Ernest Medina participated in a documented mass killing.
The My Lai Massacre -LRB- tham sat My Lai , -LSB- tʰaːm ʂaːt miˀ laːj -RSB- ; -LSB- ˌmiːˈlaɪ -RSB- , -LSB- ˌmiːˈleɪ -RSB- , or -LSB- ˌmaɪˈlaɪ -RSB- -RRB- was the Vietnam War mass killing of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16 , 1968 .. South Vietnam. South Vietnam. Massacre. Massacre. Vietnam War. Vietnam War. It was committed by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C , 1st Battalion , 20th Infantry Regiment , 11th Brigade , 23rd -LRB- Americal -RRB- Infantry Division .. Company. Company ( military unit ). Battalion. Battalion. 20th Infantry Regiment. 20th Infantry Regiment ( United States ). 11th Brigade. 11th Infantry Brigade ( United States ). Victims included men , women , children , and infants .. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated .. Twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses , but only Lieutenant William Calley Jr. , a platoon leader in C Company , was convicted .. William Calley. William Calley. Company. Company ( military unit ). Found guilty of killing 22 villagers , he was originally given a life sentence , but served only three and a half years under house arrest .. house arrest. house arrest. The massacre , which was later called `` the most shocking episode of the Vietnam War '' , took place in two hamlets of Son My village in Quang Ngai Province .. Vietnam War. Vietnam War. Son My. Son My. Quang Ngai Province. Quang Ngai Province. These hamlets were marked on the U.S. Army topographic maps as My Lai and My Khe .. The U.S. Army slang name for the hamlets and sub-hamlets in that area was Pinkville , and the carnage was initially referred to as the Pinkville Massacre .. Massacre. Massacre. Later , when the U.S. Army started its investigation , the media changed it to the Massacre at Songmy .. Massacre. Massacre. Currently , the event is referred to as the My Lai Massacre in the United States and called the Son My Massacre in Vietnam .. Massacre. Massacre. Son My. Son My. The incident prompted global outrage when it became public knowledge in November 1969 .. The My Lai massacre increased to some extent domestic opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War when the scope of killing and cover-up attempts were exposed .. Vietnam War. Vietnam War. opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Initially , three U.S. servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and rescue the hiding civilians were shunned , and even denounced as traitors by several U.S. Congressmen , including Mendel Rivers , Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee .. Mendel Rivers. Lucius Mendel Rivers. House Armed Services Committee. United States House Committee on Armed Services. Only after thirty years were they recognized and decorated , one posthumously , by the U.S. Army for shielding non-combatants from harm in a war zone .. Along with the No Gun Ri massacre in Korea eighteen years earlier , My Lai was one of the largest single massacres of civilians by U.S. forces in the 20th century .. No Gun Ri massacre. No Gun Ri massacre