If people have some confusion about that, thats their problem. Wed done what we could. Did you have a sense that what you had seen at My Lai was and isolated incident or did you suspect similar atrocities were happening elsewhere? Thompson told his crew, Im going to go over to the bunker myself and get these people out. The troops also burned the village and Sn Ms surrounding hamlets to the ground and slaughtered the livestock. View the profiles of people named Hugh Thompson. If Hugh knew that, it would have made everything he went through worthwhile for him. And on the 30th anniversary of the massacre, Hugh Thompson returned to M Lai. They were finally recognized for the heroic act they did. People should realize that when atrocities are committed like this and covered up, it degrades us all. Thompson landed his helicopter next to a ditch that contained 150 people many dead, but many others wounded and trying to escape. They were face to face, screaming at each other. William Calley, the officer in charge of Charlie Company, ordered American soldiers to round up the villagers and open fire. Mr. Thompson, you and Mr. Colburn are indeed the heroes in this sordid story and I am ashamed at how they were treated. They could communicate with the command craft that was flying at altitude. We took him out of the area to a hospital and gave him to a nun. He didnt want to appear to be frantic; he wanted to be taken seriously by Henderson. 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. However, Ive spoken to survivors on different occasions who had been at the bottom of the pile. Remember, this was later in the morning approaching noon, most of the killing had already been done. When you see your lieutenant or captain initiate these things, some enlisted men on the ground are more likely to do the same thing. No. Hugh Thompson Profiles | Facebook Hugh Thompson is a genuine, bone-fide hero of the Vietnam war, protecting hundreds from being massacred by US troops at My Lai. Thompson spent the rest of his life wondering if he could have saved more lives. 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. Sometimes we did and sometimes we didnt. Just because you tell the truth, it doesnt mean everything always come up roses. But one of things the most infuriating is being called a whistleblower, as if we went and ratted someone out. Hannah's Testimony. They had been writing to the Pentagon for years about Hugh, totally unbeknownst to Hugh. He is an amazing person made me cry just reading the research about him. Hood and my CO called me in, said I had a phone call. Upon seeing that, Hugh Thompson landed the helicopter, approached Calley, and talked to him. 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. The villagers offered no resistance as U.S. soldiers shoved them into a ditch and opened fire with machine guns. 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. Hugh said: These people are going to die. They were taking volunteers for the 11th Brigade. 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. I was 17 when I enlisted in 1966 with some friends. Hugh was being jovial. Does it worry you that it was, and remains, in our capacity to excuse or rationalize an atrocity like My Lai committed by Americans? It couldnt be gunships, they werent firing on people. Hugh Thompson Jr. - Wikiwand The dead were women, old men and children. .d,H2F The only radio communication we had was with the low gunship. PDF Testimony of Dr. Hugh Thompson, HTA Engineering (Expert Witness
Linganore High School Football Roster,
Marty Brown Clare Bowditch,
Wedding Hashtags By Letter R,
Articles H
