The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An

Annotation

Tom Parrott, born in Washington D.C., USA, in 1944, a prominent member of the contemporary folk scene in the 1960s, wrote many political songs addressing the Vietnam War, such as the song The Freedoms We've Been Fighting For (1967), the song Hole in the Ground (1968), and the song Pinkville Helicopter (1971), below. He frequently appeared in Broadside, with eleven songs published.1 This was a mimeographed publication founded in 1962 by Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen, that promoted contemporary folk and protest songs. It also had a music label: Broadside Records. It usually published both lyrics and notations of songs, as well as articles and interviews about folk music, and newspaper clippings of current events. While many of the songs would have been played at the folk clubs and festivals, not all of them were recorded. The song "The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An" appears to be one of those never recorded. It originally featured in Broadside # 103, December 1969. It gave an account of the massacre, narrated from the perspective of a soldier who took part, who repeated the line that "orders came down from the brass for everything we done" - the official line taken by Calley and others in the platoon, that they were obeying orders. The soldier said that the platoon went out to "search and destroy, hunting for the VC" - the National Liberation Front (NFL), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam. They got to the hamlets of My Lai and Truong An, and "slaughtered all the old folks, all the women, all the kids", on the grounds that they had "liberated" the area. They also "did it for America...in the name of god and country, for our wives, our folks and sons". This song strongly condemned the massacre and the actions of Calley, taking an overall anti-war position.Sources1Index of Songs by Author 1-144, part 1↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs

Tom Parrott, born in Washington D.C., USA, in 1944, a prominent member of the contemporary folk scene in the 1960s, wrote many political songs addressing the Vietnam War, such as the song "The Freedoms We've Been Fighting For" (1967), the song "Hole in the Ground" (1968), and two songs about the My Lai massacre: "The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An" (1969) and "Pinkville Helicopter" (1971). He frequently appeared in Broadside, with eleven songs published.1 This was a mimeographed publication founded in 1962 by Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen, that promoted contemporary folk and protest songs. It also had a music label: Broadside Records. It usually published both lyrics and notations of songs, as well as articles and interviews about folk music, and newspaper clippings of current events. While many of the songs would have been played at the folk clubs and festivals, not all of them were recorded.The song "The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An" appears to be one of those never recorded. It originally featured in Broadside # 103, December 1969. It gave an account of the massacre, narrated from the perspective of a soldier who took part, who repeated the line that "orders came down from the brass for everything we done" - the official line taken by Calley and others in the platoon, that they were obeying orders. The soldier said that the platoon went out to "search and destroy, hunting for the VC" - the National Liberation Front (NFL), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam. They got to the hamlets of My Lai and Truong An, and "slaughtered all the old folks, all the women, all the kids", on the grounds that they had "liberated" the area. They also "did it for America...in the name of god and country, for our wives, our folks and sons". This song strongly condemned the massacre and the actions of Calley, taking an overall anti-war position. Sources1Index of Songs by Author 1-144, part 1↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs

Tom Parrott, born in Washington D.C., USA, in 1944, a prominent member of the contemporary folk scene in the 1960s, wrote many political songs addressing the Vietnam War, such as the song "The Freedoms We've Been Fighting For" (1967), the song "Hole in the Ground" (1968), and two songs about the My Lai massacre: "The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An" (1969) and "Pinkville Helicopter" (1971). He frequently appeared in Broadside, with eleven songs published.1 This was a mimeographed publication founded in 1962 by Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen, that promoted contemporary folk and protest songs. It also had a music label: Broadside Records. It usually published both lyrics and notations of songs, as well as articles and interviews about folk music, and newspaper clippings of current events. While many of the songs would have been played at the folk clubs and festivals, not all of them were recorded.The song "The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An" appears to be one of those never recorded. It originally featured in Broadside # 103, December 1969. It gave an account of the massacre, narrated from the perspective of a soldier who took part, who repeated the line that "orders came down from the brass for everything we done" - the official line taken by Calley and others in the platoon, that they were obeying orders. The soldier said that the platoon went out to "search and destroy, hunting for the VC" - the National Liberation Front (NFL), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam. They got to the hamlets of My Lai and Truong An, and "slaughtered all the old folks, all the women, all the kids", on the grounds that they had "liberated" the area. They also "did it for America...in the name of god and country, for our wives, our folks and sons". This song strongly condemned the massacre and the actions of Calley, taking an overall anti-war position.Sources1Index of Songs by Author 1-144, part 1↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: We went out on a mission, we were told search and destroy / Hunting for the Viet Cong, a task we don't enjoy... / Late in the day we came upon a village made of straw / Our officers had told us they were VC one and all / We didn't hear no shooting, though we fired off our guns / So we moved into the village like the big brass would have done / Well we never saw young men, we supposed that they were hid / So we rounded up all the old folks, all the women, all the kids / And we laughed as they were begging us, we were really having fun / And orders came down from the brass for everything we done / We slaughtered all the old folks, all the women, all the kids / And then we burned their houses down, and we're proud wf what we did / For we did it for America, for our wives, and folks, and sons... / The battle was a safe one, and none of our boys died... / This story that I've told you really happened, you can bet it was in the village of My Lai or Troung An / I forget for we liberated both those towns with our freedom loving guns in the name of god and country, for our wives...sons

Notes

Unreleased: featured in Broadside # 103, December 1969

About the artist

Born 1944, Washington, DC, USA.

Themes

My Lai · Anti-Calley · Anti-War · VC · Calley-Order

In collections

My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]