freediver wrote on Aug 11
th, 2018 at 12:16pm:
What exactly do you think heroism is? Inability to act without absolute certainty?
Why is Thomson a hero without any absolute proof he saved any people, but a soldier who actually has to put his life on the line in a fight to the death is not?
Heroism is acting for the greater good of humanity in the face of agents of inhumanity.
Thompson saved people at My Lai and caused other similar actions planned by the US military from being implemented.
Thompson was vilified by 'hero' soldiers and 'hero' politicians and received death threats.
Below is one of the My Lai picture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson_Jr. Quote:... After the massacre
Thompson made an official report of the killings and was interviewed by Colonel Oran Henderson, the commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade (the parent organization of the 20th Infantry).[10] Concerned, senior Americal Division officers cancelled similar planned operations by Task Force Barker against other villages (My Lai 5, My Lai 1, etc.) in Quảng Ngăi Province, possibly preventing the additional massacre of further hundreds, if not thousands, of Vietnamese civilians.[2]:219-220
Initially, commanders throughout the American chain of command were successful in covering up the My Lai massacre. Thompson quickly received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions at My Lai. The citation for the award fabricated events, for example praising Thompson for taking to a hospital a Vietnamese child "...caught in intense crossfire". It also stated that his "...sound judgment had greatly enhanced Vietnamese–American relations in the operational area." Thompson threw away the citation.[4]:204–205
Thompson continued to fly observation missions in the OH-23 and was hit by enemy fire a total of eight times. In four of those instances, his aircraft was lost.[2]:146 In the last incident, his helicopter was brought down by enemy machine-gun fire, and he broke his back in the resulting crash landing. This ended his combat career in Vietnam. He was evacuated to a hospital in Japan and began a long period of rehabilitation.
When news of the massacre publicly broke, Thompson repeated his account to then-Colonel William Wilson[4]:222–235 and then-Lieutenant General William Peers during their official Pentagon investigations.[11] In late-1969, Thompson was summoned to Washington, DC to appear before a special closed hearing of the House Armed Services Committee. There, he was sharply criticized by congressmen, in particular Chairman Mendel Rivers (D-S.C.), who were anxious to play down allegations of a massacre by American troops.[4]:290–291 Rivers publicly stated that he felt Thompson was the only soldier at My Lai who should be punished (for turning his weapons on fellow American troops) and unsuccessfully attempted to have him court-martialed.[3]
Thompson was vilified by many Americans for his testimony against United States Army personnel. He recounted in a CBS 60 Minutes television program in 2004, "I'd received death threats over the phone...Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up."[12][5]
After his Vietnam service, Thompson was assigned to Fort Rucker to become an instructor pilot and later received a direct commission, attaining the rank of captain and retired as a major.[13] His other military assignments included Fort Jackson, South Korea, Fort Ord, Fort Hood, and bases in Hawaii. He retired from the army in 1983. ...