Kriti Mehrotra
Directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, Netflix’s ‘Cover-Up’ is a documentary that delves deeply into the remarkable career of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour M. Hersh. After all, he has exposed some of the most deplorable events to have been allegedly concealed by the government, including the My Lai massacre of men, women, and children alike during the Vietnam War. His reporting of the same is also what brought the name of Lieutenant William Laws Calley to the forefront, who was eventually the only one convicted for the March 16, 1968, incident.
William Calley Enlisted in the Army at the Age of 23
On June 8, 1943, William Laws Calley Jr. was born in Miami, Florida, into a reportedly caring, loving, supportive household. He was the only son and was raised among three sisters. His mother was a homemaker, while his father was a Navy veteran of World War II who had gradually transitioned into civilian life and established a business trading in heavy construction equipment. He thus learned the significance of perseverance at an early age, which drove him to enroll at Palm Beach Junior College in 1963, just after graduating from Miami Edison High School.
William allegedly wasn’t very academically inclined, so he dropped out in 1964 before taking on a variety of odd jobs over the next couple of years to make ends meet. He served as a hotel bellhop or a restaurant dishwasher, all the while managing difficulties at home life since his mother had been diagnosed with cancer and his father’s business was failing. All of this, coupled with the fact that the person he had looked up to his entire life had developed diabetes, also impacted the young man significantly, so he tried to honor his father’s legacy by following in his footsteps in the military.
William had attempted to enlist in the army in 1964, but he was rejected due to a hearing disability, which led him to move to different cities in search of better work. According to records, he served as a train switchman, conductor, insurance agent, and local salesman at different points before receiving a notice stating that his rejection had been reconsidered. He thus ended up enlisting as a clerk-trainee in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 26, 1966, shortly following which he was selected for Officer Candidate School (OCS) by a senior officer.
William Calley Was Court-Martialed For His Actions During the Vietnam War
Since the Vietnam War was in full force by the time the mid-1960s rolled around, William was reportedly keeping it at the back of his mind during his 26-week junior officer training at OCS. “One thing at OCS was nobody said, ‘Now, there will be innocent civilians there,’” he asserted in his 1970 memoir ‘Lieutenant Calley: His Own Story.’ “It was drummed into us, ‘Be sharp! On guard! As soon as you think these people won’t kill you, ZAP! In combat, you haven’t friends! You have enemies!’… I told myself, I’ll act as if I’m never secure. As if everyone in Vietnam would do me in.”
William ultimately graduated 120th in his class of 156 on September 7, 1967, following which he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the so-called “Americal Division.” It was 1st Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division, so he immediately began preparing for deployment to South Vietnam. As per records, his performance as a soldier in evaluations was deemed average, and his fellow platoon officers allegedly reported that he lacked certain necessary skills, such as compass and map reading.
However, everything turned upside down on March 16, 1968, when William led 100 army men into a village called My Lai and opened fire on the village, which subsequent investigations found was largely unarmed and offered little to no resistance. According to Vietnamese records, as many as 504 civilians, ranging in age from 1 to 82, lost their lives through automatic weapons, grenades, and bayonets – the village was massacred. As a result, 26 officers were arrested for allegedly participating in the incident and its subsequent cover-up. Yet, only William was ever convicted following an intense trial. He was court-martialed in early 1971.
William Calley Passed Away at the Age of 80 in 2024
While William was arrested around the fall of 1969, he didn’t stand trial until November of the next year, where he attempted to defend himself by asserting he was just following orders. His initial defense was that the villagers died as a result of an accidental airstrike, but it was reportedly changed after overwhelming evidence was presented by the prosecution’s witnesses. In the end, on March 29, 1971, following a 79-hour deliberation, a six-officer jury found him guilty of the premeditated murder of 22 South Vietnamese civilians, for which he was sentenced to life in prison.
William was initially ordered to serve his term in a military correctional facility, but he was released on house arrest on April 1 under orders by President Richard Nixon. Later on, his life sentence was commuted to 20 years, which was then reduced to 10, but he ultimately only served three years of house arrest before being granted release. In the years that followed, the former Second Lieutenant relocated to Columbus, Georgia, where he tied the knot with a woman named Penny Vick on May 15, 1976. The couple settled down in her hometown, where they eventually welcomed a son, Laws Calley, into their lives, and he became their pride and joy.
Penny’s father was a jewelry store owner, so William initially spent most of his time working with him before branching out and evolving into a gemologist himself. According to reports, he even earned a real estate license later in life to provide for his small family, which grew even smaller when the couple divorced. Court filings during the divorce proceedings indicated that he had been diagnosed with “prostate cancer and gastrointestinal problems,” which diminished his working ability to “zero.” With a desire to lead an anonymous life, William moved to Gainesville, Florida, in the late 2010s, where he passed away at the age of 80 on April 28, 2024.
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