Parents from the heartland reported that their kind son had returned from serving in the US Army a murderer.
There had been a terrible atrocity in Vietnam that was being covered up. If you are over 70 years old, you remember it. The My Lai massacre was a United States war crime committed on 16 March 1968. Approximately 347- 504 civilians, almost all women, babies, children, and elderly, were rounded up, mutilated, raped, and gunned down after no Viet Cong were found in their village.
Seymour Hersh, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage as a freelance reporter, wondered how many other American massacres were taking place in the civil war between North and South Vietnam. We were supporting democracy in the south and fighting against the incursion of communism from the north. He learned of another massacre, on the same day as My Lai, and several others around Vietnam, perpetrated by American soldiers. This was more than an isolated incident, but a combat policy that went against American values and the Geneva Convention mandate.
While My Lai was the one that made the headlines, Hersh followed soldier reports of other massacres that ended with the culpability of General Westmoreland, who, though he was replaced as the commanding officer, was not punished for any part of his handling of the Vietnam debacle.
Seymour Hersh is one of the bravest investigative journalists of our time. He has written exposés on an Armed Service dump of nerve gas over the Salt Lake City area, Watergate, Abu Ghraib, and the American sabotage of the Nord pipeline, Henry Kissinger, President Kennedy, and the Syrian Civil War with a writing facility and insight from secret sources that have gripped readers. Now he’s working on a lead on war crimes involving intentional extermination in Gaza.
In parallel with Hersh, the co-director of this documentary, Laura Poitras, is a formidable award-winning documentarian (Peabody, Oscar, and numerous other honors) who has exposed the truth behind the Sackler family and OxyContin, Julian Assange, the National Security Agency, and Edward Snowden. Her movements, causing great distress and inconvenience in travel, have been monitored by the US government.
Potras and 5-time Emmy winner Mark Obenhaus, make a powerful directorial team. At this writing, “Cover-up” has already won 5 awards and received 11 nominations. It is predictably on the short list for an Oscar.
With access to around 7,000 assets, “Cover-up” is a masterful record of Seymour Hersh’s life’s work and a valuable contribution to the history of America. We want to think we’re the good guys, but Hersh consistently tips the scale in another direction. His goal is truth, and his life mode is integrity.
Credits
Directors: Mark Obenhaus and Laura Poitras
Executive Producers: Josh Braun, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Thomas MacWhirr, Brad Pitt, Nick Shumaker
Producers: Quinn C. Ford, Yoni Golijov, Mark Obenhaus, Laura Poitras,
Archival Associate Producer: Shelby Finak and Olivia Streisand
Featuring: Seymour Hersh, David Obst, and Bob Woodward
Editors: Peter Bowman, Amy Foote and Laura Poitras
Release Date: Dec. 26, 2025
Official Website: https://www.netflix.com/title/82145211
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