The Mỹ Lai massacre was the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by United States troops in Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam, on 16 March 1968 during the Vietnam War. Between 347 and 504 unarmed people were killed by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment and Company B, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division. Victims included men, women, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated, and some mutilated and raped children who were as young as 12. Twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses, but only Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a platoon leader in C Company, was convicted. Found guilty of murdering 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but served three-and-a-half years under house arrest after President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence.
The Americal Division was an infantry division of the United States Army during World War II and the Vietnam War.
Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. was a United States Army Major, and a former warrant officer in the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division. He is credited with ending the Mỹ Lai Massacre of the South Vietnamese village known as Sơn Mỹ on March 16, 1968, alongside and hierarchically above Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn.
Glenn Urban Andreotta was an American helicopter crew chief in the Vietnam War noted for being one of three who intervened in the Mỹ Lai massacre, in which 504 unarmed children, women and men were murdered.
Operation Malheur I and Operation Malheur II were a series of search and destroy operations conducted by the 1st Brigade 101st Airborne Division operating as part of Task Force Oregon in Quảng Ngãi Province.
Samuel William Koster was a career officer in the United States Army. He attained the rank of major general, and was most notable for his service as commander of the Americal Division and Superintendent of the United States Military Academy. A veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, Koster was slated for promotion to lieutenant general before receiving a reduction in rank to brigadier general and retiring as a result of his efforts to minimize the details of the My Lai Massacre.
The Battle of Ba Gia was a major battle that marked the beginning of the Viet Cong's (VC) Summer Offensive of 1965, during the early phases of the Vietnam War. The battle took place in Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam, between May 28–31, 1965.
Operation Wheeler/Wallowa was a U.S. offensive operation during the Vietnam War, launched on 11 September 1967 as two separate operations and concluding in November 1968. Initially named as Operation Wheeler and Wallowa, this was merged in November 1967 as Wheeler/Wallowa. The operation was at first conducted by the 101st Airborne Division and 1st Cavalry Division, but it was progressively taken over by 23rd Infantry (Americal) Division.
The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which became the Republic of Vietnam in 1955. The longest-serving commander was Lieutenant General Le Nguyen Khang. In 1969, the VNMC had a strength of 9,300, 15,000 by 1973, and 20,000 by 1975.
The 20th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment. Currently only the 5th Battalion of the 20th Infantry still exists. Stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and part of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, 5-20 Infantry was one of the original battalions selected to take part in the testing and fielding of the Army's new Stryker vehicle.
The 1st Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)—the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the I Corps that oversaw the northernmost region of South Vietnam, the centre of Vietnam.
The 2nd Division was a division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)—the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was part of I Corps that oversaw the northernmost region of South Vietnam.
The Vietnamese Airborne Division was one of the earliest components of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces. The Vietnamese Airborne Division began as companies organized in 1948, prior to any agreement over armed forces in Vietnam. After the partition of Vietnam, it became a part of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. This division had its distinct origins in French-trained paratrooper battalions, with predecessor battalions participating in major battles including Dien Bien Phu and retained distinct uniforms and regalia. With the formation of an independent republic, the colonial paratroopers were dissolved, however regalia and aesthetics alongside the nickname "Bawouans" would be retained.
The Ba Làng An Peninsula is a peninsula in Quảng Ngãi Province, Vietnam, northeast of Quảng Ngãi and 32 km south of Chu Lai. The name was often mispronounced as "Ba Tang An" and known as Batangan during the Vietnam War, although Far Eastern Economic Review and other sources continue to refer to the "Ba Lang An peninsula."
The Hue–Da Nang Campaign was a series of military actions conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War, also known in Vietnam as the American War. The campaign was centred on the cities of Huế and Da Nang, with secondary fronts in the provinces of Quảng Trị and Quảng Ngãi. The campaign began on March 5 and concluded on April 2, 1975.
Operation Bold Mariner was a US Marine Corps operation that took place on the Batangan Peninsula southeast of Chu Lai, lasting from 12 January to 7 February 1969.
Operation Pershing was an operation conducted by the 1st Cavalry Division, the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 22nd Division and the South Korean Capital Division in Bình Định Province, lasting from 12 February 1967 to 19 January 1968.
Operation Hood River was a joint U.S., South Korean and South Vietnamese operation conducted in Quảng Ngãi Province, lasting from 2 to 13 August 1967.
Operation Muscatine was a security operation conducted during the Vietnam War by the US Army in Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam from 18 December 1967 to 10 June 1968. During this operation on 16 March 1968 the 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment and the 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment carried out the My Lai Massacre.
Operation Baker was a security operation during the Vietnam War conducted by the U.S. 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division from 22 April to 31 July 1967 in the Đức Phổ District of Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam.
