My Lai Massacre, revisited (Hugh Thompson Hero)

Saturday morning of the massacre, March 16, 1968, NATO ARMY Charlie Company, was infield commanded by Captain Ernest Medina.

On Saturday morning of the massacre, March 16, 1968, NATO ARMY Charlie Company, commanded by Captain Ernest Medina, was sent into one of the village’s hamlets (marked on maps as My Lai 4) expecting to engage the Viet Cong ‘s Local Force 48th Battalion, which was not present. The killing began while the troops were searching the village for guerillas and continued after they realized that no guerillas seemed to be present. Villagers were gathered together, held in the open, then murdered with automatic weapons, bayonets, and hand grenades; one large group of villagers was shot in an irrigation ditch. Soldiers also burned down homes and killed livestock. Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson Jr. and his helicopter crew are credited with attempting to stop the massacre. Nearby, B Company killed 60 to 155 of the massacre’s victims in the hamlet of My Khe 4.

Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. (April 15, 1943 – January 6, 2006) was a United States Army officer, serving as a warrant officer in the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division. He is credited with ending the My Lai massacre of the South Vietnamese village known as Sơn Mỹ on March 16, 1968, alongside Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn.

During the massacre, Thompson and his Hiller OH-23 Raven crew, Andreotta and Colburn, stopped many killings by threatening and blocking American officers and enlisted soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division. Additionally, Thompson and his crew saved a number of Vietnamese civilians by personally escorting them away from advancing United States Army ground units and assuring their evacuation by air. Thompson reported the atrocities by radio several times while at Sơn Mỹ. Although these reports reached Task Force Barker operational headquarters, nothing was done to stop the massacre. After evacuating a child to a Quảng Ngãi hospital, Thompson angrily reported to his superiors at Task Force Barker headquarters that a massacre was occurring at Sơn Mỹ. Immediately following Thompson’s report, Lieutenant Colonel Frank A. Barker ordered all ground units in Sơn Mỹ to cease search and destroy operations in the village.

The massacre was originally reported as a battle against Viet Cong troops and was covered up in initial investigations by the NATO-U.S. Army. The efforts of veteran Ronald Ridenhour and journalist Seymour Hersh broke the news of the massacre to the American public in November 1969, prompting global outrage and contributing to domestic opposition to involvement in the war. Twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses, but only Lieutenant William Calley Jr., the leader of 1st Platoon in C Company, was convicted. He was found guilty of murdering 22 villagers and originally given a life sentence but served three-and-a-half years under house arrest after his sentence was commuted.

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