U.S. Vietnam Commander Westmoreland Dies

By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 5 minutes ago

Years after the Vietnam War, retired Gen. William Westmoreland remained steadfast, proud of his command and of his support for a bigger military at a time when American casualties were mounting.

"I have no apologies, no regrets. I gave my very best efforts," Westmoreland told The Associated Press in 1985. "I've been hung in effigy. I've been spat upon. You just have to let those things bounce off."

Westmoreland died Monday of natural causes at Bishop Gadsden retirement home, where he had lived with his wife, said his son, James Ripley Westmoreland. He was 91.

The silver-haired, jut-jawed officer, who rose through the ranks quickly during World War II and later became superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., contended the United States did not lose the conflict in Southeast Asia.

"We held the line. We stopped the falling of the dominoes," he said in 1985 at the 20th anniversary of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade's assignment to 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."

As commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, Westmoreland oversaw the introduction of ground troops in South Vietnam and a dramatic increase in the number of U.S. troops there. In vain, he sought permission to engage enemy forces in their sanctuaries in Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam.

American support for the war suffered a tremendous blow near the end of Westmoreland's tenure when enemy forces attacked several cities and towns throughout South Vietnam in the Tet Offensive in 1968. The American public was stunned that the enemy had gained access to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, even if only for a few hours.

Westmoreland asked for reinforcements in response to the attacks but was recalled to Washington to serve as Army chief of staff, a post he held until 1972.

Later, after many of the wounds caused by the divisive conflict began to heal, Westmoreland led thousands of his comrades in the November 1982 veterans march in Washington to dedicate the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

He called it "one of the most emotional and proudest experiences of my life."

Westmoreland retired from active duty in 1972 but continued to lecture and participate in veterans' activities.

James Gregory, president of the Charleston chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said Westmoreland participated in the chapter as an at-large member and remained physically active until about a month ago.

"He got a raw deal in Vietnam. The war was actually run by the White House, not by the leadership in the field," said Gregory, who served with Marine Corps in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.

"He was a great leader and I'm sorry to see him go."

A decade after his retirement, Westmoreland fought another battle involving Vietnam.

In 1982, he filed a $120 million lawsuit against CBS over a documentary "The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception," which implied he had deceived President Johnson and the public about enemy troop strength in Vietnam.

At the time, Westmoreland said the question "is not about whether the war in Vietnam was right or wrong, but whether in our land a television network can rob an honorable man of his reputation."

After an 18-week trial in New York, the case was settled shortly before it was to go to the jury.

William Childs Westmoreland was born near Spartanburg, S.C., on March 26, 1914, into a banking and textile family.

He attended The Citadel for a year before transferring to West Point. He graduated in 1936 and, during his senior year, held the highest command position in the cadet corps.

Westmoreland saw action in North Africa, Sicily and Europe during World War II. He attained the rank of colonel by the age of 30.

As commander of the 34th Field Artillery Battalion fighting German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, he earned the loyalty and respect of his troops for joining in the thick of battle rather than remaining behind the lines at a command post.

He was promoted to brigadier general during the Korean War and later served in the Pentagon under Army Chief of Staff Maxwell Taylor. Westmoreland became the superintendent of West Point in 1960 and, by 1964, was a three-star general commanding American troops in Vietnam.

In his autobiography, "A Soldier Reports," Westmoreland wrote that in Vietnam, while he "tried to avoid any vendetta against the press," he sometimes resented the time he had to spend correcting "errors, misinterpretations, judgments and falsehoods" contained in news reports.

But he wrote that the press is "such a bulwark of the American system, that it is well to tolerate some mistakes and derelictions to make every effort to assure that total freedom and independence continue to exist."

In later years, Westmoreland often spoke to Vietnam veterans groups, accepting invitations to visit veterans groups in all 50 states, his son said.

"That became, in effect, his raison d'etre," the younger Westmoreland recalled. "He did have a point of view on Vietnam but he did not speak about that. He was not out there trying to justify anything."

In addition to his son, Westmoreland's survivors include his wife, Katherine, and two daughters, Katherine and Margaret.
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Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
While the death count gets higher
Then you hide in your mansion
While the young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Years later, most of the surviving leaders, political and military, figured out that the war and the strategy were all wrong. Westmoreland continued to blame the defeat (he never admitted it actually was a defeat) was due to lack of support at home and media interference.

Obvious from politics today, there was a whole generation of conservatives who think Westmoreland was right.

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Yeah. The Viet-cong was totally playing it for the cameras. And now that teh media has been virtually eliminated from combat areas in another insurgency in Iraq, we're having great success.

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