Research Paper

Lakisha Finai

 

November 10, 2008

 

Seymour Hersh: Research Paper

 

 

            March 16^th, 1968 the killing of innocent South Vietnamese villagers by U.S military personal occurred and U.S citizens had no knowledge of it for one whole year (www.socialistworker.org). The brutal murders of about 500 South Vietnamese villagers go unnoted or unnoticed by U.S citizens, how (en.wikipedia.org)? The answers simple, American citizens went uninformed because there was also a military cover-up involved (www.pierretristam.com). This is the story of the My Lai massacre; it took place on March 16^th, 1968 by the U.S military in the Vietnam War under the code name “pinkville (wikipedia.org).” One year later in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 13, 1969, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh was the first person to report this horrible incident to the American people (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

 

 

            Seymour Hersh was born April the 8^th, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois. Seymour is infamous for his reporting of the My Lai massacre, which gained him the Pulitzer Prize. But remained to be a continually controversial reporter. For example in Seymour Hersh’s book Chain of Command Hersh speaks out on the Bush Administrations “war on terrorism (books.google.com).” Hersh has written books about John Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War, etc (www.infoplease.com).  Hersh’s controversial topics draw attention to the politics of our country; they tell the parts of the story that most reporters and writers try to avoid.

 

            During the Vietnam War the United States, as a country, was torn. The country was torn between the hawks and doves, African-Americans and Caucasians, and women and men. The country was in a war over seas as well as inside of the coastal boarders. Many people in the country wanted a peaceful resolution with Vietnam (www.globalsecurity.org). The American people questioned the morality of the Vietnam War and the Johnson Administrations foreign policy. The American people that opposed the war began to grow; in response President Johnson spoke out against those that opposed his policies by stating:

 

 

“The American people will stand united until every solider is brought home safely. They will stand united until the people of South Vietnam can choose their own government”

-Lyndon B. Johnson