case study my lai

Case Study My LaiExploration 3C Part IIMs. Ripley

Being There Explain to learners that they will be asked to

transport themselves back to 1968, and into the thick of war in Vietnam.

“My Lai incident – background”

Possible Questions What do you know about the soldiers of

Charlie company from this background information?

What thoughts and feelings do you think that they might be having as they hear of the plans for the next day? Why?

Imagine being a part of Charlie company on that night of March 15, 1968. You will now be assigned a profile (Profile Cards)

How Soldiers Prepared Write responses to the two questions from your

profile card as diary entries that you might have written on the night before the planned attack for March 16.

Look at the “MACV pocket card” that was given to all American soldiers in Viet Nam. Discuss the content and purpose of the card.

What other guidance might the soldiers have been given regarding how to behave? (What type of rules?)

How Soldiers Coped Read “The morning of March 16 – page 2 of

My Lai incident (background) Video “What we did at My Lai”

What we did at My Lai Discussion topics: The enormity of the tragedy for the victims The soldiers’ state of mind prior to the operation on March 16 Influences on the various soldiers’ behavior The role of leadership The responsibilities of individuals for their own actions Issues about whether civilians are combatants How IHL and the pocket cards that American soldiers

received relate to the operation at My Lai (as planned for and as carried out)

What happened Look at your new “What happened” card for the

soldiers whom you were assigned (matching your profile card).

Compare and note the diary entries that you wrote earlier with what you learned from the video and from the what happened cards about your soldier.

Write a journal entry about what happened and what you think about the incident at My Lai.

Possible Questions Why did these soldiers inflict this terrible harm on these

civilians? Why did some soldiers refuse to participate? What differences could a bystander make? Are there times when it is important to obey orders without

question? Why does obedience matter in fighting a war? Should

soldiers follow unlawful orders? Where/How do you think soldiers learn what is unlawful? How can tragedies like March 16 in My Lai be prevented?

What should happen now? Write a second diary entry – this time for the night of March

16. From the point of view of your profile, write about what to do after the massacre occurred.

Discuss: What you wrote, what you think individuals should do and

why (from privates all the way up the chain of command) Explore: Short and long term effects on the massacre on the

combatants, short and long term effects on the U.S. military effort, motivations within the army for bringing violations to justice, motivations within the army for covering up the incident

Seeking Justice (Part II) Discuss “My Lai Incident – afterwards: What happened within the army”

Excerpt from U.S. Military Directive 20:It is the responsibility of all military personnel having knowledge or receiving a report of an incident or an act thought to be a war crime to make such incident known to his commanding officer as soon as practicable. Personnel (…) will, in the normal course of their duty, make every effort to detect the commission of war crimes and will report the essential facts to their commanding officer. Persons discovering war crimes will take all reasonable action under the circumstances to preserve physical evidence, to note identity of witnesses present, and to record (by photograph, sketch or descriptive notes) the circumstances and surroundings. (Peers Report)

Seeking Justice cont… Brainstorm a list of possible reasons why the

rules for enforcement of IHL were not followed.

Who followed the rules? Who apparently participated in “covering up” what happened in My Lai and what reasons they had for doing so.

Possible Questions