hugh thompson testimony

He threw his weapon down and said he wasnt going to do it. There was also testimony of absolute insanity. 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. Ernest Medina and Lt. William Calley were court-martialed. The truth of the M Lai massacre did not come out until a year and a half later when a soldier whod seen reports on the massacre contacted a journalist. He was first appointed to the court on March 1, 1994, by Governor Zell Miller (D). No, because the commander was on a different frequency. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Meet Hugh Thompson, The Hero Who Stopped The M Lai Massacre And Was Branded A Traitor For It. Whenever I felt discouraged about things, Hugh would remind me that if we get through to just one person, its worth it. For his interference. Ever reflect about how you are part of an event of such historical significance? The My Lai Massacre was and still is a huge, shameful event that will be hard for several generations to get past. 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. You still didnt understand what was actually happening? I guess thats the $64,000 question isnt it? He retired as a VA counselor in Louisiana. For a while we were going out on snatch missions, where wed basically kidnap draft-age males and take them in for interrogations. Hugh P. Thompson was the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. 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. Now we saw them again, but they were all lying on the road, dead or dying. Nearby, a squad of soldiers approached with weapons drawn. There was a guy at the ditch with Calley, shooting people not yet dead. 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 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. Everybody's 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. When it was all happening, the feeling I had was, if this is how Im going to die, Im OK with it. If people have some confusion about that, thats their problem. In 1999, Thompson and Colburn received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award. Letters to the Editor: Should speed humps be put around all L.A. elementary schools? Thompson left the Army in 1983 and became a private helicopter pilot in the South. There were real good highs, he told me, and very low lows. Hell, I didnt want to believe it, either, but I had no choice because I saw it. He said: They are coming this way. California cities shouldnt be deterred. In 1998, 30 years after the massacre, Hugh Thompson and the two other crew members, Andreotta and Colburn, were awarded the Soldiers Medal (Andreotta posthumously), the United States Armys highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy. It was so blatantly wrong what they were doing, we had no choice, we had to do what we did. 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. But it was mostly done with a machine gun. You know, you think everybody feels you and you can ignore your own symptoms. In late December 1967, at the age of 25, Hugh Thompson was ordered to Vietnam and assigned to Company B, 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division. Whats that make you, my buddy? So, just because guys served in the same theater doesnt necessarily mean we are all that close. Thompson was vilified by many Americans for his testimony against United States Army personnel. A list of his survivors was not immediately available. Hugh Thompson & Helicopter Crew Honored for Helping End My - YouTube Hugh Thompson Jr. - Wikipedia Our purpose for being there was to protect them. ", Hugh Thompson, 62, Who Saved Civilians at My Lai, Dies, https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/us/hugh-thompson-62-who-saved-civilians-at-my-lai-dies.html. When Hugh asked me to come with him and report what had happened, he said: Just tell the truth. Friends I had on the division level told me they were taking volunteers for the 123rd Aviation Battalion. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing this? 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. Yet in the midst of the chaos and bloodshed, one U.S. soldier followed his convictions. For the sake of any kind of lame justice, they should have been put to death for their atrocities. On March 16, 1998, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Colburn attended a service at My Lai marking the 30th anniversary of the massacre. As I understand, that part of brain doesnt develop until 25. "Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up. He educatedhis children to act with discipline and integrity. As the wounded tried to crawl out, they were fired on by someone who had been left there to do just that. When they started convicting people, I thought, now this is how it should unfold. 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. 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. And the Army company only stopped because Thompson literally put himself between the soldiers and the civilians and threatened to shoot them if they didnt end the killings. He teaches the U.S. history survey since 1877 and specialized courses on Vietnam, 1960s America, and U.S. foreign relations. What drove you to create the Hugh Thompson Foundation? 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. He struggled too. 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. 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. But Ive had my episodes. 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. 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. Hugh told me to keep my mouth shut and I did. He remembered how Glenn would put him down and pick him back up as he checked on other victims in the ditch. Charlie Company arrived in M Lai with orders to destroy the village. They were taking volunteers for the 11th Brigade. It is denial, a refusal to believe our young men could run amok the way they did. Thompson was the first to communicate back to headquarters about the killing occurring on the ground. 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.. Then, in 1998, the Army awarded him the Soldiers Medal for heroism. Mr. Thompson, you and Mr. Colburn are indeed the heroes in this sordid story and I am ashamed at how they were treated. Thompson spent the rest of his life wondering if he could have saved more lives. Thats when he crashed about five helicopters in five months. I have a few lined up at some universities this year. I think I may have been in shock to some extent. When the officers take part in it, it just escalates things. Hugh Thompson | US news | The Guardian If they fire on these people, or fire on me while Im doing that, shoot em!. Anyone can read what you share. It was about six months ago that the S&P 500 dipped . Weve been accused of many things, of being traitors. You and Hugh had the opportunity to tell your stories to young military officers. 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. I may have clipped him but he made it to the trees. Mercy Thompson, Testimony, Church of Christ in Missouri v. Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 70 F. 179 (8th Cir. Hugh and I went in 1998 with 60 Minutes, just after we were given the Soldiers Medal. That Is little Hugh!" It was "Little Hugh" sure enough. They were not listening, so he did the unbelievable, he drew his own sidearm and pointed it at them. I have accompanied Hugh when he has spoken at West Point, the Naval and Air Force Academies, to the Red Cross, in Norway, Australia and elsewhere. I went back in 2008 for the 40th anniversary. Harry claimed a 'secret agreement' stopped him bringing hacking claims earlier He had to make sure his mother, brother and sister, killed in the ditch, were buried properly. Like the trials, it was forced. I felt that my testimony validated Hughs, and that was why it was important. I thought someone else was getting recognition for something. 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. Company C (Charlie Company), 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment of Task Force Barker, led by Captain Ernest Medina, moved into Sn M. They were not running, but just slowly moving out of the village. Testimony in the case against Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis is scheduled for Tuesday, with follow-ups expected in May. Hood to give testimony in the basement war room of the Pentagon. before the subcommittee, and then refused to release the transcripts of the testimony. He tried to persuade him to stop the attack but with no success. I enjoyed that. From his helicopter, Hugh Thompson could not communicate with Charlie Company on the ground. This ended his combat career in Vietnam. I have mine put away somewhere, but I think Hugh threw his away one night. I saw them shoot an M79 [grenade launcher] into a group of people who were still alive, said Sgt. I know its great copy, but Ive tried to correct the record many times: No one pointed any weapons at anybody. This is not how this military organization supposed to conduct operations. I was encouraged in that there was an investigation going on and they were going after some people in a big way. I give credit to my sister Mary, who saw my condition when I came home. 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. Interview - Larry Colburn: Why My Lai, Hugh Thompson Matter. Hugh was running scenarios through his head to figure it out. On the morning of March 16, 1968, the people of M Lai were making breakfast when soldiers stormed in. I stayed on gunships for rest of my time in Vietnam. It can be disturbing. Meet the Soldier Who Prevented More Killings During the My Lai Massacre That particular morning we were to provide reconnaissance for a ground operation that was going on in My Lai . 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. We went back to the ditch because we knew there were a lot of people there who could have been saved. They were not combatants. The eyewitness testimony of Thompson and his surviving crew member helped convict Calley at a court-martial. 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 HUGH THOMPSON'S TESTIMONY: I'm Hugh Thompson. 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. Did you experience retaliation for what you did that day, or for talking to Henderson? He told me not to say anything to anybody, and just tell the truth when I got there. In harsh times, heroes are ordinary men doing extraordinary things. When he arrived,. But still, who do you shoot? The low gun probably did because they had visual and were communicating with Hugh, and Hugh had been telling them what wed been seeing, hoping they were relating that up to the command craft that was flying above at altitude. How many men were in squad and were they threatening? We are developing the concept of a Hugh Thompson Medallion to do that. Thompson was more experienced than Lt. Calley, more ethical, more talented, and brighter, and probably recognized Calley didnt know what he was doing. We had different missions. 1st Platoon of Company C, commanded by Lieutenant William Laws Calley Jr., forced approximately 7080 villagers, mostly women and children, into an irrigation ditch and murdered the civilians with knives, bayonets, grenades, and small arms fire. Where else in history has a massacre of civilians been stopped in the middle of the massacre? Furious, Hugh Thompson landed again, this time in front of a bunker where civilians were hiding. Michael Bernhardt, who was at M Lai. When the revelations about My Lai surfaced, he testified before Congress, a military inquiry and the court-martial of Lt. William L. Calley Jr., the platoon leader at My Lai, who was the only soldier to be convicted in the massacre. I hope to take as many speaking engagements as I can. And it turned out, after we dropped him off with the nun at the hospital, he didnt stay 24 hours.
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