There was a guy at the ditch with Calley, shooting people not yet dead. Kyle Hockenberry: For Those I love I will sacrifice, Adam Brown: The life and legacy of fearless Navy SEAL, Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart: The real heroes of the Battle of Mogadishu, Ivica Jerak: The Croat who died as American hero. Out of the blue, our unit was called out onto the tarmac for an awards and decoration ceremony. This is not what Im here for. In November 1970, the M Lai trials started and Hugh Thompson testified against William Calley. Just because you tell the truth, it doesnt mean everything always come up roses. He was evacuated to a hospital in Japan and began a long rehabilitation period. Thompson was the first to communicate back to headquarters about the killing occurring on the ground. I was a helicopter pilot that day, and I guess I was invited here to tell you about a day of my life. There was also testimony of absolute insanity. So I was not a good guy.. They were shooting women and children just like anybody else.. The high gun stayed in the air and circled. I believe Glenn got a Bronze Star too. I went back in 2008 for the 40th anniversary. When I finally got in to see the guy, he was a major, he wouldnt make eye contact as I read my list. The outcome of the trails was disgraceful, and Hugh and I saw that it was a sham. Thompsons father played a central role in his childrens education. When the American people responded as they did in defense of Calley, it was really hard, especially for Hugh. We thought that was good, that they would be out of the way. When we would come back to those we marked, wed find they were now dead. HUGH THOMPSON: I'm Hugh Thompson. I remember catching one of the soldiers eyes and I waved to him and he waved back. I was a helicopter pilot that day, and I guess I was invited here to tell you about a day of my life. He studied mortuary science and became a licensed funeral director. You are not comfortable with being called a hero, either? So I was not a good guy.". That morning, Hugh said, This is supposed to be a VC stronghold, but you know G2. Usually, when intelligence said an area was hot, it wasnt, and visa versa. The second time, he touched down near a bunker in which a group of about 10 civilians were being menaced by American troops. Then, as I was in this crowd, I turned around and there he waswith his beautiful wife and new baby boy. Hugh Thompson Jr (1943-2006) - EA Forum And we did, the best we could. We even started marking the wounded with smoke, thinking the men on ground would come assist them. After learning about the heroism of Hugh Thompson Jr. during the M Lai Massacre, read about the Gulf of Tonkin incident that started the Vietnam War. Hugh Thompson Jr. - Wikipedia As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Particularly because of the Peers and the IG investigations, I thought there were people sincere about upholding the Uniform Code of Military Justice. You are the ones that deserve to be called American Soldiers. He tried to explain that these people appeared to be civilians, that we hadnt taken any fire and there was no evidence of combatants in that area. Hood were returnees, but no one really zeroed in on what was happening. After we took the boy to Quang Nai, we went back to our base, and Hugh Thompson and I reported to Colonel Oran Henderson. Larry Colburn was a door gunner with crew chief Glenn Andreotta and Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson as pilot of a small scout helicopter during a combat assault at the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. Furious, Hugh Thompson landed again, this time in front of a bunker where civilians were hiding. Ronald L. Haeberle/U.S. I think I may have been in shock to some extent. I think he broke his flight helmet, he threw it down so hard. 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. We knew something seemed wrong. The best therapy I got was in those four hours and seeing the people who were so broken physically. As United States citizens, as representatives of the one country in this world that is supposed to protect human life, they are ones to be ashamed of, to be shunned, to be branded traitors. At the time, I figured he was 3 or 4 years old, he was tiny. While the massacre took place, helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson and his crew flew over the jungle, offering air support. Mr. Thompson worked as a veterans' counselor in Louisiana after leaving military service. At first, I just felt shock. There was no time to get an ethics opinion or consult authorities. Thats unlikely to improve anyones mental health, Letters to the Editor: Yes, we need to talk about Bidens age. On March 16, 1968, did you have any expectations of serious action? Now we saw them again, but they were all lying on the road, dead or dying. Thompson was vilified by many Americans for his testimony against United States Army personnel. Fortunately for the monsters that committed these crimes against everything that is good, the generations that remember this (I remember the headlines and I was only 11 years old) are dying off and the current generations of American citizens think the world revolves around them and cant see past the end of their cell phones. He walked about 50 meters and encountered the lieutenant who was leading the squad. Meet the Participants | American Experience | Official Site | PBS These people are going to die, Thompson said to his crew. 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. He remembered Glenn picking him up, seeing me in the ditch. Im sorry. We know that Americans committed a massacre 50 years ago today; and we also know that an American stopped it. Among those numbers were 17 pregnant women and 56 infants. The pilots were briefed, if the crew was briefed it was by the pilot in the aircraft on the way to the area. I testified in the trials of Henderson, Medina and Calley. Glenn shouted, Hes firing into the ditch again!, How did Hugh react when reason failed? He found 69 between the ages of 4 and 7, and 91 between the ages of 8 and 12. Typically, when we post testimonies here on truthsaves, we're detailing conversion experiences. In unison, all three of us shouted, You son of a bitch! That was Captain Ernest Medina. After My Lai, did you feel traumatized or feel like you carried a huge burden? In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. No one wants a president to die in office. Were you talking about this at the time? If people have some confusion about that, thats their problem. Hugh Thompson returned to M Lai in 1998 and met some of the people he saved. Ive mulled this over for years. Thank you both for being of upstanding and outstanding moral character and having the backbone to stand up for what you know is right! 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! He was first appointed to the court on March 1, 1994, by Governor Zell Miller (D). A defendant charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, who testified that he believed he was "following presidential orders" from President Donald Trump when he stormed the building. When Hugh realized it was our people doing this killing, he knew he had to take drastic measures, recalled Larry Colburn, a gunner on Thompsons crew. Genevieve Carlton earned a Ph.D in history from Northwestern University with a focus on early modern Europe and the history of science and medicine before becoming a history professor at the University of Louisville. However, Ive spoken to survivors on different occasions who had been at the bottom of the pile. What did you see when first flying over My Lai? Calley told Thompson that he was following orders, presumably from Capt. Mercy Thompson and the Revelation on Marriage - The Church of Jesus Larry Colburn talks about his late friend Hugh Thompson, the My Lai massacre, the subsequent cover up, investigations and trials, https://www.historynet.com/interview-larry-colburn-why-my-lai-hugh-thompson-matter/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot. He just said I was a prime candidate for PTSD. Friends I had on the division level told me they were taking volunteers for the 123rd Aviation Battalion. When the orders came down, the CO called me into his office and demanded to know what they were for. 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.. I wish we could have done more to thank him. Hugh Thompson - Tom Joad 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. Jon Wiener is professor emeritus of history at UC Irvine, and working, with Mike Davis, on a book on Los Angeles in the 1960s. He teaches the U.S. history survey since 1877 and specialized courses on Vietnam, 1960s America, and U.S. foreign relations. Upon coming home, he got death threats and the like. This is not how this military organization supposed to conduct operations. When we first saw him in 2001, he said all he wanted was to get out of Ho Chi Minh City where he worked in a factory at low wages, and get back to village and find a wife. What led you to enlist in the Army? Well, it wasnt really an apology, was it? He showed no reaction at all. Glenn said, If we are going to do something, we better do it right now! So Hugh lands right between the approaching squad and the bunker. We also want to carry on Hughs passionate advocacy for all veterans, not just Vietnam vets. DOC HUGH THOMPSON'S TESTIMONY: - Social Studies with Miss Daniel What drove you to create the Hugh Thompson Foundation? 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. He looked up and saw us and then took off for the tree line. The daring act of a man in defiance of combat differences in saving unarmed civilians from being deliberately butchered by his own side while under combat orders. You felt pretty vulnerable in that little helicopter. That same day, the cover up started. Back at the base, Thompson threw his flight helmet on the ground. Now, if I had known then what I know now about some of the activity going on there, the rapes and barbarism. Letters to the Editor: Hey, leave linoleum out of the DeSantis-Disney fight. As he told The Associated Press in 2004: "Don't do the right thing looking for a reward, because it might not come. He retired as a VA counselor in Louisiana. Then he assumed the Army initiated an investigation. As we flew around more, we started seeing small groups of people dead or dying in other parts of the village. When it was all happening, the feeling I had was, if this is how Im going to die, Im OK with it. It all crystallized in that moment. . As we watched from about 15 feet off the ground, back maybe 20 meters, we saw this captain approach the woman, look down at her, kick her, step back and then blow her away. You can imagine the emotions that surfaced. As the wounded tried to crawl out, they were fired on by someone who had been left there to do just that. There could be a reason for doing it, or there could have simply been a complete breakdown in leadership. I lost faith in the whole military organization and wanted to put it all behind me. But one of things the most infuriating is being called a whistleblower, as if we went and ratted someone out. There was a sergeant standing by the ditch by himself. One of the instructors told me a story that he wished Hugh could hear. As far as a place in history, thats not something I dwell on. .d,H2F That is completely false, there was no backstabbing going onwe were right in their face at My Lai, we were ready to confront those people then and there. And then she finished her sentence: she said, So we could forgive them.'. "Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up. Hugh Thompson, the hero who stopped a massacre committed by US troops in the Vietnamese village of My Lai by landing his helicopter in the line of fire, 1968. Everywhere wed look, wed see bodies. But despite Thompsons heroic actions, the Army tried to cover up the massacre. I was hoping there would be justice, but what did it achieve? Wed 11 Jan 2006 08.06 EST. But he didnt even draw a sidearm as he walked up to the bunker and motioned to the people to come out. 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.