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Which groups of Vietnamese civilians were targeted during the My Lai Massacre?

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A group of frightened Vietnamese women and children stand close together outdoors during the My Lai Massacre in the Vietnam War. — My Lai Massacre Vietnamese citizens photographed during the My Lai Massacre, March 16, 1968.

During the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968, U.S. soldiers from Charlie Company targeted unarmed Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet of My Lai.12

The victims were primarily groups of women, children, and elderly men who were rounded up and killed by the soldiers. Despite the lack of resistance, troops committed these acts indiscriminately, including the execution of as many as 150 civilians who had been herded into an irrigation ditch. By the end of the operation, as many as 500 civilians had been killed.2

The targeting of these individuals occurred under rules of engagement that directed soldiers to treat anyone found in the area as a Viet Cong fighter or sympathizer, based on the false belief that the area was a hotbed of enemy activity and that all non-combatants had already evacuated. The intentional killing of these non-combatants is a grave violation of the fundamental ethical principle that civilians must be protected from harm during armed conflict.324