Hugh Thompson Larry Colburn

Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. and his crew were prepared to turn their guns on their own country men to ensure the rescue of nearly a dozen civilians in the My Lai massacre. Thompson was 25 at the time of the massacre. He grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia and began studies at Troy State University Alabama but dropped out to serve in the Navy. He served in the Navy from 1961 to 1964. Upon his return he ran a funeral home. He was married and had two sons when he decided to volunteer for pilot training, arriving in Vietnam in 1967.

Thompson was flying with his crew chief Glen Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn, an 18-year-old door gunner the day of the My Lai massacre. After seeing many injured civilians from the air they realized that Lt. William Calley's troops were killing all the civilians in the area. Thompson spotted a group of about ten people running for a bomb shelter with American ground troops in pursuit. Believing that the civilians would be murdered if the Americans reached them, Thompson landed his helicopter in-between the American troops and the Vietnamese civilians. He ordered his gunner Lawrence Colburn to be ready to fire at the American ground troops if they started to shoot at the villagers. The ten Vietnamese villagers were flown to safety. Thompson's helicopter was ready to refuel when Andreotta spotted something moving in a ditch of dead bodies. They landed and discovered that a small child who had survived the killing was buried beneath the bodies. They brought the girl to a hospital where she survived.

In March of 1998 the soldier's medal was awarded to Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn, and Glenn Andreotta, who died later in Vietnam. This honor was the result of a ten year long campaign to recognize the actions of these three men by M. David Egan, a retired Architecture professor at Clemson University.