In other words, I'm wondering if the American actions at My Lai were "par for the course" in what they were doing, or one horrific isolated incident.

Also when I say objected here, I specifically mean objected strongly enough that it went through official channels and is clearly on historic record. I'm sure a lot of soldiers object to a lot of things, but this case was a notable one.

From what I've read, part of the justification of the violence at My Lai was the desire to increase the number of dead Vietnamese and record them as Viet Kong to give the impression the war is being won.

In the case of My Lai, this involved mass murder of women, children, and the elderly. Everyone participating seemed to have no problems carrying out these orders, the only reason we're aware of what happened is one helicopter pilot who refused to drop the issue. If it wasn't for him, this would have likely been buried in history.

I'm wondering how frequently My Lai-type incidents would be occurring during the war. I was struck by how non-chalant and routine the mass-murder of unarmed civilians was.

It also seems like higher command genuinely didn't want civilians to be killed -- a lot of them would have been shaped by WWII and seemingly aware of the horrors of mass murder and ethnic cleansing.

Any insight into this would be helpful, thanks for reading.