Here's a great story on Army helicopter pilot, Hugh Thompson and his crew. If you recall, Mr. Thompson and his crew saved Vietnamese civilians at My Lai on March 16, 1968.
posted by Mr. Carlisle at 10:48 AM
Thursday, May 23, 2013
About Me
- Name: Mr. Carlisle
- Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm a native South Carolinian and I attained my undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Carolina. I taught fourth grade for two years in the Mississippi Delta and two years at an alternative high school in Western North Carolina. I have been at Tigard High School since the fall of 2003, where I teach U.S. History and Psychology.
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8 Comments:
That was a really hard video to watch. Its impossible to imagine what Thompson was going through when returning to My Lai. We see him as a hero, and he knows he is one, but knowing that the massacre happened and that innocent civilians were killed must haunt him.
I also think Cpt. Medina should have been punished more severely for the murders he took part in, and for lying that he didnt kill any civilians.. he said he didnt even know that the murders were going on (big lie), when Thompson reports seeing Medina killing a person! People like that are sick and give America a bad reputation.
6:08 PM
It's really touching to see how the people of My Lai still remember him and what he did for them. On the other hand, people that committed the massacre were not even punished severely. Like Nick said, I think they should be punished more severely for what they did, even if it happened "during a time of war".
6:11 PM
I agree with Andy and Nick. That video is so moving, and it's frustrating that those soldiers did such terrible things and were let off. Thankfully Thompson did what was morally right.
6:20 PM
Hearing it from Thompson, I think it is absolutely terrible, that what the U.S. did can be related to what the Nazis did... this was such a dark moment in American history. and why the heck did the government try and cover it up, did they think no soldier would talk about it.. did the gov't have a meeting on how to make this situation worse..?
6:36 PM
What Thompson said about this whole thing being embarrassing is exactly right. Why would American soldiers want to murder innocent civilians, including babies?! And then, the government covered it up, so obviously they knew what the soldiers did at My Lai was wrong. Thompson deserves to be honored as a hero. He did exactly what he thought was the right thing to do and that is definitely the way America should be represented.
10:43 PM
I am baffled by the idea espoused by those who protested Calley's sentence that Calley shouldn't have been punished because America somehow collectively shared responsibility. You murder you pay the price. It doesn't matter if the whole war was a sham, collective responsibility is not for a court of law to decide. It's been mentioned plenty of times, but the Nazis and Japanese didn't save their lives with the excuse "just following orders".
I would not want to be a ground troop in Vietnam, under all that pressure to kill Viet Cong who don't look any different from the civilians apart from the guns. Being under the constant fear of sniper fire and booby traps and seeing your "family" killed gruesomely isn't something the helicopter crew had to deal with. I can say all I want that if I were in Charlie Company that day that I would have disobeyed orders and risked getting shot, but human nature tells me this is not assured.
Of course, the main reason this happened was because of incompetent leadership. Who was a bigger scumbag, Medina or Calley?
12:09 AM
It'll always be sickening to know that pride and "saving face" was deemed more important than telling the truth about My Lai. It's so selfish and pathetic. Really, I'm glad that Thompson retained some sort of sense under extreme stress rather than adding to the inferno of atrocity.
Yet, in a sense, I wish that we didn't need to celebrate Thompson as a hero. I don't mean that he shouldn't have saved people; he was absolutely right in doing so and deserves to be treated with the greatest respect. I simply wish that other soldiers didn't cower under the stress of orders and fear of being shot. Yes, as Austin pointed out, they were just nineteen year old kids who saw their "family" being eviscerated. Yes, the war was a grievous mistake but the military was too selfish in this case. However, that didn't, and doesn't, justify what they did and certainly doesn't justify why Calley, Medina and the others were pardoned by the US society as easily as they were.
6:49 PM
Well said, Ivy.
6:52 PM
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