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full screen The former army officer, Lieutenant William Calley, has died aged 80. He was the only one convicted of the Son My massacre, also called My Lai, where hundreds of Vietnamese civilians were killed by American soldiers. Image from 1970. Photo: AP/TT
Former lieutenant in the US Army, William Calley, has died aged 80. The Washington Post writes.
Calley was the only person convicted of a highly publicized 1968 massacre of civilians in Son My, also referred to as My Lai, in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Over 500 people, many elderly, women and children, were killed when Calley’s platoon entered the area with the mission of searching for enemy FNL guerrilla soldiers. They had been given permission to shoot without restrictions.
15 years ago, in 2009, Calley first spoke publicly about it all at a rally in Georgia. He then asked for forgiveness and said that not a single day goes by without pangs of conscience.
– I have a bad conscience for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers who participated and their families. I’m very sorry.
Calley was sentenced to life in prison for killing 22 people but was pardoned by President Richard Nixon and served a few years under house arrest. The officer who gave him the order escaped punishment.