The My Lai / Son My Massacre and Its Aftermath
A Short Bibliography
Compiled by: John Tegtmeier
Webmaster note: The Amazon links are provided for your convenience. If you do click through using one of the provided links, and buy the book, the site will earn a (very) small commission that will be used to help pay for the site hosting.
Anderson, David L., ed.Facing My Lai : Moving Beyond the Massacre. Modern War Studies. University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Drawn from papers and roundtables presented at the 1994 Tulane University conference marking the 25th anniversary of My Lai. Participants included David Halberstam, Seymour Hersh, John Balaban, W.D. Ehrhart, George Herring, Stephen Ambrose, Col. Harry Summers, Robert J. Lifton and Patience Mason. Also included are Ron Ridenhour whose letters started the Peers Inquiry and Hugh Thompson, the helicopter pilot who acted to save some of the Vietnamese and stop the killing. Closing essay is by Randy Fertel.
Angers, Trent. The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story. Lafayette, LA: Acadian House, 1999.
The story of the Aeroscout Co pilot who first reported the massacre that morning, and who intervened to save some of the Vietnamese civilians.
Bilton, Michael and Kevin Sim. Four Hours in My Lai. New York: Viking, 1992. TOP CHOICE
This is a highly recommended account by two British journalists. It has the advantage of both some distance from the horror of the massacre and being written by people who do not have as much emotional baggage concerning the event as most Americans. This is an excellent starting point for looking at My Lai.
Calley, William L. as told to John Sack. Lieutenant Calley: His Own Story. New York: Tempo, 1974.
Calley was the platoon leader of the platoon that entered My Lai 4 and that did the actual shootings and the only person actually convicted by court martial. His version of the events and their justification. A must read for those trying to understand what happened.
Everett, Arthur, Kethryn Johnson, and Harry F. Rosenthal. Calley. New York: Dell, 1971.
Written by the Associated Press reporters who covered the story.
French, Peter A. Individual and Collective Responsibility, Massacre at My Lai. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman, 1972.
Gershen, Martin. Destroy or Die: The True Story of Mylai. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1971. A journalism professor and former Stars and Stripes reporter, Gershen bases his account on additional interviews with the men of Charlie Company, and attempts to refute Hersh. A more sympathetic account of My Lai than most.
Goldstein, Joseph, Burke Marshall, and Jack Schwartz (eds). The My Lai Massacre and its Cover-up: Beyond the Reach of Law? The Peers Commission Report with a Supplement and Introductory Essay on the Limits of Law. New York: The Free Press, 1976.
This book is primarily composed of the first volume of the Peers Commission Report, with supplemental essays.
Greenhaw, Wayne. The Making of a Hero: The Story of Lieut. William Calley Jr. Louisville, KY: Touchstone, 1971.
Hammer, Richard. One Morning in the War: The Tragedy at Son My. New York: Coward-McCann, 1970.
Hammer is a writer who cover both the events in My Lai and the subsequent trial. From the dust jacket: "Characterized as 'slaughter by mass psychosis,' the tradegy at Son My is also seen as 'symbolic of what's happening over there' and as 'endemic to the American military commitment in Vietnam.'"
The Court-martial of Lt. Calley. New York: Coward-McCann and Geoghegan, 1971.
Hammer's coverage of the trial. See above.
Hersh, Seymour M. My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and its Aftermath. New York: Random House, 1970. Hersh, who won the Pulitzer Prize, was the reporter who first made public the My Lai massacre. He was the press secretary for Eugene McCarthy early in his campaign for President.
Cover-Up. New York: Random House, 1972. More by Hersh, emphasizing the aspects of the cover-up.
McCarthy, Mary. "Medina." Chap. in The Seventeenth Degree. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.
This was also published as a pamphlet: Medina. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.
Peers, General William R. The My Lai Inquiry. New York: Norton, 1979.
By the general who conducted the Army's formal investigation of the My Lai massacre and the cover-up. His commission was very critical of the units involved, and recommended a fairly large number of court martials, few of which actually went forward.
Peers Inquiry of the Massacre at My Lai . Frederick, MD: University Publications of America. 33 reels.
All four volumes of the Peers Report, including all the CID and Peers interviews, and all supporting documents. Newly restored. Released Febrary 1997. The ultimate resources - includes the after action reports of the units involved.
Tiede, Tom. Calley: Soldier or Killer?. New York: Pinnacle, 1971.
US Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on the My Lai Incident. Investigation of the My Lai Incident. Hearings, April 15-June 22, 1970, before the Armed Services Investigating Subcommittee, House Armed Services Committee. 1970.
US Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on the My Lai Incident. Investigation of the My Lai Incident. July 15, 1970 report by the My Lai Incident Subcommittee, House Armed Services Committee. 1970
United States, Department of the Army. Report of the Department of the Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations into the My Lai Incident, v1-4. Washington: Department of the Army, 1971.
Wilson, Col. William V. "I Had Prayed to God that this thing was Fiction." American Heritage. February 1990, pp. 44-52.
A video tape is available of the My Lai Conference at Tulane University in 1994. Featured speakers included Hugh Thompson, Ron Ridenhour and William Eckhardt.
Copyright © 1997, 1998, 2001 John Tegtmeier. Non-commercial distribution for educational purposes permitted if document is unaltered. Any commercial use, or storage in any commercial BBS or website is strictly prohibited without written consent.