Art by John Romita Sr.
In the Marvel Comics Universe, Peter Parker’s personal nemesis Flash Thompson was the first to be drafted into the army and sent to Vietnam during the 1960s. When he returns home in Amazing Spider-Man #108, he is far from his usual upbeat self and brushes it of as having difficulty adjusting to civilian life. The true reasons, however, are more complicated.
Thompson eventually decides to confide in Parker’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy but military officers swoop in and whisk him away before he has the chance. Spider-Man was watching from above and follows the car. It doesn’t travel far before it is cut off by a truck, whose driver lobs gas pellets at it. When another vehicle appears and a group of gasmask-wearing men emerge, Spider-Man swings into action. A large behemoth of a man hammers the superhero from behind, but Spider-Man trips the giant before he can do any physical harm. Sensing it is time to cut-and-run, Spider-Man lifts Thompson onto his back and uses his web-spinning abilities to head upwards.
As reported by journalist Seymour Hersch in his 1970 book My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and Its Aftermath, nine Army assault helicopters took off from LZ Dottie on March 16, 1968, carrying Charlie Company – under the command of Lieutenant William Calley – to the hamlet of My Lai. Reconnaissance showed that a portion of the enemy’s 48th Battalion was stationed there and the village was to be demolished – huts, bunkers, tunnels, food, livestock, everything. The plan was to leave nothing behind for the Vietcong to return to afterwards.
Upon entering My Lai, members of Charlie Company began rounding up villagers for interrogation, as well as searching for any Vietcong. There was no sign of a large military unit, however, and the Americans were not met by any sniper fire. The killing started shortly afterwards when one member of the platoon pushed a man up against the wall and then stabbed him in the back with a bayonet.
Lieutenant Calley ordered his men to take the villagers – an assortment of old men, women, and children – to a drainage ditch at the edge of town and throw them into the pit. He then opened fire on them while other members of Charlie Company joined in. “A lot of women had thrown themselves on top of the children to protect them, and the children were alive at first,” one of those present later remembered. “Then the children who were old enough to walk got up and Calley began shooting the children.”
The Vietcong returned that night to bury the dead. When American army investigators visited the area in November 1969, they found three mass graves and a ditch filled with bodies, It was estimated that 450 to 500 Vietnamese had been killed, the vast majority being women, children, and elderly men. Official reports immediately afterwards, however, told a different story, stating that U.S. forces had experienced “sporadic contact” with the Vietcong, resulting in 128 kills and three weapons captured.
For Flash Thompson, it began months earlier when he was wounded and separated from his platoon in Vietnam. Weak and delirious, he stumbled his way through the underbrush until he noticed an ancient temple in a clearing. It wasn’t just any temple, however, but a “sacred hidden temple, it’s existence not even hinted at on the military maps. For centuries it had stood there while the ravages of war had passed it by. Nestled in the wildest, most uncharted border region, not even the natives mentioned its existence.”
Thompson was nursed back to health by the High Priest with the assistance of his daughter. “To save one life is to save the world,” she told Flash. “In this place, no man is an enemy – are we not brothers beneath the eyes of heaven?”
Once Thompson regained his strength, he returned to his base and overheard orders to bomb Sector B. “I tried to convince them that the temple was hidden in Sector B, but it was no use,” Flash Thompson now tells Spider-Man. “They said I’d been delirious, they’d checked the maps. There was no temple. They wouldn’t believe me.” Desperate to protect those who had saved him, Thompson rushed back to the temple but the High Priest refused to leave.
Thompson blacked out when the bombing commenced and later awoke at the army base. The temple had been destroyed, and as far as Flash knew, everyone who lived there had been killed. “There’s no denying it, we should have listened to you,” the base commander told Thompson. “The people are bitter. They think we shelled the temple on purpose. They think you were the one who pinpointed the spot and there’s no way to convince them otherwise.”
Flash Thompson was devastated. “I’m still haunted by the memory of what happened,” he now confides to Spider-Man. “By the death of those who saved my life, who were the gentlest people I’ve ever known. As for me, military intelligence learned that there was a price on my head. Some of the more fanatical natives would never rest until I was dead. That’s why the MPs were protecting me.”
Twenty-two-year-old Ronald Ridenhour flew a reconnaissance mission a few days after the events of My Lai and couldn’t believe the desolation that he saw below him. He later heard stories about the massacre as well. After completing his tour of duty in March 1969, Ridenhour mailed thirty copies of a letter detailing what he knew to government officials. One of the recipients was Morris Udall, a Democratic congressman from Ridenhour’s home state of Arizona, who immediately sent his own letter to Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird requesting an investigation.
In October, journalist Seymour Hersh received a tip about the subsequent inquiry and tracked down William Calley, who willingly talked about the case against him. Reporters for the New York Times in South Vietnam began to look into the allegations as well. Although they had difficulty locating My Lai, the Army – sensing the inevitable – escorted several journalists to a village where a small handful of survivors had been relocated.
Over the course of an hour, the reporters were told how 567 men, women, and children had been massacred by American soldiers at My Lai. Other members of Charlie Company likewise began to speak to the media, and when one of them agreed to an interview with Mike Wallace on the CBS Evening News, the truth about My Lai was officially out in the open.
Having now heard the entire story, Spider-Man decides to return Flash Thompson to the MPs tasked with protecting him. Afterwards, Peter Parker finds Gwen Stacy waiting for him at his apartment in a frantic state, believing that Thompson was being held under against his will by the government. Parker agrees to accompany Gwen to the Federal Building and notices the large man who had earlier attacked Spider-Man waiting nearby.
Sensing that another kidnapping attempt is imminent, Parker secretly places a tracking device on the behemoth. Just as he does so, an explosion rips through the building, plunging it into darkness. With no time to change into his superhero persona, Parker uses the blackout as cover and attempts to rescue Flash Thompson. The large man turns out to be too much for him to handle, and a group of Vietnamese are able to escape with Thompson as their captive.
Spider-Man takes off after Flash and his captors but finds himself drawn to Greenwich Village instead. The astral projection of Doctor Stephen Strange then leads him to the home of the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange has already located Thompson and uncovered plans to sacrifice him in an attempt to resurrect the High Priest.
The two superheroes immediately team-up to rescue Flash Thompson. They arrive just as the sacrificial ritual begins. Doctor Strange is able to use his magical abilities to rid the Vietnamese of their weapons while Spider-Man frees Flash. As the web-slinger once again battles the huge behemoth who previously bested him, Strange weaves a new spell that miraculously brings the High Priest back to life and ends the hostilities.
“He was not dead,” Doctor Strange explains to Spider-Man afterwards. “Using the wisdom of the ancients, he survived the shelling by putting himself into a mystic, protective trance. All that remained was for my spell to break that trance. While in the trance, he sent a silent call which I, with my power, could not fail to heed.” The Sorcerer Supreme then adds, “Violence breeds violence, and murder will out. Only in peace is victory won.”
Anthony Letizia