Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam 

Come on! I was in Vietnam in 1969 and everyone who ever knew Westy knew he was a delusional liar and had no confidence in him whatsoever. He was stupid enough to think that WWII tactics would win a guerilla war. I was a Huey pilot and often listened to various staff pukes discuss how they were going to lie about the events of the day! It was pitiful! Westmoreland and Nixon and LBJ and McNamara and Kissinger constantly lied to the American public and all should have been put in prison.

I appreciate this in furtherance of my understanding of the circumstances surrounding my father's career. Class of 1950 USMA he served in the Air Force with deployments to Korea and Vietnam. Vietnam for a year at about 1970. Dad retired in 1975. I never ascertained his thoughts about this war. I know that he liked to fly, loved his wife and family, and had an abiding desire to help other people.

It was a sad history for all of us! My father was a combat commander under General Vangpao from 1969 to 1972. American left Vietnam and the communist also took over Laos in 1975. The Vietnam War affected everyone of us! Thank to all Americans who served!

Knowing how LONG the Vietcong were able to persist and resist against the French, and their intimate knowledge of the terrain that was being fought on, is a shocking example of his narcissistic and careerist objectives. In addition, McNamara had the same personality defects! You really went easy on him and the administration.

Westmorland’s focus on technocratic targets such as body counts would have meshed well with McNamara’s approach, based on his history as a business manager.

The Australian Army could only tolerate the American military for twelve months. American tactics were outright wrong for that war. After a year the Australian Forces formed their own command and control operations and proceeded to conduct counter insurgency warfare. They had developed the necessary skills and tactics fighting in Malaysia with the British Army. They achieved success against the communist forces. It should be noted that after engaging with the Australian army the North Vietnamese and Viet Kong were very wary of engaging the Australians. Suffice to say that it took little time for the Australians to have almost total control over their area of operations. The Australian commitment whilst tiny in comparison to the American effort was highly effective. The other force in country, often overlooked were the South Koreans. They understood the Asian way of war. They were totally ruthless in their hunting and killing the enemy. At one period there were more South Korean troops in country than American. Recall an interview whereby the media agent asked Westmoreland how he intended to prosecute the war. His reply was with firepower. Right there was a red flag. This man was out of his depth.

It ended up that JFK was decades ahead of so many in high positions including his own vice president. He would have dumped LBJ from the ticket in 1964 had he lived. He also would have insisted J. Edgar Hoover accept mandatory retirement on his 70th birthday on 01/01/65 which was the law at the time. He was conducting back channel negotiations with Krushchev and Fidel Castro. In fact, he had a representative meeting with Castro on 11/22/63.

A classic example of "THE PETER PRINCIPLE"

It has been truly said that attrition is the strategy of no strategy.

Some generals don't remember the most important lesson of the Battle of Cannae: The Romans won the war.

Exemplary narrative, scholarly researched, and commanding presentation of: The general who lost Vietnam. Our nation owes Lewis Sorley a debt of gratitude.

Not a fan of the general, but have to say, He had a lot of help in all the losing going on.

An old-time (before Westmoreland took command) Special Forces sergeant told me that the war was going well until Westmoreland took command. Interesting perspective.

I was in CU CHI Vietnam in 69-70 I'm proud to have served. Westmoreland was already gone when I came in country. I blame The Army and Washington for putting Westmoreland in there in the first place. He wasn't the Man for the job.

Giap called the tune, Westmoreland danced, American boys died. Them’s the facts!

Hindsight is 20/20. A great tragedy for all who lost their lives both French-USA-Vietnamese ( who lost the most) FREEDOM IS PRECIOUS VIETNAM PAID THE PRICE IN FULL.

"...Iraq will be about 6 weeks; as we are welcomed as liberators..." It has been 5408 days since Mission Accomplished...

This is great. Mr Sorely conveys the tragedy of Westmoreland. Ultimately LBJ must bear responsibility for the mistake of apppointing Westmoreland to that position.

If he was so qualified and had all those ribbons on his uniform, why did he lose the war? Westmoreland tried to run the war by stats that he cooked. No wonder we lost.

I was drafted into the Army in August of 1967. I served in the Republic of Vietnam as a crew chief on OH 6A helicopters 1st Aviation. I earned the rank of Specialist 5 in 5 months. I got to Vietnam about May of 1968 arriving in the middle of Mini-Tet at the Second Battle of Saigon. The Tan Son Nhut Air Base had been overrun so we were delayed on our landing. We were hit with a rocket attack on about May 8, 1968, and my buddy got shrapnel in his face and I got blown out of my bunk. I was given one size shoes too large with flat feet, and the sergeant was rude when he gave me those shoes. At that moment in time, the Army sucked. [1] During the period from 5 May to 30 June 997 B-52 sorties were flown within 40km of downtown Saigon to prevent the VC from massing their troops. [1] U.S. casualties across South Vietnam were 2,070 killed for the entire month of May making it the deadliest month of the entire Vietnam War for U.S. forces, while South Vietnamese losses were 143 killed. VC/PAVN losses exceeded 30,000 killed. The May Offensive was considered much bloodier than the initial phase of the Tet Offensive. [2] Extensive use was made of artillery and airstrikes to dislodge VC who established fighting positions in the stronger concrete buildings within Saigon, with the result that 13,830 homes were destroyed, 599 civilians were killed, 5,657 were wounded and approximately 150,000 were made homeless. The VC had essentially been ordered "to try to do what they had failed to do with far greater numbers three months earlier". VC General Huynh Cong Than later stated "Our troops could not penetrate any deeper than they had during the first offensive, and in places didn't even get as far as they had the first time. As cited in the [3] Spector book on page xvi, "From January to July 1968, the overall rate of men killed in action in Vietnam would reach an all time high and would exceed the rate for the Korean War and the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters during World War II. This was truly the bloodiest phase of the Vietnam War as well as the most neglected one." I spent a fortnight in the 36th Evacuation Hospital during October 1968, which was (Semi-Mobile) Vung Tau 7 March 1966 - 28 November 1969. Terrible conditions with inadequate medical personal. We were fed in styrofoam cups. We were given 5 cups, one was liquid Jell-O, one chicken broth, 1 powdered chocolate milk, and the other 2 - I couldn't even describe. We couldn't get parts for the OH 6A Hughes helicopter. We had to get parts from the bone yard. The Viet Cong rocketed the bone yard. I ordered parts from Sears for our unit helicopter using our own money. I still have the Sears letter today. Too bad you mucky tee mucks don't listen to the troops. I could go into a lot more detail, but my experience is that troops don't matter. I only saw a one-star general once in Vietnam and my commanding major told me NOT to speak to him. I once witnessed former President Nguyen Cao KY crash his airplane right in front of me. He took off with the wind at his back and almost hit my helicopter with me on top inspecting the rotor blades. After the crash as the airplane caught fire, Ky was throwing the girls out of the back of the cargo plane. My opinion of Westmoreland is that he didn't get support from LBJ. He didn't know what was going on under his command with the lack of supplies. My opinion of the officers in leadership was that it was awful. SEATO got us into Vietnam and the pentagon leadership abandoned our USA troops in the field. The number 1 indictment is that all our missions were sent to the UN before we could perform the mission. The Role of the Military Attaché in Diplomacy at the UN was to notify the North Vietnamese Army that we were coming. Look at my credentials. Regards... References: 1. Thompson, A.W. (14 December 1968). The Defense of Saigon. Headquarters Pacific Air Force. p. 20. 2. Tucker Spencer C. (2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 759-60. ISBN 1851099611 3. Ronald H. Spector (1993). After Tet. Free Press. ISBN 0-02-930380-X

I was in the Tet Offensive and am appalled that Westmoreland refused General Fred Weyand and Lt Col John Paul Vann's advice that Saigon was about to be attacked; because Westmoreland denied what was about to happen, I almost died; in Saigon there were only 300 US troops and us 4 truck drivers, but 7,000 VC had infiltrated the city and the MPs asked me if I had seen any US troops around the city, and I hadn't. He said he was seeing hundreds of new faces, the infiltrators no doubt. Got out of Saigon at 2:30 is what saved me, they couldn't shoot until 3am, the time the offensive was set to begin.

"I must say I find it very sad that a famous officer who rose to the top ranks of his profession found a political event the most memorable in his career" 20:41 Well said!!!

I love this channel. I am learning so much. Thank you.

When I recall the faces of my classmates who fell, when I think of the media frenzy, when I remember the lies and the long Nixonian disengagement, I understand why we don't have a draftee army today. All credibility was spent defending the Dulles boys' line in the sand.

I was in the Guard with a colonel who was airborne enlisted during the Korean Wat. He said their unit had been pulled back to Japan and they were just beginning to enjoy themselves. Their commander assembled the troops and announced, "I got us another crack at them. We're going back, Boys!", or something to that effect. I think my friend said it was Westmoreland, and the troops were pissed. They'd been happy to get out of there, and now Westmoreland got them back in.

He tried to please the media and TIME had a reporter who was VC. They knew his every move.

Westmoreland was probably the typical guy at the office that gets promoted by a combination of luck, looks, politics and some genuine talent, but when they arrive at their top position they are not effective, having said that I think McNamara shares more blame than the General that after all was doing the best he could with the limitations Washington put on him and was in the front lines with the men against a very motivated and tough enemy, while the secretary was in social parties in Columbia university every weekend

Great lecture. Thanks for sharing it!

What a sad tale! I think if that monument on the mall in Washington, how those young men were served up on the altar of a foolish mans ego. No other officer defended them.

As a old marine and one who had the honor to fight in Nam. I dont blame Westmoreland. The war for Vietnam was lost in DC not indochina. This is not to mock the NVA or VC who frought against me with courage, But the fact is the war was lost in DC.

As a former Vietnam veteran I agree with your assessment of General Westmoreland. He was, as you say, promoted beyond his capacity. Because f that and his insistence of using body counts as a thumb nail, we never took territory that we kept. Plus because positive body count numbers meant promotions and medals for everyone from lieutenants on up, they were routinely misrepresented. I don't believe about that stuff that he cared so much about the troops either. He'd come by a headquarters, I never saw him in a line unit. Hand out a few medals, shake a few hands and inspect the troops there who were made up like something straight out of a stateside post, not a combat unit and then disappear. You are also right about the one year rotation. It was a bad thing. Took you about seven months to get used to everything and by that time you started your countdown so you got slack sometimes. It wouldn't have worked any other way though because the American public would not have stood for a call up situation like WWII. I spent two tours there (nearly) so I was able to get the benefit of longevity. I think that Kissinger should be added to your list, he was just as willing to "abandon the truth" as the rest of them were. The one thing I took away from that place though is that ethnic difference don't mean anything and you've got to work as a team.

Kind of silly to praise Westmoreland for his brilliant command of the 101st -- in peacetime. Most likely he would have failed just as spectacularly as a divisional commander in combat as he did as a CINC, just on a smaller scale. He sounds like the classic "paint the rocks" senior officer -- you walk through his areas and everything just looks amazing, every uniform pressed, every weed pulled, every paper sitting contentedly in its document protector. What a joke.

The revelation just past the 47:45 mark is astounding - I had to rewind the video and listen again. How could this man get to be a 4 star general with practically no formal advanced military education?

My father was assigned to Westmorelands staff as Naval Deptuty of Plans for which he received Legion of Merit later. He was gone an entire year. After that he was CO of NAS North Island. Years later in his USNA42 Class of 42 50 year alumni book he mentioned that Westmorelands would micromanage everything which made working for him difficult. From that experience he did not think entering the Iraq War was a good idea.

I'm beginning to see why to date NO military hardware has been named after General Westmoreland. It's a sad thing to see happen.

Vietnam Vet 1968-69...Westmoreland had blood on his hands....

served under Col Moore Air Cav , in the Ira Drang valley campaign, in the middle of the furious battle, Westmoreland wanted Moore to come to Saigon and brief him. Moore basically told Westie to "stick it". After the fight, Westie wanted to court marital Moore. The troops found out and started to go the press, Westie backed down. Westie if he wanted to go near his troops, it had to be carefully staged. The bet was we would get him before the VC. Westie was hated intensely by his troops.

Westmoreland might be the only person who deserves to sit and watch this guy read an essay for an hour and a half.

Tooth to tail ratio in VN was 1 to 8. An army of clerks, lifeguards, mechanics and various staff comprised the 'forces'. Who was out beating the bush? Hardly anyone.

Westmoreland didn't help, but I believe the war was already hopeless because Ngo Dihn Diem created a corrupt, repressive kleptocracy instead of a good government the south Vietnamese people would support.

o7, sir. Thanks for the presentation.

What strikes me the most is how truly brilliant men--ten times smarter than I will ever be--can be totally wrong. That's not just Westmoreland but also McNamara, Johnson and Wheeler.

We did not "lose" Vietnam. We were finally pushed out of a place where we had no ownership, an imperial projection. We were trespassers, as were the French.

As a Vietnam veteran I can only say that I blame Johnson. In August of 1963 JFK traveled to NYC to talk to General MacArthur who lived at Waldorf Astoria. The old man told him that it was not the terrain or the place to fight a war. JFK was too smart to fall into that trap.

The Main Points: Many here miss the main points of the presentation. The choice among the US generals was whether to fight a war of attrition as Westy pursued, or a counterinsurgency strategy to win over ‘hearts and mind’ and separate the Cong from the civilian population. A war of attrition to kill off as many of the enemy as possible with the hope he will get discouraged and give up is like running on a treadmill that went nowhere. As long as the enemy was willing to absorb terrific loses and replace them, nothing US Forces did could change the outcome. A war of attrition fails to understand how the civilian population was deeply involved in the Cong’s military operations. The baby sans and mama sans were in one capacity or another part of the Cong’s military operations and were left out of, or underestimated in general Westy’s enemy’s order of battle. The behavior of American troops towards the civilians was part of the war of attrition. Their usual practice was to burn the villages down, burn off the crops, kill off the livestock, and remove the villagers from the land scape and make the area into a free fire zone. The assumption was anything moving in a free fire zone was/is Cong, not innocent peasants. Those behaviors only aroused hate and resentment as well as strong support for the Cong. ARVN needed to be reformed, trained and properly equipped because it was corrupt and treated the peasants like dirt. They could have been helpful in a counterinsurgency strategy if reformed to respect the peasants, but Westy apparently never considered it. If ARVN had been made part of the US army chain of command, the reforms it needed could have been affected. The other point of the video is that Westy should have been replaced when it was clear his war of attrition was not working. This was apparent to even Westy’s key subordinates and the army’s Chief of Staff, H.K. Johnson. Unlike Lincoln who found his general in Grant, President Johnson keep an incompetent general in charge for four long years. General Westmoreland was no General Grant. RH

It takes about a half-century before the old Back-Room Clubs of a military establishment accept and openly acknowledge the follies and failures of its icons. That's exactly what's happening here.

Westmoreland was a D-day hero. Vietnam was a completely different kind of war, and it destroyed him and the countries involved, especially Laos, Cambodia, and the southern part of Vietnam.

Thank you for this.....a superb and accurate analysis of the thoughts,actions and fiber of a man who was out of his depth in a position of near total command and without any vestige of the premier prerequisite of any commander,namely integrity.

I'm no expert on military leadership. I only noticed the similarity between how Lewis describes Westmoreland and how some have described Admiral Bill Halsey--that they had been subject to the Peter Principal: promoted beyond their best abilities.

As son of a Officer who came up thru the ranks and as a Veteran (64-71) I found most Senior Officer's during the Vietnam War were not very good, few were combat vet's, most were still fighting with WW2 doctrine. Only the fact there were so many ROTC and 90 day wonders kept the Army from complete disaster.

"THE MORALE, DISCIPLINE and battleworthiness of the U.S. Armed Forces are, with a few salient exceptions, lower and worse than at anytime in this century and possibly in the history of the United States.By every conceivable indicator, our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding or having refused combat, murdering their officers and non commissioned officers, drug-ridden, and dispirited where not near mutinous." THE COLLAPSE OF THE ARMED FORCES By Col. Robert D. Heinl, Jr. Armed Forces Journal, 7 June, 1971

Westmoreland was an artillery man with a Masters degree,, Trying to win a guerrilla, jungle infantry war,,, He wasn't qualified ,,he should have never taken the job..And he never succeeded in cutting off the Ho Chi Minh Trail...dah

In 1971, the Army estimated that half their deployed troops were in active resistance. Fragging was common. No one wanted to fight this war.

Lyndon Johnson is known mainly for two things: his disastrous Great Society, and his equally disastrous handling of the Vietnam War. The damage he did to America while president is astonishing.

Westmoreland was a complete dope!!

A couple points here should be made because few Americans seem to grasp them. The Soviet Union had developed a superior method of close quarter battle with cheap mass produced but highly effective automatic weapons.The Soviets in WW2 had stumbled upon the power of close quarters battle with massive numbers of cheap to produce submachine guns that sprayed out a hailstorm of bullets. The Soviets made 6.5 MILLION submachine guns in WW2, including the Ppsh-41 and the PPS-43. The 1939-40 Finnish Winter war impressed upon the Soviets the need for a submachine gun. The Soviets faced the highly mobile Finnish ski troops with Suomi submachine guns. The Soviet PPD-40 was simplified into the Ppsh-41 for mass production using stamped metal parts, spot welding and a heavy bolt with few pieces along with chrome lined Mosin-Nagant rifle barrels. These submachineguns fired the potent Tokarov 7.62x25mm pistol round to a range behind 120 meters. At the battle of Stalingrad, General Chuikov started organized assault teams of about 80 men mostly armed with submachine guns, grenades, satchel charges, for the assault forces and follow on forces with antitank rifle teams, light and heavy machinegun teams and assortment of sapper troops with demolition charges flamethrowers. A a brief sharp mortar and artillery barrage would precede a antitank gun or an artillery gun would blast a hole in brick wall of the objective building. The Soviet assault teams with submachine guns would clear the room with the blasted hole with submachine guns bursts and grenades. The follow on teams would provide cover fire in overwatch positions upon German Wehrmacht positions for the assault teams then make their way into the objective building to secure the floor and adjacent rooms of the assault team. As the follow on forces made their way into the rooms of the objective held by the assault teams, a methodical clearing process of all German Wehrmacht positions in the building were carried out with grenades, submachine guns, satchel charges and sharpened spades. The Germans hated this close quarters fighting while the Soviets seem to excel at it. The Soviets found it made lots of sense to equip all their infantry rifle companies with at least a platoon of submachine guns and the other platoons had several submachine guns. Whole Soviet rifle battalions were equipped with grenades, submachine guns, and sharpened spades and perhaps a few light machine guns. These tank rider battalions became famous for jumping off on top of German Wehrmacht poaitions clearing trenches, fortified buildings, and pillboxes with close quarters infantry assaults with grenades and submachine guns hosing down down the Germans defenders. The Soviets adopted this style of close quarters assault with the Ppsh-41 hosing down Germans soldiers all across the front. These Soviet submachine gun infantry attacks always had plenty of tank support preceding with pulverizing artillery and mortar barrages. These Soviet close quarters infantry assaults caused heavy German Wehrmcht casualties and attrition forcing them out of Soviet territory and back to Eastern Europe. This Soviet method of close quarters is important to understand because the Soviets also gave their partisan units, parachutist troops, and cavalry soldiers submachine guns. These cavalry troops were used extensively for raids and guerrilla attacks in the German Wehrmacht rear areas. The partisan warfare, reinforced with these cavalry and parachutist soldiers, used classic guerrilla attacks on German supply centers, railways, and road networks. Chuikov's assault teams and follow on units were employed with partisan attacks, ambushes and meeting engagements with German security forces. German locomotives were knocked out by antitank rifles as were German trucks and light armored vehicles. Assault teams with submachine guns waited in ambush to hose down German troops in trucks or columns of march in the forests of Belarus while overwatch units or in road blocks with antitank rifles, light machine guns, and mines or satchel charges attacked targets of opportunity while preventing the Germans from retreating. The partisans then retreated into the forests before German reinforcements and relief columns could aid them. These partisan attacks were pitless and without quarter given on either side. Cavalry units used the same type of dismounted ambush tactics in their sweeps behind German Wehrmacht lines. Cavalry units usually attacked during the night or early morning on isolated German units with the typical overwhelming numbers of submachine guns in close quarters attacks. Then the cavalry road away into the forests in some predetermined hiding spot afterwards. If you have read these couple of paragrapshs, you now have a blue print as to how the Soviets, Chinese, North Koreans, Viet Minh and later Viet Cong were so successful against the Chinese Nationalists, the South Koreans, the Americans and French. The submachine gun, or burp gun as it was called in Korea, was highly effective in Commmunist small unit infantry assaults, patrols, meeting engagements, ambushes and in partisan warfare. Large numbers of submachine guns and later the superb AK-47 assault rifle were used in close quarters battle with militia soldiers. These groups of militia soldiers stuck close to the Soviet model of 80 to 100 man assault groups. These 80 to 100 man assault groups were armed with support weapons like antitank rifles later on RPG's, light machine guns, and a sappers with satchel charges, grenades or mines and perhaps a sniper rifle or two. But the majority of the communist militia troops were equipped with submachine guns or AK-47 assault rifles. It is the guerrilla tactics, the huge amount of tunnels, careful planning, and political officers that made the communists so effective. The battle of attrition using close quarters ambushes and meeting engagements against Western armies negated superior air, armor, and artillery firepower. Given the Soviet shrewdness in developing mass produced submachine gun/AK-47 bullet hoses, it seems unlikely General Westmoreland or any other American general could have beaten the communist forces against him. Americans have a poor understanding of the asymmetric tactics used by the Soviets, Chinese, North Koreans, and Viet Cong/NVA. We are still struggling today in Iraq and Afghanistan against asymmetric tacitics against almost invisible foes with only limited success. The corrupt, kleptocratic, and incompetent American backed partner governments have always hurt us in South Korea, South Vietnam, and Iraq/Afghanistan. We are forced into a militqry stalemate. The American public grows weary of the casualties in the stalemated or quagmire war. In a war that lasts for generation, the American cultural "corporate quick profit clock" is extremely ineffective in such long drawn counterinsurgency wars. A shrewd enemy that uses asymmetric tactics is almost guaranteed to cause military stalemate with heavy American losses with political problems at home with erosion for support of the war amongst the American public.

Great comment. While I was at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, as a cadet, I met Gen W. I later wrote a book and mentioned in this the same remark you have just made.

sounds like westie needed some good training toting rifles and dead bodies for a few months

"The instrument of our betrayal of South Vietnam was the Congress of the United States"... bottom line that isn't even mentioned anymore because it's our greatest disgrace.

One thing that is really overlooked is how Westmoreland and several other senior leaders in Vietnam had all been young officers thrown into the horrible, unproductive disaster known today as the Battle of Huertgen Forest. The Vietnam War looks a lot like the Battle of Huertgen Forest all over again, but larger. How much of a disaster was Huertgen Forest? In his memoirs, Eisenhower wrote only one sentence about this battle which dragged on for 6 months, and typically ground down units to 50% or even as low as 10% strength in less than 2 weeks, and which the troops called, "The Death Factory." Eisenhower's only comment on Huertgen was to say "it was a mistake." This was a battle which produced more dead on a daily basis than the Normandy landings did.

48:00 - To me the most telling comment, from the perspective of this presenter's "go it alone" assessment of the general's career. His insular nature and apparently gracious veneer was not exposed to assessment by peers or instructors at those institutions. 5:01 - A lesson in instilling confidence in a young man, one any of our sons may benefit from.

No formal military education; no command and staff college! Good lord.

Thank you Sir, for setting the record straight on the performance of the Marine Corps in Viet Nam which was, in my opinion exemplary! Westmoreland was another Custer and the damned Army has along record of people like this who went thru West Point! West Point is way overrated as an institution and in my opine VMI is a much better college preparatory to military service!

Harold Johnson was a remarkable officer. He was captured in the Philippines in 1942 and overcame three years in captivity to continue in the Army, provided excellent service in Korea, and rose to USACOS

All I needed to know about Vietnam was in the words of the great warrior poet Animal Mother. "If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word's 'POONTANG'."

I say ol boy. If you play the same game 5 times and lose 5 times.... what what?

It s all started with the French ! US should have forced France to give Vietnam freedom and democracy right after ww2 , like they forced Britain to do so .

Thanks for this, as a Brit who has little understanding of the War. I have a very vivid memory of visiting Prestwick Airport, Scotland one night in 1967. There were three hundred coal black US soldiers in transit in the foyer, they were young men who were somewhat bewildered. I doubt many came home. I doubt any ever understood why they were there. So sad.

That was riveting!

Champions of war behind the desk .

In my opinion Westmoreland rose to his level of incompetence.

This guy is a boss. Dry and somber for this epic tragedy.

Smedley Butler looks more and more right every day.

I was disappointed when he was relieved of command and abrahms was put in , I liked Westmoreland and was proud to serve in his army

JFK didn't think the war could be won. LBJ: 'Get me elected and you can have your war'! McNamara has much to answer for!

I once met Westmoreland when I was a first year cadet at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Australia. It was in 1969. My young impression was that he was a cool and aloof man. His wife, however, seemed a much more realistic and down-to-earth person.

What is the name of the study referred to at 1:21:39?

Gen. Westmorland should have been tried as a war criminal.

Sounds like this guy suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Who were those civilians on lbj s. Board advising him on what targets to hit in nam? Were they the same “people” advising him on the uss liberty?

I served 6 months under 'Westy' and 6 months under his XO, in the second 6 months we knew we were going home, and that it was all over, it just took time....

General Creighton Abrams , when he took over, was appalled at the problems of just shoving more soldiers over there with the hasty sloppy training they had gotten. He then started doing the task of Vietnamization of the ARVN, that should have been done earlier

I was told that the US marines in Vietnam didn't get alcohol coupons unlike everyone else. It was suggested that Westmoreland said marines were here to fight not drink. Can anyone enlighten me if this is true?

It could be said that he was promoted to his level of incompetence!

Vietnam was lost as soon as USA joined the war. France had already lost, despite major materia-l and training superiority. China (and in the background Soviet) whould not allow a US base on the Chinese border. Vietnam was given major help and whould have been given more, as happend in Kora, need be. Unless USA was ok to fight China directly this war was doomed.

I WAS IN THE RESERVES DEC 1963 TO OCT 67. WHEN I WAS IN BASIC , WE OFTEN HEARD THE LITANY! ".IF YOU DONT MAKE IT IN HERE YOU WILL NEVER MAKE IT IN CIVILIAN LIFE! AND NOW WE HAVE WESTMORELAND WHO MADE IT BIG IN THE ARMY, BUT FAILED JUST THE SAME! THANK GOD I WENT THE RESERVES ROUTE RATHER THAN THE DRAFT,ONLY TO BECOME A BULLET MAGNET!! ALSO I THANK GOD I GOT OUT ON A MEDICAL TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF OUR UNIT ACTIVATION IN NOV 1967 FOR THE ACTIVATION IN MAY 68!! IN AUGUST 1967 JUST BEFORE SUMMER CAMP A REGULAR ARMY OFFICER WAS ASSIGNED TO OUR UNIT AS A ATTENDANCE OFFICER, MORALE OFFICER, AND REENLISTMENT OFFICER AND TRIED HIS DAMDEST TO MAKE A BETTER SOLDIER OUT OF ME! HE TRIED HARD TO GET ME TO QUIT MY RAILROAD JOB AND BECOME A CARREER , EVEN LYING TO ME OF THINGS I KNEW ABOUT RR CARREERS AND HE DIDNT!! I DID HAVE A GREAT 30yr 3 month GO AT IT!!! AND ALL THIS AFTER BEING AN ARMY "FAILURE"!! LOL

Article by Sorely at PARAMETERS, US Army War College Quarterly - Spring 1998: "To Change a War: General Harold K. Johnson and the PROVN Study"

Repressive ? Compared to what followed: genocide....mass murder...boat people....slave labor camps....re-education camps ??? We never should have helped assasinate Diem. That was mistake #1. Mistake #2 was not taking the war to North Vietnam and taking out Haiphong and Hanoi.

Success has a thousand fathers, and failure is an orphan. Not sure if it is fair to blame Westmoreland for everything. Some researchers actually suggest that Ho Chi Minh could have become an Asian Tito and that the entire war could have been avoided, had the US plaid nice with him in the late 40s. This was suggested by contemporaries such as Anthony Eden and US senator William J. Fullbright.

I now remember after my meeting with Westmoreland in 1969 later writing in one of my books that he reminded me more of a ramrod stiff British infantry regimental sergeant-major than a 4 star general.

Were there any Lessons that could have been of use in Vietnam? www.nam.ac.uk/explore/malayan-emergency

*_When you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, which was the situation of the North Vietnamese, loses don't factor into the equation. Besides, they new at some stage the Americans would have to go home... To the North Vietnamese the outcome was inevitable, all they had to do was to keep supplying U.S personal with cannabis, opium and heroin to weaken their resolve... General Westmoreland never lost the war, American public opinion did._* 👀

General Westmoreland is unfairly blamed in this Series. The United States backed multiple failed South Vietnamese governments that failed on their own. Diem was deposed in 1963 under curious circumstances. Thieu failed his people. Minh surrendered to the Communists as others surrendered their Posts. Failure in Vietnam can more accurately be shifted from one man and put on a policy that was totally ignorant of a population of millions with a proud history of resisting invading forces.

Is the number one military talent the ability to learn from your defeats and adapt or change your tactics?

I'm proud to have served. Westmoreland I was in Vietnam in 1967-68 Vietnam was a completely different kind of war, destroyed him and the countries involved, especially Laos, Cambodia, and the southern part of Vietnam.

WTF, everybody failed to mention Henry Kissinger, he was more influentially that any General or president, the president looked to him for advice on what to do, and Kissinger becoming more popular the the president and more so with the Hollywood girls, Kissinger made sure that the war continue by his on going secret negotiations behind the scenes with the vietcong, and the fact that we had to play by different rules than the vietcong, we could bomb only on certain days, and certain areas.

Gen’l W looked like a General that is why he was chosen for the job This was told to me by my dad who was on LBJs advisory board

The man did a great presentation, free of all the joking and emotionalism.

Mark sounds like you have a awesome family history too. My ancestors came to America as Prussian mercenary he was a teenager, who was a bugler in the army 1776, American Revolutionary War. 1861-1865, GW Fleeger was a Capt. In the Union Army involved in many Civil War battles, and was captured twice. Then ran as a republican for the house of representatives and won from Butler, Pennsylvania. My great grandpa was with Teddy Roosevelt during the battle of San Juan Hill, in Puerto Rico. My family loves our country. And are willing to shed their blood if necessary to protect and save her at all times throughout history. God Bless. My wife family from Oklahoma her father WWll fought against the Japanese. Her dads brother had 2 Sherman tanks shot out from hIm by Germans WWII. I couId never shame my family for not standing up for what's RIGHT.

All I know is, it wasn't worth the life of one American boy. Same with Iraq.