Lawrence Colburn

Lawrence Manley Colburn (July 6, 1949 – December 13, 2016) was a United States Army veteran who, while serving as a helicopter gunner in the Vietnam War, intervened in the March 16, 1968 Mỹ Lai massacre. Born in Coulee Dam, Washington, Colburn grew up in Mount Vernon, with his father (a veteran contractor from World War II), mother, and three sisters, where he would serve as an altar boy for four years while attending Immaculate Conception Catholic School. After dropping out of Mount Vernon High School, he joined the army at age 17 in 1966 and was assigned to train at Fort Lewis followed by a stint at Fort Polk. He was then sent to Fort Shafter in Hawaii, where he earned his GED before being sent to Vietnam in December 1967. In South Vietnam he was assigned to the 161st Assault Helicopter Company (later reorganized as the 123rd Aviation Battalion) with the rank of Specialist Four. Serving as a door-gunner on an OH-23 Raven observation helicopter, his crew chief was Specialist Four Glenn Andreotta and his pilot was Warrant Officer One Hugh Thompson Jr. Thirty years after the fact all three men were decorated with the Soldier's Medal for their heroic actions at My Lai.