Facing My Lai: Moving Beyond the Massacre - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0700608648 ISBN 13: 9780700608645

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 1998

Synopsis

The My Lai massacre of March 16, 1968 and the court martial of Lt. William Calley a year and a half later are among the bleakest episodes in American history and continue to provide a volatile focus for debates about the Vietnam War. Other books have exposed the facts surrounding the incident; Facing My Lai now examines its haunting legacy through a unique exchange of contemporary viewpoints.

This powerful book emerges from a stellar gathering of historians, military professionals, writers, mental health experts, and Vietnamese and American war veterans convened to memorialize the tragedy. The cast of prominent speakers included journalists Seymour Hersh and David Halberstam, novelist Tim O'Brien, psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, military prosecutor William Eckhardt, and veterans Hugh Thompson and Ron Ridenhour—the two true heroes in the My Lai story. David Anderson's reflective recasting of their presentations creates an impassioned chorus of voices that demonstrates why this tragedy remains one of the key emblems of the American experience in Vietnam.

These authors address many of the troubling questions that still persist about My Lai. Why had it been identified as a Viet Cong stronghold? What orders were the troops actually given? Why didn't someone stop the slaughter? But these questions are asked again in the hope that they might lead to a better understanding of what My Lai means for us now.

As these authors show, our nation is still trying to come to grips with the bitter legacies of the Vietnam War. A grim window into the darker side of American history (like the massacre at Wounded Knee), My Lai reminds us of humanity's baffling capacity for atrocity within the crucible of war. Facing My Lai does not allow us to forget or hide from such horrors, but it also seeks to heal the deep wounds inflicted by the war. Its unflinching look at the past ultimately leads us away from darkness and towards a more enlightened understanding of a war that in many ways is not over yet.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"A profound memorial to a dark, forgotten history. A book of utmost importance."--Oliver Stone

"A coherent volume of passionate reflections on the painful subject of the My Lai massacre."--Marilyn B. Young, author of The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990

"I read this book with great interest and deep emotion. I expect it will have a deeply cathartic effect on its readers. The recollections of those who had a hand in uncovering My Lai's horrible truth are gripping, and the discussion of post-traumatic stress disorder adds a whole new dimension to the story."--Robert D. Schulzinger, author of A Time for War

About the Author:

David L. Anderson is professor of history at the University of Indianapolis. His other books include The Human Tradition in the Vietnam Era, Shadow on the White House: Presidents and the Vietnam War, 1945-1975, and Trapped by Success: The Eisenhower Administration and Vietnam, 1953-1961, winner of the Robert H. Ferrell Book Prize. He served in Vietnam as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0700608648
• ISBN 13: 9780700608645
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 258
• Editor: Anderson David L.