Viet Cong

By early 1975, it was becoming clear that the war would end as South Vietnam strongholds fell to the communist forces of the Viet Cong.

Medina told his dispirited troops that the next morning they’d be storming My Lai, where intelligence officials had located several hundred members of the crack Viet Cong 48th Local Force Battalion.

Still, Calley said he believed he and his men were under orders to kill anyone they saw as a threat — and women and children had been known to plant land mines, set booby traps and hide Viet Cong fighters.

The action was to be the first to rout the Viet Cong in My Lai and nearby villages.

“Since it was impossible to distinguish between friend and foe, the only conclusion was to presume that all Vietnamese were Viet Cong and kill them all.”