The date is is the 16th of March 1968. The men of Company C, First Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment are halfway through the complete massacre of civilians at the small hamlet of My Lai in South Vietnam. In the real timeline, Warrant Officer Hugh S. Thompson Jr and his helicopter crew landed in the midst of the members of Charlie Company and helped several unarmed women and children out of a bunker to safety. At the same time, allegedly, Thompson threatened to order his crew, along with himself, to open fire on the soldiers in the midst of the killing. My question is, what would have happened had he opened fire? If the members of Charlie Company retaliated and killed Thompson and his men, which they were more than capable of doing, they would have had to explain themselves to their superior officers, and while the massacre itself was covered up for a long time, it would be much, much more difficult to hid the fratricide of three US soldiers in a helicopter that was only supposed to be performing aerial recon. So therein lies the question, what could have occurred had Thompson fired on members of his own military in defense of civilians, a first in the Vietnam War?
This is my first post on this website, so pardon me if I am not following any of the rules, I assure you that is not my intention. Thank you. This question has just always stumped me, since I have yet to find any similar instances that have been publicized, from and modern US war.
Luke