Vietnam: Back to My Lai | 60 Minutes Archive
In a poignant exploration of a haunting chapter in history, "60 Minutes" revisits the My Lai massacre, where over 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians lost their lives at the hands of American soldiers in 1968. This powerful segment features a candid interview between Mike Wallace and Larry Colburn and Hugh Thompson, members of the helicopter crew who courageously intervened to save civilians during the tragic events.
First broadcast in 2004, the interview reveals the moral complexities faced by Colburn and Thompson as they grappled with their roles during the massacre. The segment also chronicles their return to Vietnam in 1998, where they reunited with some of the people they rescued, offering viewers a deeply human perspective on the enduring scars of war.
As one of the most acclaimed television broadcasts in history, "60 Minutes" continues to deliver hard-hitting investigative journalism and powerful storytelling, maintaining its relevance and impact over five decades.
For more gripping stories from the "60 Minutes" archive, subscribe to the channel, and explore full episodes and exclusive content available through CBS News.
Watch the video by 60 Minutes
About 60 Minutes
“60 Minutes,” the most successful television broadcast in history. Offering hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles of people in the news, the broadcast began in 1968 and is still a hit, over 50 seasons later, regularly making Nielsen’s Top 10.
Video “Vietnam: Back to My Lai | 60 Minutes Archive” was uploaded on 04/30/2025 to Youtube Channel 60 Minutes
Remember the Mai Lai massacre
Still no justice for the Đăk Sơn or Huế Massacres, perpetrated by the Communist side though, which is tragic.
So cruel, watching with teary eyes, my dad also served in Vietnam and Vietnam is where I was born
We have Not learn much, they say history repeats itself.
From May 9, 2004.
The thing that’s not often discussed is basically every major unit also had a My Lai Massacre – we just never found out about them.
War is hell on earth.
Visit the war Remnants Museum in Saigon (Old town) My Lai was only one of the atrocities, The US bombing with millions of tons of herbicides and the effect of generations of Vietnamese people (you can see for yourself on the second floor) No country is innocent but it's our responsibility to do better.
So what’s the difference between the genocide of Palestinian civilians?
Thank you for your service Hugh. You did the right thing and deserve the honor and recognition.
Thank you for your service, Hugh. America did a discredit for all the Vietnam men and women of that era. You deserve the honor and recognition that wasn't given to you the day you came home.
A true American hero. Amazing man.
Thank you for retelling this positive story about the tragedy of the Vietnam War. Agent Orange is still killing veterans & manifesting itself on the 4th generation of Vietnamese population. 😢
I was a child in Manila, Philippines during the Vietnam War. In the early 70s, we watched the war in real time every night on the evening news. Our parents NEVER discussed it with us. At 15, I joined anti-war demonstrations. 15 yrs later, I had the opportunity to briefly meet then-Sen. John Kerry (3 Purple Hearts), who came to Manila to observe the 1986 snap election called by dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Then in 1994, I met Henry Kissinger at the US embassy in Bonn, Germany. Life is mysterious. 😮
Thank You Sir for what you did during these cruel killing times………..Just because you served doesn't mean they all should get recognized…..only the non-killing innocent lives are the true American Vets!
Gosh I wish Mike Wallace in this day and age of Maga misinformation. He wouldn't have put up with the crap the media puts out. God Bless these gentlemen who did the right thing.
I spent a month or so attached to the MACV compound in Quang Ngai in 1971, a few miles South of My Lai. I remember looking at the map and seeing villages My Lai 1, My Lai 2 My Lai 3 and My Lai 4 and I was blown away. At that time the William Calley trial was big news. NCO’s at the MACV compound were responsible for training the ARVN’s. The ARVN trainees hated them and they hated the ARVN trainees. They used to say that Quang Ngai province was a VC R&R center. We stood down about a month after I arrived and they shipped me elsewhere in RVN.
That report was done in the days when 60 minutes was not filled with leftest activists. Their activism is about to cost Shari Redstone a bunch of money. Maybe Skydance won’t want a propaganda news channel and that will be the end of 60 Minutes and CBS news. Or better yet, maybe they will fire the current staff and bring in less biased true investigative reporters.
So much death and for what? As the song says what is war good for? Nothing.
A story that should be told. Make it into a movie for people to know of for all time. Things like this can happen in war but those responsible shouldn't be protected by lies and coverups. Those witnessing it and reporting it as they should, shouldn't be attacked for doing the right thing.
The casualties of war 😢😢😢 Congrats Vietnam on your 50 Years Unification Anniversary Celebration 😁🍷🎉🎉🎉 Peace ☮️ ❤
Thank you for your service Hugh❤ You are a true hero ❤️🙏
Great coverage. Thanks for re-sharing this. However, they didn't mention that the soldiers also committed sexual violence against the villagers.
America schools never talked about My Lai. I never even heard of the incident until Ken Burns discussed it in his Vietnam War documentary.
the fact this was supposed to be 3 days, let that sink in.
60 minutes isnt telling the whole story.Lets take a walk down memory lane.Before this happened, viet cong soldiers were sniping and killing U.S. Army soldiers.The village was a strong point of vietcong soldiers.Huge stashes of weapons had been found.The village had land mines everywhere, and some U.S. soldiers had been killed by them.The U.S. Army cornel had told the villagers if one more of his troops got killed, he would make them pay.After U.S. soldiers had been killed, the villagers would walk up to them and laugh.That is why they were shot.They had been warned many, many times.Their is always 2 sides to a story.
Thx for this need to know information that the government chose to not let us know….
These two acted responsibly in horrific circumstances.
Congratulations and thank you.
Both Thompson and Coburn are heroes. Americans never learn from history. Nuremberg addressed the "I was only following orders" defense, but sadly no one was held responsible for this massacre. Although Calley was sentenced to prison, Nixon released him.
Good ole communist propaganda and this dude is no hero
He's commemorated for those that were there, but there were many more who would've been present who would've condemned his actions.
anyone dare to ask where the fighting aged men of the village were?
Decades back, in late 1972, South Vietnam and the United States were winning the Vietnam War decisively by every conceivable measure. That was the view of our enemy, the North Vietnamese government officials. Victory was apparent when President Nixon ordered the U.S. Air Force to bomb industrial and military targets in Hanoi, North Viet Nam's capital city, and in Haiphong, its major port city, and we would stop the bombing if the North Vietnamese would attend the Paris Peace Talks that they had left earlier. The North Vietnamese did go back to the Paris Peace talks, and we did stop the bombing as promised.
On January the 23rd, 1973, President Nixon gave a speech to the nation on primetime television announcing that the Paris Peace Accords had been initialed by the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and the Accords would be signed on the 27th. What the United States and South Vietnam received in those accords was victory. At the White House, it was called "VV Day," "Victory in Vietnam Day."
The U.S. backed up that victory with a simple pledge within the Paris Peace Accords saying: should the South require any military hardware to defend itself against any North Vietnam aggression we would provide replacement aid to the South on a piece-by-piece, one-to-one replacement, meaning a bullet for a bullet; a helicopter for a helicopter, for all things lost — replacement. The advance of communist tyranny had been halted by those accords.
Then it all came apart. And It happened this way: In August of the following year, 1974, President Nixon resigned his office as a result of what became known as "Watergate." Three months after his resignation came the November congressional elections and within them the Democrats won a landslide victory for the new Congress and many of the members used their new majority to de-fund the military aid the U.S. had promised, piece for piece, breaking the commitment that we made to the South Vietnamese in Paris to provide whatever military hardware the South Vietnamese needed in case of aggression from the North. Put simply and accurately, a majority of Democrats of the 94th Congress did not keep the word of the United States.
On April the 10th of 1975, President Gerald Ford appealed directly to those members of the congress in an evening Joint Session, televised to the nation. In that speech he literally begged the Congress to keep the word of the United States. But as President Ford delivered his speech, many of the members of the Congress walked out of the chamber. Many of them had an investment in America's failure in Vietnam. They had participated in demonstrations against the war for many years. They wouldn't give the aid.
On April the 30th South Vietnam surrendered and Re-education Camps were constructed, and the phenomenon of the Boat People began. If the South Vietnamese had received the arms that the United States promised them would the result have been different? It already had been different. The North Vietnamese leaders admitted that they were testing the new President, Gerald Ford, and they took one village after another, then cities, then provinces and our only response was to go back on our word. The U.S. did not re-supply the South Vietnamese as we had promised. It was then that the North Vietnamese knew they were on the road to South Vietnam's capital city, Saigon, that would soon be renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
Former Arkansas Senator William Fulbright, who had been the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee made a public statement about the surrender of South Vietnam. He said this, "I am no more distressed than I would be about Arkansas losing a football game to Texas." The U.S. knew that North Vietnam would violate the accords and so we planned for it. What we did not know was that our own Congress would violate the accords. And violate them, of all things, on behalf of the North Vietnamese.
As a serving British soldier, I wish to copy these two mens examples of honour, humanity, and doing the right thing. We learn about this act in are law off arm conflict.
❤️🙏❤
Standing against man with machine guns in front of you, you are true Hero Thomson.
‘Injustice anywhere is threat to justice anywhere’
RIP.
Not so fun fact. The Main perps live quietly in Florida. Some things never change, evil never gets punished.
Stuff the SS was made of that's for sure.
As a Vietnam veteran, I would say, be a soldier and not a murderer. Thanks for your courage.❤
A true man and an American Hero. I knew him – he lived in Lafayette, Louisiana.
"Be a soldier. Act like a soldier" they were acting exactly like soldiers. Following commands without thought. These kinds of evils are literally unavoidable in fascist institutions demanding obedience at all costs.
THOMPSON he did come back to VIETNAM and people in MY LAI honor to see him and thank him for a hero save them
I wish I knew about Mr Hugh, Mr Colburn and Mr Andreotta earlier. Thank you so much.❤. I cried many nights when I found out and read the book "The forgotten hero of My Lai" and the Lecture by Hugh Thompson at the Center for the Study of Professional Military Ethics. I cried because I felt sorry for my country. I cried because I was touched by their actions. Their actions were like a glimmer of light in the darkness of the brutal Viet Nam war – which should never have been started.
Many atrocities committed by americans in philipines 1899
To 1902 as well
Johnsons war.Textron .