The War in Vietnam: One Soldier Stops a Massacre

DID YOU KNOW? On November 11th, 1967, three U.S. prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong in a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In March 1968, the US Army's Americal Division was on a search-and-destroy mission in a Viet Cong stronghold popularly called "Pinkville." So far, the mission was a failure--mines and sniper fire were killing American soldiers, but the enemy was nowhere to be found. The day after an emotional memorial service, Lt. William Calley's platoon went looking for revenge in a nearby village called My Lai. What happened next stigmatized every American soldier fighting in the Vietnam War, and the media overlooked one soldier's courage. Calley ordered his men to gather the villagers--mostly women, children, and the elderly--into groups. No one resisted. Calley then gave the order to open fire. When some soldiers hesitated, Calley took a weapon himself and fired. By the end of the day, somewhere between 175 and 400 Vietnamese were dead. Besides the mass killings, there were individual murders by Calley and others, and at least one gang rape. Flying overhead, Americal Division helicopter pilot Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson witnessed some of the killings. Seeing soldiers approaching a group of about 10 civilians, he landed in front of the soldiers, then ordered his crew to cover him while he confronted the soldiers and shepherded the civilians to safety. Later, he saw movement in a pile of corpses, landed, and rescued a toddler. The My Lai massacre tarnished the Army's image, helped divide public opinion about the war, and gave rise to the epithet "babykiller" that stung returning veterans. While reporters concentrated on Calley's trial, conviction, and dishonor--which they perceived as emblematic of an out-of-control military--Thompson's heroism was reduced to a footnote. Three decades later, however, the Army finally presented him with the Soldier's Medal, its highest non-combat award. Out of the Vietnam War's darkest moment, an ember of honor glowed.