Posted on 07/20/2005 9:37:05 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Inside MACV Headquarters As General William Westmoreland's chief of staff at the time of the 1968 Tet Offensive, Maj. Gen. Walter 'Dutch' Kerwin had a key seat with the military inner circle during one of the most critical events of the war. Even today, General Kerwin can vividly recall how U.S. forces fought their biggest battle since the end of the Korean War. Twenty-three years of retirement have not dulled the 84-year-old Kerwin's remembrance of the harrowing days following the outbreak of the battle or the grueling weeks of fighting that turned back the North Vietnamese invasion. Kerwin's assignment as MACV chief of staff topped an action-filled career. He graduated from West Point in 1939 and received a commission in the field artillery. When World War II broke out, Kerwin rose quickly to become the 3rd Infantry Division's artillery operations officer, participating in campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and southern France. No operation was more trying than the landings at Anzio, Italy, in 1944. After an almost effortless landing, the Allies found that well-dug-in Germans were holding the Alban Hills, blocking the route to Rome and claiming an unrestricted view of the beachhead. The German advantage in observation made artillery fire a significant threat to Allied troops. The challenge of organizing effective counterbattery fire against the enemy guns thoroughly tested Kerwin, bringing out the best of his organizational and tactical skills. Wounded in southern France, Kerwin returned to the United States. After World War II he rose through the ranks of America's postwar Army to command the 3rd Armored Division and serve as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations on the Army Staff before deploying to Vietnam. Maj. Gen. Walter 'Dutch' Kerwin In a recent interview conducted by Lt. Col. James Jay Carafano, General Kerwin recalled the difficult and complicated world of the MACV chief of staff. Kerwin's May 1967 assignment was no matter of chance. He previously had served under MACV's deputy commanding general, Creighton Abrams, who had a reputation as a difficult and demanding boss. Kerwin, however, thrived on pressure and challenges. The two officers had long ago earned each other's respect and confidence, and Abrams had become a friend and mentor. When Abrams was posted to South Vietnam, Kerwin received three days' notice to follow him. Dutch Kerwin arrived in Vietnam as the level of the U.S. Army's involvement in the war was nearing its peak. While military operations were expanding throughout South Vietnam, the theater's complicated organizational arrangements strained to keep up. Although General Westmoreland, or "Westy," was the military leader most visibly connected with the war, his command, MACV, did not directly control all the forces involved. The air and naval units, for example, answered in part to the theater commander in chief in Hawaii. MACV headquarters complex Kerwin was appalled by the inefficiency of the organization when he arrived in-country. "The Marines were sitting up there in I Corps almost entirely by themselves," Kerwin recalled. "The bombing and other fire support was being run out of many other organizations. It was split...initially MACV was in a small headquarters downtown [in Saigon], and, in my opinion, not organized to get the best out of everything." According to him, the staff was simply not taking full advantage of the preponderance of power available from the various forces crammed into the theater. Theater rotation policies that moved officers through the MACV staff in less than a year did not help. "In retrospect," Kerwin said, "the one-year tours were a mistake." The staffs were never as cohesive and competent as the ones he had seen in his service with the 3rd Infantry Division during World War II. Nor did Kerwin find the command relationships at MACV as strong as they should have been. Abrams had left for Vietnam believing that he would shortly relieve Westmoreland as MACV commander, with Kerwin as his own hand-picked chief of staff at his side. The change in command, however, was delayed for more than a year. "Although General Abrams was completely loyal to Westmoreland," Kerwin recalled, "there was not the closeness that there probably should have been between the two of them. There were many times -- which I knew of, being the chief of staff -- that General Westmoreland did not take General Abrams into his confidence. General Abrams knew that he wasn't being utilized in the true sense of being a deputy commander." The MACV compound at Hué In addition to supporting both generals, Kerwin was called on to perform chief-of-staff duties for the ambassador to South Vietnam, Ellsworth Bunker, and Ambassador Robert William Komer, MACV's civilian deputy commander in charge of Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support programs. Although Kerwin remained fiercely loyal to all four of his bosses, his duties were complex and difficult, considering that these men seemed to have different agendas, personalities, philosophies and priorities. Moreover, as Kerwin lamented, his bosses "didn't necessarily speak the same language." From the quiet and introspective Westmoreland, to the blunt and down-to-earth Abrams, to the abrasive and volatile Komer, it was usually Kerwin who was caught in the cross-fire. "It took an inordinate amount of time," the MACV chief of staff recalled, "before I, as the chief of the whole headquarters, was able to exercise some sort of coordination and staff functioning, and all those things that should be done in that headquarters got done." Moving MACV from its cramped facilities in Saigon to larger and better organized quarters near Tan Son Nhut helped, but staff coordination remained a chronic challenge in his new position.
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www.3ad.net
militaryspecialtiesinc.com
www.oldspooksandspies.org
www.temple.edu
www.army.mil
history.acusd.edu
www.cc.gatech.edu
www.burnside.school.nz
www.time.com
www.tate.org.uk
www.stripes.com
history.searchbeat.com
www.historyplace.com
Tet offered a variety of lessons for Kerwin and the MACV staff. Despite all its shortcomings and obstacles, MACV had launched an effective counteroffensive under difficult conditions, demonstrating great operational agility and flexibility. On the other hand, though the invasion had been successfully repulsed, the campaign again highlighted the flaws Kerwin saw in MACV's operational design. These included the challenges of getting the South Vietnamese army into the fight, the cost of not thoroughly coordinating all fighting, Vietnamization and pacification efforts, and the difficulty of holding the initiative when the enemy had the freedom to withdraw to safety beyond the borders of North Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. Kerwin also witnessed MACV's rapidly deteriorating relations with the press. The American media generally portrayed Tet as a horrendous military setback. As a result, Americans back home were becoming increasingly disillusioned with the war effort. After Tet, Kerwin remained as chief of staff during the transition between Westmoreland and Abrams, helping the new commander begin to address the flaws they both saw in MACV's operational approach to the war. Later on Kerwin served in combat as the commanding general of II Field Forces, a corps-level command. After returning to the United States, he held a succession of high-level posts, retiring as the vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army in 1978. In retirement Kerwin has remained an influential figure, supporting the postVietnam War revitalization of the Army, encouraging the renaissance in thinking on operations, and -- perhaps most important -- supporting a return to an emphasis on the basics of soldiering, professionalism, integrity and character. Today he remains a valued adviser to the Army's senior leadership, who frequently seek out his counsel. |
Timely presentation tonight.
Thanks for the Tet and MACV information.
Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.
Good morning
A question about the title of a hymn took me back to a wonderful old song I grew up singing in church called "Let Him Have His Way With Thee." The chorus says: "His power can make you what you ought to be; His blood can cleanse your heart and make you free; His love can fill your soul, and you will see 'twas best for Him to have His way with thee." Even when we know that God's way is best for us, we may still struggle to obey Him. When Christ our Savior faced the horrible reality of bearing our sins on the cross, He agonized in prayer, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39). Jesus, who lived to do His Father's will, struggled and prayed, then willingly obeyed. And He can help us as we grapple with the difficult choices in our lives. C. S. Lewis wrote: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'" If we continually choose our own way, He will eventually allow us to suffer the consequences. It's best to surrender to God now. If we do, we'll have the assurance that His way is best for us. David McCasland
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay; Mould me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still. Pollard There is victory in surrender when the conqueror is Christ.
Why Christians Doubt |
And a Hot Good Morning Bump for the Freeper Foxhole this Thursday AM. It is 83 degrees at 6am at the Downtown Kansas City Airport, gonna be a warm one.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on July 21:
1620 Jean Picard, French astronomer
1676 Anthony Collins, English philosopher (A discourse on free-thinking)
1758 Elizabeth Hamilton, author (Cats: A Celebration)
1802 David Hunter, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1804 Victor Schoelcher Guadeloupe, abolished french slavery
1815 Stewart Van Vliet, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1901
1816 Paul Julius Baron von Reuter founded Reuters news service
1826 James Gillpatrick Blunt, Major General (Union volunteers)
1828 John Rutter Brooke, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1832 Henrietta Marie Morse King, cattlewoman
1856 Louise Blanchard Bethune 1st US woman architect
1864 Frances Folsom Cleveland 1st lady
1895 Ken Maynard, Texas, cowboy/actor/producer (Bigfoot)
1899 Ernest Hemmingway Oak Park, for whom the bell tolled... (Nobel 1954)
1899 Hart Crane US, poet (The Bridge)
1911 Marshall McLuhan Canada, writer (The Medium is the Massage)
1920 Isaac Stern Kremenetz, Russia, violinist (debut SF Symph)
1922 Kay Starr Dougherty Okla, singer (Rock & Roll Waltz, Club Oasis)
1924 Don Knotts Morgantown WV, actor (Andy Griffth Show, 3's Company)
1926 Norman Jewison director (Moonstruck, ...And Justice For All)
1931 Gene Littler golfer (1961 US Open)
1931 Gene Fullmer (International Boxing Hall of Famer: World Middleweight Champion [1957]
1938 Les Aspin, (Rep-D-Wisc, 1971-93)/Secretary of Defense (1993-94)
1943 Edward Herrmann Wash DC, actor (Day of the Dolphin, Reds)
1944 Paul Wellstone, (Sen-loony left-Minnesota)(Still dead)
1945 Alton Maddox NY black activist/attorney (Tawana Brawley case)
1946 Zbigniew Kaczmarek Poland, weightlifter (Olympic-gold-72-76)
1947 Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam, rocker (Peace Train, Father & Son)
1949 Ludmila Smirnova USSR, pairs figure skater (Olympic-silver-1972)
1952 Robin Williams Chicago Ill, comedian (Mork & Mindy, Good Morning Viet-Nam, Hook)
1957 Jon Lovitz Tarzana Calif, comedian (SNL)
1973 Ali Landry, Louisiana, Miss Universe-USA (1996)
I've been in Norfolk, VA for 2 days. I had a whopping two hours of free time built into my schedule. I had planned to spend that at the General MacArthur memorial. Until...
I learned this little ole dinghy was a block from my hotel.
Decisions, decisions. Sorry Doug, the dinghy won. Maybe next time.
Hi folks, I'm baaaack!
You were gone? :-)
It strikes me that the "dinghy" wouldn't be very good for fishing.
I'm gonna fish for Humpback whales.
Beyond the horizon.
reminds me of the very popular handgrenade lure.
Excellent thread today and may Gen. Westmorland rest in peace. I wished he had won his slander case against that scum Mike Wallace.
The American media generally portrayed Tet as a horrendous military setback. As a result, Americans back home were becoming increasingly disillusioned with the war effort.
The MSM is the "horrendous setback".
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