"In the same months that Thompson was becoming increasingly sensitive to the disapproval of others, Lt. Calley was gaining the sympathy of more and more Americans, who held the viewpoint that he was a soldier who was just taking orders when he did what he did at My Lai. They saw Calley as a scapegoat for the transgressions of his superiors, a guy who was singled out to take the fall for the officers over him and the men around him on that day in March of 1968. Calley was, in the minds of many, a national hero."
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Trent Angers, The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (1999), Lafayette: Acadian House Publishing, p. 178
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson%2C_Jr.
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Hugh Thompson, Jr.
Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. (April 15, 1943 – January 6, 2006) was a US Army helicopter pilot who rescued Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war and campaigned to bring those responsible to justice. After receiving the prestigious Soldier's Medal he became a popular speaker on military ethics.
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