WILLIAM CHILDS WESTMORELAND PAPER
General William Childs Westmoreland is a figure that is inextricably linked with the Vietnam War and he is the man that embodies the event to the American people. To look at a timeline of his life is to look at a steady progression to his command in Vietnam. Beyond that he dealt with the aftermath. In effect, it was the defining feature of his life, and Westmoreland was the defining face of Vietnam. His were the policies that kept us in the war, and his were the policies that many claimed lost it. In his own words, “The President never tried to tell me how to run the war. The tactics and battlefield strategy of running the war were mine. He did not interfere with this. He deferred to my judgment, and he let me run the war or pursue tactics and battlefield strategy as I saw fit.” As a result, his decisions had a direct and long lasting effect on America, and its worldview. Three themes run through Westmoreland’s life and help to explain his role in the Vietnam War. His character, likeable, responsible, but conservative, stubborn, and even plodding, was certainly a salient aspect of his career. His upbringing, education, and military experience helped define that character and prepared him, for better or worse, for his eventual command. Finally there was what might be called the system itself, the institutions and their ideologies that steadily promoted him, often, it would seem, for reasons having little to do with merit, to a command in which he found himself in many respects overmatched at home and in the theater of operations. The execution, the outcome, and the ultimate effects consequences of the Vietnam War cannot be viewed as entirely the result of any one man’s actions, but William Westm...
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...ng in Vietnam was his knowledge of guerrilla fighting in Korea, but it is apparent that he had never had any real experience of that kind (although he did receive a promotion to brigadier general… before his one real confrontation). After the Korean War, in 1953 Westmoreland served in various advisory positions in the Pentagon until 1956. Observing Vietnam from a distance, but never actually holding a position directly related to it. He served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff g-1 for Manpower Control, a position he himself thought he was unqualified for writing to a friend, “It is considerably frustrating attempting to fit into this huge and complicated operation without the benefit of G-1 [personnel] background or Indian level training in the Pentagon.” However while he was there he befriended Congressman Gerald Ford, another eager to help him with his career.
Dr. Andrew Wiest graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is currently a Professor of History at The University of Southern Mississippi. He is a founding director of the Center for the Study of War and Society, and has served as a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Warfighting Strategy in the United States Air Force Air War College. He is a widely published award winning author. In addition, he appears in and consults on historical documentaries for several publishers. He began with a desire to help students understand Vietnam better. He met a Vietnam veteran, John Young, and discovered that the story of Charlie Company was a tale that needed to be told. He researched using personal papers, collections of letters, newspaper...
Appy’s book is valuable to its readers in showing how Vietnam became the template for every American war since, from novelties like the invasion of Grenada to the seemingly never-ending conflicts post-9/11. But before all that, there was Vietnam, and, larger lessons aside, Appy’s book is a fascinating, insightful, infuriating and thought-provoking study of that conflict, from its earliest days
The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.
protect and care about North Vietnam but he accepted his fate and realized that if he
Powell's next overseas assignment was in South Vietnam, where he was wounded in action. He then studied at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, finishing second in a class of more than twelve hundred officers. During a second tour in Vietnam he received the Soldier's Medal for pulling several men from a burning helicopter.
Oliver P. Morton was a man of many talents and a man who stood out above the rest during the Civil War. A local product from Indiana, Morton who displayed a skillful leadership, a strong and stubborn personality, and sometimes ruthless policies made him one of the most prominent figures not only on the state level but also on the national level. At the time of the Civil War issues such as race and slavery, economics and power dominated Indiana politics. The rallying point and the man that stood in the middle of all the issues Indiana was facing was Oliver P. Morton. He was responsible for rallying and unifying the Hoosiers. Morton prepared the Hoosiers to fight in the Union Army. To truly understand Oliver P. Morton’s impact on Indiana, the nation, and the Civil War it is important to understand where he came from, his rise to power, and what he did to stay in power and leave a lasting impact.
He was also a Gulf War veteran who commanded an armored cavalry. His desire in writing this book was to examine, through the recently declassified documents, manuscript collections, and the Joint Chief of Staff official histories, where the responsibility for the Vietnam foreign policy disaster lay, but also examine the decisions made that involved the United States in a war they could not win. This book details the discussion of government policy in the stages of the Vietnam crisis from 1961-July 1965. It examines the main characters of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara, in addition to the military, which included the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It began in the Kennedy era amidst the Bay of Pigs incident and how that led to mistrust of the military planning by advisors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Westmoreland was born on March 26, 1914, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Westmoreland was a very highly regarded General in the military. He led American troops through a large part of the Vietnam War as a four star general. He was a very controversial leader in this war, he had a long, notable career in the U.S. Army. From the time he was a teenager Westmoreland knew that the military was a part of his life. He went to school at the Citadel for about a year until he entered West Point. He graduated in 1936 and he earned the Pershing Sword award after being the top student in his class. The Pershing Sword award is an award you get for being the most militarily proficient cadet. When Westmoreland joined the military he was already a first captain for his rank because he had graduated a military school with his Pershing Sword award. For a few months Westmoreland was serving as a deputy to the U.S. Commander General Paul Harkins. After he was finished serving for a while General Paul Harkins put General Westmoreland in charge of troops in South Vietnam. He was the head of the Military Assistance Command. This was around the time when he got promoted to a four star general. Once Westmoreland was put to this position he assured America that they would win the war. One way he planned to carry out this goal was by escalating the number of American troops in the country. When Westmoreland gained control in 1964, there were about 15,000 to 20,000 American "military advisors" in Vietnam. By 1968, there were approximately a half million American soldiers in Vietnam. Westmoreland calculated achievement in Vietnam by the number of foe troops killed by the enormous quantity of American troops. The general supposed that if the enemy was killed at a pace that would be more rapidly than they could be replaced, the so-called "war of attrition," victory would be forthcoming. Westmoreland's strategies lost support over his term in Vietnam. The boost in troops did not
The book, We Were Soldiers Once... And Young, begins at a pivotal point in American history. The year was 1965; the year America began to directly interfere with the Vietnam affairs and send our young men to defend the notion of "freedom." During this year, Vietnam interested and concerned only a few Americans. In fact, the controversy of American involvement in Vietnam had hardly begun. But this all changed in November 1965 at the Ia Drang Valley in distant Vietnam. The Battle at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany was the first major battle of the Vietnam conflict; a conflict that lasted decade and caused American turmoil for many more years.
In David Halberstam’s historical monograph The Best and the Brightest, Halberstam works to unveil exactly what led to American involvement in Vietnam. “The best and the brightest” of American politics and society were singularly responsible for the horrific decisions that led to the worst war in American history. Halberstam’s detailed and articulate accounts of these men give the reader a greater understanding of the mistakes that were made. The men of both the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations were considered unparalleled in their fields of study, however their actions contributed to the utter mess of the Vietnam War. Through detailed accounts, illustrious descriptions, and honest reports Halberstam’s writing describes the harsh decisions
Foster, Gaines(1990, January). Coming to terms with defeat: Post-Vietnam America and the post-Civil WarSouth. Virginia Quarterly Review. Vol.66, pp 17.
William C. Westmoreland was born March 26, 1914 and was the son of a cotton manufacturer. His father was the son and grandson of men who had fought in many other wars such as the Revolutionary War and Civil War. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when he had gone to Citadel a private military school. However after a year of Citadel he had decided that Citadel wasn’t for him and had transferred to West Point another military school. He had proved to be an “ok” according to himself but when it came time for graduation he was presented with the Pershing Sword, a sword that is only given to the best students in the class. (Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland)
... Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagen the United States President. He attained the rank of Major General in the Army. Colin was awarded a Soldiers Medal for rescuing men from a burning helicopter.
"It comforted him. For almost four years it meant a lot to him," ends the short story, "The Life of Lincoln West" by Gwendolyn Brooks. This quote suggests that the eleven-year-old Lincoln commits suicide. Why would he do this? Because of the crushing rejection of Lincoln by his parents, teacher, friends, and strangers, he ends his life.