Lt. William Calley Addresses His Role in the My Lai Massacre

The My Lai Massacre was one of the most infamous moments of the Vietnam War, and is an important case study in military ethics of what can happen when regular soldiers are faced with the pressures of an insurgency campaign against unknown enemies amidst a civilian population. William Calley's words, and his evident contrition, need to be listened to attentively. MP+

New York Times, August 24, 2009, 2:21 pm
An Apology for My Lai, Four Decades Later
By Robert Mackey



William Calley addresses the Kiwanis Clubof Clomumbus, Ga, last Wednesday.


Last week, William Calley, the only American soldier to be held legally responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in and around the village of My Lai in 1968 by a platoon under his command, apologized for the first time.

Under the headline “An Emotional William Calley Says He Is Sorry,” Dick McMichael, a former television news anchor in Columbus, Ga., broke the news last Wednesday on his blog:

“There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai,” William Calley told members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus today. His voice started to break when he added, “I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.”


Read the whole article here.