The Packinghouse Daughter essays

The Packinghouse Daughter articles This epic recounts to the account of an unassuming community, average workers life in the mid 1900s. The little girl of a meatpacking organization millwright, Cheri Register tells about the occasion, which separates her unassuming community of Albert Lea during time of sadness. Albert Lea, Minnesota was a mechanical town of just 13,545 individuals. Encompassing the region was cornfields, lakes, cattail swamps, meadows, and oak forests. Albert Lea despite everything was during the 1950s when this story started. Cheri was a rudimentary understudy. Her school plans many field trips, which will in general be journeys in modern innovation. Cheri and her schoolmates visit places, which serve an amusement and instructive purpose. They have visited set, for example, print machine, Coca-Cola, and egg bring forth triumphs. Their next outing was extraordinary. Cheri and her class were to visit the Wilson s father had worked since 1943. Not talking quite a bit of his activity Cheri didnt think a lot about her dads work. This excursion comprised of a guardians signature in light of the scene it might bring to the youths. Each child had the choice not to take an interest in the movement that morning since once they entered there was no turning around. They depict the outing as grand and instructive. For the remainder of the day the children conversed with one another about the mind boggling sees, which they experienced. For exam ple, the several individuals who worked there and how the mechanical production systems for the creatures just never finished, in a steady progression after another. Wilson s father right now was in a verbatim example of a workday, supper, and falling aslee... <!

space travel essays

space travel articles Here I am separated from everyone else in this virus metal rocket. A moment back, my face was exposed to outrageous powers of gravity. Segregated alone in this rocket holding on to arrive on the moon. Abandoning my family to take advantage of the lucky break of turning into the principal man to arrive on the moon. Many space undertakings to the moon had been sorted out and many had fizzled. People from nations, for example, Russia and China had attempted to overcome space. The dangerous dark void of room, don't be tricked and persuaded by the incorrect feeling that all is well with the world anticipated by the dark chasm of room. It has asserted innumerable lives and numerous rocket had died. Metal pieces littered, waiting and skimming randomly. Presently memory of the incredible shuttles it used to be. Conveying valiant people. Presently here I am sitting alone gazing into the vast profundities of the dark void. What occurred before I took off was heart contemplating. My brain prepared for the inescapable. My psyche reviewed what happened strikingly. Houston we have an issue! I shouted into my mouthpiece. The PC screen showed a blunder. However, that time it was past the point of no return. I was very nearly take off. My rocket sponsor resonated. The earsplitting rocket reverberation. My heart avoided a beat. Contemplations of biting the dust supported through my brain. Dreams of y friends and family; valuable recollections came flooding into my psyche. Am I going to pass on? How I wish that before I passed on I can bid farewell and reveal to them the amount I adored them. During those pivotal minutes, quiet moved through the art. All other commotion was shut crazy. I was in dread. Passing was impending and unavoidable. I wanted that on the off chance that I kick the bucket it would be quick and effortless. This sound shocked me out of my dream. The consoling sound implied that my change from earth to space had been effective. My heart howled in euphoria. I would prefer not to bite the dust. I presently can't seem to find and investigate the mysteries of the unending bla ... <!

How To Find Merit Scholarships

HomeFinanceScholarshipsHow To Find Merit ScholarshipsThis page may contain affiliate links.Nov 12, 2019My father recently found and showed me a tuition bill he had saved from when I went to college. At that time (30 years ago) the tuition, room and board for a selective private school was a little over $12,000. This year, the same college costs $73,836!! This isnt new news if youre a parent with a high school student in the college admissions process. It also isnt new news that most families are in no mans land meaning they dont earn enough to pay for college without financial help, but they wont be eligible for needs based aid. Whats the solution? You need to find schools that can offer your student merit-based aid and are generous in doing so. Data Driven Approach For Finding Merit Based Scholarships This is the approach I took when my daughter applied to college. She was accepted into all the schools she applied to, along with receiving merit scholarships from each of them. Its not a difficult approach, you just need to spend some time and gather all the data. Whats most important is to research a schools financial aid giving history. This will tell you how generous a school has been in the past, what have been the average size of their merit awards, and what percent of students who arent eligible for need based aid, received merit aid. In addition, your student needs to be in the top 25% of a schools academic profile to have the best chance of being offered merit money. This doesn’t mean your student has to have straight As and a 34 ACT. It just means relative to the school’s admission quartiles, your student is in the top quartile. Follow These Steps To Find Merit Based Scholarships Find out if a school even offers merit aid. It sounds basic, but that’s the first place to start. Some schools only offer aid based on financial need and nothing else. The Ivies are an example of schools thatdo notoffer any merit-based scholarships. Look for how many freshmen, without financial need, receive merit aid? This means there are students that do not have financial need (as determined by the college), who are receiving financial aid in the form of merit scholarships. This data comes from the Common Data Set, which reports what percent of freshmen, which don’t demonstrate financial need (meaning their expected family contribution is equal to or higher than tuition) still receive merit aid from the school. What is the average amount of merit aid granted? This data again comes from the Common Data Set, where schools report the average dollar amount of merit aid that is offered to freshmen. This ranges anywhere from $1000 to full tuition, but a fair number of schools offer between $10,000 – $20,000. How much is the average merit aid as a % of the overall total cost of the college? The dollar amount of merit aid is only good if it makes a dent in the cost of the college. A merit award of $10,000 from a school that costs $30,000 is much more significant than from a school that costs $60,000. How many non-freshman, undergraduates receive merit aid and how much? Just because a college offers merit aid to freshmen, doesn’t mean they will continue to offer it to sophomores thru seniors. This is important to research since you don’t want to choose a school based on the freshman year offer, only to find out merit aid isn’t offered in subsequent years or it’s significantly decreased. Data Sources To Use To Find Merit Based Scholarships This isnt too difficult, but whats time consuming is finding all this data in one place so you can filter, sort, and compare the schools in an easy way. You can find this information from desperate, different sources and you can search individual schools for this data, but without having it ALL together, you have no way of knowing if youve found ALL the schools that might offer your student merit scholarship money. Thats why weve gathered ALL the information you need to do this research in one tool the College Data Spreadsheet. Included is information from IPEDS (the government source on college information) and Common Data Set information, along with other data compiled for honors programs, co-op programs, student loan debt levels. test score policies and more. The College Data Spreadsheet reduces your research time down to seconds and provides you with a list of colleges that are likely to offer your student merit scholarships. You can use this tool to answer questions like this: What is the list of schools where my student, with an ACT of 30, will be in the top 25% percentile, have a 4 year graduation rate of 75% or greater, give merit scholarships to 50% or more of students who do not qualify for need based financial aid, and the average merit scholarship is $20,000 or more? What colleges can offer my student merit scholarships and have honors programs? What colleges can offer my student merit scholarships where she can play lacrosse? Find Out More About The College Data Spreadsheet Stay Organized During Your College Search In addition, the College Data Spreadsheet is a great tool to keep all the information organized on schools your student is considering, and without either of you needing to spend time compiling the data yourselves. Are you in a similar situation to this parent from our Paying For College 101 group? I am hoping I have missed some obvious place where I can do this.I am currently helping my DS make a spreadsheet that lets us compare schools on these basic variablesavg gpa, avg ACT, admissions rate, net price. I cannot do this on naviance, college navigator, niche, collegehunch or big future. Help! We have spent so much time manually entering information and are barely half way done. Is there some service that will let me do this painlessly? TIA If youre still not sure the tool is worth it, heres what one member said about her experience using the spreadsheet This is really worth it. The amount of time saved makes it so worth the money. I cant even tell you how many times Ive gone back to the tool and now weve scaled-down the list with the colleges that are still in the running with just the data we find most important for both my daughters. Find Out More About Our College Data Spreadsheet

Conjugating French Verb Participer (to Participate)

Similarities And Differences Between The Giver Movie And...

The Giver, a book by Lois Lowry, and The Giver, the movie version, have more differences than similarities. The movie changes some details to fit into the new themes and expectations of the film. There are some similarities between the two, such as the general idea of a community based off of Sameness and order. However, there are many differences in things like the themes, the plot, the symbols, and the characters that just cannot be neglected. The movie is more different to the book than similar because it removes important details, such as Jonas’ pale eyes, limiting exposure to themes like government surveillance, and changing the ending of the movie to being more literal. One element the movie changes is the connection between†¦show more content†¦Another element the movie changes was removing some themes such as government surveillance. Both forms of The Giver show some limited exposure to the fact the government spies on the Community. However, in the book, smal l details like how the Giver can turn off the speaker, how there are random announcements directed to specific people, and how doors aren’t locked show how much the government surveilles the people. For example, Jonas states his shock at the locked door to the Giver’s Annex on page 92, when Lowry says, â€Å"Then she [the Attendant] seemed to notice his discomfort and to realize its origin. No doors in the community were locked, ever. None that Jonas knew of, anyway.† In the movie, there is one scene showing someone going through video footage to see all of Jonas’ interaction with Fiona, but that’s about it. Another theme the movie removes was mocking today’s society. The entirety of the book is describing a world this society could potentially fall into. This helps it be more relatable to the people of this society. In the movie, it is implied the world is much farther from today due to details such as impeccable technology and memories giv en that happened relatively recently. This lets viewers distance themselves and say, â€Å"It’s just a movie.† Unfortunately, these details change the entire overall message of the book that Lowry tries to convey. The last thing the movie changes is the ending. The very ending ends in a similar fashion, JonasShow MoreRelatedDifferences Between The Giver Book And Movie740 Words   |  3 PagesThis essay is about comparing the Giver book and movie. The Giver is a story about a boy named Jonas who was chosen to be the community’s next Receiver of Memory. He lived in a community where everything was chosen for the citizens, and everything was perfect. During Jonas training, he realized that the community was missing something and that there was more in the world. Jonas wanted the everybody to know that. The Giver book was then made into a movie. Though the two were based on the same storyRead MoreSimilarities And Differences Between How Reading A Text Differs From Watching A Film?1407 Words   |  6 Pages Semester B Unit 1 Lesson 7 Introduction and Objective When you compare and contrast something you are looking at similarities and differences. When you read a story, it may have similarities and differences to other stories. When you watch a movie after you have read the book, you may find similarities and differences. Today s lesson objective is: students will be able to compare and contrast how reading a text differs from watching a filmed or live presentation of the text. Take a minuteRead MoreCultural Competency: Trasforming Conflict into Unity1540 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States of America is infamous for being a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities. The diversity in America is great and in theory is an amazing asset to this nation. However, as a society we tend to allow our differences to segregate us and alienate those who are different. By not embracing the diversity among us, many complications are created. For instance, as a result of an inability to respect other cultures, prejudice, discrimination, and tragic violence often occurRead More The Goonies Essay4559 Words   |  19 PagesThe Goonies My analysis is on the film The Goonies. While I view the movie and determine the various norms, behaviors, roles and interaction between group members, as well as individuals the examination within the realm of film can present many of the same components. Thus, our group selected this movie to analyze based on its formation of a cohesive problem-solving group full of unforgettable characters. The Goonies portray many different theories and aspects of small group communication.Read MoreTriump in The Scarlett Letter by Nathiel Hawthorne2558 Words   |  10 Pagesstory-telling throughout history. Surrounding these triumphant (or sometimes not) heroes are conflicts that can be categorized into some of the following: man versus man, man versus himself, man versus nature, and man versus society. The conflict between an individual and society is common in American literature due to the qualities of a typical American hero; they often run on their own set of morals and do not fit into the ir society. However by going through this struggle, characters are able toRead MoreEssay on Short Term Pastoral Counseling Final15227 Words   |  61 Pageswas so surprised by the question that I did not notice that Brody was looking for an actual answer. I had to quickly adjust my reaction away from correcting him, that different personality types process feelings differently. I chose to alternate between para-feeling and para-thinking (Petersen, 134). I asked, â€Å"So your dad doesn’t appear to miss your mother, does that anger you?† Brody replied, â€Å"At first, but now I’m just sad for my mom.† â€Å"So you are sad, what did you do about that?† Brody pausedRead MoreHistory of Social Work18530 Words   |  75 Pagesof Laborers is issued in England, requiring people to remain on their home manors and work for whatever lords want to pay. Begging and Almsgiving is outlawed except for the aged and those unable to work. For the first time, a distinction is made between the worthy poor (the aged, handicapped, widows, and dependant children), and the unworthy poor (able-bodied but unemployed adults). Henry VIII in England broke from the Roman church. State confiscates Church wealth, leaving it without means toRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesManagement Skills 8 What Are Management Skills? 9 Improving Management Skills 12 An Approach to Skill Development 13 Leadership and Management 16 Contents of the Book 18 Organization of the Book 19 Practice and Application 21 Diversity and Individual Differences 21 Summary 23 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 24 Diagnostic Survey and Exercises 24 Personal Assessment of Management Skills (PAMS) 24 What Does It Take to Be an Effective Manager? 28 SSS Software In-Basket Exercise 30 SCORING KEY AND COMPARISON DATA

How to get a record deal free essay sample

Entertainment Insiders on What Gets You Signed! While working at universal/ISRC, my ex boss used to say, the easiest thing Is, getting signed -Unique Beanies The phone rings and on the other end is a voice, that cant quite express himself, at least not intelligently. The typical random caller to the label that wants to sign his artist usually says something like Uh My name is blah blah.. .. And uh, I got an artist, You know He real big out here, and mum I want send you his stuff, and sit down with the CEO. Yeah, right. Having a sit-down with the CEO of a well known record label should be the last thing on your mind. You should be working on whats going to get your artist recognized by fans and ARs, among other things. When I got such calls working at the label, I provided what I thought was the best advice and direction I could give the caller In the few minutes we had on the phone together, As an executive assistant to the CEO, I never had the time to provide any more than that. I made a mental note to put everything Id learned by observing and speaking to colleagues about how artists could Increase their chances of being heard ND/or signed Into writing, one day. Eve quit the label since then, and now have plenty of time to share. Times have changed drastically, and with them, the Entertainment Industry as a whole. Im convinced the formula for success In this Industry changes by an nth of a degree every day. Demands from fans are forever changing, but we all know that fans will always love undeniably good music.To keep up with these demands, record companies usually offer a single, digital distribution, Remington/ring-tune, PEP, LAP, or multiple album deal. Typically, single or digital distribution deals are given to artists hat already have a buzz of some kind. Theyre more experimental for a label, to gather statistics on the artists potential sales. This would help the label determine whether or not to enter a full album deal with them. If a song already has a buzz, its likely a record company will plan to promote the record to a larger market, enabling profit from digital sales. An only share what Eve observed over the course of 6 years working at a label. The majority of the artists signed to this label already had a buzz or a production team behind them. Its extremely hard to break into the recording industry, so Im going to share what Eve learned from what industry insiders believe will help get you your deal. Now that Eve provided some background Information, while reading the rest of this article, keep in mind that I worked at a small, but well known Hip-Hop/R/Pop record company that was backed by one of the Majors, universal Records.The information I provide may not apply to every act, but definitely applies to many. Also as an artist myself, Im currently using what Eve learned to further my own musical career. 1 OFF promotions representatives, heres what Eve compiled after asking this question: From your experience working in the industry or being an observer of it, give me the single most important thing you feel an artist needs, or needs to do to sign with a major. Note: Eve removed titles and names so readers can observe th e consistency in the feedback provided. No matter the title or experience, they all pretty much converge at the following 10 pointers. . Hard work En working at the label, my ex boss, Gabby Achieved used to tell me, The easiest thing IS getting signed First and foremost, anyone with common sense should know this, but we are not talking about Just hard work, we are talking about slaving and lea sacrifice. DC VIAL, an associate of mine, recounted to me many times the days and NIGHTS he went from station to station, and club to club promoting his mix-tape; As a Russian / Jewish D], he struggled through adversities in an industry where he Nas considered a minority. No one was trying to hear anything from him.He had to grind more than the average DC in his game, losing sleep and money to get where he IS today. If you listen to any nobody turned successful individuals story, they tend to share common themes. Theyll all evoke the same feelings of struggle, passion, and sacrifice, but they will also say that each experience lends to who they are as a successful person today. Today Vial runs a successful online hip-hop site and has invested in numerous endeavors. Working day and night, consistently, will get you noticed. Labels appreciate hard workers. Like the quote above says, the easiest thing is getting signed.The hard work starts with proving your sales potential to avoid being shelved essentially keeping your Job. 2. Be independent This label rep says: They need to be able to be independent, once they can do everything on their own and not need a major; thats when they get signed to one. If {o can get your song on the radio, great; Youve accomplished something without the help of a major. But most likely as a new artist, it will be extremely tough as some radio stations wont even look at your record unless you are already signed to a major or sub-major.It may also depend on the market you are trying to break into; like NY, LA, or TTL. Smaller markets may be easier. It varies across the board, with marketing, and sales. If you cant sell a certain amount as an independent artist, then dont expect for a label to step in and want to help you. A label should only be there to signify you; Take what youve already done, and make it greater, better, bigger. Get Nat I mean? An A says: they need to prove what they were able to accomplish on their own (I. E. Stats sales, tour, Merck, social networking, marketing, etc. I feel this gives the label confidence about what is possible for that artist. A label might say If the artist was capable of getting all the fans and exposure on their own, imagine hat good we can do for them. But what the artist needs to understand before we sign them is that they need to follow the rules, and do what we tell them to do. Signing to a major is giving the reigns to your project to someone else and saying l need more help selling my music, and by saying that, you need to be completely open and cooperative to what we do, and let us do our Jobs. . Be Polished A marketing rep says: Be polished before u get to them [label] I. E. : your look/image, performance, voice, etc should be on point. Make labels come to you. Basically, labels know how hard it is to break and develop an artist, so they want the artist to do it on {o might have better luck with a smaller label, or sub-label. But sign to the major erectly, and you can bet that most likely, youll be shelved or delayed. At a small label, there are fewer artists for the team to focus on, so the focus will be on you.If [o are going to sign to a label, large or small, it also works in your favor to have had already developed a fan base, because youll get a bigger deal, and you are in the forefront. A prime example is Drake. Years ago, the buzz on Drake in the industry was fierce. Everyone wanted to sign him. I know Drake had big goals for himself; He didnt Ant to sign to any label right away, avoiding small start up budgets, and any chance hat he wouldnt be priority. This is the case for many artists, but Drake pushed himself so well, to a point where he was able to release a record and become #1 on the charts.This didnt happen overnight, it was years of hard work that eventually got the right people behind him. But even before Drake officially ended up with Young Money, he had passed on many offers. Im not saying that exactly what worked for Drake will work for you, but this example proves that once you have a worthy buzz, all types of offers can come. Once an artist is label ready, its now safe to present. 4. Mass Appeal A Jar. Exec says you have to appeal too mass audience, call it mainstream if you will. (o need to be talented and distinct. Not following what everyone else does. Id like to add that cookie cutter artists only last a minute, and record labels may find it difficult to develop lasting careers for them, but I believe its K to come out sounding like everyone else to get your records played and to establish a name with the main stream. After youve done that, Id say it might be safer to come out with {Our complete, distinct sound. 5. Singles/Hits Now we are talking about a record deal here. A label wants hits. If you dont have hem, stay independent. You might have an easily identifiable and unique sound and thats great, but your chances for a deal may still be minimal, if any at all.For the purposes of getting your deal, you have to have at least 3 surefire hits. A label focuses more on a single by an artist, rather than the artist with the single; Its the faster route to making a profit from your music. 6. Hustle Fool A Radio Promotion rep says simply, sell units independently and lord get significant beds/immediate spins on the radio, Labels are lazy when it comes to artist development. You need to do the work yourself and then hope for distribution, once o get the radio interested in your record.. ND you deliver a final product it keeps the label from having to invest too much time in artist development ARing your records Aha, I think your beginning to get it. Its all reverting to doing it yourself, and being ready for a label to approach. I assure you, its the truth, and its also a grind. It may not always be easy to get a record played, but it is possible, youll never know in this Industry. It may help you as an artist, to start with your top 3 records. Map out a marketing plan. Ask friends and family what they think of your records.Do some research on how to distribute your songs to an online radio station. You can even try satellite or XML stations. Instead of starting with major radio stations, start with the of venues you want to perform in. If its a club record, you might want to visit your local club/venue, buy the DC a drink, and ask him or her to play your record. These are all viable ideas. Its always easier to start small and local, it builds your confidence as an artist, and builds a track record. Have a spin on the radio? Make sure its been encoded in BEDS or Immediate.This will enable you to track where your songs are eyeing played. Endeavor to call a station, or visit a town to do a show. These are good Ideas for free promotion. Try performing for free! Ads, promoters, and now-a-days floggers, can do wonders for your career, so always make sure you show them love, and do so genuinely and wholeheartedly. 7. Dedication and Persistence In addition to #1, pay close attention to these words from a label president. To me the most important thing is dedication and persistence, they must be willing to do anything and everything, and sacrifice their time.They cant expect to be made stars overnight; champions arent made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep down inside them a desire, a dream, and a vision. They have to have last minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will but the will must be stronger than the skill 8. Cosign It can be simply Who Ho know An executive assistant states that an artist needs a lot of the right influence and clout behind them supporting them. saw it with my own eyes, Asher Roth, a White boy from Connecticut, trying to be a rapper. I heard many make fun of his whole ordeal; How can this skinny white boy think hes going to move units? In all honesty, it was that exact question that drew me to him as an artist). His situation was like the lottery to me. I used to say, hey, you never know. Who am I to knock someone? I thought he was very cool, and yes, he had talent. Another factor in why people believed in his project was the fact that he had someone with influence and clout behind him, someone that believed in him enough to bring him to Steve Riffing.Now, Asher worked his ass off, and was discovered on Namespace. That hard work led him to be discovered by his manager. Asher continued to work hard, but with an influential force behind him, it was that much easier for IM to get that deal. With his new manager, came financial backing, he was able to get his own promotion/publicity team and so forth. Not all of us are lucky enough to find someone that believes in us on the first try, but if you continue to work hard enough to develop a worthy buzz as #1 states, trust me, that person or persons will come. 9.Swagger Talent means nothing if u dont have something that makes people care that youre talented at least, as far as music goes After reading this several times, I couldnt decipher exactly what the person actually meant, but what I draw from it is that you just be likeable, have charisma, and attitude, or something unique about you. I remember an exec I worked closely with stating he was undecided about signing an act, due to the overwhelming roster of artists currently on his label. He wasnt sure hed have the $ and staff to support the artist, but he fell in love with the artists personality and later on signed the artist. To this day, I believe it was that persons charisma that won the executive over. As an artist myself, Im always being told things think thats what works for me. People also say that mysterious works for me. Like Asher Roth the thing they thought would work against me, might actually be what Norms for me. Just be who you are and mean to be. However Im sure the average artist reading this doesnt need me to preach, because if you are trying to make it in this game, theres no room for tender egos, only room for the strong.Another executive sums it up with, one needs: personality, talent and star potential 10. Wait, TTS not Just Talent? In addition to having a vision, this digital marketing guru states that an artist in todays game needs 360 degrees of Talent not Just great music, which is the most important thing obviously, but strong ideas on how to market themselves, and talent for how they should be perceived out there in the public to make them win Now, Eve provided a wealth of advice on what insiders have deemed as valuable Information on what can get an artist a deal, but remember there are always special cases.Youll never know what rare incidences may occur in the process. The 10 tips above apply to the mass/majority of artists trying to make it in the game. Its time for me to go study, so until next time. Feel free to leave your feedback, and suggestions on other topics youd like me to explore.

Vietnam MY Lai Massacre

Introduction This paper analyses the vents that happened at My Lai village and why it could have been prevented had the US army followed the principles of war. The paper starts by looking at what really happened and then proceeds to analyze whether the killings could indeed have been prevented.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Vietnam MY Lai Massacre specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Many will remember the My Lai massacre as one of the most shocking events of the world and can be described as one of the most infamous events in the history of Vietnam War (Bilton and Siam, 1992). This war took place on March in 1968 in the village of My Lai which had approximately 700 people, located in the southeast of the United State base of Danang (Bilton and Siam, 1992). It is in this village that innocent people were killed on that date by the US Army while they were in search of rebels. The question then becomes whether this a ttack on innocent people was justified; the first part of this paper discusses what happened and the US army conducts at that particular time and is a synopsis of the events of that fateful day. The second part of the discussion looks at whether the principles of war were adhered to and examines whether these deaths would have been prevented had the rules of engagement been followed (Bilton and Siam, 1992) The events at My Lai The US troops conduct during that time was incredible and least expected and the outcomes of that day have left many people dumbfounded. The morning of March 16th saw three platoons of US troops from C Company of the eleventh Brigade arrive in the Son My area (Bilton and Siam, 1992). The Platoon which was commanded by Lieutenant William Calley was on a search and destroy mission that was directed on My Lai village with the sole aim of finding members of the NLF popularly described as Vietcong (Bilton and Siam, 1992). The reason for directing the operation on t hat village is because the area had in the recent past been very active with the Vietcong rebels.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As the Platoon troop advanced through the village they started firing towards the village and instantly killed innocent civilians mainly women, children and the elderly who had at the time gone to the paddy fields to carry out their daily chores. By then, Sergeant Michael Bernhardt, 1973 who was at My Lai said that he saw no one who could have been of military age and went on to say that â€Å"the US troops in My Lai met no resistance from the villagers† (Bilton and Siam, 1992). One of the army photographers who had accompanied the platoon also said he â€Å"saw a US soldier shoot two young boys† that were probably just about 5 years old while many of the dead people comprised of other even much younger children (Bilton and Siam, 1992). These facts were collaborated by the people who later returned to the village and claimed it took them several days to bury the dead who included very young children. To make it worse, the bodies had been badly mutilated apart from being shot. This horrifying episode came into public light in November 1969 when a US soldier was interviewed on television; it is during that time that the soldier gave an actual account of the events of that day and admitted to how the platoon had deliberately and systematically shot civilians during that day (Bilton and Siam, 1992). In the wake of this admission, the US military was under pressure to investigate this grave violation of human rights but turned out it was aware of the allegations and had even initiated an inquest into the matter; this was in April 1969, some six months before the public admission made by the soldier (Bilton and Siam, 1992). The actual number people who were killed during that day remains unknown, however the offi cial approximation figure was pegged at 175 but the actual figure is thought to have been much more higher in the region of 500 people (Bilton and Siam, 1992). In fact according to the memorial at My Lai the list actually has 504 people written.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Vietnam MY Lai Massacre specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More So Could it have been prevented? What happened at My Lai should have been prevented if rules of fair engagement were followed by the US soldiers especially when combat is in civilian locations. Based on universal principles it is illegal to follow orders that are illegal or which borders on illegality even from superiors. Based on this principle of law it was therefore wrong for the US soldiers to have followed illegal orders of attacking the village that clearly contravened the human rights principles. It is always important when fighting war or attacking enemies in civilian locatio ns to take into account careful planning and consideration. There are Principles of War that have been used successfully for many years by military commanders which have always avoided unnecessary death of civilians; the same principles could have been important in this case. Even on its own standards it is clear that the US laws of engagement in civilian locations were not adhered to which led to the death of innocent people. These soldiers should have identified a clear objective and target during this mission which required using precautionary force under the circumstances. In fact one might argue that the soldiers had no clear objective from the start since they obviously attacked the civilians as opposed to the rebels that they were pursuing. Meaning that they confused their target, which is not only acceptable but an indication of incompetence or outright regardless of human life. In fact during the inquest the US army said that â€Å"the people they encountered lacked milita ry skills and were not a threat† (UNHCR.org. 2010); which clearly shows that there was no reason for the soldiers to have had used excess force in the first place. Instead they were supposed to have applied diplomacy and only use force where necessary; at the same time the Commanders in the field were supposed to make important decisions and not give orders of civilian’s execution.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It was also important for the US soldiers to have had sought permission from the relevant Authorities before attacking the My Lai village. What happened is that the soldiers abruptly opened fire attacked without due diligence or even obtaining prior permission from relevant authorities as the attacks were carried out without prior knowledge from the Vietnam authorities. If permission was first sought then probably the soldiers would have been directed to their targets and the operation wouldn’t have resulted in deaths of the civilians. As a general rule of natural laws on armed conflicts, military attacks should never be directed towards churches, innocent people, agricultural places, water points and all other places that are essential for well being of the citizens of the attacked country (UNHCR.org. 2010). But what the US army did in My Lai was in fact contrary to this principle as they also destroyed important resources that are vital to the citizen’s survival. The question is whether it was necessary for these soldiers to have gone about killing women and children in the way that they did; the answer is certainly no especially when you consider that there was no justification at all for doing so, and not even the need to capture the rebels can be cited as the reason for the simple reason that the people killed posed no threat at all. There is no reasonable soldier who will go about killing innocent civilians which is the reason why the actions of this day was so appalling as this was a common sense decision. The only time that civilians can be attacked is if they are trying to engage the soldiers and poses a threat to them (UNHCR.org, 2010). Therefore in these attacks reasonable force was not used by the US Army and if the principles of war were followed then innocent children and women wouldn’t have been killed during that day. Reference Bilton, M., Siam, K.(1992).Four Hours in My Lai. New York: Penguin Group. UNHCR.org. 2010. The U nited Nations Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons  in Time of War. Web. This essay on Vietnam MY Lai Massacre was written and submitted by user Sonia Whitney to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.