Helicopter Pilot Who Stopped My Lai Massacre, Was Called A Traitor In America & Almost Court-Martialed

War History Online | 21 Feb. 2016

On 16 March 1968, Hugh Thompson, Jr., Glenn Andreotta, and Lawrence Colburne did their best to protect Vietnamese civilians from being  slaughtered. In return for their heroism, they were accused of being traitors to the United States of America.

 

It all began with the Tet Offensive earlier in January when the Vietcong attacked cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. The VC’s 48th Local Force Battalion had attacked the city of Quảng Ngãi before retreating back into the countryside, so the US sent out several divisions to find them.

These women and children in the hamlet of My Lai were all killed seconds after the photo was taken

Colonel Oran K. Henderson, commander of the 11^th Brigade, ordered them to wipe out the enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Frank A. Barker interpreted that to mean destroying entire villages by burning homes, killing livestock, seizing food, and polluting wells. This would punish the country folk for hosting the VC (whether they actually did or not) and prevent them from hosting anymore in the future.

Company Charlie of the 1^st Battalion, 20^th Infantry Regiment, 11^th Brigade of the 23^rd Infantry Division was sent to Son My. Although the American press would later describe it as a single village, it wasn’t. Son My was a series of hamlets separated from each other by rice fields and connected by dirt roads. The biggest were at My Lai, My Khe, Co Luy, and Tu Cung.

As Charlie Company were helicoptered into Son My, Captain Ernest Medina told his men that the residents should have gone to the market by 7 AM. Any who remained had to either be VC or those who sympathized with North Vietnam.

Captain Ernest Lou Medina

1^st Platoon, led by Second Lieutenant (2LT) William Calley, and 2^nd Platoon, led by 2LT Stephen Brooks, entered Tu Cung. The 3^rd Platoon led by 2LT Jeffrey U. Lacross and Captain Medina stayed outside.

The villagers at Tu Cung were indeed getting ready for market, while the sight of American soldiers in their fields was commonplace – so there was no sense of panic. At least until the platoons began firing at those standing in the fields.

According to machine gunner Harry Stanley, one moment there was calm and the next – the killings began. He claimed to have seen the villagers being herded into the center of their hamlet, when all of a sudden, someone from 1^st Platoon stabbed a man with a bayonet. That same soldier then threw another person into a well and chucked a grenade in.

In a small temple, about 15 or 20 women and children were praying and crying when they were all shot in the head. 1^st Platoon then led about 70 to 80 people into an irrigation ditch, pushed them in then shot them. Among the shooters was Calley. Private First Class Paul Meadio also testified that he had emptied several M16 magazines at women who held babies in their hands, believing they were booby trapped and about to attack.

Others claimed to have seen women throwing themselves on top of their children to protect them. Some of the children survived, but when they began to run away, they were shot at, too.  Other women and girls were first gang raped before being killed.

At around 8:15 AM, 3^rd Platoon were sent to My Hoi and Co Luy where they did the same thing. Exhausted by all the excitement, Medina ordered a lunch break at 11 AM. Once they were finished eating, the raping and killing spree continued at My Lai, Binh Tay, and the other hamlets.

Before that break, the Hiller OH-23 Raven crew finally arrived on the scene. Warrant Officer One Hugh Clowers Thompson, Jr. and his men, Specialist Four crew chief Glenn Andreotta and Specialist Four door-gunner Lawrence Colburn, saw the bodies and radioed their base for help.

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