FAREWELL HUGH THOMPSON JR
A Real American War Hero

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Early in the morning of March 16, 1968, Thompson, door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta came upon U.S. ground troops killing Vietnamese civilians in and around the village of My Lai.

They landed the helicopter in the line of fire between American troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pointed their own guns at the U.S. soldiers to prevent more killings.

Colburn and Andreotta had provided cover for Thompson as he went forward to confront the leader of the U.S. forces. Thompson later coaxed civilians out of a bunker so they could be evacuated, and then landed his helicopter again to pick up a wounded child they transported to a hospital. Their efforts led to the cease-fire order at My Lai.

In 1998, the Army honored the three men with the prestigious Soldier's Medal, the highest award for bravery not involving conflict with an enemy. It was a posthumous award for Andreotta, who had been killed in battle three weeks after My Lai.

And

For years Thompson suffered snubs and worse from those who considered him unpatriotic. He recalled a congressman angrily saying that Thompson himself was the only serviceman who should be punished because of My Lai.

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The My Lai Massacre was horrible, but it was only one atrocity performed by US servicemen in Vietnam among many. Given that killing civilians was so commonplace there, it was an act of extreme bravery for Thompson and his comrades to do what they did--there was a very good chance that the troops they were confronting might shoot them; after all, "fragging" was on the rise at this point, so there's no reason to believe that they were safe just because they were Americans. But that's what morality is all about. Don't ask "what would Jesus do?" Rather, ask "what would Jesus do with a gun at his head?" Morality isn't safe or comfortable, isn't about doing good if you feel like it. It's about risking everything in order to do the right thing. I hope that, if I'm ever in such a situation, I'm as much of a man as Thompson was.

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