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MY LAI KILLER APOLOGIZES — FOUR DECADES LATER

The Vietnam War soldier responsible for the My Lai massacre of nearly 500 mostly unarmed women and children has reportedly apologized — after staying publicly silent for 41 years.

“There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse,” former Army Lt. William Calley said in a speech before members of a Kiwanis Club in Columbus, Ga., on Wednesday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Calley said he feels that remorse “for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.”

The only GI convicted in the unpopular war’s most infamous crime had never before spoken in public about the March 1968 mass murder. And his speech became public only when guest Dick McMichael, a retired journalist, blogged about them.

Calley, who admitted at trial that he personally executed civilians, never denied his role in the massacre, but maintained that he was just following orders.

After his speech, he took questions “and didn’t dodge any of them,” McMichael wrote, adding that the audience responded by giving him a standing ovation.

tim.perone@nypost.com