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Eugene McCarthy (1916 - 2005): The Legacy of the Former Senator
and Anti-War Presidential Candidate
Hugh Thompson's Gunner Describes Pointing His Weapon at Fellow
U.S. Soldiers to Stop My Lai Massacre
Selling the Amazon For a Handful of Beads: A Look at Secret
Contracts Between Big Oil and the Ecuadorian Military
Eugene McCarthy (1916 - 2005): The Legacy of the
Former Senator and Anti-War Presidential Candidate
We look at the life of former anti-war presidential candidate,
Eugene McCarthy. Hundreds gathered for his memorial service
this weekend. We speak with a reporter who covered him for
decades and SDS founder Tom Hayden. [includes rush
transcript]
We look at the lives of two individuals whose actions in
the late 1960s shaped how this country viewed the Vietnam
War.
One was named Hugh Thompson. He was an Army helicopter pilot
who helped stop the My Lai Massacre when U.S. troops slaughtered
hundreds of innocent Vietnamese villagers. He died earlier
this month at the age of 62. Later in the show we will speak
with former Army Specialist Lawrence Colburn who helped Thompson
end the massacre.
But first we are going to look at the life of Eugene McCarthy,
the former Minnesota Senator and presidential candidate. He
died in December at the age of 89. On Saturday some 800 people
filled the National Cathedral in Washington for a memorial
service.
McCarthy and the Vietnam War will be forever linked.
It was in 1968 when the Democratic Senator from Minnesota
broke party ranks and decided to challenge President Lyndon
Johnson for the party's presidential nomination.
McCarthy ran on a platform opposing the Vietnam War. By 1968
the war had already taken thousands of American lives as U.S.
involvement escalated under Johnson.
In March 1968, voters in New Hampshire responded to McCarthy's
anti- war sentiments. He shocked the nation by receiving 42
percent of the primary vote. Johnson -- the sitting president
- ended up wining the New Hampshire primary but his political
future changed overnight.
Within days, Senator Robert Kennedy jumped into the race.
And then to the amazement of the country, Johnson announced
within weeks that he was dropping out and not seeking re-election.
1968 would prove to be a painful year in many ways.
On April 4, Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis
Tennessee. Then on June 6, Robert Kennedy was shot dead shortly
after delivering a victory speech in Los Angeles after winning
the California primary.
For many Eugene McCarthy's run for president marked a bright
spot in a tragic year.
But McCarthy's run for the presidency stopped in Chicago
during the infamous 1968 Democratic convention when the delegates
nominated Vice President Hubert Humphrey who would then go
on to lose to Richard Nixon in November.
But the effects of McCarthy's run for office were felt for
years.
On Saturday, at McCarthy's memorial service President Clinton
gave the eulogy for the late Senator and said McCarthy was
instrumental in building opposition to the Vietnam War.
Clinton said, "It all began with Gene McCarthy's willingness
to stand alone and turn the tide of history."
We go now back to 1968 to listen to an anti-Vietnam War campaign
radio spot that McCarthy ran ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
We speak with are joined by two guests:
- Albert Eisele, co-founder and editor at large of the
Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C. He is the author of a
dual biography of Hubert Humphrey and former Sen. Eugene
McCarthy called "Almost to the Presidency" written
in 1979. He was a Washington correspondent for the St. Paul
Dispatch and Pioneer Press and Knight-Ridder before becoming
press secretary to Vice President Walter Mondale.
- Tom Hayden, former California State Senator. He lead
the demonstrations at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention.
Hayden and others were charged with conspiracy and inciting
to riot in the famous trial known as the trial of the "Chicago
Seven."
And we play excerpts of Eugene McCarthy in his own words:
- Anti-Vietnam War campaign radio spot.
- Excerpt of 1968 campaign speech.
Hugh Thompson's Gunner Describes Pointing His Weapon
at Fellow U.S. Soldiers to Stop My Lai Massacre
We look at the life of Hugh Thompson - the former Army helicopter
pilot who helped stop the My Lai Massacre in 1968 when U.S.
troops slaughtered hundreds of innocent Vietnamese villagers.
He died earlier this month at the age of 62. We play an excerpt
of a documentary about his life and we speak with former Army
Specialist Lawrence Colburn who helped Thompson end the massacre.
[includes rush
transcript]
We turn now to another American figure of the Vietnam War
- Hugh Thompson. As a helicopter pilot, he helped rescue Vietnamese
civilians from fellow U.S. troops during the infamous My Lai
massacre. Hugh Thompson died last week of cancer. He was 62
years old.
On March 16, 1968, Thompson and two other crewmembers landed
their helicopter in front of U.S. troops firing on Vietnamese
civilians in the village of My Lai. They pointed their guns
at their fellow service members to prevent more killings,
and helped evacuate the villagers. In a few minutes, we are
going to be joined by one of Thompson’s crewmembers.
First, we take a look at what happened on March 16th, 1968
by playing an edited excerpt from a documentary produced by
Mike Boehm titled "The Sound of the Violin in My Lai."
Thompson and Lawrence Colburn later testified at the court
martial hearings for the massacre of over 300 civilians at
My Lai. Only one U.S. soldier, platoon commander Lieutenant
William Calley, was convicted. He was court-martialed and
sentenced to life in prison for his role in the massacre.
Many around the country viewed Calley as a scapegoat. "Rallies
for Calley" were held all over the country and Jimmy
Carter, then governor of Georgia, urged citizens to leave
car headlights on to show support for Calley. President Richard
Nixon later commuted Calley’s sentence to three years
of house arrest.
Thompson, on the other hand, was shunned for years by fellow
soldiers. He received death threats and was once told by a
congressman that he was the only American who should be punished
over My Lai. Although the My Lai massacre became one of the
most infamous atrocities of the Vietnam War, little was known
about Hugh Thompson’s actions for decades.
In 1998, Thompson and his two crewmembers, Lawrence Colburn
and Glenn Andreotta, were awarded the Soldier’s Medal,
the highest US military award for bravery not involving conflict
with an enemy. Andreotta’s award was posthumous. He
was killed in Vietnam less than a month after My Lai.
Thompson passed away last week after a prolonged battle with
cancer. Lawrence Colburn was at his bedside when he died.
- Lawrence Colburn, he was a helicopter gunner serving
with Hugh Thompson in the Vietnam War. On March 16, 1968
he helped rescue residents of the Vietnamese village of
My Lai as American troops gunned down hundreds of civilians.
Related Links:
Selling the Amazon For a Handful of Beads: A Look
at Secret Contracts Between Big Oil and the Ecuadorian Military
In a broadcast exclusive, we speak with an independent journalist
who wrote an article examining formerly classified contracts
between the Ecuadorian military and big oil companies. The
article describes negotiations to extract oil from the Ecuadorian
Amazon rainforest as “oil-guided militarization”
of the region. We hear about the contracts and how Indigenous
peoples are impacted and taking action. [includes rush
transcript]
A new article posted on the AlterNet website titled, “Selling
the Amazon for a Handful of Beads,” examines formerly
classified contracts between the Ecuadorian military and 16
multinational companies, including the U.S-based Occidental
Oil and Burlington Resources. The article says that “the
documents prove that the Ecuadorian army has become a private
security force for oil companies, one obligated to patrol
vast swaths of jungle lands while engaging and spying on Ecuadorian
citizens opposed to oil operations.”
The article states that these previously unpublished contracts
“provide an extremely rare and detailed look at how
cutthroat capitalism and an oil guided militarization of the
Ecuadorian Amazon are digging deep rifts through the country.”
We invited a representative from Occidental Oil and Burlington
Resources but they declined our offer.
- Kelly Hearn, is a former UPI staff writer who divides
his time between the U.S. and South America. A correspondent
to the Christian Science Monitor, his work has appeared
in many publications including TheNation.com, E Magazine,
Grist, the American Prospect and other publications. He
is a regular contributor to AlterNet.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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