Date: November 06, 2010
The following is a brief time-outline of the BBC Radio Broadcast titled 'My Lai Tapes Part 1' by Robert Hodierne. The purpose of these notes is to give a brief overview of the Radio story and to highlight certain parts that may be useful in your own research of the subject.
My Lai Massacre: March 16, 1968
Place: My Lai, Viatnam
1:21 - Unidentified Women Speaking - "The first time the American's came, the children followed them. They gave the children sweets to eat, then they smoked and left. The second time we brought them water to drink. The third time, they killed everyone. Killed everybody. Destroyed everything. Nothing was left."
1:48 - Soldier Speaking - Said they killed 20 to 25 people. Cut off their hands. Cut out their toungues.
2:05 - Commentator gives overview of Viatnam and what events let up to the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968.
3:40 - Areas of the province were Freefire Zones. In Freefire Zones everything and everyone was considered the enemy.
5:28 - By 1968, there were nearly half a millions troops in south viatnam.
7:30 - Ronald L. Haeberle Speaks. He was a photographer at the massacre.
8:24 - Unidentified Soldier Speaks - We were going to go to My Lai area. Areas was well noted for snipers and booby traps. Troop had previously lost men in the area. Before we went into My Lai, we looked at it as a way of getting revenge for everyone that we had lost. They were told that anyone in My Lai were VC sympathisers. We were on search and destroy mission.
10:35 - The early activity of the mission was taped.
11:30 - Haeberle talks about what he saw in My Lai.
12:20 - Haeberle talks about hooches burning, dead people laying around, and soldiers jumping on water buffalos trying to stab them.
12:52 - Soldier Speaks describing his experince. He shot a 8 year old boy who had half of his arm blown off and his guts hanging out. The soldier shot him as a mercy killing.
13:28 - Haborly talks about the above mentioned soldier.
14:00 - Of the few survivors of the massacre, some were interviewed in 1988 for the movie, Four Hours in My Lai. The movie was made by Michael Bilton and Kevin Sim.
14:15 - Chung Te Ley talks about her first hand experience of the massacer. She survived because there wer bodies on top of her.
15:04 - Aftermath: US lost 1 solider and had 8 wounded. Village women and girls were raped. Crops were destroyed. 504 Villagers were murdered.
15:38 - Millitary mission touted as success by US army.
17:40 - By the end of 1969, Ron Haeberle published photos in Life Magazine.
19:34 - Recording of Lieutenant William Calley talking in court.
20:54 - Richard Nixon recording saying My Lai was a massacre.
21:54 - US Military does internal investigation called the Pears Enquiry. Next week's episode of this BBC World Service Series will have recorded testimonies of the Peers Inquiry. Those recordings uncover the truth of the My Lai Massacre.