Thompson and his crew saved a number of Vietnamese civilians by personally escorting them away from advancing United States Army ground units and assuring their evacuation by air.
Thompson reported the atrocities by radio several times, although these reports reached HQ, nothing was done to stop the massacre.
In 1970, Thompson testified against those responsible for the Mỹ Lai massacre. Twenty-six officers and enlisted soldiers, including William Calley and Ernest Medina, were charged with criminal offenses; many were either acquitted or pardoned, notably excepting Calley, who was convicted and served a commuted sentence of three-and-a-half years under house arrest.
Thompson was condemned and ostracized by many individuals in the United States military and government, as well as the public, for his role in the investigations and trials concerning the Mỹ Lai massacre.
In 1998, 30 years after the massacre, Thompson, Andreotta, and Colburn, were awarded the Soldier's Medal, the Army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy
Kill them all , Let God sort them out .
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing the history of these three brave men to the fore.
ReplyDeleteSadly relevant these days, when the subject of refusing illegal orders is on the agenda.
ReplyDeleteIt's not THESE days, no matter how much you dislike who runs other countries, it's always been relevant. (You've been fortunate to live a lifetime in one of the few countries that hasn't been a major player in the world in the last century, instead of China, North Korea, Russia, Japan, or the USA)
DeleteI did a decade in the Navy from 1989 to 1999, so, I have the tiniest life experience with military orders, so that might convince you I know what I'm talking about.
The world was moments away from nuclear war in the 60s. They had to back channel phone calls to verify there were, or wasn't, missiles launched.
That's not the only time things went sideways. More than one nuke bomb was dropped during the cold war, one in the Atlantic, one in North Carolina I think, and one is missing from Israel's ammo locker.
These are only the examples that spring to mind where one person realizing the big picture, or who could predict the future, would tell their CO to readdress the situation and change the plan, and not invent mustard gas, don't allow Covid 19 isn't invented in China, or allow it to escape out into the world, or don't launch the attack on the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas, or tells the vigilante KKK whites on the bridge on the bridge during the March to Selma to not loose the dogs, swing the rubber hoses, and use the nightsticks.
History is full of so many individual moments when one change of order, would have changed all of history.