The Olson and Roberts book, My Lai is based upon the March 18, 1968, assault on My Lai. By examining the material, an explanation of why this massacre occurred is drawn. The main factors that lead to the My Lai assault were difficulty engaging with the enemy and the problem of distinguishing between the enemy soldiers and civilians, which both led to rage and frustration among soldiers and a misinterpretation of the mission.On March 17, 1968, a mission was given to the Charlie company to go into the village of My Lia or Pinktown, and engage in battle with the enemy. The area was said to be heavily populated with Vietcong, the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong sympathizers (Olson, T’Souvas, CID Statement, p.68). On March 18, 1968, the Charlie company went to My Lia to seek and destroy the Vietcong’s 48th Local Force Battalion. The mission turned into a great massacre of harmless civilians. Old men, women and children were gathered together in groups and then executed. Everything that moved was killed. Pfc. Charles Gruver, a soldier at My Lai said to Ronald Ridenhour, “We went in there and killed everybody.” After the massacre the military was trying to cover the incident up to keep it from the public. On the report for the battle of My Lai it was listed 2that 128 enemies killed but only three weapons recovered (Olson, p.23). It was evident to what had actually happened.The difficulty engaging with the enemy was a factor leading up to the massacre. The Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army were highly skilled in hit-and-run guerrilla tactics. The Vietcong made extensive use of land mines and boobytraps. Women, children and old men helped the Vietcong to construct and place these defensive weapons. (Olson, p.47,48) While trying to locate the Vietcong on search and destroy missions many American soldiers were killed or wounded by mines boobytraps or snipers. William Calley testified that the sight ...
