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William Calley, a former U.S. military officer who was the only person ever convicted of the My Lai massacre of civilians during the Vietnam War, the most notorious war crime in modern U.S. military history, has died.
The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing Calley’s death certificate, that Calley died in late April at a hospice in Gainesville, Florida, at the age of 80.
Calley has lived in seclusion for decades since being convicted by a military tribunal in 1971 as the only one of 25 men originally charged with the My Lai and My Khe massacres in South Vietnam to remain standing.
On March 16, 1968, Calley led Charlie Company on a mission to eliminate Vietcong guerrillas. Instead, the soldiers killed 504 non-resisting civilians in the village within a few hours, most of whom were women, children and the elderly.
Members of Charlie Company were angry because two days earlier an IED had killed a sergeant, blinded a soldier, and wounded several others.
News of the massacre did not become public until more than a year later. Calley was sentenced to life in prison, but three days after his conviction, he was released on the orders of then-President Richard Nixon and spent three and a half years under house arrest.
Calley later said his mistake was following orders, and he defended himself in court by saying he followed orders. His superior officer was acquitted.
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