Posted on 01/06/2006 11:09:16 AM PST by Joe 6-pack
Just heard Hugh Thompson passed away. While many people don't know Hugh by name, most remember "the helicopter pilot," generally credited with putting a stop to the My Lai massacre.
Hugh lived close by, and up until I quit drinking a few years back, Hugh and I spent more than a few hours together in the bars. After retiring from the Army, Hugh went to work with the Louisiana Department of Veteran Affairs. We disagreed on some politics, but agreed on many things in life in general.
God bless you Hugh. Rest in Peace buddy.
Or is it . . . . . ?
Now if there is also an Abe Lincoln next to a John Booth, we can crank up the Twilight Zone theme song.
I beg to differ. I think it is precisely because My Lai was exposed that the leftists could, with some credibility, paint the US soldiers as barbarian hordes, a charge later repeated by John Kerry. My Lai's exposure could be brought up by anti-American forces time and time again as justification to hate and detest the military. My Lai's exposure in time gave enormous courage and credibility to all who opposed the war, and it became a rallying point for the anti-war movement.
In due course, My Lai's exposure help the left catalyze their opposition from one that would have been treasonous in another day and another time, to one of moral superiority, so much so, that even respected religious leaders like Billy Graham were duped by it.
"I beg to differ.... "
IMHO, Viet Nam was not lost; it was abandoned...I think it pointless to blame those who exposed Viet Nam, and if you want to blame Hugh, I highly recommend the book, "Forgotten Hero of My Lai," so you (and anyone else interested) can get a better idea of his role in the affair.
Having known him personally, I would say that those who accused him of grandstanding and trying to make a name for himself either have received bad info, or made pitifully wrong interpretations of whatever info they've received. Hugh was as unassuming as they come, and given his druthers, the whole thing never would have happened.
At the age of 24, Hugh's moral courage and compassion for his fellow man were put to a test that very few of us (thankfully) will ever experience. We can only hope that under the circumstances we would have taken the actions he did.
In ROTC in the mid-80s, Hugh's actions were discussed to illustrate the concept of professional ethics. I would suspect they still are and will continue to be for quite some time. Those that think he did something wrong really ought to take it up with TRADOC and have them delete the lesson from the POI.
I'll take you up on "Forgotten Hero of My Lai"
You'll be glad you did.
It is indeed a very small world. I arrived in Pleiku on 5 July 1967 on a C-141 and was immediately taken to Camp Enari where I was assigned to E Co. 704th Maint. Btn. I very likely wrenched on one of your Hueys. Did you leave for Holloway before or after we built the BIG hanger. It sure was better than working in the rain under those conex/canopies we started out with. One of my memories is of running down the wooden sidewalk at the airfield and almost knocking Gen. Abrams into the drainage ditch. He had a habit, as I later learned, of taking strolls through strange company areas just to see what was going on. I mumbled "Excuse me, sir" or something to that effect and it wasn't till 10 or 15 seconds later I suddenly realized who it had been. By then he was out of sight. I also have a few pictures from around the compound. Might be fun to share them.
Fair enough. I tend to get a little hot when I get on the whole Vietnam topic. So many things were screwed up about it and mostly by civilians. I always support my country but when something is wrong, you have to fix it. That's real support, don't you think? My Lai wasn't about America being wrong; it was about some renegade officers and gutless men who committed war crimes. I'd much rather have us policing our own than have the rest of the world doing it, since most of them like nothing more than to give the US a black eye at every opportunity.
Anyway, no harm, good discussion. Thanks.
Ya know, I want to say it would have been right around the time you arrived. Since the whole unit had the same DEROS, they started the shuffles around April and I got caught on the fourth one. I know I was there when they had the ceremony to name the airfield after WO Hensel. I can't remember when they named the base after LT Enari.
You would have enjoyed seeing us arrive by Chinook from Plieku AFB in January. IIRC all the personel, except for the advance party, arrived in two C-141 flights. We had no aircraft and there was about two weeks before we were farmed out to other units for in-country orientation. I did two weeks out in Qui Nhon flying with the 161st which supported the Korean Tiger Division. Talk about war stories.
A Co. was a bit heavy in the rank department. We were authorized one Major, four or five Capts, and a bunch of WOs. We arrived with 11 Majors, 15 Capts, four or five LTs, a CW3, a couple CW2s and 16 of us WO1s who had graduated from flight school in Aug 66.
Someone commissioned the Montonards to build an O-Club. It had a thatched roof, open sides and on stilts. Saw some pretty good fights and even better poker games in there. You may have heard about the night it was destroyed? During the first round-eye floor show, there were so many people trying to get a glimpse of the babes, the place collapsed on itself. This was during the rainy season, mind you, and I remember drunks of every rank rolling around in the mud.
Every one of the pilots that went over with A Co. made it back from the first tour except LT Jim Pavlicek. It was towards the end of 67 and he had gone over to B Co to fly guns. The entire crew was killed down near Plei Me SF Camp during a Tac Emergency. They were shot down during a night gun run. He was a Notre Dame graduate and a few years ago the school dedicated a football game in his honor.
I gotta stop. The memories just keep rushing over me.
Welcome home!
You are picking the wrong side on this one. Calley should have been hung by the neck until dead.
Thanks for the thread. I tried to read the responses, but it looks like John Kerry has infiltrated. I know that Calley did not represent the American way, contrary to suggestions from the usual moles. Hugh Thompson was a fine example of America's forces, carrying American values around the world. We are an honorable people, with few exceptions. We don't all possess the courage to act on our convictions, as Thompson did, but most of us would like to think we'd do exactly as he did. We don't all measure up to that standard, but most of us are at least honorable enough want that to be the standard. May Hugh Thompson rest in peace. He earned it.
you showed class with this post, dog... ; )
(thumbs up given...)
dave
It's kind of funny you mention that. Last summer (2004) when the Swift Boat Veterans book was released, much ado was made about Kerry's photo being in the Vietnamese war museum. In the photo published in "Unfit For Command," that's Hugh's picture in the background. I never asked him how he felt about that. I think that there are some acts that speak for themselves; Hugh not only stopped the bloodshed that day, but evacuated a number of the wounded as well. If the Vietnamese see him as a hereo for having done so, so be it.
I think the Iraqi attorney who took the risk to get Jessica Lynch's location to Coalition forces was made of the same stuff as Hugh. Despite whatever human frailties or imperfections either of the two men displayed in the rest of their lives, when it really counted they displayed the type of integrity and courage I think the rest of us pray we could show under similar circumstances.
There is such a world of difference between John Kerry and Hugh Thompson. The Communist Vietnamese displayed a photo of Kerry in their war museum because he helped them by serving on their side, for his own selfish reasons. They displayed a photo of Thompson because they reaped the benefits of his service to mankind, because it was the right thing to do. Guess which one they respect.
You're right. Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief is one of my heroes. I'm sure we've also benefited from the actions of less honorable men and women, as the communists have been helped by Kerry; but al-Rehaief is a true hero. He risked everything, because it was the right thing to do. I don't know how common or uncommon those ideals are among Iraqis, but I know his actions represent ideals that most Americans hold dear. I'm glad he decided to become an American. There's always room here for people like him.
" I will say we would would not have heard about Cally if it weren't for Thompson"
It would have come out, murder on this scale can't be kept secret. Join the army and you'll find that,you still work for the the American people.We recognize that battle is a tough job, but you are still always under the scrutiny of America. If you would lead in the murder of 100s of civilians in a calm, methodical way then what role do you think you would fill in the American Military?
It would depend on what kind of civilians. If they had nothing to do with aiding the enemy and were killed then obviously a mistake has been made or a crime has been committed. It's all about motive and intent I suppose.
Thompson absolutely did the right thing at My Lai- at great personal risk to himself and his aircrew on several levels. RIP, Hugh.
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