Victims' bodies were mutilated; women were gang-raped; a baby was used for target practice. The My Lai massacre, 40 years ago this weekend, was the worst atrocity by American forces in the Vietnam war. "Charlie Company" was sent to lay waste to four hamlets in Son My district suspected of harbouring Viet Cong guerrillas. It took more than a year for the truth about the slaughter of more than 500 civilians on March 16th 1968 to emerge. The subsequent trial was a whitewash. But it helped turn Americans against the war.
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