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Conference presentation
Saving the Army from Itself: Reporting atrocities in Vietnam to the United States government
New England Historical Association Spring Meeting (Virtual, 04/10/2021–04/10/2021)
04/10/2021
Abstract
After Seymour Hersh’s reporting about the My Lai Massacre created a public scandal, a significant number of veterans and GIs began reporting atrocities they had witnessed in Vietnam to government officials. While the timing of reports made between December 1969 and February 1971, suggest coverage of the massacre inspired individuals to make war crimes allegations, the details the cases illustrate a variety of motivating factors. Until October 1970 the Uniform Code of Military Justice required soldiers to report potential war crimes through their immediate chain of command, leaving soldiers no effective way to report potential war crimes committed or countenanced by their direct superior officers. Many soldiers who desired to report atrocities did not believe that doing so through their chain of command would produce any results. This paper argues that soldiers who still believed in the Army’s mission in Vietnam or had faith in the institution of the Army, but still believed that they should report war crimes that they witnessed chose one of two options – contacting members of Congress or senior DoD officials. Ranking officers were part of the Army hierarchy, but soldiers who contacted them believed that their positions separated them from the biases of combat commanders. Contacting inspectors general or members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff required soldiers to engage in similar activities to writing the President or members of Congress because it required complainants to locate contact information, and then write and mail a letter without discovery. This required a different type of resolve than walking into the local Criminal Investigation Division office. Further, while some atrocity allegations were self-serving, like seeking reduced prison sentences, they represent a small proportion the war crimes made. Ron Ridenhour, who reported the My Lai massacre officials, personifies the methods used by other soldiers. He acted in the belief that remaining quiet about my Lai would make him complicit in the incident, which tarnished the sacrifices of troops killed in Southeast Asia. The courts-martial of Lt. William Calley and his men for My Lai motivated many veterans to make their own allegations, if only because senior officers were held accountable.
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Details
- Title
- Saving the Army from Itself: Reporting atrocities in Vietnam to the United States government
- Resource Type
- Conference presentation
- Conference
- New England Historical Association Spring Meeting (Virtual, 04/10/2021–04/10/2021)
- Copyright
- Permission granted to the University of West Florida Libraries by the author to digitize and/or display this information for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires the permission of the copyright holder.
- Identifiers
- 99380099993006600
- Academic Unit
- Education Research Library; University of West Florida Libraries
- Language
- English