An apology for Vietnam massacre

COLUMBUS, Ga. - William Calley, the former Army lieutenant convicted on 22 counts of murder in the infamous 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam, has publicly apologized for the first time.

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai," Calley told members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus on Wednesday. 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."

On March 16, 1968, U.S. soldiers gunned down hundreds of civilians in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. The Army at first denied, then downplayed, the event, saying most of the dead were Vietcong. But in November 1969, journalist Seymour Hersh revealed what really happened. Calley was court-martialed and convicted of murder.

Calley, now 66, had long declined to grant interviews about what happened. At the Kiwanis meeting Wednesday, he made only a brief statement but agreed to take questions from the audience.

He did not deny what had happened in My Lai, but repeatedly made the point - which he has made before - that he was following orders.

Calley said he had been ordered to take out My Lai, adding that he had intelligence that the village was fortified and would be "hot" when he went in. He also said the area was submitted to an artillery barrage and helicopter fire before his troops went in.

It turned out it was not hot and there was no armed resistance. But he had been told, he said, that if he left anyone behind, his troops could be trapped and caught in a crossfire.

Asked about American casualties, Calley said that there were two injuries but that neither was from enemy fire. "They didn't have time," he said.

One questioner asked about the story of a helicopter coming into My Lai during the massacre and its pilot threatening to open fire if the killing of civilians didn't stop.

Calley replied that the pilot asked if he could take children out of the area. Calley said he relayed the request to his captain, who said the pilot could do so.

Calley said he did not recall hearing about any threats by the pilot to fire on American soldiers or any threats of firing on the chopper. He did say the helicopter was making a lot of noise during his conversation with the pilot.

The story about a threat to fire on troops killing civilians "certainly didn't come from me," Calley said.

When asked whether obeying an unlawful order was not itself unlawful, he replied: "I believe that is true. If you are asking why I did not stand up to them when I was given the orders, I will have to say that I was a second lieutenant getting orders from my commander and I followed them - foolishly, I guess."

Calley said that was not an excuse; it was just what happened.

The officer who Calley said gave those orders was Capt. Ernest Medina, who was also tried for what happened at My Lai. Represented by the renowned defense attorney F. Lee Bailey, Medina was acquitted of all charges in 1971.

Calley didn't fare as well.

After four months of testimony that same year in a Fort Benning, Ga., courtroom and almost two weeks of jury deliberation, he was convicted of premeditated murder. After the verdict was read, but before sentencing, he was allowed to address the court.

"I'm not going to stand here and plead for my life or my freedom," Calley said then. "If I have committed a crime, the only crime I have committed is in judgment of my values. Apparently I valued my troops' lives more than I did those of the enemy."

Calley was sentenced to life in prison, a sentence that was later shortened considerably.

Many at the time considered Calley a scapegoat, forced to take the fall for those above him. That sentiment had been very strong when a federal judge released Calley from custody after a habeas corpus hearing. An appeals court reversed the ruling and Calley was returned to Army custody, but the Army soon paroled him.

Calley then settled in Columbus, married, and worked in his father-in-law's jewelry store for years. He now lives in Atlanta with his 28-year-old son, who is doing doctoral work in electrical engineering at Georgia Tech.

Although Calley has been free now for years, he remains stripped of some of his civil rights.

"I still cannot vote," he said. "In fact, I'm not even supposed to go into the post office, I guess."