Glenn Andreotta
| Glenn Urban Andreotta | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 30, 1947 Newton, New Jersey |
| Died | April 8, 1968 (aged 20) Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1966 - 1968 |
| Rank | Specialist 4 |
| Unit | 161st Assault Helicopter Company |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War † |
| Awards |
Bronze Star Soldier's Medal |
Glenn Urban Andreotta (October 30, 1947 – April 8, 1968) was an American helicopter crew chief in the Vietnam War noted for being one of three who intervened in the My Lai Massacre, in which at least 347 unarmed children, women and men were murdered.
Glenn Andreotta was of Italian descent. He was born in Newton, New Jersey, and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He dropped out of high school in his junior year and enlisted in the United States Army. He then served a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam as a radio repairman. Beginning his second tour on November 12, 1967, he was assigned to the 161st Assault Helicopter Company, holding the rank of Specialist Four. Serving as a crew chief aboard an OH-23 Raven observation helicopter, his pilot was Warrant Officer One Hugh Thompson, Jr. and his door-gunner was Specialist Four Lawrence Colburn, both of whom would also be acclaimed for their heroism at My Lai.
In the early morning hours of March 16, 1968, Andreotta's OH-23 encountered no enemy fire over My Lai 4. Spotting two possible Viet Cong suspects, Thompson forced the Vietnamese men to surrender and flew them off for a tactical interrogation. He also marked the location of several wounded Vietnamese with green smoke, a signal that they needed help.
Returning to the My Lai area at around 0900 after refueling, the crew noticed that the people they had marked were now dead. Out in a paddy field beside a dike 200 meters south of the village, they marked the location of a wounded young Vietnamese woman. Thompson and his crew watched from a low hover as Captain Ernest Medina (C Company Commander, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment) came up to the woman, prodded her with his foot, and then shot and killed her.
Thompson then flew over an irrigation ditch filled with dozens of bodies. Shocked at the sight, he radioed his accompanying gunships, knowing his transmission would be monitored by many on the net: "It looks to me like there's an awful lot of unnecessary killing going on down there. Something ain't right about this. There's bodies everywhere. There's a ditch full of bodies that we saw. There's something wrong here."
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Wikipedia