HaThiQuisrecollectionastoldtoMarthaHess

IN THE EARLY MORNING, just after we got up, the helicopters came and started shelling,
and soldiers poured out onto the fields. Iwaseatingbreakfast.Wethoughtitmightbeliketheother
times the Americans came into the village. Theygavethechildrencandy.Orlikethesecondtime,
when Americanscameto takewaterfromthewelltofilltheircanteens, andthenleft,andtheydidnt
do any harm tothe people.But the third time, March 16,1968,whentheycametothehamletthey
rounded up all thepeople. Some they took to the roadsideand shot right away. The peopleonthe
guard tower wereallkilled. Andsome they brought overtothis ditch,here.FirsttheyshotMr.Cau.
He was a monk. He lived inthepagoda.Thentheyforcedeveryoneintotheditchandshotthem.I
was wounded in the backside. At first I felt very, very hot, and later on very cold. And they
killedyou see, they fired afirst time into theditch,andmanymen,childrenandwomenwerekilled.
They cried, Mother. They were screaming. The soldiers fired three more times and finished the
cries of the people. The first timethere werestillpeoplescreaming.Theyfiredasecondtime,and
thethirdtimeitwasfinished,allthepeoplewerekilled.
Afterwards, I got up to go back to my house, and I saw nothing. All the houses had been
burned. They had cut down our village tree by the pond. They had cut all the trees down in the
orchards. They had killed everyone. There were dead bodies alloverthevillage.Itookalittledead
babybacktothehousefromtheroadside.Itwasmydaughterschild.
I went to the next hamlet and found my younger sisterinlaw killed, lyingon the floor. And I
found her daughters body, a fifteenyearold girl, all her clothing torn off and her legs were spread
openrapedbyAmericans.
They had no mercy, the Americans. You see, they had come here many timesandwe got
along with them. Then they came and killed all the people. They showed no mercy for the people.
We had done nothing tothem. If they had killed peopleatthebeginning,oneortwo, wewouldhave
knowntorun,butwedidntknow.
I went back to my house and there was nothing, not evenapairoftrouserstowear,because
everything had been burned. The houses kept on burning, and I couldnt find anyone. I went to
another hamlet, untouched by the Americans, to get food and clothing, and told them what had
happenedatSonMy,andtheycameandcarriedthedeadpeopleaway.Therewasaterriblesmell.
My oldest daughter waskilled.Youbearachildandbring herup,andthenshegetskilled.My
husbandhadgonetoworkinthefieldsveryearly,so heescaped.Twicebefore,theAmericanshad
comehereanddonenothing.Wedontunderstandwhythethirdtimetheykilledthepeople.
After 1968 we were rounded up and moved toacampaboutthree,fourkilometersfromhere.
TheAmericanssurroundedthecampandwelivedinside.
The Americans had livedalongside the Vietnamese people, and we did nothing to them. We
worked, spent all our lives inthe fields. How could they come and kill us thatway?Sowearevery
sadaboutthemassacre,fullofsorrow,thevillagepeopleandthefarmers,verysadaboutit.
Name:__________________
Read Ha Thi Quis survival story of the My Lai Massacre. Use his story to writeyourfinalletter
for the week. For this letter you will be HaThi Qui. You need to fill out thetemplateandwritea
halfpageletter.Whenyoufinishthisletteryoucanfinishthelettersfromearlierthisweek.

Whoareyou?

Whoareyouwritingto?

Whatisthetoneofyourletter?

Why are you writing the letter (usefactsfrom

hisstory)?

Dear____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________