Hugh Thompson Jnr - the My Lai hero - dies

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The warrant officer who ordered his tiny uni to shoot fellow American soldiers if they attacked civilians has died at the age of 62, without making a military career or any kind of career or gaining any kind of celebrity. I would like to think that at least some of the modern soldiers would do the same in his place. Here's one of the "rewards" he got, apart from death threats and the standard crap:

But Mr Thompson was shunned for years by fellow soldiers, received death threats, and was once told by a congressman that he was the only American who should be punished over My Lai.

If people go to prison for Nazi and/or communist propaganda in most civilised countries, what of that congressman? That guy wasn't probably even isolated in his political circle for that kind of talk. Those who actually shot civilians got more compassion:

A platoon commander, Lt William Calley, was later court-martialed and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killings.

President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence to three years' house arrest.

Among the four people mentioned in the first part of the source article at BBC, I see three who should be punished and Hugh Thompson isn't one of them. If you don't like riddles, those are Lt Calley, President Nixon and the congressman.

(More reading in this article for those who are interested.)

As a part of the belated official recognition which came in the eighties, Mr Thompson and his two colleagues received the highest distinction for bravery when not confronting an enemy:

Mr Thompson and his colleagues Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta were finally awarded the Soldier's Medal, the highest US miltiary award for bravery when not confronting an enemy.

Question is, was it really not confronting an enemy? What if they actually shot the troops? What if they died defending those civilians? I know. It's no point declaring your own troops the enemy ex post when they have gone rogue. And semantics don't close wounds, don't change the past. But it's also semantics to stick to definitions that way, with the medal, isn't it.

Rest in peace.

 

The strange thing is, that if this was a fictional movie, everyone would cheer for his brave actions, yet in real life things are very different...