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My Lai was pinkish on maps, a shade similar to red, so people just assumed it was mostly communist.
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There were traps and mines hidden in Vietnam that American soldiers repeatedly stumbled into, and many died at the hands of unseen enemies.
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They believed that they were hiding where the traps were from the soldiers because they had communist sympathies and wanted the soldiers to die.
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They were told that My Lai's citizens had evacuated and only Viet Cong and sympathizers were left in the area. Troops were also ordered to destroy crops and kill livestock.
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The bombardment was meant to clear an area for helicopters to land.
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Soldiers followed their commanders' examples and orders, and murdered everyone they could find, even children and infants, raping many people, including children, as well. Part of this can be attributed to the anger at My Lai's citizens for letting them walk into traps, or the idea that there were no civilians there, but it was mostly following orders and the examples of the people in charge.
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The veteran had heard about it from a friend who had been there.
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He was a lieutenant who killed 22 innocents and contributed to the start of the massacre.
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He was a lieutenant who slaughtered 22 innocent people, and contributed to others joining in on the massacre, and he was convicted with the murders he personally committed.