On March 16, 1968, over 300 unarmed civilians were killed in South Vietnam during an indiscriminate mass murder known as the My Lai Massacre. Conducted by a U.S. Army unit, the My Lai massacre is considered one of the most appalling atrocities perpetrated by U.S. forces in an already savage and violent war. All victims involved were unarmed civilians, many of whom were women, children and elderly people. The victims were raped, tortured and beaten, even mutilated before being killed. The massacre was forever etched in the hearts and minds of the American people on the day "the American spirit died." Since the beginning of the Tet Offensive, the 48th Battalion of the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front (NLF - Vietcong) have carried out frequent attacks against US forces. According to intelligence reports, the 48th Battalion of the NLF was believed to have taken refuge in the village of Son My. The hamlets within the village of Son My were designated My Lai one to four. These villages were suspected of harboring Viet Cong fighters. Therefore, US forces prepared for a major operation against the village of Son My. Colonel Oran K. Henderson of the U.S. 20th Infantry Regiment ordered his subordinate offices to strike hard at the village and annihilate the 48th Battalion. His second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Frank A. Barker, also ordered the men to burn houses, destroy food supplies and livestock. Charlie Company of the 1st American Battalion, under the direct command of Captain Ernest Medina, landed after American artillery bombardment on the helicopter landing zone (LZ). Although no contact was established with the enemy, American forces suspected that Viet Cong fighters were hiding underground in the villages of My Lai. Like the previous mission briefing given by C... center of paper... control and morality, such as "child killers". To make matters worse, these killings were carried out indiscriminately. Furthermore, the mutilation of bodies and inhumanity demonstrated during the My Lai massacre rivals the atrocities conducted by the Nazis and Japanese during World War II. The main, and probably most significant, distinction between the two was the fact that convicted and guilty Nazi and Japanese parties were executed or severely punished (i.e., life imprisonment), while the worst punishment given to U.S. personnel was four years of house arrest. . The absence of morality in the perpetrators distorts the public perception of the moral compass of the military as a whole. Thus, the cover-ups that follow suit describe the lack of integrity that the Department of Defense regularly displays when atrocities associated with US forces are brought to light..