Docs: Soldier's Bones

In 1971, young Newsweek reporter Alec Shimkin discovers a secret American military operation in the Mekong Delta: Operation Speedy Express, in which war crimes are being committed on a massive scale. After the My Lai massacre in 1968, he is convinced that this “Super My Lai” must also be brought to light. For months, Newsweek withheld his investigation—under pressure from the government and through self-censorship within the editorial staff.

What should have been a revealing cover story ultimately appears as a small, watered-down article without visible impact. The Vietnamese eyewitness accounts Alec had carefully collected disappear from view. Shortly thereafter, Alec goes missing in Vietnam. Soldier’s Bones reconstructs his attempt to uncover Operation Speedy Express—the story he himself could not finish. What disappeared with him? And what does his silence say about how stories are shaped, filtered, or suppressed, and about who determines what becomes visible and what does not?