Reply #116: In fact, the letter had nothing to do with My Lai.

[allemand]

It describes brutality by US troops in general terms without giving names or dates, and it doesn't describe a massacre.

Reuters 26 July 2001 In Vietnam, Powell Denies Role in My Lai Coverup By David Brunnstrom HANOI - Secretary of State Colin Powell , wrapping up his first trip back to Vietnam since his wartime service, denied Thursday he had any part in covering up the most notorious U.S. massacre of the conflict. Speaking at a news conference in Hanoi, Powell defended his handling of a letter from soldier Tom Glen in 1968 complaining of routine mistreatment of civilians, including murder and torture. Powell was asked whether he felt the My Lai massacre would have become known earlier if he had investigated the letter more thoroughly at the time. ``The...letter has been used over the years to suggest I was responsible in some way for covering up this incident,'' he said. ``I was not there. I came months later. And the letter that I received and acted on made no reference to any particular place or any time or any date or any particular unit and that's the way I handled it...''
http://www.preventgenocide.org/prevent/news-monitor/2001july.htm