Hugh Thompson Jr. "One of the Good Guys"

[David Mauldin]

Viet Nam War vet. Hugh Thompson Jr. died Friday. Hugh is my Hero. He makes me proud to be an American and gives me hope for the future of our great nation. I think he is one of the bravest men who fought for the U.S.A.  Sadly most people don't even  know about him or the circumstances that surounded his life back on March 16, 1968. That is when he came upon U.S. ground troops killing Vietnamese civilians in and around the village of My Lai. Hugh and his comrads landed their helicopter right in the line of fire between American troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians. He boldly confronted the leader of the U.S. forces and stopped the ruthless killings. He then provided aid and evacuations for the civillians. You can read about these events in the book by Seymour Hersh. This man stood up for the rights of people even when it was in opposition to those wearing his own uniform!  Later it would be John Kerry who would confront Congress about these very issues!  Sadly these hearings would be held against Mr. Kerry during his campaign for the presidency!  Today men like Joe Wilson are standing up for truth and justice. They say, "I believe in our system!" "I believe justice will prevail" I do too!  Good for you Hugh!!!!  You are my hero!!!!

[Jem]

I knew of Hugh Thomson because Seymour Hersh is one of my heros. When he passed there were some good write ups about him. I had my kids read them because he was such a great moral example of what a hero really is. He was scorned much more than he was praised, but he did the right thing at the right time. Thanks for the reminder.