Death of an American hero

[tristano's ghost]

Those of you familiar with the My Lai massacre will probably recognize the name--he died today, at the age of 62:

Hugh Thompson Jr.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by tristano's ghost

Those of you familiar with the My Lai massacre will probably recognize the name--he died today, at the age of 62:

Hugh Thompson Jr.

By all means read the link posted by TG. Horrifying events. Much courage displayed by Hugh Thompson and his crew.

Yes, I remember the heroism of Hugh Thompson. He was the one who put his life on the line in My Lai to prevent any more of the villagers from being killed by William "Rusty" Calley and his cohorts, who had already slaughtered over 500 villagers and burned their homes. Hugh was the helicopter reconnaisance pilot who saw what was happening from the air, landed and protected the villagers. He pointed his rifle at the soldiers and threatened to shoot anyone who harmed one more villager. Astounding courage.

Ron Ridenhour was another hero of this atrocity. He must also be mentioned as the young private who persisted in not letting the events fade and whose reports from the area were the genesis of the interest in the massacre of not only those villagers in My Lai, but others which did not get as much ink at the time.


RIP Hugh Thompson. A true hero, in the classic sense. You saw a wrong and did what you could to right it. We should all be so principled.

[Monte Smith]

He is a hero. RIP, sir.

[Gary Sisco]

Absolutely.

RIP, brother. You had real courage and you proved it when it mattered.

[Gary Sisco]

I must say also that there were others who did also, as well as other massacres. My Lai is the one that gets remembered, as Kent State is the incident that gets remembered over the other armed actions that day against the antiwar movement and the civil rights movment also.

Most GIs behaved honorably in dishonorable circumstances, most people being basically decent, and the military at the time being still very much a citizen army, as opposed to a professional one.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

I must say also that there were others who did also, as well as other massacres. My Lai is the one that gets remembered, as Kent State is the incident that gets remembered over the other armed actions that day against the antiwar movement and the civil rights movment also.

Most GIs behaved honorably in dishonorable circumstances, most people being basically decent, and the military at the time being still very much a citizen army, as opposed to a professional one.

Absolutely, Gary. That is what makes My Lai and the other lesser-known obscenities so serious. It sullies the reputations of honourable soldiers who conducted themselves with grace and dignity, under extreme conditions, like Thompson and his crew did.
The sad thing, to me, is that it took decades for Thompson and his crew to be recognized as the heros that they were. For all that time they were thought by many to have been disloyal to their fellow soldiers and even traitors by their government. Sad when doing what is right is spat upon by the leaders of your own country. Of course, the same people who dishonoured Thompson attempted to downplay Calley and his fellow murderers' role in this shameful act. Go figure. William Calley served THREE YEARS of a supposedly life sentence for leading the massacre.

[John P. Cooper]

I remember the incident, but I never knew of Hugh Thompson. That took a lot of guts...and more.

What a hellish time that was.

[patricia]

Indeed John. I remember the incident, the time it took to hold those who had massacred unarmed old men, women and children at My Lai responsible and the eventual trial. Even when it was clear what had happened, there were those in the Nixon Administration, as well as the public, who were reluctant to prosecute those responsible.

My Lai was Seymour Hersh's first big story for The New Yorker and coincidently he was also the reporter who broke the Abu Ghraib story.

It took courage that many of us, I would wager, are not sure we would have had in those circumstances, done what Thompson and his men did.

Heroes are rare and by the late nineties it was long overdue that Thompson was finally recognized for standing up for what was right. He waited that long for his medal and now he's gone.

[bluenoter]

Originally Posted by patricia

My Lai was Seymour Hersh's first big story for The New Yorker and coincidently he was also the reporter who broke the Abu Ghraib story.

I wouldn't call it a coincidence! He seems like a fairly gutsy guy himself.

Though I'm old enough, I don't think I'd heard of Hugh Thompson, Jr. It's wonderful to see the unanimity on his having been a hero.

R.I.P.

[patricia]

By coincidence I mean that Hersh reported both My Lai and Abu Ghraib, both shameful misconduct by rogue U.S. military personnel.
Joe Darby, the soldier who reported the abuses at Abu Ghraib is being vilified now by many, much as Thompson was a generation ago.

[al j]

FYI, required reading:


RIP

[bluenoter]

Originally Posted by patricia

By coincidence I mean that Hersh reported both My Lai and Abu Ghraib, both shameful misconduct by rogue U.S. military personnel.

And I was commending Hersh for his enterprise in having reported both.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by bluenoter

And I was commending Hersh for his enterprise in having reported both.

And deservedly so. He is a truth-teller and continues to be. We're on the same page.
History repeats itself.
While so many of the press were intimidated into lockstep fake patriotism, Hersh, in both cases, told us the unvarnished truth, and continues to do so.
His book, "Chain of Command" as well as the excellent one by Olson and Roberts, mentioned earlier should also be required reading.