A US veteran, the only officerconvicted after the mass killings in My Lai, central Vietnam, in 1968,has made a public apology to victims and their families for the firsttime, foreign media reported.
"There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for whathappened that day in My Lai," former lieutenant William Calley toldmembers of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus, Georgia.
"I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families,for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am verysorry,” he added.
Calley, 66, had long refused to grant interviews about the My Laimassacre. At the rare meeting with the media at the club, Calleyfinally did not deny what happened in My Lai. He earlier insisted hejust obey the order.
On March 16, 1968, US soldiers conducted a raid and gunned down 504civilians, most of them being women and children, in My Lai hamlet, SonTinh district, Quang Ngai province.
The massacre did not become public knowledge until November 1969, whenjournalist Seymour Hersh revealed the story and Calley was courtmartialed near Fort Benning.
After a 10-month long trial, Calley was sentenced to life imprisonment,but he was freed after three years when then-US President Ricahrd Nixonintervened.
Most of soldiers in connection with the mass killings had beendemobilised when the court was taking place, so they were exempt fromprosecution under US law. Among 26 defendants, only Calley wasconvicted./.
"There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for whathappened that day in My Lai," former lieutenant William Calley toldmembers of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus, Georgia.
"I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families,for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am verysorry,” he added.
Calley, 66, had long refused to grant interviews about the My Laimassacre. At the rare meeting with the media at the club, Calleyfinally did not deny what happened in My Lai. He earlier insisted hejust obey the order.
On March 16, 1968, US soldiers conducted a raid and gunned down 504civilians, most of them being women and children, in My Lai hamlet, SonTinh district, Quang Ngai province.
The massacre did not become public knowledge until November 1969, whenjournalist Seymour Hersh revealed the story and Calley was courtmartialed near Fort Benning.
After a 10-month long trial, Calley was sentenced to life imprisonment,but he was freed after three years when then-US President Ricahrd Nixonintervened.
Most of soldiers in connection with the mass killings had beendemobilised when the court was taking place, so they were exempt fromprosecution under US law. Among 26 defendants, only Calley wasconvicted./.
