My Lai Massacre Research Paper

The website I chose for this assignment is http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-ghostdance.html. I chose this website because it looked like it had a lot of information about my topic and there were pictures on the side to help me. It also was last reviewed not too long ago so that shows that the information should be reliable and trustworthy.

Accountability coincides with expectations, if something is expected from a subordinate and they do not meet that expectation, it is a problem. The book “Black Hearts” mainly focuses on an atrocious offense that took place in Iraq during March of 2006. Four United States Soldiers were under the influence of alcohol while guarding a traffic control point. While drunk on post, the soldiers planned to commit a crime. The soldiers left their assigned guard post in the cover of the night and made their way to a house in a small Iraqi village. They raped a fourteen-year-old Iraqi girl named Abeer then proceeded to murder Abeer, her younger sister, and their parents. The soldiers then poured kerosene on Abeer’s lifeless body and lit her on fire. They turned on the kitchen’s propane tank in attempt to blow up the house and cover up the crime scene. The four soldiers then ran back to their traffic control point. At first, they were winded, nervous, and scared but once their safety took hold, they started celebrating. They cheered of how “great” what they had accomplished was. All of the soldiers that were involved to include those that knew about the crime were eventually convicted by either civilian court or military courts martial resulting in dishonorable discharge, administrative separation, and prison sentences that range from 27 months to life in prison. If one of the soldiers would have held the others accountable by stopping them or by notifying the chain of command, the acts that occurred on that day may have been prevented. It is important that a culture of accountability is constantly fostered. An environment where military members account for themselves as well as others will have a powerful positive impact. Accountability is a must have for all effective

Claims are made throughout the entire documentary by various people surrounding sexual assault in the military. The United States military works around hidden corners to avoid having a bad reputation due to assault or rape, was the first claim made. This is revealed by victims willing to share their stories. They were all told to “stop crying and realize that they brought this onto themselves”by their commanders. Therefore, his gives insight into the larger picture because the commander did not stop the sexual assault nor did they receive empathy after surviving a life changing event. Next, the second claim made occurs within the second half of the documentary; The military covers up sexual assault not only to the public, but also to the government,

How did the official version of the My Lai assault differ from the soldiers’ testimonies? Why were they so different from each other?

If you’ve ever had an ethical dilemma related to upholding the Army Values, let me first warn you that this will not be your last ethical dilemma. Second, let me provide you with purpose, direction, and motivation to uphold the Army’s Standards to influence your decision.

Can the fear of people control the way certain things and events are looked at? In 1950 a nationwide historical campaign called McCarthyism took place. The campaign was against alleged communist in the U.S government and other institutions and accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence which was carried out by Joseph McCarthy. The primary targets were usually union activist, government employees, educators, and entertainment industry. Many people people lost their trust in others, causing a new outlook on life while relationships were destroyed. McCarthyism was caused by the fear of the people due to past events.

In the early 1760’s, the tension between the people in Boston and the British soldiers started to grow until in early 1770, when the two groups reached their breaking point. On March 5, 1770, a group of men started intimidating a British soldier; he soon called for assistance but eventually the crowd had grown to practically one hundred people. Captain Thomas Preston and seven other soldiers arrived, trying to calm the situation down, but to no avail. A soldier fired into the crowd followed by the other soldiers firing soon after, resulting in five people being killed. Captain Thomas Preston happened to be arrested and charged with murder. The reality of what truly happened that night are ambiguous; some witnesses claim that Captain Thomas Preston ordered the soldiers to fire into the crowd while others say that he did not. After reviewing the testimonies given by witnesses, it is unquestionable that Captain Thomas Preston was innocent since witnesses place the Captain in the front of the soldiers, one of the soldiers is observed being hit by an object resulting in his firing of the first shot and

Between November 15 and December 21, 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman led 60,000 Union troops on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of the march was to strike fear into Georgia’s civilian population and lower the moral on the Confederate home front (History). This “March to the Sea” left a scar through the heart of Georgia and impacted life in the South for decades. Sherman’s actions were war crimes, but were the best thing under the circumstances.

The decision of Lyndon B Johnson in refusing to call his troops during the Vietnam war even though he certainly has the power to do so was really controversial. Different scholars have different opinions and theories on why president Johnson decided to let the war continued and escalated it. The two scholarly sources that will be evaluated and examined during this paper is Indomitable Will: LBJ In The Presidency by Mark K. Updegrove (2012) and Dereliction of Duty by H. R. McMaster (1997). The origin of Indomitable Will: LBJ In The Presidency is 2012 and its author Mark K. Updegrove is an historian, an American author and the Lyndon Baines Johnson library and museum director. The purpose of his book is to redefine Lyndon B Johnson’s personality

A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo shows the hard work and difficult tasks the men had to go through to prove themselves and protect their country. The war will change the men’s attitudes and the way they do everything. Men made sacrifices in the Vietnam War most people would never make in a lifetime, they will not just sacrifice but push themselves physically harder than most any other men. The men will also emotionally change from constantly watching other men die, or killing other men. The mens first kill was always the hardest for them, mentally they had so many thoughts of the other mans close ones back home and what they would go through and how it would be all their fault. Men went through so many tasks during the Vietnam War physically and mentally.

The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases. Both the My Lai Massacre and the Tet Offensive present scenarios where unnecessary death tolls could have been prevented in this pointless war. Due to the fighting, there have been irreversible consequences, such as unsuitable farmland for the Vietnamese, diseases that plague the citizens of Vietnam due to chemicals encountered during the way, and the losses of millions of humans. Millions of people would not have had to suffer from the Vietnam War because the consequences were completely avoidable. The whole war was very ironic because the United States entered the war with the “peace with honor” policy, but quickly scrapped the policy because of their aggressive mentality to the

Compared to the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Lumumba’s actions and motives continued to be questioned. Given the rise of the hostile relationship with the United Nations, Lumumba also had to be eliminated. The United States, was heavily involved with the plot to kill the strong African leader. U.S. intervention in the Congo crisis and its plight in the assassination, was an unprecedented projection of American power (Mountz, 152). U.S. President Eisenhower’s supported a plot to kill the charismatic African leader. The mission was carried out on January 17, 1961. Details around the conspiracy to poison, torture, and his brutal death has been investigated. Yet, after all the evidence pointing to the conspirators, there has still been no justice for this heinous war crime.

During the Vietnam conflict, the U.S. government had ordered groups of American soldiers to camp in Vietnam territories. The purpose of the United States sending American troops to foreign soil was to prevent another conflict. However not everyone agreed to this. Many families of these troops saw no real purpose

Commitment, dedication, and motivation are the three most important values when joining the military. Background checks and months of training are required to ensure that the best is selected to stand strong as one for the best interest of all. Regardless of the requisites, hundreds of individuals devote their time to become part of the US military, unfortunately it is not meant for everyone. Even though the system tries to ensure that only the strong get chosen, it has been proven to be flawed. For example, ex-military personal, like Robert (Bowe) Bergdahl, have left base camps or leaked information to express their feelings towards the military. Powers argues that, when any member of armed forces deliberately walks away from a base camp or

The United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by US Forces, but it seemed like freedom was the last thing on their minds. Abu Ghraib prison was an occupied Iraqi prison where the US Army held mass incarcerations and sponsored inmate torture. 2007 marked the year that a documentary titled “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” was produced by HBO and directed by Rory Kennedy. This documentary showed the abuses and injustices inured to the Iraqi prisoners at the hands of the United States Soldiers. Although the guards at Abu Ghraib Prison Complex had personal reservations against the treatment of the prisoners, they were manipulated into authoritarianism by their overzealous obedience.