William L. Calley

Lt. William L. Calley was convicted of the premeditated murder of 22 Vietnamese civilians during the March 16, 1968 Vietnam incident known as the My Lai massacre.

Born - June 8, 1943

Birthplace - Miami, FL

Gender - Male

Religion - Unknown

Ethnicity - White

During the invasion of My Lai (my son) an estimated 347 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly elderly civilians, women, and children were gunned down by U.S. soldiers led by Lt. William L. Calley. The massacre remained concealed until the fall of 1969 after government officials received numerous written complaints by soldiers who were calling for an official investigation into the incident.

The U.S. army and the House of Representatives performed a special investigation of the incident and it was determined that a massacre had occurred. The investigation uncovered 30 individuals whose actions could have been prosecuted and another 30 whose actions contributed to covering up the massacre.

The U.S. Army was already under extreme criticism for it's conduct in Vietnam. It has been speculated that because of this the Army attempted to down play the incident by charging only a handful for their participation in the My Lai Massacre. Lt. Calley was among that group and he was called back to the United States and charged with 109 counts of murder.

During Calley's testimony he said he was following the orders of Captain Earnest Medina who had ordered that "anybody they couldn't move would be wasted." Lt. Calley was the only person found guilty for the massacre. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison which was later reduced to 10 years. In September 1974 his conviction was overturned and he was released.

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