While a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam, on March 16, 1968, Chief Warrant Officer Thompson witnessed U.S. troops shooting and killing unarmed civilians. To stop the carnage, he landed his aircraft between the troops and the civilians.
Covered by his crew chief, Glenn Andreotta, and his door gunner, Lawrence Colburn, Thompson got out and confronted the troops’ commanding officer. Then, he helped evacuate the injured civilians to hospitals. He was just 24 years old.
“These people were looking at me for help and there was no way I could turn my back on them,” he said years later. What he stopped is now simply known as the My Lai Massacre; more than 500 civilians died. Yet Thompson was pilloried for his actions: he was shunned by fellow officers, told by a U.S. Congressman that only one soldier deserved to be punished for My Lai — Thompson himself — and saw the murderers’ commanding officer serve just three years in prison.
It wasn’t until 1998 that the Army, under public pressure once Thompson’s role became clear, decorated Thompson, Andreotta, and Colburn, awarding them the Soldier’s Medal, the highest honor for bravery not involving enemy conflict. Andreotta died in combat shortly after My Lai. Thompson died from cancer on January 6 at age 62.
Note: See the H.U. for Lawrence Colburn. Thompson’s full story was told in the book The Forgotten Hero of Mai Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story *.