I hadn’t. Maybe it’s a product of being part of the post-Vietnam generation.
An Army helicopter pilot, Thompson intervened in the My Lai massacre, placing his chopper in the line of American fire and pointing his guns at the butchering US troops in order to protect terrified Vietnamese civilians, eventually stopping the killing. In 1998, he was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his actions.
Anyway, he died several months back. But I think he deserves to be saluted, now and forever, as true American hero.