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Author
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Topic: A real American hero has died. We need more like him.
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seer
Open Line Veteran
Member # 3092
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posted January 07, 2006 09:48 AM
Hugh Thompson Junior was an American hero many prefer to forget. He acted as a true American in uniform during a time of war, much to the chagrin of others who also carried weapons under the same flag.
His courage to do what was right should never be forgotten. Some could say, his type of courage is in short supply today. We need more like him.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4589486.stm
My Lai massacre hero dies at 62
It was 30 years before the US military honoured Thompson (left)
Story from BBC NEWS: Friday, 6 January 2006
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.
Mr Thompson, a warrant officer at the time, called in support from other US helicopters, and together they airlifted at least nine Vietnamese civilians - including a wounded boy - to safety.
He returned to headquarters, angrily telling his commanders what he had seen. They ordered soldiers in the area to stop shooting.
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.
President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence to three years' house arrest.
Lobbying
Although the My Lai massacre became one of the best-known atrocities of the war - with journalist Seymour Hersh winning a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on it - little was known about Mr Thompson's actions for decades.
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.
Mr Thompson died of cancer. He had been ill for some time and was removed from life support earlier in the week
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seer
Posts: 2124 | From: above it all | Registered: May 2003
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MyracleMan
Senior Member
Member # 4998
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posted January 07, 2006 02:12 PM
Amen, seer. May he receive the hero's welcome in heaven that he never receieved on earth.
If we had more people like him in America right now, maybe the rest of the world wouldn't look at us the way they do: a bunch or self-centered, ego-driven playboys who are only after the bigger, better deal, and to hell with what they think.
Men like this should be commended, not villified. What is right, is not always easy. What is right, is not always popular. ![[party]](graemlins/icon_pidu.gif)
Posts: 977 | From: S.D. | Registered: Dec 2003
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seer
Open Line Veteran
Member # 3092
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posted January 08, 2006 07:47 AM
Sunday Morning on CBS reran this 60 Minutes story by Mike Wallace.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/06/60minutes/main615997.shtml
Yes, from CBS which may bring out a few who would rather talk about memos instead of heros. The fact remains, this man is what all of us hope our citizens in unifrom would do when confronted by others commiting crimes.
As we know, things haven't changed much in the military. Even those who made sure pictures of prisoner abuse in Iraq did not get ignored, now share the same fate as Thompson did.
Have you noticed how many of the pro military hawks here seem to be less than forthcoming about their support for Thompson now that he has passed away. As has been proven. A real hero doesn't always get their just rewards when it means showing the world a lie is a lie.
Rest in peace Hugh Thompson Junior.
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seer
Posts: 2124 | From: above it all | Registered: May 2003
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zeppelin42
Open Line Veteran
Member # 6360
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posted January 08, 2006 06:06 PM
My father and his brothers fought the war in Viet Nam. At the time, my father was upset that Thompson had threatened to shoot his fellow Americans while in a war zone. Now that he's older, my father is thankful for his courage to stand up for what is right. (We talked about this on the phone, btw.) It is men like Thompson who save us from the evil within all of us, evil that brings us to our knees and causes new enemies to rise up against us thinking that they are defending all things good.
The massacre at My Lai would have bred an entire generation of Viet Namese terrorists to fight against American occupiers in their country. But because of the moral courage of Hugh Thompson, Jr., that scenario was averted; and even though the war was lost, we have not gained new enemies. In fact, Thompson has helped bring about a good peace. Today, Viet Nam bears only a few of the scars of America's occupation, and our name is not nearly as abused in Viet Nam as it is in Russia, China, or even Japan. We have Thompson to thank for that.
I doubt many US history teachers will be telling their students about Thompson in the coming days. His name will be swept under a rug, dooming our kids to repeat the mistakes of the evil within the people Thompson chose to stop on that fateful day in '68. But for here and now, I am proud to call myself an American because of Americans like Hugh Thompson, Jr.
-zep
Posts: 4750 | From: Ithaca, NY | Registered: Jun 2004
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RoyMcAvoy
Open Line Veteran
Member # 1709
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posted January 08, 2006 08:18 PM
Well said, Zep. ![[worship]](graemlins/icon_pray.gif)
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"You find somebody to love in this world, you'd better hang on tooth and nail."
- Don Henley, "New York Minute"
Posts: 1545 | From: USA | Registered: Jul 2002
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