William Westmoreland

William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a U.S. Army General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968 and who served as US Army Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972.

Vietnam Era

In 1964 he became deputy commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), assuming command from General Paul Harkins. As the head of the MACV he was known for highly publicized, positive assessments of US military prospects in Vietnam. However, as time went on, the strengthening of North Vietnamese combat forces in the South led to regular requests for increases in US troop strength, from less than 100,000 when he arrived to over 500,000 in 1968.

Related Topics:
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Paul Harkins - Vietnam - 1968

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The most notable campaign was the 1968 Tet Offensive, in which Communist forces attacked cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. US and South Vietnamese troops successfully fought off the attacks, and the Communist forces took heavy losses, but the ferocity of the assault shook public confidence in Westmoreland's previous assurances about the state of the war. Political debate and public opinion led the Johnson administration to limit further increases in US troops in Vietnam.

Related Topics:
1968 - Tet Offensive - Communist - South Vietnam

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General Westmoreland would work seven day weeks at seventeen hours a day without any rest. He was very angry when the press reported he would play tennis during lunch. He would often fly into combat areas to talk to soldiers and their officers. He loved ice cream and would drink two gin and tonics every night. Several times a week, the General would fly out into the field to talk to the ordinary soldiers in the trenches. Westmoreland always said his saddest duty was signing the many condolence letters to the families of those killed.

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Westmoreland has said about the US involvement in Vietnam: "It's not that we lost the war militarily. The fact is we as a nation did not make good our commitment to the South Vietnamese."

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