The Vietnam War is an exemplary example of the atrocities that occur when men battle. The story takes place in the second Indochina War, with the involvement of the United States in the war. Military involvement by the US lasted for almost a decade and by the time the last of US troops left Vietnam, an estimated of 1-3million Vietnamese were killed in the war along with 58,220 US service members. An accurate record of war crimes that had occurred during the course of the whole will probably never be obtained as a lot never reached the public. Amongst the atrocities that had occurred during the whole war would be the My Lai Massacre of the Son My village. An estimated of 304-500 unarmed civilians including the elderly, women and children were murdered in cold blood by US troops. The massacre resulted in 26 U.S. soldiers who were initially charged with criminal offenses for their actions at Mỹ Lai. However, only Second Lieutenant William Calley, a platoon leader in Charlie Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but only served three and a half years under house arrest. As the war dragged on, the North Vietnamese army eventually started gaining ground in the war. On April 27th 100,000 North Vietnamese troops had surrounded Saigon with outnumbering 30,000 South Vietnamese troops defending the city. In the early morning of April 30th the last of the US marines evacuated Saigon. Shortly after that, North Vietnamese troops entered the city and quickly took control, overcoming all resistance.
Pvt. James Jefferson was only 22
when he joined the US Army with high hopes of serving his country after
graduating with a degree in Engineering. At that time the Vietnam conflict and
the U.S. military involvement in it had escalated to a high that enlistment for
new recruits were welcomed graciously. He was assigned to the 20th
Infantry Regiment of the United States Army. By January 1967 he was deployed on
his first tour under Charlie company.
His father gave him a name meaning ‘Peaceful
Hero’ for he always believed that conflicts are always a result of
misunderstandings between the parties. The young boy was 15 years at the height
of the war who wishes nothing more than for peace in his homeland. He has an
older sister of 16 and lives with his father at the village of My Lai. Every
morning Nguyen An Dung would help his father by tending to the small patch of
sweet potato garden they have behind their house. If the banana trees
surrounding their village bore fruit, An Dung would wake up hastily in the
morning for a change in their diet of sweet potatoes. The buildings in the
village made mostly from wood and food was a blessing not to be taken for
granted especially during the height of the war.
The village was mainly made of
wooden structures that seemed sturdy enough when made in times of peace but
almost seemingly frail and vulnerable during the war. While the war raged on,
the villagers had no choice but to continue on with their daily activities
praying and hoping that the occasional sporadic gun fire and explosions heard
from the distant mountains never came any closer to than they did. Every once
in a while, a Bell UH-1D helicopter, popularly called the Huey, could be seen flying over the village but never seemed to bother
them. Every night, the villagers would gather at the biggest structure
available in the village, the long house where meetings were held. Huddled in
silence and standing shoulder to shoulder, every man, woman and child would
listen eagerly over a small piece of box like equipment made of metal. Crudely
made, the radio still played its part in transmitting important news on the
situation of the war.
Jefferson was woken up along with
the rest of his company in the wee hours of the morning. It was 4 a.m. when
they were informed of a mission to find North Vietnamese soldiers living among
villagers at Son My, a village that was a 5 hour helicopter ride from here. The
briefing was given by Captain Medina telling them to kill all ‘Vietcongs’ and
those who look like your enemy whether they may be running away from you or
not. With that, Jefferson and his squadron loaded their weapons, supplies and
boarded the awaiting Hueys. Jefferson had already seen a fair share of combat
since being deployed here, but never has he ever participated in a village
search and destroy mission. Nervous and anxious, he only hoped that it would
not result in a fire fight among the villagers living there. Upon landing, the
only Vietcongs he saw were those in his squadron’s heads. His squadron leader
ordered the villagers to be rounded up and ‘searched’. An abrupt spray of
machine gun fire mowed the villagers down by the dozens. People were crying and
running in all directions. Jefferson, demanded to his commanding officer as to
what was going on and the only response he got was that deserters would be
equally shot as well. Revolted by what he saw his fellow comrades do, Jefferson
was helpless except to not participate at all.
Women and daughters
were raped in front of their family before being killed. Bodies were mutilated
and children were shot point blank. Buildings were set on fire.
An Dung was on his back from picking
the ripened bananas when he heard a commotion from his village. He saw a dozen
or so American helicopters land. What happened next was unprecedented as he saw
the massacre of his friends and family. An Dung started running to his house
when he saw his father being hit with the butt of an M-16 rifle by a US
soldier. His sister was crying by the corner when An Dung was suddenly tripped
by Jefferson and fell face first into the ground. He was pulled into the cover
of a tree as the killings continued and his house was burnt down in front of
his eyes. People were shouting in Vietnamese that they were just villagers and
non-Vietcong supporters but it was to no avail.
2 weeks later,
Jefferson had An Dung transferred to a refugee camp located a 10 minute jeep
ride from his barracks. The incident that occurred at My Lai continued to haunt
Jefferson since then. He suffered an internal turmoil as to what was right or
wrong. The enemy suddenly seemed to be at least humans, but his own supposedly
fellow comrades acted like savaged monsters. He avoided contact with the commanding
officer who was in charge of the search and destroy mission of My Lai and his
other platoon members whom were involved in the war. Questions are raised as to
what one does when his own fellow friend whom he knew could trust to have his
back in a gun fight murders a family of civilians in cold blood. Jefferson
wanted nothing more than an end to this. He had a family of his own and a
mother and father as well back in the states.
Jefferson filed a report to the US
Military Marshal court. His report never received a respond till many years
later. During this period he was sent on other skirmishes and his bond with An
Dung slowly grew as he visited him on a regular basis every week. When he had
the very rare ‘day off’, he would take An Dung to Saigon for a treat. Their relationship
grew as he realizes that everything was not as it seemed to be. He begun
questioning every gunfight he was involved in. The weight of the killings going
on everyday eventually took its toll on Jefferson. An Dung was a boy who
provided a sense of peace in the middle of the madness that was occurring around
him. As the patriotism in Jefferson died a little bit every day, An Dung and
him exchanged a communication shared by the only thing they had in common. They
were still only boys in this war. And through this they overcame their language
barrier and formed a relationship like two best friends listening to each other’s
problems even though most of the time neither understood what one or the other
was saying. However, the feelings were always understood and commonly shared.
They wanted to leave this wretched place of bitterness, hatred and suffering.
The climax of the mockudrama
is reached when US forces started pulling out from Vietnam. Jefferson’s base
came under heavy attack and US troops were ordered to evacuate. Jefferson knew
that this meant the end of his relationship with An Dung. Once he leaves to the
main headquarters, his platoon would soon be next in line to be returning home.
Leaving was not easy at all, not even with the prospect of knowing that he
could be back home in his country a couple week’s time. Taking a detour,
Jefferson breaks from his retreating convoy with explosions and gunshots erupting
around him and visits An Dung one last time. Tears were shed in silence as they
hugged in a friendly embrace. From two starkly different backgrounds and sides,
like black and white, the two learnt the truth within each other about the
horrors of human conflict. The scene eventually ends with Jefferson leaving his
dog tag with An Dung and dismantling his M-16 rifle, immediately disposing it
into a river that is used to transport supplies. Dozens of Hueys are seen in the sky evacuating troops as gun fire drowns the sound of An Dung and Jefferson’s
sniffles.
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