap, having their heads blown off by snipers you never see or get to track, Army trucks full of draftees decimated by grenades thrown by smiling elderly villagers and children, I really don't know how much I would have given a damn for any village anywhere in that country.

Yes, the massacre was wrong, and thank God for men like Thompson, but if anybody is going to judge My Lai or any other total breakdown of discipline and artificially-sustained morality, it should be men and women who have served in extreme combat environments, not bourgeois middle-class Liberals who have never had to get their hands dirty.

Vietnam was a filthy war, and because it never had a distinct purpose or Win Scenario driving it, it was a pointless war. Ironically, one of the things that triggered My Lai was the very fear and frustration generated by the VC's own tactics, including the mutilation of American corpses and the constant goading and provocation that GI's had to endure.

This was the same Enemy that massacred French garrisons and lined the approach roads with the severed heads of the defenders to demoralize the relief columns. The same Enemy that even booby trapped live babies in order to kill American soldiers and shock them into a state of psychological collapse.

Read the book, by all means, and be outraged. Yet while the massacre can never be justified, with the kind of background, only some of which I have just outlined, it can perhaps be understood - above all, as others have rightly said, in the absence of strong leadership and the stability provided by having a good sprinkling of experienced Vets throughout the Company.

No, it should never have happened, but then, neither should the War.

Rating:
Summary: Facts behind the facts
Review: Book did a pretty good job..but always remember there are always things you won't see in a book.This action was taken by a company of the 11th brigade..who had just arrived in Viet-Nam from duty in Hawaii.The worst way to go to Viet-Nam was with a whole Brigade or Division...there were NO experienced veterans with them to help keep these guys alive...and they were taking very heavy casualties,especially from booby traps,ambushes,etc.Most had not even seen the enemy yet!This is not an excuse,but lets not rush to judge 19 year old young men who were seeing their friends die all around them...first thing i learned in Viet-Nam was the women and children were also the enemy..many of our guys were killed by them...I know because i was in the 11th Brigade also at the time.

Rating:
Summary: very enlightening
Review: I originally bought this book to help me with a paper for a genocide class and found my self reading it for more than raw facts. It is expertly written and can be classified as a text, as well as an emotional recounting. The authors have strived to research facts and present them in a historic and unemotional manner, but the emotion of the story peeps through in the interviews with soilders and families of those massacred. After all of my research, I would consider this book the best in the field. My Lai must not be forgotten and this cronicles the events and reminds us of a lesson we need to learn. I beleive that Four Hours should be required reading for all students and is essential to understanding humanity both good and evil.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Disturbing
Review: I purchased this book when I was writing a sociology paper on crime and deviance. I read numerous books about My Lai and this outstanding book stands as a shining testament to the authors' though research efforts concerning this controversial 'incident'. The British authors provide an unprejudiced and comprehensive chronological recount of the series of events and institutional factors that surrounded Charlie Company's massacre of Vietnamese civilians during the 'Vietnam Conflict'. Interviews with ex-members of Carlie Company are complemented with an unparalleled recounting of the historical facts. The authors detail the chain of command within the US army, the US's policy agenda relating to the 'Vietnam Conflict', an attempt by officers to cover-up the massacre and the subsequent prosecution and defence of those who were brought to trial. Vague orders, a guerilla warfare scenario, an endemic culture of racism that promoted the dehumanisation of the Vietnamese people, an altered moral sphere, a revenge filled frenzy and soldiers' unquestioning deference to authority were among factors that contributed to the massacre. This book is both disturbing and fascinating and will provide the reader with a valuable insight into the US's military institution during the troubled times of the late sixties and early seventies.

Rating:
Summary: [e-mail]
Review: I thought that Lt Calley was made a scapegoat for the
event that happened at My Lia, but after reading the book.
I find that he was a coldblooded killer,and cause many other young men to be the same way. I will never understand why Cpt Medina,and the other oficers involved in this incident was not brought to trail. The order given by these Oficers were just as much the cause of the problem, as were the men that did the actual killing.
I served two tours in Nam , and I thank God that I never
witnessed any such thing. I would probably have been brought to trail myself for killing those that would do such a coldhearted
thing.
However I must say that I am exremely proud of those that did not participate in the shooting.

Rating:
Summary: Shocking.
Review: 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) and 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 and cold blooded murder and mass execution of babies, toddlers, kids and their parents, the sick and 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 and politicians (some still in power today) and the American people overwhelmingly supported this disgusting event. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. Lest we forget.

Rating:
Summary: Great detail on what took place but weak on root causes.
Review: The book offers exceptional detail on the events of and 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 and 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 and the Vietnamese locals' love for the Americans. Most of us GIs, even decades later, know the Americal Division was ill-disciplined and prone to criminal acts. And this is where the author falls short. The military and political leaders that created an entire division, say 12-15,000 men, from primarilly "shake and bake" officers and NCOs ought to be taken out and shot. The results of such desparate schemes to keep from calling up Guard and Reserve units are both forseeable and, in this book, documented in one incident. The Americal had many others. I pity the good soldiers and officers who were almost vainly placed in the Division to try and inject some professionalism. Politicians unwilling to act to win a war, top level generals afraid to resign to defy ludicrous policies, careerism at nearly all levels of command, and 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.

Rating:
Summary: Very well written book
Review: The only thing I would add to the below reviews is that the authors do an excellent job of not including their prejudice in the book. I could not tell what, if any, position they took on the massacre at My Lai. The book is very chilling and should be read by anyone interested in America's involvement in SE Asia.