En route to Hoi An along the east coast was a sobering stop at the My Lai massacre memorial rawly condemning of Americans. Rightfully so, I would say. American Lt. Calley's platoon wiped out more than 500 women, children and old men in the village in 1968. They lined them up near canals and shot them, dumping bodies into the ditches.

Granted, the American platoon was incensed because they had lost 28 of their own to traps and sniping. However, to kill the women and children because they wouldn't or couldn't say where the men were was ghastly. Most of the Vietnamese men had already been killed or serving with Viet Cong forces. They just weren't there.

An American helicopter pilot, Hugh Thompson, intervened between the shooters and the few remaining live villagers. He threatened to have his gunner fire on soldiers in his own platoon if they didn't stop the killing. It was a good thing they did stop, since the gunner wasn't sure he could fire on his own. Pictures of these men are also displayed at the memorial.

Bombers came soon after in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The event went unnoticed until a soldier named Ronald Ridenhouer put together stories he heard about it and sent letters to the President, Justice and State Departments. Nixon started an investigation.

Convicted of premeditated murder of 22 and sentenced to life in prison, Calley served a few days in a Fort Benning prison before being placed under house arrest.  His sentence was repeatedly reduced. He was commuted to time served by President Nixon and paroled in 1974.

Forty years later he made a public apology at a Georgia Rotary meeting.