Hugh Thompson Jr., former Army helicoper pilot, died yesterday at the age of 62. Why should you care? Because of this:
Early in the morning of March 16, 1968, Thompson, door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta came upon U.S. ground troops killing Vietnamese civilians in and around the village of My Lai.
They landed the helicopter in the line of fire between American troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pointed their own guns at the U.S. soldiers to prevent more killings.
Colburn and Andreotta had provided cover for Thompson as he went forward to confront the leader of the U.S. forces. Thompson later coaxed civilians out of a bunker so they could be evacuated, and then landed his helicopter again to pick up a wounded child they transported to a hospital. Their efforts led to the cease-fire order at My Lai.
In 1998, the Army honored the three men with the prestigious Soldier's Medal, the highest award for bravery not involving conflict with an enemy. It was a posthumous award for Andreotta, who had been killed in battle three weeks after My Lai.
Thompson ordered his crew to shoot if the American soldiers fired on the civilians. He radioed gunships to land and escort the surviving Vietnames out of the village, and they did. He then went to his superiors to report on the massacre. Even after another soldier, Ron Ridenhour, came forward to confirm his account, Thompson and his crew were treated as pariahs:
The eyewitness testimony of Thompson and Colburn proved crucial. But instead of thanking them, America vilified them. Many saw [platoon leader Lt. William] Calley as a scapegoat for regrettable but inevitable civilian casualties. "Rallies for Calley" were held all over the country. Jimmy Carter, then governor of Georgia, urged citizens to leave car headlights on to show support for Calley. Thompson, who got nasty letters and death threats, remembers thinking: "Has everyone gone mad?" He feared a court-martial for his command to fire, if necessary, on U.S. soldiers.
Calley was sentenced to life in prison, but served a mere three years after President Nixon reduced his sentence. He works now in a jewelry store in Ohio.
This passage, from the US News article, sums things up pretty well:
Thompson finally faced the truth. He and his crew flew around for a few minutes, outraged, wondering what to do. Then they saw several elderly adults and children running for a shelter, chased by Americans. "We thought they had about 30 seconds before they'd die," recalls Colburn. Thompson landed his chopper between the troops and the shelter, then jumped out and confronted the lieutenant in charge of the chase. He asked for assistance in escorting the civilians out of the bunker; the lieutenant said he'd get them out with a hand grenade. Furious, Thompson announced he was taking the civilians out. He went back to Colburn and Andreotta and told them if the Americans fired, to shoot them. "Glenn and I were staring at each other, dumbfounded," says Colburn. He says he never pointed his gun at an American soldier, but he might have fired if they had first.
"Hero" isn't a word I bandy about lightly, but Hugh Thompson Jr. was one. Rest in peace.
I hadn't heard this story either. It's a shame I hadn't; this is one of the truest displays of wartime heroism I've ever read.
Rest in peace indeed, Mr. Thompson. You were the best of what America is supposed to stand for.
Bravo, Pete! It's a mensch like this who reminds me there are decent, principled people in this country. I hope someone turns his story into a film ala Serpico. It would have to be an independent film. Who could trust the mammoth Hollywood money machines with this story?
I, too, had never heard this story before.
Thanks.
I knew Thompson's story, but didn't know that he had died. He was the only officer in My Lai who actually acted like an American officer is supposed to act, and the fact that he was treated badly for it shows you that the rest of the military knew what they were doing was wrong - they had to make the guy who was a hero into a villain, in order to salve their own consciences.
It would be a great movie, but it'll have to be made outside America, I'm afraid, and would probably get protested if it managed to get distributed here...
That's a remarkable story and one I hadn't heard before. I had always wondered how Calley had been prosecuted, and now I know how. Thank goodness that some people will do the right thing even in the face of evil with authority.