Editing My Lai massacre (section)

===Helicopter crew intervention===
[[Warrant officer (United States)|Warrant Officer]] [[Hugh Thompson Jr.]], a helicopter pilot from Company B (Aero-Scouts), 123rd Aviation Battalion, Americal Division, saw dead and wounded civilians as he was flying over the village of Sơn Mỹ, providing close-air support for ground forces.<ref name="angers">{{cite book |last=Angers |first=Trent |title=The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story, Revised Edition |location=[[Lafayette, Louisiana]] |publisher=Acadian House |year=2014 |isbn=0925417904 |pages=59–80, 86}}</ref> The crew made several attempts to radio for help for the wounded. They landed their helicopter by a ditch, which they noted was full of bodies and in which they could discern movement by survivors.<ref name="angers"/> Thompson asked a sergeant he encountered there (David Mitchell of 1st Platoon) if he could help get the people out of the ditch; the sergeant replied that he would "help them out of their misery". Thompson, shocked and confused, then spoke with 2LT Calley, who claimed to be [[superior orders|"just following orders"]]. As the helicopter took off, Thompson saw Mitchell firing into the ditch.<ref name="angers"/>

Thompson and his crew witnessed an unarmed woman being kicked and shot at [[point-blank range]] by Medina, who later claimed that he thought she had a hand grenade.<ref name=Thompson_obit>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/hugh-thompson-ghwf0cmvtwr|work=The Times|location=London|title=Hugh Thompson: Helicopter pilot who intervened to save lives during the U.S. Army massacre of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai |date=11 January 2006|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> Thompson then saw a group of civilians at a bunker being approached by ground personnel. Thompson landed, and told his crew that if the soldiers shot at the villagers while he was trying to get them out of the bunker, then they were to open fire on the soldiers.<ref name="angers"/>

Thompson later testified that he spoke with a lieutenant (identified as Stephen Brooks of 2nd Platoon) and told him there were women and children in the bunker, and asked if the lieutenant would help get them out. According to Thompson, "he [the lieutenant] said the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade". Thompson testified that he then told Brooks to "just hold your men right where they are, and I'll get the kids out." He found 12–16&nbsp;people in the bunker, coaxed them out and led them to the helicopter, standing with them while they were flown out in two groups.<ref name="angers"/>

Returning to Mỹ Lai, Thompson and other air crew members noticed several large groups of bodies.<ref>Bock, Paula. [http://seattletimes.com/pacificnw/2002/0310/cover.html The Choices Made: Lessons from My Lai on Drawing the Line] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008060011/http://seattletimes.com/pacificnw/2002/0310/cover.html|date=8 October 2014}} ''The Seattle Times'', 10 March 2002.</ref> Spotting some survivors in the ditch, Thompson landed again. A crew member, [[Specialist (rank)|Specialist 4]] [[Glenn Andreotta]], entered the ditch and returned with a bloodied but apparently unharmed four-year-old girl, who was then flown to safety.<ref name="angers"/>

Upon returning to the LZ Dottie base in his OH-23, Thompson reported to his section leader, Captain Barry Lloyd, that the American infantry were no different from Nazis in their slaughter of innocent civilians: <blockquote>It's mass murder out there. They're rounding them up and herding them in ditches and then just shooting them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Howard|title=My Lai : Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent into Darkness|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|page=127}}</ref> </blockquote>Thompson then reported what he had seen to his company commander, Major Frederic W. Watke, using terms such as "murder" and "needless and unnecessary killings". Thompson's statements were confirmed by other helicopter pilots and air crew members.<ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero.html#RON The Heroes of My Lai: Hugh Thompson's Story] Thompson's own account during the conference on Mỹ Lai at [[Tulane University]] in New Orleans, Louisiana, in December 1994.</ref>

For his actions at Mỹ Lai, Thompson was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]], while his crew members [[Glenn Andreotta]] and [[Lawrence Colburn]] were awarded the [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]]. Glenn Andreotta was awarded his medal posthumously, as he was killed in Vietnam on 8 April 1968.<ref>[http://thewall-usa.com/info.asp?recid=1110 Glenn Urban Andreotta profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317213205/http://thewall-usa.com/info.asp?recid=1110|date=17 March 2014}} ''Names on the Wall'', The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.</ref> As the DFC citation included a fabricated account of rescuing a young girl from Mỹ Lai from "intense crossfire",<ref name="bilton">{{cite book|last1=Bilton|first1=Michael|last2=Sim|first2=Kevin|title=Four hours of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story|publisher=LA Acadian House|year=1992|pages=204–05|isbn=978-0-925417-33-6}}</ref> Thompson threw his medal away.<ref name="nymag">{{cite magazine|first=Rhoda|last=Koenig|year=1992|title=Books: Enemies of the People|magazine=New York Magazine|volume=25|issue=11|page=86|issn=0028-7369|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R-QCAAAAMBAJ&q=thompson+my+lai+distinguished+flying+cross |access-date=19 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="jones">{{cite book|first=Adam|last=Jones|title =Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction|publisher =Taylor & Francis|year=2010|page=408|isbn =978-0-415-48618-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdVudSuTRIC}}</ref> He later received a [[Purple Heart]] for other services in Vietnam.<ref name="johnson">{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Claudia D.|last2=Johnson|first2=Vernon Elso| url=https://archive.org/details/understandingody0000john|url-access=registration|quote=My Lai.|title=Understanding the Odyssey: a student casebook to issues, sources, and historic documents|publisher=Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/understandingody0000john/page/206 206]|isbn=978-0-313-30881-9}}</ref>

In March 1998, the helicopter crew's medals were replaced by the [[Soldier's Medal]], the highest the U.S.&nbsp;Army can award for bravery not involving direct conflict with the enemy. The medal citations state they were "for heroism above and beyond the call of duty while saving the lives of at least 10 Vietnamese civilians during the unlawful massacre of non-combatants by American forces at My Lai".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/03/98/mylai/62924.stm|title=BBC News &#124; World &#124; Heroes of My Lai honoured|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

Thompson initially refused to accept the medal when the U.S. Army wanted to award it quietly. He demanded it be done publicly and that his crew be honored in the same way.<ref name="zutz">{{cite journal|first=John|last=Zutz|year=1998|title=My Lai|journal=The Veteran|volume=28|issue=1|publisher=[[Vietnam Veterans Against the War]]|url=http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=244|access-date=19 April 2011}}</ref><ref name=Thompson_obit /><ref>{{Cite journal|year=2003|title=Moral Courage In Combat: The Mỹ Lai Story|url=http://www.usna.edu/Ethics/publications/documents/ThompsonPg1-28_Final.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324030925/http://www.usna.edu/Ethics/publications/documents/ThompsonPg1-28_Final.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 March 2012|journal=USNA Lecture}}</ref>