Christian Appy, author of “American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity,” joins Scott to reflect on 50 years since the Mai Lai Massacre. Appy sets the conditions for the My Lai massacre and explains why it shocked the country from its previously steadfast belief in its exceptionalism. Appy further explains how anti-Asian racism played a role both in the My Lai massacre and in the Vietnam War more broadly and in U.S. foreign policy at large.
Christian Appy is a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the author of three books about the American War in Vietnam and the editor of a book series called “Culture, Politics, and the Cold War.” Follow him on Twitter @ChristianGAppy.
Discussed on the show:
- My Lai Massacre
- Tet Offensive
- Free-Fire Zone
- “Martin Luther King, Jr.,’s Searing Antiwar Speech, Fifty Years Later” (The New Yorker)
- “For America, Life Was Cheap in Vietnam,” by Nick Turse (The New York Times)
- Hearts and Minds, by Peter Davis (Vimeo)
- Hugh Thompson Jr.
- William Calley
- “Battle Hymn Of Lt. Calley” (YouTube)
- Operation Speedy Express
- Julian Ewell
- Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, by Nick Turse
- Domino Theory
- Pol Pot
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.
Check out Scott’s Patreon page.
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