Gen. Westmoreland, Who Led U.S. in Vietnam, Dies

NY Times ^ | July 19, 2005 | ERIC PACE

[neverdem]

Gen. William C. Westmoreland, who commanded the United States forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, overseeing the vast troop buildup and the height of the fighting, died last night in a retirement home in Charleston, S.C., his son, James Ripley Westmoreland, announced. The general was 91.

Westy, as he became known while a West Point cadet, was driving and combative - in World War II, leading a fast-moving artillery battalion; in Vietnam, directing "search and destroy" missions meant to decimate the enemy; in retirement, suing CBS for a television documentary that he said had defamed him.

The libel suit, which he brought to trial in 1984 but dropped early in 1985, revived long-standing controversy about him. Over the years, he was widely criticized, inside and outside the armed forces, for his prime role in the conduct of the Vietnam War. One of his deputies in Vietnam, Gen. Bruce Palmer Jr., who rose to be vice chief of staff of the Army, later called the war "the first clear failure" in American military history.

But in his memoirs, General Westmoreland blamed the outcome on the South Vietnamese Army and on President Johnson's refusal to broaden the war into Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. The general contended that in Vietnam the American forces' record of "achievements was remarkable: the mammoth logistical buildup, various tactical expedients and innovations, the advisory effort, civic action programs."

"But perhaps most impressive of all," he wrote, was "the accomplishment for the first time in military history of a true air mobility on the battlefield."

Over the years, other highly placed officers and officials praised the logistical effort but argued that under General Westmoreland's command, war-of-attrition tactics failed, and that emphasis on military operations carried out by American forces damaged the South Vietnamese Army psychologically.

[neverdem]

Once we allowed the commies free reign in Cambodia and Laos, attrition was probably the only strategy left, IMHO. LBJ basically followed that course to obtain RINO support for his domestic agenda. Check out Michael Beschloss' second volume on the LBJ tapes is called Reaching for Glory: The Secret Lyndon Johnson Tapes, 1964-1965. I heard Beschloss and the tapes on C-Span. The following review is accurate. From behind the scenes, you will hear Johnson pulling the strings of his presidential campaign against Barry Goldwater and pursuing his feud with the new senator Robert Kennedy. He agonizes over Martin Luther King, Jr., and the bloody march on Selma, Alabama, and twists arms on Capitol Hill to pass voting rights, Medicare, and more basic laws than any American president before or since. Above all, you will hear him sending young Americans off to Vietnam while privately insisting that the war can never be won.

LBJ was truly evil.

Associated Press
William C. Westmoreland at an outpost in Vietnam in May 1964.

Associated Press
Gen. William Westmoreland in Saigon in June of 1964.

Associated Press
Gen. William C. Westmoreland in Da Nang, Vietnam, in 1965

[neverdem]

Ping for the Times front page obit, FWIW.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/pageone/scan/index.html

[F14 Pilot]

bump!

[John Filson]

Yet Vietnam veterans are more patriotic than any other generation. You can't destroy the spirit of the American fighting man. If LBJ couldn't, no one can.

[rlmorel]

The man had a tough job, fighting the war with one hand behind his back.

May he find some peace at last.

[in hoc signo vinces]

Old soldiers never truly die...

Considering his hands were tied politically...he did the best he could in Vietnam. The politicians let him down, and CBS and their ilk scapegoated him.

It's hard to get an accurate picture about the man, at least from stories written by the media of the period (yeah, they're real believable) but there's a little green DOD issued book of analysis on Vietnam written by the General. It's a good window into his mind.

RIP General.

[adorno]

died last night in a retirement home

I find it hard to believe that a leader of his stature would live out his final days/years at a retirement home.

If that had been my dad, he would've been with me at my home, even if hired help had to take care of him.

[Reagan79]

I'm not saying you do not have point, but some of those retirement estates are top notch luxury facilities.

[in hoc signo vinces]

Truth is...he was probably surrounded by a lot of Vets his age...he probably enjoyed it.

[Mgm3com]

His hand's where tied political alright. LBJ was not only a terrible President he was an even worst Commander-in-Chief.

LBJ and Secitary of Defense where trying to micromanage the war from Washington, they would not let the field commanders do there job.

Every day Washington would tell them to bomb or raid the same place over and over again at the same time, even though the field commanders told them that the enemy knew their position and attacked them, the clowns in Washington would not listen and ran off every night in a tuxedo to a cocktail party while our boys died.

In my view we lost that war because Johnson was a terrible a wartime Commander and the liberal media helped to destroy the moral for many Americans back at home.

[Mgm3com]

His hand's where tied political alright. LBJ was not only a terrible President he was an even worst Commander-in-Chief.

LBJ and Secitary of Defense where trying to micromanage the war from Washington, they would not let the field commanders do there job.

Every day Washington would tell them to bomb or raid the same place over and over again at the same time, even though the field commanders told them that the enemy knew their position and attacked them, the clowns in Washington would not listen and ran off every night in a tuxedo to a cocktail party while our boys died.

In my view we lost that war because Johnson was a terrible a wartime Commander and the liberal media helped to destroy the moral for many Americans back at home.

[MichaelP]

Gen Westmoreland was a great man. He addressed the 101st abn div, which he previously commanded, in 1972. I was there and he was inspiring. He was one of our most capable combat commanders. He deserved better than having to take orders from LBJ and McNamara. Dejavu (sp?) MacArthur/Truman...

Mike

[elbucko]

Above all, you will hear him [LBJ] sending young Americans off to Vietnam while privately insisting that the war can never be won.

LBJ never intended to "win" Vietnam in 1964. He only intended that Saigon not fall to the communists before 1968 and LBJ's reelection to a second term. Lyndon wasn't fighting communism in Vietnam, he was fighting Republicans in Wash DC with American troops in So. E. Asia.

When all is said and done, the fate of Vietnam falls squarely on a grave in a cemetery in Johnson City, Texas. Lyndon Johnson killed a lot of Vietnamese, Americans, a few of my friends and tried to kill me for his political ambitions. Many of us need to meet someday, in that cemetery in Johnson City, Texas, drink beer and toast to our buddies until our bladders need relief. And then relieve ourselves on "Landslide" Lyndons resting place.

[kimoajax]

You said it Bro. Bring Pee

[Continental Soldier]

I agree that LBJ, his gang of losers, and the American press made victory in Viet Nam impossible, but General Westmoreland cooperated with cowards and fools at the expense of America and at the loss of too many good American men. I feel no sympathy in his passing. Period.

[brushcop]

I live just 38 short miles from that site, do you need a guide? I believe post #11 covers succinctly what Gen. Westmoreland was having to deal with. Those of us that were adults that had served, were serving or at least astute observers at the time could see the micromanaging by that administration, again, do you need a guide?

[elbucko]

You said it Bro. Bring Pee

Bring beer, then as night follows day, thou mayest whiz on the traitors grave.

[dennisw]

Rest in peace General Westmoreland.

[elbucko]

..again, do you need a guide?

No, but I thank you for the courtesy of the offer. I rode by on my scooter in 1975, 2 years after the rotten SOB's deserved death. I didn't have to go then.

I realize one shouldn't be so bitter after so long, but LBJ taught the North the pain of loosing to a lost cause and I was also a Goldwater man. What LBJ did to our country lives on in the press' accusations of "Vietnam" regarding any time we put our troops in peril. However, were Lyndon to rise, Dracula-like from the grave, the press would implore him to run for president and resolve Iraq.

"Oh when will they ever learn".

[neverdem]

LBJ never intended to "win" Vietnam in 1964.

That's correct in the sense that LBJ hoped for the "status quo ante", much like the armistice in Korea. He hoped to parlay with the commies, even bribe them with development aid if necessary.

I agree that LBJ, his gang of losers, and the American press made victory in Viet Nam impossible, but General Westmoreland cooperated with cowards and fools at the expense of America and at the loss of too many good American men. I feel no sympathy in his passing. Period.

About the only alternative Westmoreland had was to resign. Evil LBJ and his presumptuous lackeys would have remained with a different commander in Vietnam.