On January 30th, 1968, the Viet Cong launched the first part of the Tet Offensive. After follow-up from other VC units and the North Vietnamese Army failed to come, the VC were overwhelmed within about a week by US and Vietnamese forces. Whet the Tet Offensive began, Charlie Company was north of Quang Ngai City at LZ Dottie, having been recently relocated to pursue a new mission. Task Force Barker’s mission in the area, codenamed Muscatine, was to find and destroy the Viet Cong 48th Local Force Battalion. As the Viet Cong fought for Quang Ngai City, Charlie Company and the rest of Task Force Barker enjoyed relative quiet at their location. After failing to win the city, the Viet Cong fled to villages on the coast, including the complex of Son My. Son My consisted of 4 administrative districts, My Khe, My Lai, Tu Cung, and Co Luy. These were comprised of various hamlets, whose Vietnamese names generally did not match with the American designations. [1]
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Son My village was made up of many smaller hamlets, divided into four administrative districts: My Lai, My Khe, Co Luy, and Tu Cung. The hamlets were given names by the American military that did not always correspond to the Vietnamese name or district. For example, My Lai (4), the site of most of the killings, was in fact a hamlet named Xom Lang in the Tu Cung District. [3]
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