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. I figured, I was in the Army, so I should experience it where the action was. Yes. If we would have had direct contact, we could have told them that these people are unarmed, no threat. 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. In an interview first broadcast in 2004, Hardtalk's Tim Sebastian spoke to Mr. HUGH THOMPSON: I'm Hugh Thompson. And then she finished her sentence: she said, So we could forgive them.'. Thompson acted more instinctively, given his morals, character, and military training. 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. Ever reflect about how you are part of an event of such historical significance? I went back in 2008 for the 40th anniversary. Thompson ran over and said, These are civilians, we got to help them out.. Hugh Thompson, a helicopter pilot, had threatened to fire on the American troops in order to rescue Vietnamese women and children from the slaughter. Sometimes we did and sometimes we didnt. I lost faith in the whole military organization and wanted to put it all behind me. An American Hero - CBS News 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. While the massacre took place, helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson and his crew flew over the jungle, offering air support. You must have had some post-traumatic stress after your experience in Vietnam. 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. hbbd``b`:$WXWkZ ["|Ab b:H2@#H@ ( Nixon and the My Lai massacre coverup - New York Post Somehow they trusted him and they came out. 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. And it turned out it was a good thing that they did. It is denial, a refusal to believe our young men could run amok the way they did. One of the ladies that we had helped out that day came up to me and asked, Why didnt the people who committed these acts come back with you? And I was just devastated. It took several weeks of time, and several volumes of testimony to satisfy the United States pen<rion bureau that "Old Reliable" was the identical soldier who had enlisted in Company H, Fifteenth Ohio volunteer Infantry, in 1862, and who was last reported "wounded and missing In battle of . By this time, Lt. William Calleys Charlie Company was reaching My Lai? At first, they only wanted to give it to Hugh at a private ceremony. But eventually the journalist Seymour Hersh found out about the massacre, and his report made it worldwide news and a turning point in the war. The only radio communication we had was with the low gunship. They were going to kill more, but they didnt because of what Thompson did. 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. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like Hugh Thompson discover inside connections to recommended job . Ill always know that we did was morally right, we did what we could to help people who could not defend themselves. 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. 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. Hugh Thompson and My Lai - CounterPunch.org Thompson was buried in Lafayette, Louisiana, with full military honors, including a three-volley salute and a helicopter flyover. One of the ladies that we had helped out that day came up to me and asked, Why didnt the people who committed these acts come back with you? 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. As we did, we heard automatic weapon fire. The eyewitness testimony of Thompson and his surviving crew member helped convict Calley at a court-martial. All content is protected by copyright and may not be used for commercial purposes without prior written permission. Hugh Thompson reported the massacre to his commanding officer. What would I have done if I were a man on the ground? Join Facebook to connect with Hugh Thompson and others you may know. They were shooting women and children just like anybody else.. So he called our low gunship, piloted by a friend of his, Dan Millans, and said: Danny, I need a favor. 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! Probably not. If you are an American who thinks all of our foreign policy and actions over the years is as pure as the driven snow, well that is just not reality. 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. That Is little Hugh!" It was "Little Hugh" sure enough. It was absurd, but you have to be willing to pay the price. Like most 18-year-old males I was nave, had no idea what risks were. There was no time to get an ethics opinion or consult authorities. View Hugh Thompson's professional profile on LinkedIn. Likewise, what Hugh did has been ignored or glossed over in history texts, much the same way the incident has been. 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. . Hugh said, Im going to take him on the right, which meant he was my target. But I still dont think the topic really gets the exposure it really needs. We started thinking what might have happened, but you didnt want to accept that thought, Thompson said in a 2000 interview, because if you accepted it, that means your own fellow Americans, people you were there to protect, were doing something very evil.. We hope to link up with other organizations and grow some legs. This is not how this military organization supposed to conduct operations. He tried to persuade him to stop the attack but with no success. He remembered Glenn picking him up, seeing me in the ditch. View the profiles of people named Hugh Thompson. My Lai Massacre: Vietnam War & Colin Powell - HISTORY Friends I had on the division level told me they were taking volunteers for the 123rd Aviation Battalion. You know, you think everybody feels you and you can ignore your own symptoms. The Army covered it up, but the facts eventually came to light and the responsible officer, Capt. It has turned me into a cynic philosopher. For the sake of any kind of lame justice, they should have been put to death for their atrocities. It was fresh enough that things hadnt changed much. It was a dime short and day late for Hugh, 30 years after the factafter causing him griefthen theyre going to call him a hero? Hugh came back to the aircraft and because we had flight helmets on and the aircraft was running, we had to literally put our heads together as Hugh shouted instructions. On March 16, 1998, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Colburn attended a service at My Lai marking the 30th anniversary of the massacre. We even started marking the wounded with smoke, thinking the men on ground would come assist them. By then I was a civilian and was trying to attend college on the GI Bill, but I kept getting subpoenas. As we flew around more, we started seeing small groups of people dead or dying in other parts of the village. Hugh Thompson reported the massacre to his commanding officer. 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. Whats that make you, my buddy? So, just because guys served in the same theater doesnt necessarily mean we are all that close. As he approached the soldiers, he told them to stop. 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. They had been writing to the Pentagon for years about Hugh, totally unbeknownst to Hugh. It was like he dropped out of the sky. 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?. Im not going to let this happen, weve got to do something. How could I ever be prepared for something like that? 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 The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (First Edition I think I may have been in shock to some extent. For his interference. It was about six months ago that the S&P 500 dipped . Still, Thompson had saved civilians who would have been killed if he had not intervened. What did you see when first flying over My Lai? Testimony to the Truth [Smyth, Reverend Hugh P.] on Amazon.com. I think it is deception, and that remains constant today. You can imagine the emotions that surfaced. I met Thompson in 2000 and interviewed him for my radio program on KPFK in Los Angeles. Hugh and I were skeptical in 01, so we asked him a lot of questions and he told us things only he could have known. Hugh Thompson Profiles | Facebook A forgotten hero stopped the My Lai massacre 50 years ago today - Los Months later you were surprised with a medal for action at My Lai? When the American people responded as they did in defense of Calley, it was really hard, especially for Hugh. There are those hardcore people who do still say we shouldnt have told the truth, that we should have covered for those guys in the field; that we didnt know what it was like on the ground. But I really didnt know what was going to happen or how to react. The alternative was to be in an infantry unit, and I was told it would be a good idea to attach to an aviation company, better odds there. They didnt want to. Nearby, a squad of soldiers approached with weapons drawn. I give credit to my sister Mary, who saw my condition when I came home. He didnt have much support for decades. I believe Glenn got a Bronze Star too. I testified in the trials of Henderson, Medina and Calley. Im going to go over to the bunker myself and get these people out. First He Castrated Himself. Billy Waugh, Famed Special Forces Warrior and CIA Legend, Dies At 93. Thompson risked his life and career and had Lt. Calley shoot him. PFC. That particular morning we were to provide reconnaissance for a ground operation that was going on in My Lai . I am sorry this world has lost you. So you were encouraged at that point? If its not sincere, it doesnt mean anything. Hugh Thompson Jr (1943-2006) - EA Forum Through the years, he continued to speak out, having been invited to West Point and other military installations to tell of the moral and legal obligations of soldiers in wartime. Finally, when the sergeant said OK, Hugh thought hed convinced him and got back in the helicopter and we pulled out. Furious, Hugh Thompson landed again, this time in front of a bunker where civilians were hiding. The lieutenant told him to mind his own business and get out of the way. All of a sudden I hear my name called, I had no advance knowledge, no idea what was happening until they pinned the Bronze Star with Valor on me. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. Some soldiers even jumped on the water buffalos, riding them around while trying to kill them with their bayonets. The bodies of massacred villagers at M Lai, as captured by a U.S. Army photographer. Jan. 6 defendant Dustin Thompson, who blamed Trump for storming Capitol How did you and Hugh reconcile what you knew happened with the outpouring of public support for Calley and his men? An Account of the My Lai Courts-Martial - University of Missouri It can be disturbing. He left the aircraft in flight idle, as rotor blades can be somewhat intimidating. Wed done what we could. That aspect of it made me feel real good.. The . Thompsons father played a central role in his childrens education. It took the Army 30 years, but in 1998, they finally acknowledged that Thompson had done something good. A sergeant stood by the ditch. Andreotta died in action a few weeks later, but Thompson and Colburn were key witnesses in the investigations and trials to follow. by Vietnam magazine 2/7/2011. It was Hugh and he told me that I would be getting orders to report to Washington. They were not combatants. When you see your lieutenant or captain initiate these things, some enlisted men on the ground are more likely to do the same thing. The cause was cancer, Jay DeWorth, a spokesman for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center where Mr. Thompson died, told The Associated Press.
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