jesus christ died for nothin', I suppose

In March 1968, a company of U.S. Soldiers led by Cpt. Earnest Medina opened fire on a village full of Vietnamese civilians. As many as 504 were killed, many women and children. The company was acting on intelligence that civilians would have left for the market by 7 a.m., and any remaining would likely be Viet Cong, and were instructed to destroy the village. The event is largely remembered for the courts martial of Lt. William Calley, who was convicted, and Cpt. Medina, who was not.

What's not so well known is the story of Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr., an Army helicopter pilot and his crew, Spc Glenn Andreotta, and Spc Lawrence Colburn. From wikipedia:

After coming across the dead bodies of Vietnamese civilians outside My Lai on March 16, 1968, Thompson set down their OH-23. The three men began setting green smoke markers by the prone bodies of those Vietnamese civilians who appeared to still be alive, in order to call in medical assistance. Returning to the helicopter, however, they saw Captain Ernest Medina run forward and begin shooting the wounded who had been marked. The three men moved their ship back over the village, where Thompson confronted Lt. Stephen Brooks who was preparing to blow up a hut full of wounded Vietnamese. Thompson left Andreotta and Colburn to cover the company with their heavy machine guns and gave orders to fire on any American who refused the orders to halt the massacre. None of the officers dared to disobey him, even though (as a Warrant Officer) Thompson was outranked by the commissioned lieutenants present.

Hugh Thompson, Jr. and his crew are on my list of the 100 greatest Americans of all time. I don't think they deserved to be burned in effigy.