Hugh Thompson’s job on March 16th 1968 was to fly dangerously low, spot enemy soldiers and draw enemy fire. He was piloting an H-23 observation helicopter, a plexiglass bubble that was especially vulnerable to attack but which was light and highly manoeuvrable. So much glass provided excellent all-round visibility but the cockpit was cramped and it could only carry a maximum of three adults.
From the moment he landed back at his base after taking Do Ba to hospital, at around 11am, Hugh Thompson and his crew began reporting the atrocities they had seen.
They started with their section leader and went all the way up the chain of command to Colonel Oran Henderson, the man in charge of everything and Colonel Frank Barker’s boss. Col. Henderson would later deny to the Peers Inquiry that he had been told any of this by Hugh Thompson (below).
Glenn Andreotta 1947-1968, crew chief, who flew with Hugh Thompson on March 16th 1968. Mr Andreotta and Mr Colburn (below) helped Hugh Thompson to land and protect Vietnamese villagers from advancing American troops, while they arranged for them to be picked up by a bigger helicopter and evacuated from My Lai. When they again landed, Glenn waded into a ditch filled with dead and dying civilians to rescue Do Ba, a boy of about two years old who was still alive and, although covered in other people’s blood, despite having been shot in the arm his condition was good. Glenn would be killed in action three weeks later on April 8th 1968 aged 20. Photo used with the kind permission of his mother Mrs Ruth Andreotta.
Lawrence Colburn, door gunner, who flew with Hugh Thompson on March 16th 1968. He helped to rescue civilians and bravely reported and testified against the perpetrators of the massacre. On April 8th 1968 Lawrence Colburn was on a helicopter called out to rescue the crew of a downed American OH-23 (bubble) helicopter. But they couldn’t get near the crash site because of enemy fire and had to return without reaching the crew. Another helicopter was sent out and that succeeded in landing and retrieving the bodies of the crew chief and gunner. The pilot, who had broken both arms and both legs in the crash, survived and told Mr Colburn what had happened. Glenn Andreotta had been the crew chief on the crashed OH-23. He had been killed by a sniper’s bullet during the attack that caused the crash. During the various inquiries and court martial trials Mr Colburn and Mr Thompson testified about what they had seen. It became clear to them that the army and politicians were closing ranks to ensure that only one man would be convicted of a war crime at My Lai, and the public would get a limited, sanitised version of the massacre. Mr Colburn and Mr Thompson dedicated much of their lives to education and charitable work to benefit people in the Son My area. Photo used with the kind permission of Lawrence Colburn.
Far from launching an investigation, Col. Henderson, senior officers of Task Force Barker, the 11th Brigade and the Americal Division all promoted the operation as the resounding success they had intended it to be. General Westmoreland, head of the US Army in Vietnam, sent them his congratulations.
The map annotated by Hugh Thompson for General Peers during the Peers Inquiry in 1970. It shows his movements around My Lai on March 16th 1968