EDITORIAL A hero emerges out of the horrors of My Lai
As a war, Vietnam managed to slip most of the traditional
categories.
It did not, as was the case with previous wars, unite the country
but rather seriously divided it. The American generals who directed the war
effort were never widely hailed as war heroes, and the soldiers who faced
unspeakable terror in the jungles of Southeast Asia returned home to widespread
public cynicism, angry demonstrations and general social disarray.
One of the lasting symbols of this foreign policy debacle and
military failure was the My Lai Massacre, the slaughter of some 500 Vietnamese
civilians by U.S. troops 30 years ago.
If Vietnam was a source of embarrassment and shame, it arguably
has also added a new layer to the American conscience. One cant help but
think that war will never be quite the same for Americans.
How can it be when one of the nobler moments of that war involved
the heroism of then helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson, who put down in the middle
of the My Lai slaughter and, training guns on the murdering U.S. troops, began
rescuing the villagers who had not yet been killed.
Thompson, now of Lafayette, La., was honored recently with the
prestigious Soldiers Medal for his bravery.
Until recently, his story was little known, but it is a powerful
affirmation that in the most horrible circumstances the best instincts of the
human spirit can prevail.
On March 16, 1968, the 24-year-old Thompson and his two-man crew
were to fly low over the village to draw fire so helicopters behind them could
destroy the enemy with machine gun and rocket fire, according to a recent
account in Lafayettes The Daily Advertiser.
On approaching the village, however, the crew spotted a
young Vietnamese girl, injured and lying on the road, a spot Thompson
marked with a smoke grenade.
He and his crew radioed for help and were hovering nearby when
they watched in horror as an American Army officer walked up to the girl,
flipped her over with his foot -- and shot her dead. Then Thompson and
his crew spotted the bodies of Vietnamese women, children and old men piled in
an irrigation ditch.
Thompson landed and asked American soldiers to help the wounded.
Instead, troops fired into the bodies.
We wanted to find something that would point the blame to
the enemy, he told the Advertiser. But it just didnt
work. It all added up to something we just didnt want to
believe.
An old woman standing in a doorway, baby in arms and a child
clutching her leg, caught his attention. These people were looking at me
for help, and there was no way I could turn my back on them, Thompson
recalled.
When he asked an officer in charge to help him get the villagers
out, the officer replied that the only help the villagers would get was a
hand grenade, according to Thompson.
Thompson said he then moved his chopper in front of advancing
Americans and gave his gunner an order to train his M-60 on the American
soldiers. If the Americans tried to harm the villagers, his crew members were
to open fire.
Thompson radioed to two gun ships behind him, and together they
airlifted a dozen villagers to safety.
He then flew back to the irrigation ditch where a crew mate saw
something move. It turned out to be a 2-year-old boy still clinging to his dead
mother. They took the shocked but uninjured child and flew him to a hospital.
I had a son at home about the same age, said a very emotional
Thompson.
He was honored March 6 in Washington, the result of the efforts of
many, inside and outside the military, beginning with David Egan, a professor
emeritus at Clemson University, who became aware of Thompsons actions 10
years ago and has lobbied since to have the Army recognize him.
It is fitting that Thompson received the award in front of the
Vietnam Memorial, as haunting in its granite lists of war dead as other
memorials are boastful and triumphant.
Vietnam has set us new standards for remembering war -- and for
celebrating heroes.
National Catholic Reporter, March 20,
1998
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