Forgotten Hero, Hugh Thompson Jr
On March 16, 1968 American troops murdered over 500 innocent women, old men, and children in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. But it could have been much worse if not for one very brave helicopter pilot: Hugh Thompson Jr. After two failed attempts to end the slaughter peacefully, Thompson ordered his crew to turn the helicopter s guns on their fellow Americans. That day the killing stopped. Some scholars say up to 20, 000 lives were saved that day because that mission was supposed to go on for 4 days, through many more villages, and there were up to 20, 000 people in all those villages. But thanks to the actions of Hugh Thompson and his crew, the mission was halted in just 4 hours. Hugh Thompson never pulled out his pistol. That was a dramatization from the movie scene. He kept his pistol holstered when he stood up against his own Americans forces which is even more bold and heroic considering they had just killed over 500 civilians. An officer had also previously threatened to kill a sold
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