William Westmoreland (1914-2005)
In April, 1964, he was sent to Vietnam and was made military commander of South Vietnam. Serving here, he had an important role in the increasing number of soldiers from the U.S. joining the war. He had a strong belief that if they were to attack the enemies of the National Liberation Front with an overwhelming force, including a massive amount of bombing, artillery, and defoliation campaigns, they would be able to win by attrition. While, after following through with the plan, they did not break the will of the Vietnamese, an estimated 2 million people had been killed. After the attack, even more citizens of Vietnam were willing to fight against the U.S. Army.
In 1965, Westmoreland developed a new method of aggressive strategy called “search and destroy”. This strategy consisted of searching out and killing members of the National Liberation Front. Using this method, many U.S. soldiers found it difficult to differentiate the NLF from the civilians. Often times, some citizens were killed and the soldiers counted them as “enemy dead” because they “all looked the same and dressed the same”.
Determined to avoid a situation the French Army got themselves into at Dien Bien Phu, he forbade any operations to be executed by units smaller than 750 men.
Delighted by some offensive action by the NLF, finally engaging in open combat, in September, 1967; he saw it as an opportunity. By the end of the year in 1967, the NLF had lost about 90,000 men, and Westmoreland believed that their numbers would not be able to be replaced. He sensed the end of the war coming soon.
During the Tet Offensive, the war seemed to turn around for the Americans. An estimated 37,000 NLF members were killed compared to 2,500 American soldiers. The NLF seemed to have an unlimited amount of men and women willing to fight to overthrow the government in Vietnam. Westmoreland requested about 200,000 more troops to join with their 550,000. President Johnson refused, planning on seeking peace talks with North Vietnam.
Westmoreland returned to the United States in 1968, where he was appointed as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Army, but rarely consulted and never promoted to chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He retired in 1972 and attempted to become governor of South Carolina, but was unsuccessful. His memoirs, A Soldier Reports, was published in 1980.
In 1965, Westmoreland developed a new method of aggressive strategy called “search and destroy”. This strategy consisted of searching out and killing members of the National Liberation Front. Using this method, many U.S. soldiers found it difficult to differentiate the NLF from the civilians. Often times, some citizens were killed and the soldiers counted them as “enemy dead” because they “all looked the same and dressed the same”.
Determined to avoid a situation the French Army got themselves into at Dien Bien Phu, he forbade any operations to be executed by units smaller than 750 men.
Delighted by some offensive action by the NLF, finally engaging in open combat, in September, 1967; he saw it as an opportunity. By the end of the year in 1967, the NLF had lost about 90,000 men, and Westmoreland believed that their numbers would not be able to be replaced. He sensed the end of the war coming soon.
During the Tet Offensive, the war seemed to turn around for the Americans. An estimated 37,000 NLF members were killed compared to 2,500 American soldiers. The NLF seemed to have an unlimited amount of men and women willing to fight to overthrow the government in Vietnam. Westmoreland requested about 200,000 more troops to join with their 550,000. President Johnson refused, planning on seeking peace talks with North Vietnam.
Westmoreland returned to the United States in 1968, where he was appointed as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Army, but rarely consulted and never promoted to chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He retired in 1972 and attempted to become governor of South Carolina, but was unsuccessful. His memoirs, A Soldier Reports, was published in 1980.