Via: Donnah
"The soldier, be he friend or foe, is charged with the protection of the weak and the unarmed."
- General Douglas MacArthur
Hugh Thompson died Friday. In this Georgian was the decency, courage, and strength we hold as being at the core of the American soldier.You should most definitely read the entire story over at Donnah's, whom I thank very much for teaching me about this great American hero who for some reason...was not part of my history education in high school... Posted by Kyer at January 8, 2006 05:22 PM | TrackBackOn March 16, 1968, Hugh Thompson stopped the My Lai massacre.
Oh, you didn't know someone stopped it? Not a lot of people do.
Thompson, a helicopter pilot charged with flying recon, and confused by all the civilian bodies he was seeing, grew less confused when he saw how they were getting that way. Three times he dropped smoke next to injured civilians to signal they needed help. Three times he saw the people he had ask to be helped instead be murdered. The officers were out of control and they had taken their demoralized men down with them. He radioed back to base about what he was seeing. He landed several times and asked what was being done to help the wounded civilians. The answers he got filled him with anger.