← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Sertorius
Thread ID: 19209 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2005-07-19
2005-07-19 13:07 | User Profile
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vietnam War's Westmoreland dies General, 91, a symbol of controversy Bruce Smith - Associated Press Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Charleston, S.C. --- Retired Gen. William Westmoreland, who for several years was top commander of American troops in Vietnam, died Monday night. He was 91.
Westmoreland died of natural causes at Bishop Gadsden retirement home, where he had lived with his wife for several years, said his son, James Ripley Westmoreland.
The silver-haired, jut-jawed officer contended the United States did not lose the controversial war in Southeast Asia.
"It's more accurate to say our country did not fulfill its commitment to South Vietnam," he said. South Vietnam fell to the Communists in 1975, two years after U.S. forces pulled out under a peace agreement.
He would later say he did not know how history would deal with him. "I've been hung in effigy. I've been spat upon," he said. "You just have to let those things bounce off."
Later, after many wounds caused by the divisive conflict began to heal, Westmoreland led thousands of his comrades in the 1982 veterans march in Washington to dedicate the Vietnam War Memorial.
A South Carolina native, he graduated in 1936 from West Point and saw action in North Africa, Sicily and Europe during World War II. He attained the rank of colonel by age 30.
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 superintendent of West Point in 1960, and by 1964 was a three-star general commanding American troops in Vietnam.
In June 1968, a few months after the Tet Offensive that weakened public support for the war, Westmoreland was succeeded in Vietnam by Gen. Creighton Abrams. Westmoreland was promoted to Army chief of staff. He retired from active duty in 1972.
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 Lyndon B. Johnson and the public about enemy strength in Vietnam.
After an 18-week trial in New York, the case was settled shortly before it was to go to the jury.
R.I.P.
After an 18-week trial in New York, the case was settled shortly before it was to go to the jury.
I was disappointed that he didn't see this through. He should have nailed their butts.
2005-07-19 17:46 | User Profile
He would later say he did not know how history would deal with him. "I've been hung in effigy. I've been spat upon," he said. "You just have to let those things bounce off."
A Southerner (UpCountry, South Carolina), working for the yankee empire? What does he expect? Respect?
The yankee empire to this day uses Southern men as cannon fodder. Smirking the whole time. Sending them out to fight unjustifiable corporate wars.
Southern friends don't let Southern friends join the yankee army.
2005-07-19 20:11 | User Profile
[url="http://www.ajc.com/today/content/epaper/editions/today/news_24cd3a02b2e1d0bf00c2.html"]http://www.ajc.com/today/content/epaper/editions/today/news_24cd3a02b2e1d0bf00c2.html[/url]
R.I.P.
I was disappointed that he didn't see this through. He should have nailed their butts.[/QUOTE] Have you read McMasters' "Dereliction of Duty?" Worth a look. Westy does not come off as bad as a few of the hinge necks in DC.
2005-07-20 08:43 | User Profile
[SIZE=6][COLOR=Red]R.I.P.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
2005-07-20 11:26 | User Profile
You can always spot a Vietnam-era whoremonger with something to hide. They cling and cling to that "hippies spit and me and called me baby-killer".
Somehow, it's always forgotten that 99% of the protests against the war were centered around "bring our boys home". As the drums to die again for United Fruit begin to roll, every American in 1969 becomes a vet-spitter-onner in retrospect.
It's like that joke I can't repeat here about oral sex, where the whore lists all her good deeds, sighs, and says "...but you kill one baby...!"