Crowd pays tribute to victims of My Lai massacre in Vietnam

MY LAI, Vietnam — With talk of peace and cooperation rather than hatred, more than 1,000 people marked the 50th anniversary Friday of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, the most notorious episode in modern U.S. military history.

On March 16, 1968, U.S. soldiers of Charlie Company were sent on what they were told was a mission to confront a crack outfit of their Vietcong enemies, but met no resistance and over three to four hours killed 504 unarmed civilians in My Lai and a neighboring community.

Provincial official Dang Ngoc Dung said Vietnam wants to set aside the past and befriend other countries to build a better, peaceful future.

Relations between the U.S. and Vietnam are the strongest they’ve been since they normalized ties in 1995.

Do Ba was 9 when U.S. soldiers came to his house and killed his mother and three siblings at a nearby drainage ditch. Ba was wounded and played dead. He was rescued by a U.S Army helicopter crew that landed and intervened to stop the killing.

“Twenty years ago, I still harbored hatred against the American soldiers who killed my mother, brothers and sister,” he said “But now after 50 years as Vietnam and the United States together developed their relations, people set aside their pain and suffering to build a better society.”

At Friday’s event, several dozen girls wearing Ao Dai outfits and dove headgear, performed dances in tribute for the victims and to promote peace. Participants including government leaders, villagers and U.S. veterans laid flowers to pay tribute to the victims.