Others involved with probing My Lai also spoke out against the whitewashing of the incident, including Peers, who brought to light much of the evidence which led to Calley's conviction.
For the most part, though, the other damning evidence about My Lai -- and a similar massacre at Song My by B Company that was also part of Task Force Barker -- remained uncovered but unused, a dark stain on history obscured by time and the desire to forget.
My Lai was painful enough at the time that even investigators found it difficult to continue their work. But it forced an accounting by the military and the nation about the way the way soldiers were taught to fight and the reasons behind the American involvement in Vietnam.
Calley's court-martial was also a judgment about one man -- Calley himself -- and there are those who also see My Lai as an important lesson about personal morality and responsibility.
Several years ago, William Wilson, who in 1969 uncovered the first My Lai evidence for the Army's inspector general, wrote: "I do remember being startled when the public seemed to make a hero out of Rusty Calley, or at the least a victim. It sure didn't look that way from up close."
Most Americans were dissatisfied with the Calley verdict. A broad coalition, from renowned pediatrician and anti-war activist Dr. Benjamin Spock to the Ku Klux Klan spoke out against Calley's conviction, arguing that he was a scapegoat for a military that was unwilling to accept the blame for the atrocity it had committed.
The Army took steps to prosecute others involved at My Lai, including Capt. Ernest Medina, and some two dozen men were eventually charged. But Calley was the only one ever convicted, and for the most part, the participants in the cover-up exposed by both the Army inspector general and the Peers report escaped without punishment.
Even Calley was to some extent spared by President Richard Nixon, who stepped in and allowed the disgraced lieutenant to serve his sentence under house arrest. A series of appeals reduced Calley's sentence from life down to twenty years; and then to ten. On September 10, 1975 Calley was paroled, serving only three and a half years. His release prompted prosecutor Aubrey Daniel to write a scathing protest to Nixon.
Lt. Calley leaves the courthouse after learning the verdict.
Today, Calley runs a jewelry store just outside the gates of Ft. Benning, Ga., where he was tried almost three decades ago. He refuses to discuss My Lai or its aftermath.
1998: Calley runs a jewelry store outside Ft. Benning.
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