The massacre at My Khe 4: a different story.

Taylor, Mark J.

Abstract

My Khe 4 was the name given by the Americans to a sub-hamlet in the village of Son My in South Vietnam. According to the Vietnamese, American soldiers killed over ninety civilians there on 16 March 1968, the day that, less than two miles away, another unit was massacring the inhabitants of My Lai 4. The Americans did not respond to allegations that civilians had been killed at My Khe 4 until December 1969 and although the leader of the platoon which had assaulted the sub-hamlet was charged with murder and investigators identified a member of his platoon as the killer of a child, neither of the men had to face trial.American reporters, their attention fixed on the events at My Lai 4, rarely took the trouble to familiarise themselves with what was alleged to have happened at My Khe 4 and those historians who have mentioned the 'other' massacre in Son My have usually presented it as a strand in the story of My Lai. Careless research has led some to argue that the massacres were the result of an order to destroy Son My and its people and the US Army has also been accused of trying to obscure what its investigators had discovered about the killings at My Khe 4 and of ensuring, with the encouragement of the Nixon administration, that no one would be tried for them. Whilst the story of My Khe 4 reveals many of the Army's weaknesses, however, it does not supply evidence of conspiracy. The massacre at My Khe 4 and its consequences are significant because they reflect, probably more accurately than what is now referred to as the My Lai Massacre, the nature of America's war in Vietnam.

Citation

Taylor, M. J. The massacre at My Khe 4: a different story. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4209517

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Keywords: Humanities
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4209517
• Additional Information: Department of Humanities, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2010