Glenn Andreotta was killed just a few weeks after My Lai? After My Lai, did you feel traumatized or feel like you carried a huge burden? Heroes of My Lai - University of Missouri-Kansas City hbbd``b`:$WXWkZ ["|Ab b:H2@#H@ ( Glenn and I were staring them down and watching to see how it would unfold. If they fire on these people, or fire on me while Im doing that, shoot em!. We took him out of the area to a hospital and gave him to a nun. Thats what keeps me going. I was 17 when I enlisted in 1966 with some friends. In unison, all three of us shouted, You son of a bitch! That was Captain Ernest Medina. Hugh Thompson, the helicopter pilot who stopped the My Lai massacre, later told the news program "60 Minutes" that he was ostracized and received death threats upon his return from Vietnam.. His final term would have expired in December 2018; he retired in January 2017. Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. (April 15, 1943 - January 6, 2006) was a United States Army Major, and a former warrant officer in the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division.He is credited with ending the M Lai Massacre of the South Vietnamese village known as Sn M on March 16, 1968, alongside and hierarchically above Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn. That was a point of no return for Thompson? Just because you tell the truth, it doesnt mean everything always come up roses. Thompson was more experienced than Lt. Calley, more ethical, more talented, and brighter, and probably recognized Calley didnt know what he was doing. Nixon and the My Lai massacre coverup - New York Post Hugh was being jovial. Andreotta died in action a few weeks later, but Thompson and Colburn were key witnesses in the investigations and trials to follow. Did they know that somebody tried to help? There could be a reason for doing it, or there could have simply been a complete breakdown in leadership. A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago today - Los Calley was the only person found guilty out of the 14 charged. . Return to My Lai - CBS News Thompson kept testifying against the butchers of My Lai in hopes of securing justice for the civilians killed that day. Everybodys heard of the My Lai massacre March 16, 1968, 50 years ago today but not many know about the man who stopped it: Hugh Thompson, an Army helicopter pilot. I thought someone else was getting recognition for something. In 1964, Thompson received an honorable discharge from the Navy and returned to Stone Mountain to live a quiet life and raise a family with his wife. We hope to link up with other organizations and grow some legs. It was time to stop it, and I figured, at that point, that was the only way the madness, or whatever you want to call it, could be stopped.. My Lai Massacre: Vietnam War & Colin Powell - HISTORY hb```,(qaB3W[ 4 `Tfc" QB\%xv{ William Calley, the officer who ordered the slaughter at M Lai. He received a life sentence in 1971 for premeditated murder which was later reduced to 10 years. Hugh Thompson Jr. - Wikiwand Hugh Thompson Jr., The Army Major Who Stopped The My Lai Massacre How did you feel about that? Now that the dynamics have changed with Hugh passing, I understand now how difficult it was for him, carrying it around in his gut, alone. We were very protective of the men on the ground. HUGH THOMPSON'S TESTIMONY: I'm Hugh Thompson. Hugh and I went in 1998 with 60 Minutes, just after we were given the Soldiers Medal. He recounted in a CBS 60 Minutes television program in 2004, "I'd received death threats over the phone.Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up." [14] [7] Furious, Hugh Thompson landed again, this time in front of a bunker where civilians were hiding. Did the word about what happened at My Lai get around? And it turned out, after we dropped him off with the nun at the hospital, he didnt stay 24 hours. They were old women, old men, children, kids, babies., Then Thompson and his crew chief, Glenn Andreotta, and his gunner, Lawrence Colburn, saw some civilians hiding in a bunker, cowering, looking out the door. I was aghast at hearing how Lt William Calley got away with cold blooded murder, spending one day behind bars as a convicted criminal. Upon coming home, he got death threats and the like. The photos document the free, unobstructed flow of water through the easement area between the base of the dam and the drop inlets on the As far as a place in history, thats not something I dwell on. But despite Thompsons heroic actions, the Army tried to cover up the massacre. It was about six months ago that the S&P 500 dipped . How many men were in squad and were they threatening? These people appeared to be no threat at all, and we couldnt figure out why they were fired on and killed as they were leaving the area. The monsters involved in this Massacre are surely going to hell no matter if theyve led a squeaky-clean life since then. Hugh Thompson Jr. was a twenty-five-year-old helicopter pilot and Army warrants officer. Following graduation, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served in a naval mobile construction battalion at Naval Air Station Atlanta, Georgia, as a heavy equipment operator. Interview - Larry Colburn: Why My Lai, Hugh Thompson Matter Testimony to the Truth That particular morning we were to provide reconnaissance for a ground operation that was going on in My Lai . I just figured it was time to do something, to not let these people get killed. After the trial, Hugh Thompson received death threats. Spec Ops Magazine 2023 All Rights Reserved. Out of the blue, our unit was called out onto the tarmac for an awards and decoration ceremony. He teaches the U.S. history survey since 1877 and specialized courses on Vietnam, 1960s America, and U.S. foreign relations. Calley was paroled just three years later, in 1974, after Richard Nixon commuted his sentence. An Account of the My Lai Courts-Martial - University of Missouri The My Lai Massacre was and still is a huge, shameful event that will be hard for several generations to get past. It was an enemy tactic to blur the lines between combatants and noncombatants. Innocent people didnt die that day They didnt just fly off the handle and engage a target that was borderline. Landed the aircraft in between the Americans and the Vietnamese, told my crew chief and gunner to cover me, got out of the aircraft, went over to the American side.. Thompson testified about the massacre in the U.S. government's military trials, but according to author Trent Angers, two Congressmen who were working in concert with Nixon, managed to seal that. "Something terrible happened here 30 years ago today," Mr. Thompson was quoted as saying by CNN. No. After we took the boy to Quang Nai, we went back to our base, and Hugh Thompson and I reported to Colonel Oran Henderson. When I moved to the East Coast, I stopped at a VA hospital and had a list of things I thought I should get out. Did the gunship crews know what was happening on the ground before this? When it was all happening, the feeling I had was, if this is how Im going to die, Im OK with it. But when he returned to his Stateside home in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Thompson. My father landed on Normandy Beach and as a kid I watched the television series Victory at Sea and went to bed praying never to have to face the fire like those men on Normandy. Then he assumed the Army initiated an investigation. I was always comfortable as the sidekick and enjoyed the time with Hugh. Mr. Thompson radioed for a helicopter gunship to evacuate the group, and then his crew chief, Glenn Andreotta, pulled a boy from a nearby irrigation ditch, and their helicopter flew him to safety. Calley pointed his weapon at him and threatened him with a court-martial. Interview - Larry Colburn: Why My Lai, Hugh Thompson Matter. Meet the Participants | American Experience | Official Site | PBS Then, take a look through these declassified Vietnam War photos. Hugh Thompson in his Army uniform, c. 1966. Upon entering Sn M, officers and soldiers of Company C moved through the Song My Village and vicinity, murdering civilians, raping women, and setting fire to huts. Court-martial me, and he left his weapon and walked away. We never thought we were heroes. We came in from altitude down to low level. US military helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson helped stop one of the most infamous massacres of the Vietnam War. After the initial shock, I think some sort of a defensive mechanism kicked in. I had an administrative MOS and was ordered to Hawaii where I was working as a courier. Larry Colburn was a door gunner with crew chief Glenn Andreotta and Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson as pilot of a small scout . Hugh Thompson, a pilot of the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Americal Division, flew an observational helicopter supporting Task Force Barker on March 16, 1968. Its like the line from the movie No Country for Old Men when the Vietnam veteran played by Josh Brolin, who responds to another guy who introduced himself and says he was in Nam too: Oh, you were in Vietnam too. Hugh Thompson and the My Lai Massacre - Truth or Fiction? Hugh Thompson Jr. graduated from Stone Mountain High School on June 5, 1961. We are inundated with information but we are not very well informed. Jan. 6 defendant Dustin Thompson, who blamed Trump for storming Capitol How many of them were paid and paid well to rape and murder innocent babies, children, women and men? Some of Calleys men didnt follow Calleys orders and did nothing. I was a helicopter pilot that day, and I guess I was invited here to tell you about a day of my life. Letters to the Editor: Hey, leave linoleum out of the DeSantis-Disney fight. Are you guys with me?. I know who I am, Im no hero, I was scared shitless most of the time. Did you have a sense that what you had seen at My Lai was and isolated incident or did you suspect similar atrocities were happening elsewhere? He was saying: Ill never fly again. On February 8, Congressman Charles Boustany (R-La.) You were a witness for the prosecution in the trials that followed? But remember, at My Lai only about a third of the men participated in the massacre, but no one else tried to stop it. This thread is archived New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast 73K 94 2.4K 2.4K comments Best artnaqent 1 yr. ago Standing up for what's right, shouldn't be as hard as that. He ranked higher than a warrant officer. You started out on an OH-23 scout helicopter? I didnt write Hugh up for anything and he said he didnt write me up. What would I have done if I were a man on the ground? That morning was clear and as we came over a hilltop we saw a suspect in uniform with a pack, carrying a carbine in the middle of a rice paddy. In 2001 we went back and were reunited with the boy in the ditch. Hugh alerted the low gunship as to what we had seen on the ground. Hugh said: These people are going to die. Im not going to let this happen, weve got to do something. I remember catching one of the soldiers eyes and I waved to him and he waved back. Sometimes we did and sometimes we didnt. Document points to Nixon in My Lai cover-up attempt - CBS News Hugh M. Thompson IV on LinkedIn: Weekly market wrap The outcome of the trails was disgraceful, and Hugh and I saw that it was a sham. I didn't want to be a part of that. Then, as I was in this crowd, I turned around and there he waswith his beautiful wife and new baby boy. He remembered how Glenn would put him down and pick him back up as he checked on other victims in the ditch. What did you see when first flying over My Lai? I just thank God everybody kept their cool and no one made any quick moves. Thompson ran over and said, These are civilians, we got to help them out.. At the time, I figured he was 3 or 4 years old, he was tiny. Testimony in the case against Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis is scheduled for Tuesday, with follow-ups expected in May. My Lai And Hugh Thompson: A Man of Uncommon Courage And it turned out it was a good thing that they did. Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up. Billy Waugh, a fabled Special Forces Green Beret and CIA military operative, served in Vietnam and helped hunt for Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists. Was this part of the cover up? Like most 18-year-old males I was nave, had no idea what risks were. For the sake of any kind of lame justice, they should have been put to death for their atrocities. Hugh Thompson, who has died aged 62, was the helicopter pilot who tried to halt the My Lai massacre of more than 500 villagers by American troops during the Vietnam war . On March 16, 1968, Chief Warrant Officer Thompson and his two crewmen were flying on a reconnaissance mission over the South Vietnamese village of My Lai when they spotted the bodies of men, women and children strewn over the landscape. Inside Brianna Maitland's Chilling Disappearance And The Bizarre Clues Left Behind, How Ken Miles Helped Ford Beat Ferrari Before Dying Tragically Behind The Wheel, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. At the age of 62, after extensive cancer treatment, Thompson was removed from life support and died on January 6, 2006, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Pineville, Louisiana. He told me not to say anything to anybody, and just tell the truth when I got there. If people have some confusion about that, thats their problem. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like Hugh Thompson discover inside connections to recommended job . Two young infantrymen in Iraq came upon a situation where a number of civilians were questionable and the men werent sure whether to engage or not. PDF The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story I wish we could have done more to thank him. It was a case of bloodlust. by Vietnam magazine 2/7/2011. Hugh Thompson was a helicopter pilot in 1968, on a day American soldiers gunned down more than 500 unarmed civilians in a village called My Lai. According to Miriam-Webster.com, the word "testimony means: proof or evidence that something exists or is true, firsthand authentication of a fact, an open acknowledgment, a public profession of religious experience . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Justice Thompson was re-elected for additional six-year terms in 2000, 2006, and 2012. Hood and my CO called me in, said I had a phone call. They approached but because the aircraft was at flight idle they tended to stay back a little. I met Thompson in 2000 and interviewed him for my radio program on KPFK in Los Angeles. People need to know who Hugh Thompson was, what he did and why he did it. It wasn't war.". At some point they finally did call for a cease-fire, but by then it was too late. 30 years after the massacre, Thompson and the two other members of his crew, Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn, were awarded the Soldier's Medal (Andreott. They could communicate with the command craft that was flying at altitude. We thought that was good, that they would be out of the way. He angered some GIs as he tried to photograph them as they fondled the breasts of a fifteen-year-old Vietnamese girl. In November 1970, the M Lai trials started and Hugh Thompson testified against William Calley. As we got back on station, we saw a lot of villagers leaving and figured that we may have dropped leaflets or had fired some artillery in morning. Hugh told me that was what was going through his mind, he was thinking of Nazi Germany, people digging trenches, forced to march into those trenches, mass graves. As we found out from the farce of justice being served via trials of the monsters responsible, politicians and their cronies cant be trusted either. Anyway, they remembered our story about My Lai, and instead of just lighting up a target, they took the time to analyze and study the situation. Hugh Thompson Jr. - Wikipedia Anyone can read what you share. Colburn came from Atlanta to be at his bedside. NYPD officers face departmental trial over shooting death of mentally Hugh told me to keep my mouth shut and I did. Hugh landed and ran over and told the sergeant, These are civilians, we got to help them out. The sergeant agreed, telling Hugh hed help themout of their misery. Hugh continued to argue, said they were no threat, they had no weapons. Some were sent out into the field for 60-75 days straight, and they started getting the feeling somebody was trying to get rid of them. %%EOF Hugh Thompson & Helicopter Crew Honored for Helping End My - YouTube The M Lai massacre started when the U.S. Army declared everyone in a broad region of Vietnam either part of the Viet Cong or sympathizers. Hood were returnees, but no one really zeroed in on what was happening. The My Lai massacre of March 16, 1968, stands as one of the darkest moments in U.S. military history. No Id never seen nor heard of anything like that before, except in World War II.