40 Years Ago Today: Photos of My Lai First Appeared But Photographer Often Forgotten

By: A combat photographer whose pictures of a massacre of Vietnamese civilians were published in an Ohio newspaper 40 years ago recalls it was hard for people to believe what U.S. troops had done.

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland helped expose the killings at My Lai (mee ly) when photos taken by Sgt. Ron Haeberle appeared in the newspaper on Nov. 20, 1969. Haeberle had been honorably discharged by the military the previous year and decided to share his pictures with his hometown newspaper.

Haeberle, who's now 68, says he's glad if his action helped bring a turning point in the Vietnam War.

Hundreds of men, women and children died at My Lai in 1968 after frustrated U.S. troops arrived on a "search and destroy" mission, looking for elusive Vietcong guerrillas.