WEB: The My Lai Massacre was the mass ****** conducted by a unit of the U.S. Army on Mar. 16, 1968 of 347–504 unarmed citizens in S. Vietnam, all of whom were civilians and a majority of whom were women, children (including babies) and elderly people. They were beaten, tortured, and mutilated. While 26 U.S. soldiers were initially charged w/criminal offenses for their actions at My Lai, only William Calley was convicted. He served only 3 yrs. of an original life sentence, spent on house arrest.