At 8 years old, he made his way about 10 miles through the jungle by himself to the village. A sergeant stood by the ditch. Id received death threats over the phone, Thompson said in 2004. To see people herded up like so many animals, marched into a ditch and machine-gunned? Colburn said. So you were encouraged at that point? It was fresh enough that things hadnt changed much. I was a helicopter pilot that day, and I guess I was invited here to tell you about a day of my life. It couldnt be gunships, they werent firing on people. Instead, the Army hid the slaughter of hundreds of innocent people, including 182 women and 173 children. But it turns out he was 8. It was women, children and elders we saw. Yet in the midst of the chaos and bloodshed, one U.S. soldier followed his convictions. Hugh Thompson returned to M Lai in 1998 and met some of the people he saved. 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. And you want to instill the spirit of Thompson in others. These people are going to die, Thompson said to his crew. My Lai massacre was a bloody stain of the Vietnam War, but one man changed the course of the battle and went from traitor to hero. Hood to give testimony in the basement war room of the Pentagon. The villagers offered no resistance as U.S. soldiers shoved them into a ditch and opened fire with machine guns. I stayed on gunships for rest of my time in Vietnam. But still, who do you shoot? First He Castrated Himself. It was so blatantly wrong what they were doing, we had no choice, we had to do what we did. Calley was convicted, and Medina was acquitted. My Lai And Hugh Thompson: A Man of Uncommon Courage Wed 11 Jan 2006 08.06 EST. I may have clipped him but he made it to the trees. Thompson told his crew, Im going to go over to the bunker myself and get these people out. . They landed their helicopter between the American forces and the civilians, and they trained their guns on the advancing Americans. PDF The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story We thought that was good, that they would be out of the way. The bodies of massacred villagers at M Lai, as captured by a U.S. Army photographer. You were a witness for the prosecution in the trials that followed? At first, they only wanted to give it to Hugh at a private ceremony. I was back at Ft. On March 16, 1998, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Colburn attended a service at My Lai marking the 30th anniversary of the massacre. The squad leader ordered Thompson and his men to get out of the way. They were not running, but just slowly moving out of the village. I know who I am, Im no hero, I was scared shitless most of the time. It was an enemy tactic to blur the lines between combatants and noncombatants. This ended his combat career in Vietnam. Hugh Thompson was a United States Army Major and a former warrant officer in the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division who helped end the My Lai Massacre of the South Vietnamese village known as Sn M on March 16, 1968. Do you think most people realize there was more than just the killing that was going on? How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! Anyone can read what you share. Thompson ran over and said, These are civilians, we got to help them out.. Did you expect something would be done as a result? Then he assumed the Army initiated an investigation. It can be disturbing. ArmyThe bodies of massacred villagers at M Lai, as captured by a U.S. Army photographer. I just figured it was time to do something, to not let these people get killed. Im not going to let this happen, weve got to do something. For the sake of any kind of lame justice, they should have been put to death for their atrocities. And he was a character, a real joker. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a49bccbef3b55dea5fdfe48a500a42a9" );document.getElementById("c08a1a06c7").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Content on this website is free to use and share, but please provide a link back to Spec Ops Magazine as a source. An army helicopter piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson arrived in the My Lai vicinity about 9 a.m. Thompson noticed dead and dying civilians all over the village. What would I have done if I were a man on the ground? Medina and maybe higher. My Lai Massacre: Vietnam War & Colin Powell - HISTORY Company C (Charlie Company), 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment of Task Force Barker, led by Captain Ernest Medina, moved into Sn M. Court-martial me, and he left his weapon and walked away. 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.. 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 . 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.. Dont salute me or call me sir, he said, Just Mr. Thompson. He didnt believe in that no fraternization stuff, he was really one of the fellows, he knew both sides. He found 69 between the ages of 4 and 7, and 91 between the ages of 8 and 12. Testimony to the Truth They were shooting women and children just like anybody else.. When you testified in Washington for the Army investigation led by General William Peers, did you feel they were after the real story? None. . There could be a reason for doing it, or there could have simply been a complete breakdown in leadership. Every time Ive been back there, the survivors ask me, Why dont the men who committed the atrocities come back and ask for forgiveness so that we might forgive them. Theyre Buddhists you know, they can forgive, put it behind them and carry on. %%EOF After Hugh died, I was invited to Annapolis to speak one more time. That is what other people say. Could you have just reported this and left, knowing youd at least made an effort? HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. He is best known for his role in stopping the My Lai Massacre, in which a group of US Army soldiers tortured and killed several hundred unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mutilating their bodies after they had been murdered. The My Lai massacre of March 16, 1968, stands as one of the darkest moments in U.S. military history. All of the investigations led to nothing, Hugh and I felt like all three trials were just window dressing. Thompson left the Army in 1983 and became a private helicopter pilot in the South. I dont know how they found me, but I gave a brief interview, and it appeared with the Life magazine photo spread in December 1969. Hugh told her he probably didnt have any family left. They also reported the massacre to higher officers, who ordered the troops on the ground to stop. Hugh Thompson on his way to testify against William Calley on November 23, 1970. No. The pilots were briefed, if the crew was briefed it was by the pilot in the aircraft on the way to the area. When did you see those particular villagers again? I was 17 when I enlisted in 1966 with some friends. 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 is an amazing person made me cry just reading the research about him. I walked in and told Henderson we saw unnecessary killing of many civilians. Since Hughs death, I have become the recipient of some of the hate mail he used to get. We are inundated with information but we are not very well informed. I flew in the 23 as a gunner through that summer, then I asked about throwing my hat into ring for a gunship where there was a little more armor and security. You and Hugh had a pretty low profile during and after the trials? Hugh Thompson, a helicopter pilot, had threatened to fire on the American troops in order to rescue Vietnamese women and children from the slaughter. Hugh Clowers Thompson Sr. was an electrician who served in the United States Navy during World War II. But, after going through the process and seeing the ultimate outcome, I wasnt really surprised, but I was disillusioned. No one wants a president to die in office. So, he decided to do something. "I threatened never to fly again. Still, Thompson had saved civilians who would have been killed if he had not intervened. Just then Glenn spotted some people in an earthen bunker, saw faces peering out of the entry. When Hugh realized it was our people doing this killing, he knew he had to take drastic measures. Youve got to love this guy. I felt that my testimony validated Hughs, and that was why it was important. Harry's phone-hacking testimony contained 'troubling factual before the subcommittee, and then refused to release the transcripts of the testimony. He told the story of what happened that day, when he and his two-man crew flew over My Lai, in support of troops who were looking for Viet Cong fighters. It was denial on the part of the public. Any hesitation? 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. When we would come back to those we marked, wed find they were now dead. It was Hugh and he told me that I would be getting orders to report to Washington. I dont know who did what. Thompson continued to fly and was hit eight times, in four of which incidents the aircraft was lost. Hugh Thompson - Tom Joad They were not listening, so he did the unbelievable, he drew his own sidearm and pointed it at them. So he called our low gunship, piloted by a friend of his, Dan Millans, and said: Danny, I need a favor. And it turned out it was a good thing that they did. In 1966, Thompson enlisted in the United States Army and completed the Warrant Officer Flight Program training at Fort Wolters, Texas, and Fort Rucker, Alabama. Jon Wiener is professor emeritus of history at UC Irvine, and working, with Mike Davis, on a book on Los Angeles in the 1960s. No. Even though the military has admitted to the massacre, many people are not capable of acknowledging and processing that information. 0 The Army covered it up, but the facts eventually came to light and the responsible officer, Capt. We couldnt come up with an explanation until Hugh marked a woman we saw who had a chest wound and decided to just move back in a hover when we saw a squad coming near. Hugh Thompson Jr (1943-2006) - EA Forum Hugh was running scenarios through his head to figure it out. Did you know when the story was about to break? Return to My Lai - CBS News By then I was a civilian and was trying to attend college on the GI Bill, but I kept getting subpoenas. He remembered Glenn picking him up, seeing me in the ditch. Out of the blue, our unit was called out onto the tarmac for an awards and decoration ceremony. Afterwards Thompson testified at the trial of Lt. William Calley, the commanding officer during the massacre. Ive had PTSD issues for 42 years. In November 1970, the M Lai trials started and Hugh Thompson testified against William Calley. In unison, all three of us shouted, You son of a bitch! That was Captain Ernest Medina. Hugh Thompsonsdefiance and courage with that of his crew had given a new lease of life to others that they saved and will be remembered by all in the face of Humanity and History. Whats that make you, my buddy? So, just because guys served in the same theater doesnt necessarily mean we are all that close. Hugh said, No, lets do it at the Wall. They said no, the weather might be bad or something. 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. "I cannot explain why it happened. Indeed, for a time, Thompson himself feared court-martial. I had an administrative MOS and was ordered to Hawaii where I was working as a courier. "Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up. Commentary: Opponents need to stop equating abortion with eugenics, Editorial: Polluters keep trying to block gas bans. Wed talk a lot and if I was stressing I could always pick up the phone and Hugh could always talk me down. We came across a ditch, with probably 150 or more people in it and the wounded trying to crawl out. Meet the Soldier Who Prevented More Killings During the My Lai Massacre This is not what Im here for. Thats what they want to do. Nick Turse investigated violence in Vietnam against noncombatants for his book Kill Anything that Moves. He concluded after a decade of research in Pentagon archives and more than 100 interviews with American veterans and Vietnamese survivors that Americans killing civilians in Vietnam was pervasive and systematic. One soldier told him there had been a My Lai a month.. 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] I flew with him dozens of times and saw sporadic action. It was absurd, but you have to be willing to pay the price. I hope to take as many speaking engagements as I can. That one person will go on to tell 10 other people. Are you guys with me?. They didnt want to. Furious, Hugh Thompson landed again, this time in front of a bunker where civilians were hiding. That was the only enemy combatant we saw that day. hbbd``b`:$WXWkZ ["|Ab b:H2@#H@ ( 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 Had you ever seen anything even approaching this before? Hugh Thompson, the hero who stopped a massacre committed by US - Reddit Thompson acted more instinctively, given his morals, character, and military training. 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. The hero received death threats for speaking out about the massacre. What about those who didnt stand up to evil in their midst? However, Ive spoken to survivors on different occasions who had been at the bottom of the pile. Ever reflect about how you are part of an event of such historical significance? View Hugh Thompson's professional profile on LinkedIn. I saw them shoot an M79 [grenade launcher] into a group of people who were still alive, said Sgt. Before the story broke, did you or Hugh consider going public with the story? As I understand, that part of brain doesnt develop until 25. Yes, and we were checking the perimeter as they were coming in and starting the combat assault. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Opinion: California wants more psychiatric detentions. When it was all over, hundreds of unarmed civilians had been murdered by American forces. Harry's phone-hacking testimony contained 'troubling factual inconsistencies', hacking judge says. Innocent people didnt die that day They didnt just fly off the handle and engage a target that was borderline. The best therapy I got was in those four hours and seeing the people who were so broken physically. At the same time, judging from Hendersons reactionhe seemed almost nonchalant, like it was just another day at the office. We know that Americans committed a massacre 50 years ago today; and we also know that an American stopped it. It is denial, a refusal to believe our young men could run amok the way they did. I think that is probably what has helped me get through it all. Hugh Thompson Profiles | Facebook He angered some GIs as he tried to photograph them as they fondled the breasts of a fifteen-year-old Vietnamese girl. Hugh alerted the low gunship as to what we had seen on the ground. 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. . Finally, when the sergeant said OK, Hugh thought hed convinced him and got back in the helicopter and we pulled out. We were the closest and should have been able to communicate, but thats the way it was structured. And then she finished her sentence: she said, So we could forgive them. Im not man enough to do that. That same day, the cover up started. It all crystallized in that moment. Acadiana People: Angers writes new chapter in Hugh Thompson story Oh, no, Mr. Thompson, let me see what we can do, he said. They were taking volunteers for the 11th Brigade. Im Irish so Im to suffer. Of course anyone thinking of making a career in the military probably pretended they never heard anything. Traces the life of U.S. Army helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson, who tried to stop the infamous My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War Genres NonfictionHistoryWar BiographyMilitary HistoryMilitary Fiction 248 pages, Hardcover First published May 1, 1999 Book details & editions About the author Trent Angers 40 books6 followers Friends Following 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.. You found later that that wasnt true? To this day I cant remember exactly about that day reporting to Henderson. In the last incident, his helicopter was brought down by enemy machine-gun fire, and he broke his back in the resulting crash landing. by Vietnam magazine 2/7/2011. I had no idea what it was about. He also wanted to be able to get out quickly if need be. People should realize that when atrocities are committed like this and covered up, it degrades us all. Does it worry you that it was, and remains, in our capacity to excuse or rationalize an atrocity like My Lai committed by Americans? Like the trials, it was forced. How many men were in squad and were they threatening? It has turned me into a cynic philosopher. This is not how this military organization is supposed to conduct operations. They were true American heroes. They were face to face, screaming at each other. We hope to link up with other organizations and grow some legs. His final term would have expired in December 2018; he retired in January 2017. 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. On March 16, 1968, he was flying a mission in Vietnam and came across a large number of dead civilian bodies; and in pursuing surveillance, he discovered that those civilians had been killed, and the survivors were still under fire, by American forces. Calley told Thompson that he was following orders, presumably from Capt. U.S. ArmyWilliam Calley, the officer who ordered the slaughter at M Lai. For hours, they raped, mutilated, and slaughtered innocent civilians until a helicopter pilot named Hugh Thompson Jr. put his own life on the line to stop the massacre. It had to be. Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. was born on April 15, 1943, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, to Wessie and Hugh Clowers Thompson. Well, Hugh told them, if you just give it to me Ill take the medal, with a camera crew, to the first mens room I can find and Ill flush it down the toilet. This is a colonel he is talking to. Some peoplepublicly stated that they felt Thompson was the only soldier at My Lai who should be punished (for turning his weapons on fellow American troops) and wanted to see him court-martialed for his actions at My Lai. And then she finished her sentence: she said, So we could forgive them.'. Hugh Thompson Jr. graduated from Stone Mountain High School on June 5, 1961. These were infants, two-, three-, four-, five-year-olds, women, very old men, no draft-age people whatsoever.. Today theres a little museum in My Lai, where Thompson is honored, and which displays a list of the names and ages of people killed that day. Jan Swango Emerson and Hugh Feiss, eds., Imagining Heaven in the Middle Ages (New York: Garland, 2000); . Among those numbers were 17 pregnant women and 56 infants. The dead were women, old men and children. Justice Thompson was re-elected for additional six-year terms in 2000, 2006, and 2012. A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago today - Los All content is protected by copyright and may not be used for commercial purposes without prior written permission. I figured, I was in the Army, so I should experience it where the action was. It was unusual, the only time it happened while I was there. I was raised with a sense of duty. If there was anything that was cleansing for me that was it. At some point they finally did call for a cease-fire, but by then it was too late. If they fire on these people, or fire on me while Im doing that, shoot em! Now Hugh really had no idea who or what was in that bunker, could have been an AK47 waiting for him there. I testified in the trials of Henderson, Medina and Calley. What led you to enlist in the Army? Hugh Clowers Thompson, Jr. (April 15, 1943 - January 6, 2006) was a United States Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Hugh Thompson Jr., The Army Major Who Stopped The My Lai Massacre 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. Then, as I was in this crowd, I turned around and there he waswith his beautiful wife and new baby boy. That seemed suicidal to me, going out with next to no backup or firepower. Glenn Andreotta was killed just a few weeks after My Lai? If they fire on these people, or fire on me while Im doing that, shoot em!. Among those numbers were 17 pregnant women and 56 infants. This is not how this military organization supposed to conduct operations. Who were the people lying in the roads and in the ditch, wounded and killed? They tried to make arrangements to get him there, but couldnt find him. Just because you tell the truth, it doesnt mean everything always come up roses. Like most 18-year-old males I was nave, had no idea what risks were. The second time, he touched down near a bunker in which a group of about 10 civilians were being menaced by American troops. Well, it wasnt really an apology, was it? HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Ill have no part of this, Ill tear these wings off and never fly again!. He remembered how Glenn would put him down and pick him back up as he checked on other victims in the ditch. We kept flying back and forth, Thompson recalled, and it didnt take very long until we started noticing the large number of bodies everywhere. Finally, the Army launched an inquiry. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. When he had a heart attack he said he would slow down, but he didnt. I have come to understand him more now than I did when he was here. So he gave me prescriptions for several psychotropic drugs. endstream endobj startxref Where else in history has a massacre of civilians been stopped in the middle of the massacre? Billy Waugh, Famed Special Forces Warrior and CIA Legend, Dies At 93. And although he lived with post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, and nightmare disorder for decades, he eventually became a veterans counselor for the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs. Our main job was to fly close to the deck, entice fire to get the enemy to give up their position, mark it, suppress fire and get out of the gunships way. Are you guys with me?. From Testimony to Tragedy: My Lai in Personal Perspective Michael W. Flamm Michael W. Flamm Michael W. Flamm is professor of history at Ohio Wesleyan University. When they started convicting people, I thought, now this is how it should unfold. No, we had no knowledge of who they were, we just knew they were Americans on the ground and we would have done anything for them. I flew from Ft. In about 10-15 minutes we were back to the same spot where we saw the villagers on the road leaving. In mid-March 2022, posts about a warrant officer named Hugh Thompson and his role in the My Lai massacre circulated on social media, including a tweet describing that time period as the 50-year anniversary of that incident:. We came to think we were indirectly killing these people ourselves by marking them with smoke. On March 16, 1968, a company of U.S. soldiers stormed into the Vietnamese village of Sn M and began shooting. Thompson was more experienced than Lt. Calley, more ethical, more talented, and brighter, and probably recognized Calley didnt know what he was doing. Did they know that somebody tried to help? He tried to persuade him to stop the attack but with no success. As children ran for safety, soldiers gunned them down. "I'd received death threats over the phone," he told the CBS News program "60 Minutes" in 2004. Now, if I had known then what I know now about some of the activity going on there, the rapes and barbarism. In the midst of it, they had a conversation like this: Remember those old guys from Vietnam and what they told us back at Annapolis?. We didnt talk too much about it ourselves because we reported on it and we were, frankly, preoccupied with the next mission. Thompson risked his life and career and had Lt. Calley shoot him. For a while we were going out on snatch missions, where wed basically kidnap draft-age males and take them in for interrogations. After seeing U.S. troops advancing on a Vietnamese family, he landed his helicopter, called in gunships to rescue the civilians, and ordered his gunner to fire on any American who interfered.
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