<P> William Laws Calley Jr. ( born June 8 , 1943 ) is a former United States Army officer convicted by court - martial of murdering 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai Massacre on March 16 , 1968 , during the Vietnam War . While not technically exonerated , after three and a half years of house arrest , Calley was released pursuant to a ruling by federal judge J. Robert Elliott who found that Calley 's trial had been prejudiced by pre-trial publicity , denial of subpoenas of certain defense witnesses , refusal of the United States House of Representatives to release testimony taken in executive session of its My Lai investigation , and inadequate notice of the charges . His initial conviction faced widespread public opposition both due to the campaign circumstances of civilian embedded Viet Cong , and due to Calley being singled out as the sole officer convicted with respect to the massacre . </P>
<P> William Laws Calley Jr. ( born June 8 , 1943 ) is a former United States Army officer convicted by court - martial of murdering 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai Massacre on March 16 , 1968 , during the Vietnam War . While not technically exonerated , after three and a half years of house arrest , Calley was released pursuant to a ruling by federal judge J. Robert Elliott who found that Calley 's trial had been prejudiced by pre-trial publicity , denial of subpoenas of certain defense witnesses , refusal of the United States House of Representatives to release testimony taken in executive session of its My Lai investigation , and inadequate notice of the charges . His initial conviction faced widespread public opposition both due to the campaign circumstances of civilian embedded Viet Cong , and due to Calley being singled out as the sole officer convicted with respect to the massacre . </P>
who was punished for the my lai massacre
who was punished for the my lai massacre
William Laws Calley Jr.
William Laws Calley Jr.