American heroes of the My Lai Massacre

    But how many remember the truly heroic deeds of the 3 U.S. soldiers who rescued unarmed Vietnamese civilians and stopped the massacre that dark day in March of 1968?

    Their names are Hugh Thompson, Larry Colburn and Glenn Andreotta. From their reconnaissance helicopter, they observed a large number of dead bodies in and around the village of My Lai. In all, 504 women, children and old men were killed that day by out-of-control U.S. troops.

    Colburn and Andreotta spotted a small group of Vietnamese civilians running for their lives, being chased by U.S. soldiers intent on killing them. In a valiant effort to stop another war crime, Thompson landed his helicopter between the troops and the fleeing civilians, ordered Colburn to train his M-60 on the soldiers, and subsequently saved 11 civilians from a sure death.

    Thompson then filed the complaint with his Commanding Officer that led to the cease-fire that stopped the My Lai Massacre. The full story is recorded in the book, "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘪," available from www.acadianhouse.com. Though he was angry and upset at the butchers of My Lai, Thompson went to his grave believing that the vast majority of U.S. troops fought honorably in Vietnam. He was forever thanking Vietnam veterans: "Welcome home, and thank you for your service to our country."

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