A leader of Quảng Ngãi Province on Wednesday presents a thank-you letter to Ronald L. Haeberle, who took pictures of the Sơn Mỹ massacre on March 16, 1968. — VNA/VNS Photo

QUẢNG NGÃI — Officials of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of central province of Quảng Ngãi had a meeting on Wednesday with photographer Ronald L. Haeberle, who took pictures of the brutal Sơn Mỹ massacre on March 16, 1968.

At the meeting, Haeberle agreed to the display of his photos at Sơn Mỹ memorial site.

The two sides also discussed and agreed on the captions for the photos exhibited at the site.

Leaders of Quảng Ngãi Province presented a gift and thank-you letter to Haeberle acknowledging his contributions to peace building and anti-war efforts via his photos.

Bodies found on a road leading from Sơn Mỹ village. — Photo courtesy of Ronald L. Haeberle

On March 7, the US photographer and international friends returned to Sơn Mỹ, an area in Tịnh Khê Commune of Quảng Ngãi City, where he took 60 pictures of the mass killing by US troops 55 years ago.

On March 16, 1968, US troops marched to Sơn Mỹ village with the aim of killing all and destroying all. Within just four hours, 504 innocent civilians there, including 17 children and 182 women, were slaughtered. The incident went down in history as a piercing pain of people in Sơn Mỹ and Việt Nam as a whole. — VNS