FOR HUGH THOMPSON and Larry Colburn, the vision of U.S. soldiers slaughtering
unarmed men, women and children in Vietnam has been etched in their minds for
more than three decades.
On Friday, the former Army helicopter crewmen
visited the U.S. Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning to share with
students and instructors the tragic episode that occurred in the hamlet of My
Lai on March 16, 1968.
On that day, Thompson piloted a helicopter that landed between American
soldiers and terrified villagers.
He then ordered his gunner -- Colburn -- to
fire on the U.S. troops if they resumed their attack.
The soldiers backed
down.
This was the story they shared during a panel discussion at the post on human
rights, culminating a week of lectures and training on the subject.
"If we
can go somewhere and tell our story, about what happened to us this one day
in our life," said Thompson, taking a drag on a cigarette outside the school
during a break, "... and make an impression on somebody ... to care for your
fellow man, that's very rewarding and fulfilling for me."
Thompson and Colburn, the star attractions at the discussion, received
standing ovations. But the panel was diverse. It included:
Army Capt. Larry Rockwood of San Diego, who was court-martialed and convicted
of conduct unbecoming an officer in 1995 after blowing the whistle on his
commander in Haiti. He charged that the U.S. military waited much too long --
90 days -- to account for political prisoners inside the island-nation's
National Penitentiary. Rockwood hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will hear his
appeal this year.
Francois Senechaud, who is stationed in Guatemala as a director with the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
Bob Doran of Boone, Iowa, who served as a war crimes trial observer following
World War II, trying Japanese soldiers who tortured, murdered and
cannibalized American prisoners of war on the Pacific island of Chichi Jima.
Bob Poydasheff, a retired Army colonel who lives in Columbus and serves on
city council. After My Lai, Poydasheff defended several of the American
soldiers accused of atrocities, but the cases never went to trial.
SOA protestors have charged that SOA graduates brutalize their own people
when they return home. School officials brought the speakers in to set the
stage for constructive criticism on the topic.
Maj. Tony Raimondo, judge advocate for the School of the Americas and its
principal human rights instructor, didn't deny that the protests have had
some impact on the institution.
"Isn't it good to have a military educational
institution acting responsibly by being responsive to constructive criticism
from opponents?" said Raimondo. "I think that's a good, positive thing. This
is what democracy is all about."
With Thompson speaking in a slow, Southern drawl, the audience listened
intently to his story of the massacre at My Lai, where as many as 500 people
were killed, raped and sodomized with bayonets, some with their tongues cut
out.
"These people had their hands in the air. They had no weapons and they were
begging for their lives," said Thompson, 56, who works with the Louisiana
Department of Veterans in Broussard, La. "They were marched down to a ditch,
then machine guns were set up and (the U.S. soldiers) fired down into the
ditch. That's not war, that's murder."
Colburn, 50, who sells orthopedic rehabilitation equipment in Atlanta, said
he was, indeed, prepared to fire on the American infantrymen from his
helicopter.
"Thank God I didn't have to," said Colburn, who returned to
Vietnam two years ago with Thompson for a "60 Minutes" television segment,
meeting those they saved.
Both Thompson and Colburn received Soldier's Medals -- the highest award for
bravery not involving conflict with the enemy -- in 1998. They insist poor
leadership led to the massacre and beseeched those at the School of the
Americas to learn from My Lai.
Maj. William Albarroncin, who battles drug traffickers in Bolivia, said
through an interpreter that he would use the My Lai episode in his own human
rights training back home. He said the story touched him both personally and
professionally.
A twist for the human rights discussion came with the appearance of Charles
Liteky, who has protested against the School of the Americas since 1990.
Liteky is a Vietnam veteran himself and was awarded the Medal of Honor, which
he refused to accept [an error here]. He was among dozens detained and
arrested late November during an annual protest against the school.
Liteky was allowed to attend the discussion on post, a place from which he
has been officially barred, after telephoning the school once he heard about
the event. "May I come?" he asked. The school admitted Liteky, who faces a
trial next month and up to a year in prison if convicted for trespassing on
the post.
After listening to the various panelists, the 69-year-old protester came away
impressed with the school's human rights discussion. But he still has his
doubts.
"If it bears fruit at all, it will happen when these fellows go back and one
of these individuals happen to be present when an atrocity is taking place,"
said Liteky. "It's very difficult for any soldier to stand up like Hugh did
against his superiors and risk one's career."