My Lai massacre

1. A mass killing of helpless inhabitants of a village in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, carried out in 1968 by United States troops under the command of Lieutenant William Calley. Calley was court-martialed and sentenced to life imprisonment, but he only served a few years before parole. The massacre, horrible in itself, became a symbol (see also symbol) for those opposed to the war in Vietnam.

Example Sentences

“Cover-Up” was, for me, the antidote: a furious, hard-nosed profile of legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, the man who broke the My Lai massacre in 1969, then went on to an impressive run of stories that included revelations about Watergate, the CIA and Abu Ghraib.

From Los Angeles Times

We also walk alongside the survivors of the My Lai massacre, whose wrenching accounts bring new layers of humanity and sorrow to Ronald L. Haeberle’s photographs—images he captured that day with his personal camera, he explains in the series, because he knew the military would sanitize any visual evidence shared with the public.

From Salon

Three-and-a-half months later, 24-year-old “Rusty” Calley was at the center of the My Lai massacre, one of the darkest chapters in U.S. military history.

From Los Angeles Times

William Calley for the My Lai massacre underscored roiling tensions in America.

From Los Angeles Times

He rarely spoke about his role in the My Lai massacre and had refused to sit down with historians and reporters.

From BBC