Lawrence Colburn passes
The LA Times reports that Lawrence Colburn, a helicopter gunner in Vietnam who helped to end the massacre at My Lai has died of cancer at the age of 67;
According to accounts, pilot Hugh Thompson landed the helicopter between unarmed villagers and American troops and ordered Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta to cover him.
Thompson then persuaded members of Charlie Company to stop shooting. The company’s soldiers had begun shooting villagers that day even though they hadn’t come under attack, authorities later said. The shooting quickly escalated into an orgy of killing that claimed the lives of as many as 504 civilians
Colburn and Andreotta were awarded the Soldiers Medal for their actions that day. Andreotta was killed a few days later in combat in Vietnam. Thompson died in 2006.
Category: Blue Skies
Rest in peace now Soldier, your work here is done.
It is with an open heart and open arms that you are welcomed to the land of heroes.
God bless you good sir, rest in peace.
Rest In Peace, Warrior. You’ve earned your place in History and Valhalla.
All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, Thompson, Andreotta, and Colburn chose the other path they chose to do something. Evil was stopped because of three good men.
May they finally be reunited and find some peace in their eternal rest.
R.I.P., Mr. Colburn.
RIP Sir!
Rest Well Sir
God bless these Soldiers. They did their duty in a difficult situation. Semper Fidelis.
Thompson, Colburn, and Andreotta were heroes.
Calley, Medina, and every other officer in that company should’ve been fitted for a noose.
The crime was exposed in the media when I was in RVN in 1970. Every infantry officer I discussed it with thought Calley and Medina should have been convicted of murder. There were no other officers involved in the incident. Medina’s other platoons were not at the site. Medina was represented by ol’ Flea Bailey and was acquitted of the murder charges in his court martial.
The event still hurts. He was a big part of the little good to be found there.
The worst part is that the Army–or part of it, anyway–tried to do the right thing, but it was politically more convenient to try to whitewash the event than to actually punish the cocksuckers who disgraced American soldiers everywhere. 26 men brought up on charges, only one convicted, with his sentence reduced.
I read that one machine gunner refused to shoot anyone, only to have Calley grab the M60 out of his hands and mow down a dozen people with it. I read another account, not sure how true it is, that said another M60 gunner obeyed the order to shoot a crowd of civilians, then deliberately grabbed his weapon’s barrel bare-handed and burned his hands to the bone. A rifleman shot himself in the foot because he feared reprisal from the officers if he didn’t participate otherwise. Some men did refuse, others complied because they were afraid not to. And the only consequence was one guy (fucking Calley, who apparently was the worst offender but was hardly alone) doing three months at Leavenworth (I hope he got assraped for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and three years house arrest. Medina, who ordered and actively supervised the atrocity, got off scot-free. You’d almost think his last name was Clinton!
And the cover-up? What was that, one general lost a star and a couple of medals got revoked? No discharges, no prison time, nothing.
My Lai didn’t take place in a vacuum. The village had been providing active sanctuary for a Viet Cong battalion at a time just after the Tet Offensive. In the weeks prior, Medina’s company had taken 20 percent casualties in the immediate area.
The thought among troops who were in country following My Lai, at least it seemed to me at the time, was that although most thought Calley and the others had gone way over the top, it was absolutely possible to understand why they did it. It’s also probably not a stretch to say that at least some credit should be extended to American troops because such incidents didn’t occur more often.
It was a war. Shit happens.
Agreed, just saying it shouldn’t have happened at all, and they should’ve dropped the hammer on those responsible when it did. After all, all it takes is one asshole…
The best way to honor such men, is to ensure that all of -us- step up to the plate when despicable things are brewing. Prevent them where possible, stop them otherwise. And, see justice done to the perpetrators.
+1
Rest in peace Sir. You did more than your duty that day and your nation thanks you.
Rest in peace, Sir. In an era where no good deed goes unpunished, and Befehl ist Befehl seems to be official policy in all but name, you did the right thing.
Rest easy.
Rest in Peace, Brother.
Vietnam was a shithole. Beating the bush was even a bigger shithole! I’m not condoning for a second what those assholes did.
I hate it when the name My Lai comes up. All it does for me is remind me that I was somewhere I most definitely did not want to be, doing a job that I did not want to do
Thank god that air crew had the balls to step up and stop it!
One final ride to the sky….Rest In Peace. REST.
I had the honor of meeting Larry Colburn when he came to Hugh Thompson’s funeral. Hugh Thompson was my Louisiana State VA Rep and a friend for many years. A very fine man and tenacious rep for veterans.
RIP Larry.