Hugh Thompson, Jr.

Don't do the right thing looking for a reward, because it might not come.

Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. (April 15, 1943 – January 6, 2006) was a US Army helicopter pilot who rescued Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war and campaigned to bring those responsible to justice. After receiving the prestigious Soldier's Medal he became a popular speaker on military ethics.

Quotes

• I'm going to go over and get them out of the bunker myself. If the squad opens up on them, shoot 'em.
  • To Spec. Lawrence Colburn, giving him the order to fire on any fellow US Army soldiers if they attempted to kill a group of unarmed Vietnamese civilians. [1]

Attributed

• Don't do the right thing looking for a reward, because it might not come.
  • In a 2004 interview with AP. [2]

• Something terrible happened here 30 years ago today. I cannot explain why it happened. I just wish our crew that day could have helped more people than we did.
  • Quoted by CNN, regarding the My Lai massacre. [3]

• I'd received death threats over the phone. Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up. So I was not a 'good guy'.
  • In a 2004 interview with 60 minutes. [4]

• These people were looking at me for help and there was no way I could turn my back on them
  • In a 1998 interview with AP. [5]

• They said I was screaming quite loud. I threatened never to fly again. I didn't want to be a part of that. It wasn't war.
  • In a 2004 interview with US News & World Report. [6]

Quotes of others about Thompson

You can't imagine what courage it took to do what he did. ~ Seymour Hersh

Reading about what you did at My Lai released imprisoned emotions that I didn't know I had locked away all these years. I guess My Lai had hurt and shamed me more than I knew. Your heroism in the face of that terrific evil has renewed my faith in mankind.
I can't believe I'm writing this, because I am not at all emotional or morose or even deep-thinking, normally. But the description of what you did, and my spontaneous and voluntary reaction to it, has made me realize that I was deeply wounded by Vietnam, and My Lai in particular. I'll bet there are many more like me. ~ Jim Gustin

Thank you also for showing all of us that man can perform moral and courageous deeds even if threatened by terrible and evil danger. You have given all of us an inspiring lesson in how to live. ~ Jim Gustin

• You should be stripped of your stripes, you chicken-livered traitor, for the trouble you have caused our country and our military. What do you think war is? A game of ping-pong? That village was a threat to our own men. Would you rather see our men mowed down by the enemy? Your kind is our worst enemy, the rat commie within our country... You are a disgrace to the South (which is a producer of patriots), a disgrace to the nation... You are through in the service whether or not you get kicked out. If you were in the Marine Corps I don't think you would last very long. However, you will have to pay the full price of all traitors. For every man you have caused to be locked up and punished, you will walk in shame the rest of your days... May our country always be right (which is not easy when dealing with international communism). But our country right or wrong. If you don't believe that way, you are no American; you are no better than the fanatic communist animals who have trapped and killed all the U.S. military to date. You are worse than they, as you are supposed to be an American. I was proud of my town until (now). You have disgraced us all.
  • "Jane Q. Citizen," anonymous author of a letter postmarked from Atlanta, Georgia, where Thompson had been born, sent in the months following the My Lai Massacre. As quoted by Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story, p. 178

• Thompson landed again. Glenn and I got out of the aircraft, took out the guns. Hugh walked over to this lieutenant [Brooks], and I could tell they were in a shouting match. I thought they were going to get in a fist fight. He told me later what they said. Thompson: 'Let's get these people out of this bunker and get 'em out of here.' Brooks: 'We'll get 'em out with hand grenades.' Thompson: 'I can do better than that. Keep your people in place. My guns are on you.' Hugh was outranked, so this was not good to do, but that's how committed he was to stopping it.
  • Thompson's gunner, Spec. Lawrence Colburn [7]

• He was treated like a traitor for 30 years, so he was conditioned to just shut up and be quiet. Every bit of information I got from him, I had to drag it out of him.
  • Trent Angers, Thompson's biographer [8]

• In the same months that Thompson was becoming increasingly sensitive to the disapproval of others, Lt. Calley was gaining the sympathy of more and more Americans, who held the viewpoint that he was a soldier who was just taking orders when he did what he did at My Lai. They saw Calley as a scapegoat for the transgressions of his superiors, a guy who was singled out to take the fall for the officers over him and the men around him on that day in March of 1968. Calley was, in the minds of many, a national hero.
  • Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 178

• Hugh Thompson, Larry Colburn and other men of goodwill- who cooperated in the Peers Inquiry and who testified repeatedly during the courts-martial and in the pre-trial hearings- had hoped to see justice done but ended up saddened and disillusioned at the outcome. A near-total sense of futility came over Thompson. He had gone to a lot of trouble for nearly no result, except for what he considered a token conviction. It would be a long, long time before he would go to that much trouble again for anyone or any cause.
  • Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 185

• Calley was convicted, Nixon had made it easy on him, five hundred and four people were dead in Vietnam, it was a war crime, no one paid for it. Thompson was disgusted. The hero of My Lai had had enough. He was worn down by the tension of the courtroom, angered by the lack of justice, wounded by the mean looks and cold shoulders he was getting while out in public. Now, he just wanted to go home, back to his base at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. He just wanted to be left alone.
  • Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 185

• Thompson's friends had prepared a "Welcome Home" party for him at the Cajun Pier Restaurant, on the banks of the Bayou Vermillion in Lafayette. This would be the hero's welcome he never got when he returned from Vietnam some thirty years earlier. The party went on for a few hours, until it was obvious that the man of the hour was about to drop from fatigue. He needed to go home and go to bed. It was after midnight when he got home. His son, Steven, met him at the door. "Dad, you got a bunch of mail," Steven pointed out. There, on the coffee table, was a week's worth of mail. It was such a tall pile that some of the letters had fallen off the table and onto the floor. Thompson's eyes lit up. "Boy, that is a bunch. Who's all this from?" he asked, with energy returning to his voice. "People from all over the country. I think it's fan mail." "How did they get our address?" "Well, most of 'em don't have any real address, except Lafayette, Louisiana. Look at how some of them are addressed: 'Hero of My Lai' or "Soldier's Medal Recipient.'"
  All of a sudden, the weary traveler didn't feel fatigued at all. Maybe his trip to Vietnam did count for something. Maybe his whole involvement in Vietnam was worthwhile. It certainly appeared so, judging from the volume of mail that had accumulated in his absence. If Thompson ever had any doubt about the value of what he had done at My Lai, that doubt was about to leave him. If he had been burdened over the years by some sort of complex about being unappreciated, his burden was about to be lifted. He sat down on his sofa with a handful of letters and started reading.
  • Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 199-200

• In yesterday's newspaper I read an account of the action you took at My Lai, protecting the Vietnamese villagers from American troops. I cried. I'm near tears again, writing this. I'm not a Vietnam veteran. I've never served in the Armed Forces, I've never been to Vietnam. But I am an American Jew who grew up in the wake of the Holocaust, studying history as an endless parade of massacres of the innocent... Usually the daily paper proves to me, over and over, that human beings would literally rather hurt each other than eat. I don't like feeling like this, but I think I always have.
  But every now and then. Every now and then.
  I collect these now-and-thens inside myself whenever and wherever I come across them. They may make me cry by day, but I cling to them at night, to keep myself warm remembering that- for all the horrors of history- human beings are capable of kindness, courage, love, self-sacrifice and passionate sympathy. It's terribly easy to forget that, and I usually do. You have reminded me.
  • Peter S. Beagle, resident of Davis, California, in a letter sent to Thompson following the awarding of the Soldier's Medal to Thompson, Glenn Andreotta, and Lawrence Colburn in 1998 for their actions at My Lai in 1968. As quoted by Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 201

• He was the guy who by his heroic actions gave a morality and dignity to the American military effort. At war sometimes things get topsy turvy, so he was a moral example at a time when things were pure evil.
  • Douglas Brinkley, Tulane history professor. [9]

Thompson:: What's going on here, Lieutenant?

Calley:: This is my business.

Thompson:: What is this? Who are these people?

Calley:: Just following orders.

Thompson:: Orders? Whose orders?

Calley:: Just following...

Thompson:: But, these are human beings, unarmed civilians, sir.

Calley:: Look Thompson, this is my show. I'm in charge here. It ain't your concern.

Thompson:: Yeah, great job.

Calley:: You better get back in that chopper and mind your own business.

Thompson:: You ain't heard the last of this!

Exchange between William Calley and Thompson as the My Lai massacre was underway, as quoted by Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing

• It is good that America remembers you now, because many times America forgets much too easily. It also sometimes forgets the good it has done. My personal wish is to thank you and all of the Americans who came to Vietnam to help the South Vietnamese people, not kill them. I would like to thank all U.S. soldiers who helped my mother and sister and relatives in our village because, according to my family, there were mostly good soldiers who came to our village.
  You took a big risk for humanity. You are a brave man and a good one.
  • Mai Donahue, resident of Barrington, Rhode Island, in a letter sent to Thompson following the awarding of the Soldier's Medal to Thompson, Glenn Andreotta, and Lawrence Colburn in 1998 for their actions at My Lai in 1968. As quoted by Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 203

• Reading about what you did at My Lai released imprisoned emotions that I didn't know I had locked away all these years. I guess My Lai had hurt and shamed me more than I knew. Your heroism in the face of that terrific evil has renewed my faith in mankind.
  I can't believe I'm writing this, because I am not at all emotional or morose or even deep-thinking, normally. But the description of what you did, and my spontaneous and voluntary reaction to it, has made me realize that I was deeply wounded by Vietnam, and My Lai in particular. I'll bet there are many more like me.
  You have healed many of my wounds. I could feel as if the emotions broke free the day I read your story. Thank you for that. Thank you also for showing all of us that man can perform moral and courageous deeds even if threatened by terrible and evil danger. You have given all of us an inspiring lesson in how to live.
  • Jim Gustin, resident of Bridgewater, Connecticut, in a letter sent to Thompson following the awarding of the Soldier's Medal to Thompson, Glenn Andreotta, and Lawrence Colburn in 1998 for their actions at My Lai in 1968. As quoted by Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 200

• You can't imagine what courage it took to do what he did. [10]
  • Seymour Hersh, journalist who "broke" the My Lai massacre story.

• I am a firm believer that all of us, children and adults alike, need heroes in order to call the best from us. The problem today is that so many of the heroes presented to youth are so questionable in what they invite people to emulate.... It would be refreshing to have someone like yourself talk to students at Loyola... about a different kind of heroism, one that necessarily bucks "peer pressure" when higher values are to be followed and when one's conscience is to be listened to...
  I am convinced that people are capable of great heroism, but they must first hear from people who have fought to the place of being considered heroic. I do not want all this talk of "hero" to frighten you away, Mr. Thompson. It is just a code word for what you did, which was essentially loving your neighbor in a profound way under difficult circumstances.
  • Michael Hugo, instructor at Loyala Academy in Wilmette, Illinois in 1998, in a letter sent to Thompson following the awarding of the Soldier's Medal to Thompson, Glenn Andreotta, and Lawrence Colburn in 1998 for their actions at My Lai in 1968. As quoted by Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 202

• What a great man. There are so many people today walking around alive because of him, not only in Vietnam, but people who kept their units under control under other circumstances because they had heard his story. We may never know just how many lives he saved. [11]
  • Col. Tom Kolditz, head of the Army academy's behavioral sciences and leadership department.