William Calley Jr., Former Army Lieutenant, Passes Away at 80
William Calley Jr., a former Army Lieutenant, passed away at the age of 80 from natural causes on Sunday at a hospice center in Gainesville, Florida. Calley is notably remembered for his conviction in connection with the My Lai Massacre.
On March 16, 1968, as a 2nd Lieutenant, Calley led his platoon into the My Lai village in the Son Tinh District, near the central coastal area of what was then South Vietnam. This operation tragically resulted in the massacre of hundreds of civilians.
Calley’s platoon, which had recently suffered heavy losses during the Tet Offensive, was ordered to search for and eliminate members of the Viet Cong believed to be in the area. Despite not finding any Viet Cong soldiers, the platoon killed most of the village’s men, women, and children, marking one of the darkest chapters in U.S. military history.
The U.S. military reported that 347 villagers were killed, while Vietnamese records state that 504 people were murdered.
Reports indicated that Calley followed an order from U.S. Army Captain Ernest Medina. Witnesses claimed Medina instructed Calley and others to kill everything that moved, as they were all presumed to be Viet Cong members. During the massacre, Calley allegedly received a radio command from Medina to kill all civilians and proceed with the mission.
Captain Medina later denied giving such an order, but witnesses reported that Calley and another soldier began shooting civilians following their conversation with Medina. Additionally, Army Major General Samuel Koster faced accusations of attempting to cover up the massacre.
Calley was convicted of murdering at least 22 civilians and was sentenced to life in prison. Among those he was accused of killing were a Buddhist monk in prayer and a young boy who had crawled out of a ditch. Army photographer Ronald Haeberle documented the massacre, and his photos were instrumental in the court-martial trials of Calley and others.
Calley was the only person convicted for the massacre on March 29, 1971, after one of the longest court-martial trials in U.S. military history. He served only three years, most of which were under house arrest.
In 1976, Calley moved to Columbus, Georgia, where he married a woman whose family owned a local jewelry store.