EOTO: War Crimes Exposed

    For the United States to function as a true democracy, watchdog journalism is needed. For the United States to function as a country in a time of war, watchdog journalism is needed even more to ensure accountability.

    Throughout history, watchdog journalists have played a vital role in exposing war crimes and government abuses. From The Pentagon Papers to Collateral Murder, there is a rich history in the United States of these exposures.

    Although many journalists wrote about the Vietnam War, few found the real war crimes. While many watchdog journalists talked about surface level abuses, Seymour Hersh was one of the few journalists who dug deeper to find the real stories.

    To better understand the work of Hersh, we need to travel back in time. Imagine this. The year is 1969. You are a 25 year old man sitting at home, waiting for your draft call, praying it never comes.

    You go outside, get the newspaper, and begin to read after getting back inside. The paper is still warm and the ink smells fresh. As you read, The New York Times, you see a story about Vietnam. 

New York Times page 14 on
November 20, 1969

    As you read, you are taken aback.

    "I don't remember seeing any men in the ditch. Mostly women and kids," says The New York Times article. "Some of them were still breathing - they were pretty badly shot up. They weren't going to get any medical help, and so we shot them, shot maybe five of them."

    You wonder. Why are there no men? Why did they shoot women and children? Why were they shot in the first place? What is going on in Vietnam?

    My Lai. A massacre. A cover up. A shocking discovery. An alarming event.

    You see a name: Seymour Hersh. You are confused because you have never heard of him. Who is this guy and why should you trust him?

    Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, was one of a few journalists to talk about the massacres occurring in Vietnam. Hersh dug deeper to find the cover ups, with My Lai being the biggest one he exposed.

    To understand the importance of his work in the My Lai massacre, we must understand what exactly happened in My Lai. During the Vietnam War, the United States constantly believed that little villages were harboring soldiers and hiding them.

    A military platoon, refereed to as the "Charlie Company", entered the Vietnamese town of My Lai via helicopter. They were ordered by Lieutenant Calley to shot and kill anyone they encountered, regardless of if they were a threat or not.

Hersh is on the phone in a newsroom.

    In total, the platoon murdered 504 Vietnamese citizens, mainly women and children, but none of whom were men of fighting age.

    Although this occurred in 1968, Hersh was not able to get information to cover the story until 1969, Calley was not court maritalled until 1970, and The New York Times and other major news outlets did not publish the piece until 1975.

    It was later discovered that without the reporting of Hersh, this horrific war crime most likely would have never been known.

    Reporters like Hersh are needed. Reporters like Hersh are key. Reporters like Hersh are invaluable.