On March 16, 1968, Army helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson and gunner Lawrence Colburn were faced with a remarkable dilemma. With crew chief Glenn Andreotta, soon to be deceased, they were scouting the location of enemy troops, accompanied by two helicopter gunships.
When the three men noticed a lot of bodies that appeared to be civilians at a Vietnamese village, Thompson landed to have a look around. He was sickened by what he saw.
When the three asked U.S. troops what was going on, the answers made it clear that the slaughter of unarmed civilians would continue. Thompson directed the copters' crews to train their machine guns on the out-of-control U.S. platoon with orders to shoot if the slaughter continued. Thompson and crew saved 10 or 11 injured Vietnamese, but as many as 500 had already been killed.
Much to the Army's discredit, a classic coverup was the response to the reports filed by the helicopter crew. Later, former member of the company that had done the killings sent a leter about the My Lai massacre to President Richard Nixon and other government leaders. Most of these "leaders" chose to look the other way, continuing the whitewash.
Then journalist Seymour Hersh brought out a blockbuster story, with photos, and a proper investigation finally began.
A total of 14 officers eventually were charged, but only Lt. William Calley was convicted-- of murder. His sentence was life in prison, but he actually served little more than four months. His superior officer, Capt. Ernest Medina, got off totally.
The shameful episode helped anti-war forces to gain support and thus helped shorten American involvement in this unfortunate war. My Lai was one of the Army's darkest days.
Thompson worked as a Veterans Administration counselor and died of cancer in 2006. The video clip that follows shows Colburn revisiting the scene many years later.
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