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He had to make sure his mother, brother and sister, killed in the ditch, were buried properly. I now know why he wanted me to come with him to events. They were going to kill more, but they didnt because of what Thompson did. So you were encouraged at that point? 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. It is amazing to see the strength of the human spirit. I guess thats the $64,000 question isnt it? How do you intend to spread the word about the foundation? Bettmann/Getty ImagesHugh Thompson on his way to testify against William Calley on November 23, 1970. He angered some GIs as he tried to photograph them as they fondled the breasts of a fifteen-year-old Vietnamese girl. Remember, this was later in the morning approaching noon, most of the killing had already been done. When you see something like that happen, with no negative repercussions, you begin to think perhaps this is the method of operation. 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. So, he decided to do something. Im a garden-variety human being and thats all there is to it. We started noticing these large numbers of bodies everywhere, he told me, people on the road dead, wounded. Hugh Thompson returned to M Lai in 1998 and met some of the people he saved. 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. And we did, the best we could. I stayed on gunships for rest of my time in Vietnam. Nicholas Goldberg: Is God on the side of blasphemy laws? He is still tiny, but he remembers everything. Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. was born on April 15, 1943, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, to Wessie and Hugh Clowers Thompson. 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.. 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. I want you to come down here and shuttle these people out of here. And thats what happened, but at that he had to make two trips. 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. After evacuating the people, you thought you could do more? They were not combatants. Everybody walked. I wanted to survive and get home. Upon coming home, he got death threats and the like. Who were the people lying in the roads and in the ditch, wounded and killed? Calley told Thompson that he was following orders, presumably from Capt. Im Irish so Im to suffer. Yes. Hood to give testimony in the basement war room of the Pentagon. . No. I told him everything and he didnt know how to respond, he had no idea how to deal with it. We were very protective of the men on the ground. That particular morning we were to provide reconnaissance for a ground operation that was going on in My Lai 4, which was better known to us as Pinkville." It was supposed to be a real big operation that day. Harry claimed a 'secret agreement' stopped him bringing hacking claims earlier Anyone can read what you share. He just said I was a prime candidate for PTSD. Im not going to let this happen, weve got to do something. So, what do you make of Calleys apology last year? I dont know, at the time I thought about creating a diversion, discharging my weapon in another direction. 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. At some point they finally did call for a cease-fire, but by then it was too late. When did you meet Hugh Thompson? For the sake of any kind of lame justice, they should have been put to death for their atrocities. Did you consider bringing gunships to ferry out others from the ditch? 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. Friends I had on the division level told me they were taking volunteers for the 123rd Aviation Battalion. 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. Calley pointed his weapon at him and threatened him with a court-martial. Hugh Thompson reported the massacre to his commanding officer. His final term would have expired in December 2018; he retired in January 2017. That seemed suicidal to me, going out with next to no backup or firepower. When the orders came down, the CO called me into his office and demanded to know what they were for. Was this part of the cover up? At first, I just felt shock. And yes, they did know that. By this time, Lt. William Calleys Charlie Company was reaching My Lai? Weve been accused of many things, of being traitors. When he arrived, American soldiers had already killed 504 Vietnamese civilians (thats the Vietnamese count; the U.S. Army said 347). 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.. I flew from Ft. What led you to enlist in the Army? The high gun stayed in the air and circled. Thompson and his crew managed to evacuate the civilians and stop the massacre. As he approached the soldiers, he told them to stop. We know that Americans committed a massacre 50 years ago today; and we also know that an American stopped it. I got there and Ill never forget my mother taking me into the kitchen and telling me if I didnt want to tell these people anything, I didnt have to. The villagers offered no resistance as U.S. soldiers shoved them into a ditch and opened fire with machine guns. 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. In November 1970, the M Lai trials started and Hugh Thompson testified against William Calley. They interviewed Hugh Thompson and his crew. I was hoping there would be justice, but what did it achieve? The second time, he touched down near a bunker in which a group of about 10 civilians were being menaced by American troops. The troops also burned the village and Sn Ms surrounding hamlets to the ground and slaughtered the livestock. No one wants a president to die in office. They landed their helicopter between the American forces and the civilians, and they trained their guns on the advancing Americans. He had a great rapport with enlisted men, as he had been one himself. So, how did you guys feel when you got the Soldiers Medals in 1998? How did you get to the 123rd Aviation Battalion? Thank you both for being of upstanding and outstanding moral character and having the backbone to stand up for what you know is right! 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? He was saying: Ill never fly again. It couldnt be gunships, they werent firing on people. It went on like that for another year and half until finally they agreed to award medals to all of us. When I got to Vietnam I was attached to a headquarters company. 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. I have mine put away somewhere, but I think Hugh threw his away one night. You can imagine the emotions that surfaced. Were you talking about this at the time? Had you ever seen anything even approaching this before? Many fellow GIs still dont think you did the right thing? When the officers take part in it, it just escalates things. 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. Glenn went down into the ditch and found the boy that he had seen moving and handed him up to me. Upon returning from the mission, Thompson reported what he had seen and experienced to his. Hugh Thompson and his crew rescued a surviving child whom they flew to the nearest field hospital. Ill have no part of this, Ill tear these wings off and never fly again!. Today is the 50th anniversary of the My Lai Massacre, when US soldiers raped and murdered 500 Vietnamese civilians and burned their homes. Im not going to let this happen, weve got to do something. He found 69 between the ages of 4 and 7, and 91 between the ages of 8 and 12. None. First He Castrated Himself. The lieutenant told him to mind his own business and get out of the way. Thats what they want to do. 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. Thompson had become something of a professional witness. 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. When Hugh asked me to come with him and report what had happened, he said: Just tell the truth. Saw some advancing Americans coming that way. I know who I am, Im no hero, I was scared shitless most of the time. But I really didnt know what was going to happen or how to react. No. He was first appointed to the court on March 1, 1994, by Governor Zell Miller (D). Thompson landed his helicopter next to a ditch that contained 150 people many dead, but many others wounded and trying to escape. Hugh told her he probably didnt have any family left. In unison, all three of us shouted, You son of a bitch! That was Captain Ernest Medina. As Hugh jumped out, he told us to take our weapons down off the bungee cords and take some belted ammo and backup weapons and set up a little perimeter around the aircraft. Charles Guiteau told a local newspaper that he shot James A. Garfield without malice or murderous intent.. We had different missions. They got some people to listen, and then there were others in the Pentagon trying to put it at the bottom of the stack. Hugh said that was OK, because that was the appropriate place. As I understand, that part of brain doesnt develop until 25. There was some chatter since most of the people at Ft. He said youre a plant arent you. Were you prepared to fire on the squad? They couldnt have been killed by artillery. Ive tried to put myself in their position, tried to empathize. Hugh Thompson on his way to testify against William Calley on November 23, 1970. The . 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. Well, I took the prescriptions, ripped them up into little pieces and walked out. He was 62. 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. You are the ones that deserve to be called American Soldiers. 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.. He remembered Glenn picking him up, seeing me in the ditch. 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. It was absurd, but you have to be willing to pay the price. He said: They are coming this way. Sorry thats not what we did and I dont care what they think of me. 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. Hell, I didnt want to believe it, either, but I had no choice because I saw it.. We surveyed around the bunker and saw that squad approaching. Like the trials, it was forced. Our purpose for being there was to protect them. On the morning of March 16, 1968, the people of M Lai were making breakfast when soldiers stormed in. He educatedhis children to act with discipline and integrity. We went back to the ditch because we knew there were a lot of people there who could have been saved. If there was anything that was cleansing for me that was it. It was women, children and elders we saw. This is not how this military organization supposed to conduct operations. How did you feel about that? I waited in the hospital waiting room for about four hours to see a psychologist. The story of My Lai is well known: On the morning of March 16, 1968, a company of U.S. soldiers killed as many as 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, a village in South Vietnam. Unfortunately, Lt. Calley and the rest of Company C never paid the price for the atrocities they committed. Calley was the only person found guilty out of the 14 charged. Did you expect something would be done as a result? 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?. 0 But in the end,. William Calley, the officer who ordered the slaughter at M Lai. 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. This fella stood up and said: Fuck you. In harsh times, heroes are ordinary men doing extraordinary things. He was very helpful to General Peers and it seemed like he wasnt just going through the motions, it was like he really wanted to know what happened. Then came the backlash. Testimony in the case against Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis is scheduled for Tuesday, with follow-ups expected in May. I would be there from December 67 to December 68. There was no time to get an ethics opinion or consult authorities. After we took the boy to Quang Nai, we went back to our base, and Hugh Thompson and I reported to Colonel Oran Henderson. It can be disturbing. Mr. Thompson remained in combat, then returned to the United States to train helicopter pilots. This ended his combat career in Vietnam. If people have some confusion about that, thats their problem. I didn't want to be a part of that. hbbd``b`:$WXWkZ ["|Ab b:H2@#H@ ( Then He Assassinated a US President. But, after going through the process and seeing the ultimate outcome, I wasnt really surprised, but I was disillusioned. They also led as many surviving civilians as they could to shelter. Interview - Larry Colburn: Why My Lai, Hugh Thompson Matter. Where else in history has a massacre of civilians been stopped in the middle of the massacre? Thats what keeps me going. Ive had PTSD issues for 42 years. Does it worry you that it was, and remains, in our capacity to excuse or rationalize an atrocity like My Lai committed by Americans? I lost faith in the whole military organization and wanted to put it all behind me. Would I have? 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.
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