On February 25, 1968, South Korean Marines fighting against the communist Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army alongside Americans and the South Vietnamese committed a terrible atrocity in the town of Hà My in South Vietnam. Sadly, in virtually any war that can be researched, atrocities are almost sure to be found committed by both sides in the conflict.
Digging Deeper
The South Korean Marines, renowned for their toughness, had suffered a mortar attack in which an officer, an NCO, and 4 troops had been killed. The direction the mortar fire came from was deemed to be from the Hà My area and the South Koreans went about conducting a retaliatory attack to “discourage” further mortar fire.
Starting with a heavy artillery bombardment, the village was then attacked from the air by South Korean armed helicopters that sprayed the village with machine gun fire. A detachment of about 200 South Korean Marines was then sent in to “mop up” surviving villagers, gunning down innocent civilians where they were found. In all, 135 people were murdered, almost all of which were elderly people, women and children.
Read Full Article »