SP4 Andreotta #
MOS:
Glenn was Helicopter Crew Chief assigned B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division, Vietnam, USARV. Hero at My Lai.
Many thanks to Susan Ing who went way out of her way to find his plot and obtain the photos, to Janice Dow Blanchard Mendelson for posting life photos and to Patty, Olive, Joyce, Rhonda C. Poynter and all the findagrave friends who continue to leave flowers and tokens.
The Soldiers Medal
He was awarded the Soldiers Medal in 1998 along with the two other US Army soldiers who intervened March 16, 1968 in the village of My Lai.
The Soldier's Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States or of a friendly foreign nation who, while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, distinguished himself or herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.
At the ceremonial presentation of the award some 30 years after My Lai, then Major General Michael Ackerman stated "It was the ability to do the right thing even at the risk of their personal safety that guided these soldiers to do what they did" and "set the standard for all soldiers to follow."
Since his mother was in ill health at the time, she accepted his award at her home at a later date.
Can You Hear Me Now
At My Lai
Hugh Thompson's description was "Glenn Andreotta—if there was a hero, I don't like that word, but if there was a hero at My Lai—it was Glenn Andreotta, because he saw movement in that ditch, and he fixed in on this one little kid and went down into that ditch. I would not want to go in that ditch. It's not pretty. It was very bad. I can imagine what was going through his mind down there, because there was more than one still alive—people grabbing hold of his pants, wanting help. 'I can't help you. You're too bad [off].' He found this one kid and brought the kid back up and handed it to Larry, and we laid it across Larry and my lap and took him out of there. I remember thinking Glenn Andreotta put himself where nobody in their right mind would want to be, and he was driven by something. I haven't got the aircraft on the ground real stable. He bolted out of that aircraft into this ditch. Now he was a hero. Glenn Andreotta gave his life for his country about three weeks later. That's the kind of guy he was, and he was a hero that day."
Glenn Andreotta and SP4 Lawrence Colburn covered WO Hugh C Thompson with M60 machine guns when Thompson left his helicopter with his pistol drawn and stepped in between LT Stephen Brooks, soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 23rd Infantry Division and My Lai villagers on March 16, 1968. (Note: A recent account by Lawrence Colburn does not indicate that Thompson had his pistol drawn and specifically states that neither he nor Andreotta pointed their automatic weapons at anyone but that they had their weapons pointed at the ground)
The crewmembers have been credited with saving at least 11 lives but were long thereafter reviled as traitors.
Glenn Andreotta was killed in action just three weeks after My Lai and never knew the firestorm the My Lai Massacre, as it came to be known, would create. It would become the darkest hour in the history of the US Army.
Fatality
On 8 Apr 1968 an OH-6A (tail number 69-16023) from B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, was leading two UH-1 gunships on an armed recon mission. The OH-6 was the "low-flyer", picking out targets which then would be attacked by the gunships. On this occasion the OH-6 was hit by enemy .51 caliber fire and crashed. The pilot, 1LT Barry Lloyd, was thrown through the plexiglass windscreen. One of his two crewmen had been killed by gunfire before impact (Andreotta had been shot in the head) and the second was trapped in the burning wreckage. VC troops approached the wreckage and killed the trapped crewman with rifle fire. They apparently didn't think 1LT Lloyd was worth bothering with; although one VC nudged Lloyd with his foot, Lloyd wasn't killed and was picked up by another helicopter. The two dead crewmen were the gunner, Glenn Andreotta and Charles Dutton, crewmen on an OH-13 (62-03813) "Warlord" scout, were killed when their aircraft was shot down, crashed and burned. It was not until exactly thirty years after My Lai, following a television report concerning the incident, that he was awarded the Soldier's Medal, the army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.
US Congressional Record Entry
10 Mar 1998, US Congressional Record, Volume 144, Number 24, Page S1709, US Senate, US Senator (Georgia) Max Cleland, "Mr. President, I rise today to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn, and Glenn Andreotta, who helped save the lives of 11 Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre in Vietnam thirty years ago. Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn received the Soldier's Medal for bravery on March 6, 1998 for their gallant efforts during the My Lai massacre. Their comrade Glenn Andreotta, who passed away three weeks after the My Lai massacre, was honored as well, and his family will receive his medal at a later date. The Soldier's Medal is presented by the Army to those who show ''the highest standards of personal courage and ethical conduct.''After their helicopter landed amongst firing U.S. troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians, Thompson, protected by Colburn and Andreotta, went to confront U.S. forces. The efforts of these three men led to the eventual cease-fire at My Lai and an end to the killing.Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn are both natives of Georgia. Hugh Thompson, a veterans counselor, hails from Stone Mountain, Georgia, and currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lawrence Colburn, now a salesman, lives in Woodstock, Georgia.Mr. President, I would like to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta for their heroic efforts during the My Lai massacre, and for their outstanding commitment to American values. These three men are true examples of American patriotism at its finest."
Awards
Soldiers Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Army Air Crew Badge
Bronze Star w/V device (replaced by Soldiers Medal)
Air Medal
Purple Heart
MOS:
Glenn was Helicopter Crew Chief assigned B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division, Vietnam, USARV. Hero at My Lai.
Many thanks to Susan Ing who went way out of her way to find his plot and obtain the photos, to Janice Dow Blanchard Mendelson for posting life photos and to Patty, Olive, Joyce, Rhonda C. Poynter and all the findagrave friends who continue to leave flowers and tokens.
The Soldiers Medal
He was awarded the Soldiers Medal in 1998 along with the two other US Army soldiers who intervened March 16, 1968 in the village of My Lai.
The Soldier's Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States or of a friendly foreign nation who, while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, distinguished himself or herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.
At the ceremonial presentation of the award some 30 years after My Lai, then Major General Michael Ackerman stated "It was the ability to do the right thing even at the risk of their personal safety that guided these soldiers to do what they did" and "set the standard for all soldiers to follow."
Since his mother was in ill health at the time, she accepted his award at her home at a later date.
Can You Hear Me Now
At My Lai
Hugh Thompson's description was "Glenn Andreotta—if there was a hero, I don't like that word, but if there was a hero at My Lai—it was Glenn Andreotta, because he saw movement in that ditch, and he fixed in on this one little kid and went down into that ditch. I would not want to go in that ditch. It's not pretty. It was very bad. I can imagine what was going through his mind down there, because there was more than one still alive—people grabbing hold of his pants, wanting help. 'I can't help you. You're too bad [off].' He found this one kid and brought the kid back up and handed it to Larry, and we laid it across Larry and my lap and took him out of there. I remember thinking Glenn Andreotta put himself where nobody in their right mind would want to be, and he was driven by something. I haven't got the aircraft on the ground real stable. He bolted out of that aircraft into this ditch. Now he was a hero. Glenn Andreotta gave his life for his country about three weeks later. That's the kind of guy he was, and he was a hero that day."
Glenn Andreotta and SP4 Lawrence Colburn covered WO Hugh C Thompson with M60 machine guns when Thompson left his helicopter with his pistol drawn and stepped in between LT Stephen Brooks, soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 23rd Infantry Division and My Lai villagers on March 16, 1968. (Note: A recent account by Lawrence Colburn does not indicate that Thompson had his pistol drawn and specifically states that neither he nor Andreotta pointed their automatic weapons at anyone but that they had their weapons pointed at the ground)
The crewmembers have been credited with saving at least 11 lives but were long thereafter reviled as traitors.
Glenn Andreotta was killed in action just three weeks after My Lai and never knew the firestorm the My Lai Massacre, as it came to be known, would create. It would become the darkest hour in the history of the US Army.
Fatality
On 8 Apr 1968 an OH-6A (tail number 69-16023) from B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, was leading two UH-1 gunships on an armed recon mission. The OH-6 was the "low-flyer", picking out targets which then would be attacked by the gunships. On this occasion the OH-6 was hit by enemy .51 caliber fire and crashed. The pilot, 1LT Barry Lloyd, was thrown through the plexiglass windscreen. One of his two crewmen had been killed by gunfire before impact (Andreotta had been shot in the head) and the second was trapped in the burning wreckage. VC troops approached the wreckage and killed the trapped crewman with rifle fire. They apparently didn't think 1LT Lloyd was worth bothering with; although one VC nudged Lloyd with his foot, Lloyd wasn't killed and was picked up by another helicopter. The two dead crewmen were the gunner, Glenn Andreotta and Charles Dutton, crewmen on an OH-13 (62-03813) "Warlord" scout, were killed when their aircraft was shot down, crashed and burned. It was not until exactly thirty years after My Lai, following a television report concerning the incident, that he was awarded the Soldier's Medal, the army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.
US Congressional Record Entry
10 Mar 1998, US Congressional Record, Volume 144, Number 24, Page S1709, US Senate, US Senator (Georgia) Max Cleland, "Mr. President, I rise today to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn, and Glenn Andreotta, who helped save the lives of 11 Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre in Vietnam thirty years ago. Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn received the Soldier's Medal for bravery on March 6, 1998 for their gallant efforts during the My Lai massacre. Their comrade Glenn Andreotta, who passed away three weeks after the My Lai massacre, was honored as well, and his family will receive his medal at a later date. The Soldier's Medal is presented by the Army to those who show ''the highest standards of personal courage and ethical conduct.''After their helicopter landed amongst firing U.S. troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians, Thompson, protected by Colburn and Andreotta, went to confront U.S. forces. The efforts of these three men led to the eventual cease-fire at My Lai and an end to the killing.Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn are both natives of Georgia. Hugh Thompson, a veterans counselor, hails from Stone Mountain, Georgia, and currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lawrence Colburn, now a salesman, lives in Woodstock, Georgia.Mr. President, I would like to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta for their heroic efforts during the My Lai massacre, and for their outstanding commitment to American values. These three men are true examples of American patriotism at its finest."
Awards
Soldiers Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Army Air Crew Badge
Bronze Star w/V device (replaced by Soldiers Medal)
Air Medal
Purple Heart
SP4 Andreotta #
MOS:
Glenn was Helicopter Crew Chief assigned B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division, Vietnam, USARV. Hero at My Lai.
Many thanks to Susan Ing who went way out of her way to find his plot and obtain the photos, to Janice Dow Blanchard Mendelson for posting life photos and to Patty, Olive, Joyce, Rhonda C. Poynter and all the findagrave friends who continue to leave flowers and tokens.
The Soldiers Medal
He was awarded the Soldiers Medal in 1998 along with the two other US Army soldiers who intervened March 16, 1968 in the village of My Lai.
The Soldier's Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States or of a friendly foreign nation who, while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, distinguished himself or herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.
At the ceremonial presentation of the award some 30 years after My Lai, then Major General Michael Ackerman stated "It was the ability to do the right thing even at the risk of their personal safety that guided these soldiers to do what they did" and "set the standard for all soldiers to follow."
Since his mother was in ill health at the time, she accepted his award at her home at a later date.
Can You Hear Me Now
At My Lai
Hugh Thompson's description was "Glenn Andreotta—if there was a hero, I don't like that word, but if there was a hero at My Lai—it was Glenn Andreotta, because he saw movement in that ditch, and he fixed in on this one little kid and went down into that ditch. I would not want to go in that ditch. It's not pretty. It was very bad. I can imagine what was going through his mind down there, because there was more than one still alive—people grabbing hold of his pants, wanting help. 'I can't help you. You're too bad [off].' He found this one kid and brought the kid back up and handed it to Larry, and we laid it across Larry and my lap and took him out of there. I remember thinking Glenn Andreotta put himself where nobody in their right mind would want to be, and he was driven by something. I haven't got the aircraft on the ground real stable. He bolted out of that aircraft into this ditch. Now he was a hero. Glenn Andreotta gave his life for his country about three weeks later. That's the kind of guy he was, and he was a hero that day."
Glenn Andreotta and SP4 Lawrence Colburn covered WO Hugh C Thompson with M60 machine guns when Thompson left his helicopter with his pistol drawn and stepped in between LT Stephen Brooks, soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 23rd Infantry Division and My Lai villagers on March 16, 1968. (Note: A recent account by Lawrence Colburn does not indicate that Thompson had his pistol drawn and specifically states that neither he nor Andreotta pointed their automatic weapons at anyone but that they had their weapons pointed at the ground)
The crewmembers have been credited with saving at least 11 lives but were long thereafter reviled as traitors.
Glenn Andreotta was killed in action just three weeks after My Lai and never knew the firestorm the My Lai Massacre, as it came to be known, would create. It would become the darkest hour in the history of the US Army.
Fatality
On 8 Apr 1968 an OH-6A (tail number 69-16023) from B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, was leading two UH-1 gunships on an armed recon mission. The OH-6 was the "low-flyer", picking out targets which then would be attacked by the gunships. On this occasion the OH-6 was hit by enemy .51 caliber fire and crashed. The pilot, 1LT Barry Lloyd, was thrown through the plexiglass windscreen. One of his two crewmen had been killed by gunfire before impact (Andreotta had been shot in the head) and the second was trapped in the burning wreckage. VC troops approached the wreckage and killed the trapped crewman with rifle fire. They apparently didn't think 1LT Lloyd was worth bothering with; although one VC nudged Lloyd with his foot, Lloyd wasn't killed and was picked up by another helicopter. The two dead crewmen were the gunner, Glenn Andreotta and Charles Dutton, crewmen on an OH-13 (62-03813) "Warlord" scout, were killed when their aircraft was shot down, crashed and burned. It was not until exactly thirty years after My Lai, following a television report concerning the incident, that he was awarded the Soldier's Medal, the army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.
US Congressional Record Entry
10 Mar 1998, US Congressional Record, Volume 144, Number 24, Page S1709, US Senate, US Senator (Georgia) Max Cleland, "Mr. President, I rise today to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn, and Glenn Andreotta, who helped save the lives of 11 Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre in Vietnam thirty years ago. Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn received the Soldier's Medal for bravery on March 6, 1998 for their gallant efforts during the My Lai massacre. Their comrade Glenn Andreotta, who passed away three weeks after the My Lai massacre, was honored as well, and his family will receive his medal at a later date. The Soldier's Medal is presented by the Army to those who show ''the highest standards of personal courage and ethical conduct.''After their helicopter landed amongst firing U.S. troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians, Thompson, protected by Colburn and Andreotta, went to confront U.S. forces. The efforts of these three men led to the eventual cease-fire at My Lai and an end to the killing.Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn are both natives of Georgia. Hugh Thompson, a veterans counselor, hails from Stone Mountain, Georgia, and currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lawrence Colburn, now a salesman, lives in Woodstock, Georgia.Mr. President, I would like to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta for their heroic efforts during the My Lai massacre, and for their outstanding commitment to American values. These three men are true examples of American patriotism at its finest."
Awards
Soldiers Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Army Air Crew Badge
Bronze Star w/V device (replaced by Soldiers Medal)
Air Medal
Purple Heart
MOS:
Glenn was Helicopter Crew Chief assigned B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division, Vietnam, USARV. Hero at My Lai.
Many thanks to Susan Ing who went way out of her way to find his plot and obtain the photos, to Janice Dow Blanchard Mendelson for posting life photos and to Patty, Olive, Joyce, Rhonda C. Poynter and all the findagrave friends who continue to leave flowers and tokens.
The Soldiers Medal
He was awarded the Soldiers Medal in 1998 along with the two other US Army soldiers who intervened March 16, 1968 in the village of My Lai.
The Soldier's Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States or of a friendly foreign nation who, while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, distinguished himself or herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.
At the ceremonial presentation of the award some 30 years after My Lai, then Major General Michael Ackerman stated "It was the ability to do the right thing even at the risk of their personal safety that guided these soldiers to do what they did" and "set the standard for all soldiers to follow."
Since his mother was in ill health at the time, she accepted his award at her home at a later date.
Can You Hear Me Now
At My Lai
Hugh Thompson's description was "Glenn Andreotta—if there was a hero, I don't like that word, but if there was a hero at My Lai—it was Glenn Andreotta, because he saw movement in that ditch, and he fixed in on this one little kid and went down into that ditch. I would not want to go in that ditch. It's not pretty. It was very bad. I can imagine what was going through his mind down there, because there was more than one still alive—people grabbing hold of his pants, wanting help. 'I can't help you. You're too bad [off].' He found this one kid and brought the kid back up and handed it to Larry, and we laid it across Larry and my lap and took him out of there. I remember thinking Glenn Andreotta put himself where nobody in their right mind would want to be, and he was driven by something. I haven't got the aircraft on the ground real stable. He bolted out of that aircraft into this ditch. Now he was a hero. Glenn Andreotta gave his life for his country about three weeks later. That's the kind of guy he was, and he was a hero that day."
Glenn Andreotta and SP4 Lawrence Colburn covered WO Hugh C Thompson with M60 machine guns when Thompson left his helicopter with his pistol drawn and stepped in between LT Stephen Brooks, soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 23rd Infantry Division and My Lai villagers on March 16, 1968. (Note: A recent account by Lawrence Colburn does not indicate that Thompson had his pistol drawn and specifically states that neither he nor Andreotta pointed their automatic weapons at anyone but that they had their weapons pointed at the ground)
The crewmembers have been credited with saving at least 11 lives but were long thereafter reviled as traitors.
Glenn Andreotta was killed in action just three weeks after My Lai and never knew the firestorm the My Lai Massacre, as it came to be known, would create. It would become the darkest hour in the history of the US Army.
Fatality
On 8 Apr 1968 an OH-6A (tail number 69-16023) from B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, was leading two UH-1 gunships on an armed recon mission. The OH-6 was the "low-flyer", picking out targets which then would be attacked by the gunships. On this occasion the OH-6 was hit by enemy .51 caliber fire and crashed. The pilot, 1LT Barry Lloyd, was thrown through the plexiglass windscreen. One of his two crewmen had been killed by gunfire before impact (Andreotta had been shot in the head) and the second was trapped in the burning wreckage. VC troops approached the wreckage and killed the trapped crewman with rifle fire. They apparently didn't think 1LT Lloyd was worth bothering with; although one VC nudged Lloyd with his foot, Lloyd wasn't killed and was picked up by another helicopter. The two dead crewmen were the gunner, Glenn Andreotta and Charles Dutton, crewmen on an OH-13 (62-03813) "Warlord" scout, were killed when their aircraft was shot down, crashed and burned. It was not until exactly thirty years after My Lai, following a television report concerning the incident, that he was awarded the Soldier's Medal, the army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.
US Congressional Record Entry
10 Mar 1998, US Congressional Record, Volume 144, Number 24, Page S1709, US Senate, US Senator (Georgia) Max Cleland, "Mr. President, I rise today to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn, and Glenn Andreotta, who helped save the lives of 11 Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre in Vietnam thirty years ago. Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn received the Soldier's Medal for bravery on March 6, 1998 for their gallant efforts during the My Lai massacre. Their comrade Glenn Andreotta, who passed away three weeks after the My Lai massacre, was honored as well, and his family will receive his medal at a later date. The Soldier's Medal is presented by the Army to those who show ''the highest standards of personal courage and ethical conduct.''After their helicopter landed amongst firing U.S. troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians, Thompson, protected by Colburn and Andreotta, went to confront U.S. forces. The efforts of these three men led to the eventual cease-fire at My Lai and an end to the killing.Hugh Thompson and Lawrence Colburn are both natives of Georgia. Hugh Thompson, a veterans counselor, hails from Stone Mountain, Georgia, and currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lawrence Colburn, now a salesman, lives in Woodstock, Georgia.Mr. President, I would like to honor Hugh Thompson, Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta for their heroic efforts during the My Lai massacre, and for their outstanding commitment to American values. These three men are true examples of American patriotism at its finest."
Awards
Soldiers Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Army Air Crew Badge
Bronze Star w/V device (replaced by Soldiers Medal)
Air Medal
Purple Heart
