The Massacre at My Lai

The briefing itself was professionally crisp. The headquarters staff of Task Force Barker listened inside the crowded briefing tent as Colonel Henderson gave what amounted to a pep talk. It was a short talk, and Captain Gamble was later able to recall much of it before the Peers commission. “He generally reviewed what was going to occur the next day, and he mentioned that it was a very important operation, and the Vietcong unit that was located in that area. They wanted to get rid of them once and for all and get them out of that area. He stressed this point, and he wanted to make sure that everybody and all the companies were up to snuff and everything went like clockwork during the operation.”Captain Medina later testified that Colonel Henderson wanted the companies to get more aggressive. Medina told the Peers commission, “Colonel Henderson... stated that in the past two operations the failure of the operations was that the soldier was not aggressive enough in closing with the enemy...