My Lai Bullshit

0430 hrs, early mar68, I walked out to the helipad at LZ Bayonet and climed aboard a UH1 heli bound for SW of Chu Lai. The mission.......throwing leaflets into the My Lai's, getting ready for a big push. It was hot and muggy. as the bird lifted out and climbed to the normal cruise altitude of 6,000 feet, we headed for the "rice Bowl" (the My Lai's were VC and NVA strong holds where the used local farmers mixed with VC and NVA Regulars were doing business. As we headed west of Hwy 1 into the Duc Pho area we started throwing leaflets over My Lai #1. The leaflets showed a map of the My Lai's with a red circle around the villages. It said in French, Vietnamese and English that the area is going to be a "FREEFIRE ZONE" after the noted date. It warned people if they were caught in these area's after that date, they would be fired on. We had to clear the area of personnel so we identify the bad guy's. I worked two tours in Vietnam as a combat photographer, and 1 tour as a door gunner. The My Lai's were my AO (Area of Operation). for years commanders would sweep the My Lai's and daily take casualities either thru sniper or bobbytraps. I personally filmed wounded GI's day after day there. A person shoots 5-10 rounds from a grass hut, 4 soldiers are down, 2 KIA's, you go to the hut and the vietnamese say"No Bic" no VC, but bullets just came from the hut. What Vietnamese "civilians" that were there were aiding and abetting the enemy. (The term about kids throwing gernades was real). Any questions you need, I'll answer.........but don't count on the answers being sugar coated, I lived in and around this area for two years, on my third tour I was wounded with Rusty's old platoon C Co, 1/20th. Was wounded(shot 5 times) in Dragon Valley SW of Da Nang where 1/20th had taken over, I could fill volumes with what wasn't told about the war.....contact me for more