Vietnam commemorates 50th anniversary of My Lai massacre

With talk of peace and cooperation rather than hatred, more than a thousand people marked the 50th anniversary Friday of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, the most notorious episode in modern U.S. military history.

On March 16, 1968, the American soldiers of Charlie Company were sent on what they were told was a mission to confront a crack outfit of their Vietcong enemies, but met no resistance and over three to four hours killed 504 unarmed civilians, mostly women, children and elderly men in My Lai and a neighboring community.

My Lai massacre survivors lay flowers during a ceremony to remember victims of the massacre in My Lai, Vietnam Friday, March 16, 2018. More than a thousand people attend the commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in which 504 unarmed civilians, most of them women, children and the elderly. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Provincial official Dang Ngoc Dung said at the commemoration the My Lai massacre was a typical case of "cruel crimes committed by aggressive and hostile forces" during the war. He did not name the United States but said Vietnam wants to set aside the past and befriend other countries to build a better, peaceful future.

Relations between the U.S. and Vietnam are the strongest they've been since they normalized ties in 1995. The United States is now one of Vietnam's top trading partners and investors, and relations have also expanded to security and defense.

Do Ba was 9 when American soldiers came to his house and rounded up his mother, three siblings and himself and took them to a drainage ditch. His mother and sibling were killed there. Ba was wounded, covered in blood and buried under bodies.

He played dead out of fear the soldiers would come back to kill him. He was finally rescued by a U.S Army helicopter crew that landed amid the massacre and intervened to stop the killing.

"Twenty years ago, I still harbored hatred against the American soldiers who killed my mother, brothers and sister," he said "But now after 50 years as Vietnam and the United States together developed their relations, people set aside their pain and suffering to build a better society."

Vietnam War veteran Billy Kelly, right, lays flowers during a ceremony to remember victims of of the My Lai massacre in My Lai, Vietnam Friday, March 16, 2018. More than a thousand people attend the commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in which 504 unarmed civilians, most of them women, children and the elderly.(AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

At Friday's event, several dozen girls wearing traditional Ao Dai outfits and dove headgear, performed dances in tribute for the victims and to promote peace. Participants including government leaders, villagers and a group of American veterans laid flowers to pay tribute to the victims.

The My Lai Peace Foundation, a local non-governmental organization, was launched at the event.

"Vietnam had suffered numerous pains of wars," Truong Ngoc Thuy, president of the foundation, said at the launch. "We therefore more than anyone else understand the price of peace, we desire for peace."

Historian Duong Trung Quoc noted that a U.S. aircraft carrier recently made a friendly visit to a Vietnamese port for the first time since the war.

"The war has ended and both nations have learned from its lessons," Quoc said. "The greatest outcome of the lessons is for two nations to come close together in friendship and shared responsibilities, for the benefit of the people in both countries."

Young dancers participate in a performance during a ceremony to remember victims of My Lai massacre in My Lai, Vietnam Friday, March 16, 2018. More than a thousand people attend the commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in which 504 unarmed civilians, most of them women, children and the elderly. (AP Photo/ Hau Dinh)

Americans who visit My Lai seem as often motivated by guilt as by wishes for a better world. It is a sort of pilgrimage for many and several have established projects, such as school and medical facilities, to contribute to the development of My Lai.

Mike Hastie, a 73-year old retired nurse from Portland, Oregon, who was a U.S. Army medic from September 1970 to September 1971 in Vietnam's Central Highlands, visited this week. He thinks many veterans do not come because they are too ashamed to face the Vietnamese people.

"It's just important that the My Lai massacre never be forgotten, because I think the greatest sin that we could commit would be to forget the 504 Vietnamese people who were murdered at My Lai. That's why the history has to be kept alive, not only for them but their relatives and for the country of Vietnam," he said.

Local residents and American veterans arrive at the My Lai massacre memorial site in My Lai, Vietnam Friday, March 16, 2018. More than a thousand people attend the commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in which 504 unarmed civilians, most of them women, children and the elderly. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A security officer guards outside the My Lai massacre memorial in My Lai, Vietnam Friday, March 16, 2018. More than a thousand people attend the commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in which 504 unarmed civilians, most of them women, children and the elderly. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Young dancers participate in a performance during a ceremony to remember victims of My Lai massacre in My Lai, Vietnam Friday, March 16, 2018. More than a thousand people attend the commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in which 504 unarmed civilians, most of them women, children and the elderly. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

In this Thursday, March 15, 2018 photo, U.S. army photographer Ron Haeberle, left, speaks to Do Thi Chi, a survivor of My Lai massacre in My Lai, Vietnam. More than a thousand people are marking 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, using the event to talk of peace and cooperation instead of hatred. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

In this Thursday, March 15, 2018 photo, My Lai massacre survivor Do Thi Chi speaks to U.S. army photographer Ron Haeberle in My Lai, Vietnam. More than a thousand people are marking 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, using the event to talk of peace and cooperation instead of hatred. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

In this Thursday, March 15, 2018 photo, U.S. army photographer Ron Haeberle, left, speaks to a Vietnamese TV host about the photos of My Lai massacre he took in My Lai, Vietnam. More than a thousand people are marking 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, using the event to talk of peace and cooperation instead of hatred. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A Kansas judge on Monday denied a request for a resentencing hearing for two brothers awaiting execution for a quadruple killing known as the “Wichita massacre,” ruling that he lacks jurisdiction to approve a reexamination of the sentences.

The legal setback was the latest for Jonathan Carr, 44, and Reginald Carr, 46. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to request a formal resentencing hearing, a decision that came a little less than a year after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the two brothers had received fair trials and upheld their death sentences.

“I don’t know that I can do anything about that sentence until somebody vacates it,” Sedgewick County Chief Judge Jeff Goering said at the hearing.

Attorneys for the Carr brothers said they planned to appeal.

The brothers were convicted of breaking into a home in December 2000 and forcing three men and two women to have sex with one another and later to withdraw money from ATMs. Police said the women were repeatedly raped before all five victims were taken to a soccer field, where they were shot.

Aaron Sander, 29; Brad Heyka, 27; Jason Befort, 26; and Heather Muller, 25, all died. The woman who survived testified against the Carr brothers, who also were convicted of killing another person in a separate attack. Each brother accused the other of carrying out the crimes.

Kansas has nine men on death row, but the state has not executed anyone since the murderous duo James Latham and George York were hanged on the same day in June 1965.

Attorneys for the brothers argued Monday that since some convictions were tossed out in previous appeals, a new sentencing hearing is appropriate. Julia Spainhower, the attorney for Reginald Carr, told Goering he had a chance to correct “what was an obvious error.”

Sedgewick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said there was no “lack of clarity” in the Kansas Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty should stand.

“What the defense wants to do is reopen the whole thing,” Bennett said.

Attorneys for both brothers raised concerns in the latest round of court filings that the trial attorneys were ineffective — Reginald Carr’s defense said they were “egregiously” so — and failed to aggressively push for a continuance to give themselves more time to prepare. They also agreed that prospective jurors weren’t properly questioned about racial biases. The brothers are Black, their victims white.

Reginald Carr’s attorney’s also brought up an investigation into members of the Wichita Police Department exchanging racist, sexist and homophobic texts and images. Several were ultimately disciplined, and Carr’s attorney wrote that one of them was involved in the investigation of the brothers.

From there, the attorneys for the brothers deviate in their court filings. Jonathan Carr’s attorneys argued that the trial attorneys failed to investigate and present evidence that Reginald Carr, who is older, had a powerful influence over his younger brother and sexually abused him. A Kansas Department of Correction evaluation conducted just days after Jonathan Carr was sentenced to death said he “appears to idolize his brother,” his attorneys wrote.

Meanwhile, Reginald Carr’s attorneys wrote that the trial attorneys were unprepared to rebut Jonathan’s defense, which it described as “largely consisting of family members prepped to promote saving Jonathan Carr’s life over his older brother’s life.” And they further argued that DNA evidence and identification was actually stronger against Jonathan Carr.

The Kansas Supreme Court upheld their convictions in 2014 but overturned their death sentences, concluding that not having separate hearings violated the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2016, returning the case to the Kansas Supreme Court.

When the Kansas Supreme Court took up the brothers’ cases again, their attorneys raised questions about how their cases weren’t conducted separately when jurors were considering whether the death penalty was warranted. Other issues they raised included the instructions that were given to jurors and how closing arguments were conducted.

The Kansas court’s majority concluded that while the lower-court judge and prosecutors made errors, those errors did not warrant overturning their death sentences again.

Jonathan Carr leaves Sedgwick County Judge Jeff Goering's courtroom on Monday, April 22, 2024. The judge denied a request for a resentencing hearing for two brothers awaiting the death penalty for a quadruple killing known as the “Wichita massacre,” ruling that he lacks jurisdiction to approve a reexamination of the sentences. Reginald Carr did not attend the hearing. (Jaime Green/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

Jonathan Carr's lawyers speak during a hearing on Monday, April 22, 2024 in Judge Jeff Goering's courtroom. The judge denied a request for a resentencing hearing for two brothers awaiting the death penalty for a quadruple killing known as the “Wichita massacre,” ruling that he lacks jurisdiction to approve a reexamination of the sentences. Reginald Carr did not attend the hearing. (Jaime Green/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

FILE - This combination of 2013 file photos provided by the Kansas Department of Corrections shows Reginald Carr, left, and Jonathan Carr. (Kansas Department of Corrections via AP, File)