My Lai massacre hero dies at 62

[Eugene]

(BBC News)

Last Updated: Friday, 6 January 2006, 20:03 GMT

My Lai massacre hero dies at 62

Hugh Thompson Jnr, a former US military helicopter pilot who helped stop one of the most
infamous massacres of the Vietnam War has died, aged 62.

Mr Thompson and his crew came upon US troops killing civilians at the village of My Lai
on 16 March 1968.

He put his helicopter down between the soldiers and villagers, ordering his men to shoot
their fellow Americans if they attacked the civilians.

"There was no way I could turn my back on them," he later said of the victims.

<snip>

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4589486.stm

[SpiralHawk]

1. Colin Powell will want to attend this funeral

to atone for the part he played attempting to cover it all up.


http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd0525.html

"...His first job on the Inside was an attempted whitewash of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam; it didn't quite work, but he won points for his obfuscatory efforts and went on to a plum job in the crime-ridden, Mob-connected Nixon White House. Then came Iran-Contra, the criminal conspiracy of drug-running and terrorism operated directly out of the Reagan-Bush White House. Powell illicitly sent missiles to the terrorist regime of Ayatollah Khomeini, then helped with the ensuing cover-up. For this service, he was made head of the entire U.S. military..."

[MountainLaurel]

3. I wouldn't hold my breath.

:grr:

[RedSock]

5. this is why i'm amazed

this is why i'm amazed when some dems profess to have respect for powell (maybe not now, but a few years ago).

the man is corrupt and evil to the core.

[hootinholler]

15. I had great respect for him.

I was ignorant up until Sept. 2004.

Ignorance is correctable, stoopud is for life.

-Hoot

[UpInArms]

7. Colin Powell played a direct role in suppressing the inquiry into My Lai

http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/reagan.htm

By The Associated Press, March 13, 2002

Former Iran-Contra figures who have been given jobs in the Bush administration:

-COLIN POWELL. In 1968, as a staff army major in Vietnam, Colin Powell played a direct role in suppressing the inquiry into the My Lai massacre, and into related atrocities against civilians. As a White House fellow during the Watergate years he earned a reputation -- but only for keeping his mouth shut.

As a military assistant to Caspar Weinberger during the Reagan administration, he helped to deceive Congress about the trading in heavy weapons with Iran, about the exchange of those weapons for hostages, and about the diversion of the illicit proceeds to finance another illicit operation in Nicaragua.

In Panama, in 1989, he helped shape an operation that totally disregarded international law and took many civilian lives.

During the Gulf War, he strongly opposed any military help for the Kurdish and Shia rebellions against Saddam Hussein.

In the Bosnian conflict, he publicly opposed any intervention against Slobodan Milosevic and his forcible creation of a "Greater Serbia."

...about 3/4 down the page...

(posted for those that do not know this bit of history)

[Lindacooks]

27. Yep - that's a piece of his history that's well buried.

Except for those informed people who know where to look.

Thank you for providing that info.

[psychopomp]

38. Good link

I found the article just above the one at your link summarizing the Iran-Contra crimes a good summary of those events.

[burrowowl]

40. Also in spite of

U$ saying they would make reparations to Panama, they haven't received one red cent of reparations.
Bu$h I also needs to be tried for crimes against peace.

[allemand]

16. Please look Tom Glen's letter up for yourself. It had nothing to do with

My Lai. That doesn't excuse how Powell handled the investigation of the accusations contained in that letter, but that investigation had nothing to do with the massacre in My Lai.

[saigon68]

35. COLON BOWEL = Mobster, War criminal and Hoodlum

What a wonderful combination </sarcasm>

[stlsaxman]

59. Powell will attend his funeral- to make sure he's dead.

So he'll no longer testify of the atrocity Powell so graciously covered up.

[niallmac]

65. Wow! I was so not informed about this creep, seriously! n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

72. Colin Powell would not be welcomed

I believe.

The world has lost a good guy.

[Briar]

2. More...

"But Mr Thompson was shunned for years by fellow soldiers, received death threats, and was once told by a congressman that he was the only American who should be punished over My Lai.

"A platoon commander, Lt William Calley, was later court-martialed and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killings."

I suppose we are lucky they didn't give Calley a medal. I wonder where that louse is lurking now.

[AnneD]

8. Funny...

I posted a link to Powell's involvement on the M.Albright/GWB thread. I am certain Mr Thompson is sitting at God's right hand now. He was a brave man that did the right thing in difficult circumstances. A truly righteous person that embodied what's best about America. :cry: :patriot:

[Briar]

19. This

is what I call heroism. Such courageous integrity embodies the best in human nature as a whole.

[AnneD]

25. True

pardon my provencialism.....I said it because he was an American native son. He truly reflected our better nature.

[Sequoia]

31. Amen to that.

God bless his family. Wonder where the survivors are?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

9. I wonder what congressman it was

who said he should be punished? :grr:

[Thtwudbeme]

11. He is working in a jewelry store in Dalonaga (sp?) GA

or was in 1995 when I was there.

Very quiet person.

[Briar]

20. And quiet is the least he should be. n/t

[susu369]

56. Calley is living in Columbus, Georgia

he married a schoolmate of mine. She is the daughter of a well-known jewelry store owner and they currently own/run the store.

Fort Benning is adjacent to Columbus.

[SpiralHawk]

12. A SpiralHawk wingtip wig-wag salute to Hugh Thompson

A noble American of courage and good judgement. He had the guts to do the right thing when the chips were down. It is wrong to kill civilian men, women and children just because your soul has become infected with the Madness of War. That's no excuse. It is wrong. It violates the First Commandment of the Christian faith, and it is ultimately a cowardly, fear-driven thing bringing out the beast.

Mr. Thompson was acting like a human being, and for that he deserves full praise. A warrior's duty is to protect the people, not to torture or murder them. I salute Mr. Thompson for protecting the people.

[Joe Chi Minh]

18. ..his compadres he held at gunpoint, as well, ironically -

though the scum who criticised him wouldn't understand it.

I've never read of that kind of heroism ever before, and can't imagine it from any people other than the Americans or Italians. Many civilians in the North of Italy were unimaginably heroic in their resistance against the Nazis.

There was a hispanic sergeant in the American embassy business in Iran, who also showed great character and heroism, but of a more normal type, I think.

[burrowowl]

41. May I repeat your salute!

I am sure he is resting in peace!

[Alpharetta]

30. calley

Pretty sure he has a pawn shop in Columbus, near the gates at Ft. Benning.

Last I saw, anyway.

[PatGund]

58. At last report.....

At last report, William Calley is a jeweler in Columbus, Georgia

http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=38

[Chautauqua]

63. Calley

Last I heard he'd married the daughter of a local jewelry store owner in Columbus, Georgia and was working there but that was 25 years ago.

[sasha031]

4. one of the true heroes of the 20th century

may he rest in peace. :(

[Maat]

6. Thanks for the post.

I remember few details about My Lai; perhaps, years into the future, we'll hear about heros who helped save Iraqi civilians. I hope so.

[Metta]

10. "Better to find death following your own path than fame

and fortune following another's." The Buddha. R.I.P. Hugh Thompson, Jr, a true hero. :patriot:

[Greeby]

13. This desrves a mega-flag

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[DIKB]

14. Proud to give this

a 5th vote. More troops need to stand up for what is right. Human life is human life, foreign or american it ALL needs to be valued.

[hedgehog]

17. It's a sign of our decline

I remember Lt. Calley's name, but I never knew of Thompson and his crew. God bless them for serving as true and honorable patriots. I wish all of our military were cut from the same cloth.

[PassingFair]

21. This guy was a MORAL hero.

There are so few who would do what he did.
I am in tears.
Sad it took until 1998, for pete's sake, to award he and his men medals.

Anything in the U.S. press about his death?

[Rose Siding]

47. A decent piece in the Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/national/07thompson.html?pagewanted=print

He's gone too soon. This shakes me up, too.

[PassingFair]

60. Thanks, Rose.

I googled Mr. Thompson for hours yesterday.
His deeds, now known to me, will not go unsung.
That I had never heard his name until yesterday is shameful.

The next time I'm arguing with a moral midget about troops "following orders" and the "fog of war",
I will invoke Hugh Thompson.

RIP, Mr. Thompson.

[bleedingheart]

22. I heard the story in the car and cried....he is a true hero

[Redstone]

23. The word "hero" gets overused these days; it especially bothers me

when someone refers to a guy who, for example plays baseball as a "hero."

But this guy was the simon-pure, 100%, copperplated real thing. There, folks, went a genuine hero.

There went a man.

I salute him, and wish him easy rest.

Redstone

[arewenotdemo]

24. Thompson deserves a memorial somewhere in Washington

Anyone know of any plans to do so?

I hesitate to say it should be near the Wall (which I certainly think it should). Many Americans would probably be upset with that, as screwed in the head as they are.

[cascadiance]

61. Heck he deserves a memorial at Arlington Cemetary!

The man epitomizes the values that those fighting in our wars should strive for to separate us from those that would sink our world into an endless and non-ending war. We should petition for such, if his surviving family members also wish it! May he rest in peace!

[Historic NY]

26. RIP you duty is done.............

[FogerRox]

28. welcome home

[Hardrada]

29. And choirs of angels sing you to your rest

and salute you as you pass by them in everlasting honor.

[llmart]

32. He embodies my definition of a hero.

He is an admirable soldier. We need more like him nowadays.

[DemoTex]

33. I am devastated by this news.

Here is how I remember Hugh Thompson:



Here are Hugh Thompson's own words on My Lai:

I'm Hugh Thompson. I was a helicopter pilot that day, and I guess I was invited here to tell you about a day of my life. 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. I flew a Scout helicopter covered by two gunships that flew cover for me, and my job was to recon out in front of the friendly forces and draw fire, tell them where the enemy was, and let them take care of it.

The village was prepped with artillery prior to the assault, and we went in right when the "slicks" ---the troop-carrying aircraft that brought the Charlie company and Bravo company--- landed simultaneously right in front of them. We started mak ing our passes, and I thought it was gonna be real hot that day. The first thing we saw was a draft-age male running south out of the village with a weapon and I tol m to et him. He tried, but he was a new gunner--- he missed him. That was the only enemy person I saw that whole day.

We kept flying back and forth, reconning in front and in the rear, and it didn't take very long until we started noticing the large number of bodies everywhere. Everywhere we'd look, we'd see bodies. These were infants, two-, three-, four-, five-year-olds, women, very old men, no draft-age people whatsoever. That's what you look for, draft-age people. It came out in the interrogations that my crew and myself went through. My gunner's big questions---were, "Were there weapons that day?" There was not the first weapon captured, to my knowledge, that day. I think a count has been anywhere from two to four hundred, five hundred bodies--- it was that many. I think that's a small count, including the three villages that were hit.

As we were flying back around the civilian people, there was one lady on the side of the road, and we knew something was going wrong by then. Larry Colburn, my gunner, just motioned for her to stay down; she was kneeling on the side of the road. We just ordered her to stay down; we hovered around everywhere, looking, couldn't understand what was going on. We flew back over her a few minutes later and most of you all have probably seen that picture; she's got a coolie hat laying next to her. If you look real close, some odd object laying right next to her--- that's her brains. It's not pretty

We saw another lady that was wounded. We got on the radio and called for some help and marked her with smoke. A few minutes later up walks a captain, steps up to her, nudges her with his foot, steps back and blows her away. (More at the link ..)

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero.html

Hugh Thompson is that individual from whom I draw my strength. Hugh Thompson is the definition of honor in a dishonorable situation. Hugh Thompson's My Lai legacy is a check on George Bu$h's wanton and rapacious torture policies.

In fact, four names stand out in the history of the Vietnam war and the actions leading to its ignoble end. Hugh Thompson is one. His crewmen Ron Ridenhour and Larry Colburn (who was at Hugh's side when he died), and Pulitzer prize winning writer Seymour Hersh are the other three.

Our president, Mr. Bu$h, was too drunk and/or drugged in the late 1960s to realize what was going on in that place called Vietnam. Heroes like Hugh Thompson stopped massacres that Bu$h, in a later life, would think are A-OK. I think that it is so delicious, so sweet, and oh, so ironic that Seymour Hersh is the ultimate link between the emblematic excesses of Vietnam and Iraq-nam. It proves that Bu$h's world is nothing but a cesspool.

[brentspeak]

44. Ridenhour wasn't Thompson's crewman

He was a soldier stationed back at base who was told about the massacre by one of Calley's men.

Later on, only the outstanding Arizona congressman Morris Udall took Ridenhour's letter seriously. All the other congressmen ignored it.

[DemoTex]

66. You are correct, Brentspeak. It was Larry Colburn and Glen Andreotta.

While the other two members of Hugh Thompson's helicopter crew — Spc. Lawrence Colburn and Spc. Glenn Andreotta — pointed their heavy machine-guns at the men who had participated in the atrocity, Thompson directed an evacuation of the village. The crew members have been credited with saving at least 11 lives but were long thereafter reviled as traitors. On April 8, 1968, Glenn Andreotta and Charles Dutton, crewmen on an OH-13 (62-03813) "Warlord" scout, were killed when their aircraft was shot down, crashed and burned. It was not until exactly thirty years later, following a television report concerning the incident, that the three were awarded the Soldier's Medal, the army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre

Thanks for the correction on Ridenhour. It was Glen Andreotta that I was thinking of .. he was KIA a few weeks after My Lai.

[BrotherBuzz]

45. I thought of you and what you had written about Hugh in the past...

when I heard the news today. Your writing encouraged me to do a bit more reading on that particular period in history. Thanks, Mac.

We all lost something today but if we can draw on Thompson's beliefs and convictions we can go forward and win this damn battle and Hugh Thompson will smile knowing he successfully passed on the torch. Doing the right thing isn't easy, but when you have the belief that you are doing the correct thing and the conviction to back it up, it becomes the only thing to do. Thank you, Hugh Thompson, for being that man on that day who did the right thing.

[Sequoia]

71. Thanks for the website!

How can Calley live with himself? Does he have children, wonder what they think?

[Maccagirl]

34. A firm and sincere salute to you, brave soul

You made us all proud to be members of the human race. You will have your eternal reward.

[brentspeak]

36. The story of My Lai almost didn't get to the public

The one soldier who was later told about the incident by another soldier tried to get senior officers to look into what he had been told; they kept giving him the runaround. Finally, he sent letters to a bunch of Congressmen back home, and that's how any real investigation about My Lai began.

[DemoTex]

39. See my post #33.

It was Thompson, Ridenhour, Colburn, and Hersh who stopped the massacre and brought it to public attention. Maj. Colin Powell, the battalion operations officer, sat on the info for a year. Seymour Hersh blew him away. Powell is an old, experienced war criminal. My Lai, Iran-Contra, Abu Ghraib. Big fingerprints. All over.


Why we want oversight on the war-machine.

[Bonescrat]

42. self delete

[Bonescrat]

43. In the words of Ron Ridenhour...

"his name was Michael Bernhardt."

[The Onyx Key]

37. God Bless you, Mr. Thompson. n/t

[uppityperson]

46. My Lai, photo-op gone wrong, thank you Mr.Thompson for your courage

I'm in agreement with Redstone that "hero" is used way too often, in way too many inappropriate situations, but Mr. Thompson is a hero for these actions.

[banana republican]

48. The good always die young.... n/t

[montana_hazeleyes]

49. My heart is full of respect for this wonderful man.

He is a true, true hero.

[Mind_your_head]

50. RIP Hugh Thompson

Thank you for your most beautiful service to humanity. :patriot: :hug:

[tonka023]

51. I first heard of Hugh Thompson a few years ago

at a service at our church. A guest minister came and spoke about
him, and about how we shape culture by what we talk about and
say, and how we can change culture by altering what we choose
to share. He spoke of how Calley is a familiar name to so many
people in connection with My Lai but that people don't remember
Hugh Thompson. He told the story of him, a story that had us all
in tears, and then said that the story of his bravery and humanity
is something that inspires us, and this is the culture we should
choose to share with people. It doesn't deny that the bad doesn't
exist, but it inspires us to more. It was a powerful service.

God Bless you Hugh Thompson.
May you rest in peace.
May we all carry with us a little of your
courage and humanity.

[tonka023]

52. I first heard of Hugh Thompson a few years ago

at a service at our church. A guest minister came and spoke about
him, and about how we shape culture by what we talk about and
say, and how we can change culture by altering what we choose
to share. He spoke of how Calley is a familiar name to so many
people in connection with My Lai but that people don't remember
Hugh Thompson. He told the story of him, a story that had us all
in tears, and then said that the story of his bravery and humanity
is something that inspires us, and this is the culture we should
choose to share with people. It doesn't deny that the bad doesn't
exist, but it inspires us to more. It was a powerful service.

God Bless you Hugh Thompson.
May you rest in peace.
May we all carry with us a little of your
courage and humanity.

[Hissyspit]

53. Bless him.

Everyday I am reminded that it seems to me that most people talk a good game, but when it comes down to the wire they will cover their butt instead of doing the right thing. The way he was treated was inexcusable and, though he never met me, but he is one of my heroes.

[mitchum]

54. Rest in peace for a truly good human being

[Raine]

55. R-I-P

:patriot:

[UTUSN]

57. I'm sure the Swiftbots would be first in line to shun him

*******QUOTE*******

But Mr Thompson was shunned for years by fellow soldiers, received death threats, and was once told by a congressman that he was the only American who should be punished over My Lai. ....

In the 1980s, Clemson University Professor David Egan saw him interviewed in a documentary and began to campaign on his behalf.

He persuaded people including Vietnam-era Secretary of State Dean Rusk to lobby the government to honour the helicopter crew.

Mr Thompson and his colleagues Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta were finally awarded the Soldier's Medal, the highest US miltiary award for bravery when not confronting an enemy.

Mr Thompson was close to tears as he accepted the award in 1998 "for all the men who served their country with honour on the battlefields of South-East Asia".

Mr Andreotta's award was posthumous. He was killed in Vietnam less than a month after My Lai.

Mr Colburn was at Mr Thompson's bedside when he died, the Associated Press reported.


********UNQUOTE*******

[rman]

62. My Lai pales in comparison to other, unknown Vietnam atrocities

committed by the US military.


The Legacy of War
Noam Chomsky
Excerpted from Rogue States, 2000
http://www.chomsky.info/books/roguestates06.htm

<snip>
As in Vietnam, and Laos and Cambodia, too, the targets were primarily civilian. The main target, however, was always South Vietnam. That included saturation bombing of the densely populated Mekong Delta and air raids south of Saigon that were specifically targeting villages and towns. They were deciding, "let's put a B-52 raid on this town." Huge terror operations like "Speedy Express" and "Bold Mariner" and others were aimed specifically at destroying the civilian base of the resistance. You might say that the My Lai massacre was a tiny footnote to one of these operations, insignificant in context.
The Quakers had a clinic nearby, and they knew about it immediately because people were coming in wounded and telling stories. They didn't even bother reporting it because it was just standard, it was going on all the time. Nothing special about My Lai. It gained a lot of prominence later,
<more>

[whatelseisnew]

64. US citizens need to re-learn this history (k/r)

[BikeWriter]

67. Shedding a tear for a Brother.

[DemoTex]

68. One of the best Brothers we had, my friend.

I would like to have looked Hugh in the eyes, shaked his strong hand, and said, "Thank you sir, for doing the right thing." I'll remember what Hugh Thompson, Larry Colburn, and the late Glen Andreotti did at My Lai-4 as long as I draw breath. That is my promise to you and our ever-diminishing Band of Brothers. That is my promise to the good people of that beautiful land, Vietnam.

[BikeWriter]

69. Thank you for honoring our Brother, Pard.

[tomg]

70. A truly heroic action and man

and we can hope for the time when the Hugh Thompsons outnumber the Colin Powells.

[Blue_Tires]

73. very sad