by Travis Normand
March 16, 2017

On this day in 1968 (March 16), Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson turned his helicopter’s guns on fellow U.S. troops in order to stop the My Lai Massacre.

I truly believe that one cannot fully understand or implement the LOAC without also having a firm grasp on history. For this reason, I recommend using (at the very least) the following links to familiarize yourself with what has been labeled the “My Lai Massacre.”

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre
• http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre
• http://famous-trials.com/mylaicourts
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/mylai/
• Linder, Douglas, An Introduction to the My Lai Courts-Martial (2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1029398 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1029398
• Kent A. Russell, My Lai Massacre: The Need for an International Investigation, 58 Cal. L. Rev. 703 (1970). Available at: http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/californialawreview/vol58/iss3/3 or http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2726&context=californialawreview