Who was William Calley, the only US Army officer convicted of My Lai massacre during Vietnam War?

William Calley, a former US Army officer and convicted mass murderer who was the face of My Lai massacre during Vietnam War, has died at the age of 80. He was considered the face of My Lai massacre, one of the most horrible episodes in America's futile invasion of Vietnam at the height of Cold War in the 1960s.

Calley died on Sunday (July 28) after leading a relatively obscure life since being released from house arrest in the 1970s. Here is the story of My Lai massacre, and the only man held accountable for it.

My Lai massacre, which took place on 16 March 1968, was one of the biggest killings carried out by the US Army during the Vietnam War. At least 504 people were killed in two places My Lai and My Khe in southern Vietnam, according to Vietnamese records while the US recorded 347 killings, only in My Lai.

William Calley was the only American convicted in the massacre, which is considered a war crime.

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During the massacre, scores of innocent civilians were shot down in the Son Tinh district and their homes burnt by the American forces.  

Many of the My Lai massacre victims were women and children. It is estimated that out of the 504 killed, there were 282 women including 17 who were pregnant, 173 children including 53 infants and 60 elederly men.

William Laws Calley Jr, the Florida native was the only American army officer convicted for the My Lai massacre. 

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Born in Miami in 1943, Calley started his military career after basic combat training, and was soon deployed in Vietnam in 1967. He was considered an average officer who could not even read maps. He was involved in fights with fellow soldiers, as per records, including one with US Marines in which shots were fired.

The murders came to light after being concealed from the world for 13 months, when the GI Ron Ridenhour described it in his letters to the US president and the top army brass the atrocities committed by the US troops in Vietnam. After an investigation, Calley was put to trial.

Initially during the trial, Calley claimed that the deaths in My Lai were a result of an air strike. Soon, with more testimonies against him, Calley was charged for murdering 109 South Vietnamese people, but was eventually convicted for only 22 murders. 

Calley told the court that he had instructions to shoot everyone in the village, as they were all part of the rebel militia, Viet Cong.

Calley was sentenced to life in prison for 22 counts of premeditated murder and assault with intent to commit murder. But his sentence was commuted twice, to 20 years first and then to 10 years. It was then commuted to three years of house arrest by then president Richard Nixon.

(With inputs from agencies)