m., Calley's platoon had crossed through the plaza and entered the village. The men began pulling people from their homes, questioning them, and searching for VietCong. Not too long after this, the killing began. The first victim was a man stabbed in the back with a bayonet. They threw people down wells, bombarded them with grenades, and even took a group of 15-20 women who were praying and shot them execution style. Calley was continually ordering his soldiers to kill people. He had no sympathy even for the children of the village, as he was killing them himself. Some of his soldiers admitted to killing at least 25 or so civilians themselves. This carnage lasted only a few hours, but by around 11a.m, the innocent village of My Lai was almost completely destroyed. Of the 700 residents, nearly 500 were eventually found out to be deceased.
As I finish the previous paragraph, I pause and think about the poor people of this village. I can't imagine being pulled from my home, treated like a criminal, and then be killed because they supposedly thought I was part of the enemy. Now, for whatever reason they had for thinking this, I guess we will never know. What I still don't understand, and don't think I ever will, is how you can kill an innocent child, knowing that they have absolutely no knowledge of anything that is happening. It makes me absolutely ill to think that there are such cold-hearted and cruel people in this world. Yes, our country did lose a lot of innocent live in Vietnam, but did we take as many innocent lives as well? .
As soon as the attack on My Lai ended, the plot to cover up the truth soon began. They began interviewing soldiers and other members of the Charlie Company about the events that took place. Many of the reports stated that around 25 to 28 civilians were killed. Most people accepted that answer, regardless of whether they knew it was true or not. One person by the name of Ronald Ridenhour, however, did not.