Posted on by Erik Chipchase

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Warrant Officer (later Major) Hugh Thompson Jr. of the
23rd Infantry Division. Thompson saved the lives of dozens of Vietnamese civilians during the My Lair Massacre, when he put his OH-23 helicopter between the civilians and soldiers of the 20th Infantry Regiment.

Thompson was awarded the Soldier’s Medal in 1998 for his
intervention.

Twenty-six of some 160 soldiers were charged with criminal offenses after My Lai, but only Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a platoon leader in C Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but served only three-and-a-half years under house arrest. He is still alive today.

Posted on by Erik Chipchase

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WO1 Hugh Thompson Jr. (1943-2006) testifies in the court martial against 2LT William Calley for war crimes, Fort Benning, Georgia. Nov 1970. Thompson was an OH-23 helicopter pilot who put his helicopter between Vietnamese civilians and US Army soldiers to prevent further slaughter at My Lai. Unfortunately, despite conviction, Calley got off extremely lightly, barely living a year behind bars. His conviction was overturned in 1974, and he lived the rest of his life a freeman.

Colonel Harry G. Summers Jr. declared that Calley and his associates should have been hanged, drawn, and quartered, with their remains placed “at the gates of Fort Benning, at the Infantry School, as a reminder to those who pass under it of what an infantry officer ought to be.”

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Posted on by Erik Chipchase

captain-price-official:

WO1 Hugh Thompson Jr. (1943-2006) testifies in the court martial against 2LT William Calley for war crimes, Fort Benning, Georgia. Nov 1970. Thompson was an OH-23 helicopter pilot who put his helicopter between Vietnamese civilians and US Army soldiers to prevent further slaughter at My Lai. Unfortunately, despite conviction, Calley got off extremely lightly, barely living a year behind bars. His conviction was overturned in 1974, and he lived the rest of his life a freeman.

Colonel Harry G. Summers Jr. declared that Calley and his associates should have been hanged, drawn, and quartered, with their remains placed “at the gates of Fort Benning, at the Infantry School, as a reminder to those who pass under it of what an infantry officer ought to be.”

Keep reading