My Lai officer finally apologizes

‘I am very sorry': Forty years after slayings of 500 men, women and children, William Calley speaks publicly for the first time
The Associated Press
Last updated on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 04:16AM EDT

Speaking in a soft, sometimes laboured voice, the only U.S. army officer convicted in the 1968 slayings of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai made an extraordinary public apology while speaking to a small group near the military base where he was court-martialed.

“There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai,” William L. Calley told members of a local Kiwanis Club, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported Friday. “I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.”

Mr. Calley, 66, was a young army lieutenant when a court-martial at nearby Fort Benning convicted him of murder in 1971 for killing 22 civilians during the infamous massacre of 500 men, women and children in Vietnam.

Frustrated U.S. troops came to My Lai on a “search and destroy” mission, looking for elusive Vietcong guerrillas. Although there were no reports of enemy fire, the U.S. troops began mowing down villagers and setting fire to their homes.

The incident shocked Americans and undermined support for the war.

Though sentenced to life in prison, Mr. Calley ended up serving three years under house arrest after then-president Richard Nixon reduced his sentence.

After his release, Mr. Calley stayed in Columbus and settled into a job at a jewellery store owned by his father-in-law before moving to Atlanta a few years ago. He shied away from publicity and routinely turned down journalists' requests for interviews about My Lai.

But Mr. Calley broke his long silence Wednesday after accepting a long-time friend's invitation to speak at a meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus.

Wearing thick glasses and a blue blazer, he spoke softly into a microphone answering questions for a half-hour from about 50 Kiwanis members gathered for their weekly luncheon in a church meeting room.

“You could've heard a pin drop,” said Al Fleming, who befriended Mr. Calley about 25 years ago and invited him to speak. “They were just slack-jawed that they were hearing this from him for the first time in nearly 40 years.”

Both Mr. Fleming and Lennie Pease, the Kiwanis president, said that Mr. Calley's apology came at the beginning of his brief remarks before he began taking questions.

William George Eckhardt, the chief prosecutor in the My Lai cases, said he was unaware of Mr. Calley ever apologizing before. Prof. Eckhardt said that when he first heard the news “I just sort of cringed.”

“It's hard to apologize for murdering so many people,” said Prof. Eckhardt, now at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. “But at least there's an acknowledgment of responsibility.”

Mr. Calley didn't deny taking part in the slayings on March 16, 1968, but insisted he was following orders from his superior, Captain Ernest Medina – a notion Prof. Eckhardt, the former prosecutor, rejects.

Mr. Medina was also tried by a court-martial in 1971, and was acquitted of all charges.

When asked if he broke the law by obeying an unlawful order, the newspaper reported, Mr. Calley 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,” Mr. Calley said.

Mr. Pease said the Kiwanis Club tried to keep Calley's appearance quiet, not wanting to attract outside attention. He said it was obvious that Mr. Calley had difficulty speaking to a group, though he addressed every question head-on – and received a standing ovation when he finished.

“You could see that there was extreme remorse for everything that happened,” Mr. Pease said. “He was very, very soft-spoken. It was a little difficult to hear him. You could see he was laboured answering questions.”

The last listed phone number for Mr. Calley in Atlanta has been disconnected. Mr. Fleming declined to give his number to an Associated Press reporter.

Mr. Fleming said he's spoken several times with Mr. Calley about his combat experiences in Vietnam. He describes Mr. Calley as “a compassionate guy,” despite his infamous role at My Lai.

“I think he may feel like it was time to say something,” Mr. Fleming said. “Over the years, I have come to know him so well that it doesn't seem like a great big thing any more. But I guess it is.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/my-lai-officer-finally-apologizes/article1260754/

When does news end and history begin? The guy was tried and convicted 38 years ago. While his apology may show that he's come to grips with his crime but it's too late to do the victims any good.
.. but I guess we're just going to have different opinions over this.

So then the Lockerbie bomber deserves the same right? I mean he was convicted and served his time to right? In fact his guilt is actually disputed although the US officer certainly wasn't solely responsible.

I bet even if he apologized you'd still be screaming about how he deserves to die/rot right.

I wonder why you are so willing to forgive and forget the American and not the Libyan.

So I brushed against history and awoke the windbag.
Looks like another windstorm's due in Toronto..

You need to stop the knee jerk relationships here because their almost always crap.

I'm not forgiving the American. He was tried, convicted and punished.

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi hasn't served his time and I doubt anyone would truely care if he apologised or not. Wackey Kadafi was supposed to apologise for Libia's part in this but that got lost in the media too.

At home, al-Megrahi, 57, is seen as an innocent scapegoat the West used to turn this African nation into a pariah. At the airport, some wore T-shirts with his picture and waved Libyan and miniature blue-and-white Scottish flags. Libyan songs blared in the background.
"It's a great day for us," 24-year-old Abdel-Aal Mansour said. "He belongs here, at home."
Moammar Gadhafi lobbied hard for the return of al-Megrahi, an issue which took on an added sense of urgency when al-Megrahi was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. He was recently given only months to live.
The former Libyan intelligence officer was convicted in 2001 of taking part in the bombing on Dec. 21, 1988, and sentenced to life in prison for Britain's deadliest terrorist attack. The airliner exploded over Scotland and all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground died when it crashed into the town of Lockerbie.
Al-Megrahi's conviction was largely based on the testimony of a shopkeeper who identified him as having bought a man's shirt in his store in Malta. Scraps of the garment were later found wrapped around a timing device discovered in the wreckage of the airliner. Critics of al-Megrahi's conviction question the reliability of the store owner's evidence.
He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 27 years in a Scottish prison. But a 2007 review of his case found grounds for an appeal, and many in Britain believe he is innocent. He served only eight years.

So then the Lockerbie bomber deserves the same right? I mean he was convicted and served his time to right? In fact his guilt is actually disputed although the US officer certainly wasn't solely responsible.

I bet even if he apologized you'd still be screaming about how he deserves to die/rot right.

I wonder why you are so willing to forgive and forget the American and not the Libyan.

Nope...shut-in, you stumbled into history, crapped the bed and i kicked your ignorance back in your face.

How's the job-hunting and immaterial posting going? Big shockeroo, our resident hypocrite has trolled the thread off-topic. Anyone shocked?

Probably should tell the Israelis to give up Nazi hunting as its a waste of time. I guess when they found Eichmann in the 60's it wasn't "news" as this was after WWII. The Shut-in is currently googling "Eichmann".