General Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland was born March 26, 1914, in Spatanburg Country, S. C. At West Point he became both captain of cadets and winner of a Pershing Award for leadership. He served as an artillery-man during World War II. He commanded an airborned brigade for part of Korean War. At the age of 42, he became the youngest major general in the Army, at 46 he became superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point. He was warned that his new post in Southeast Asia was full of promise, but also of danger. From 1964 until 1968 he acted as the chief of the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam (MACV), the American establishment formed to help South Vietnam in its battle against Communist forces. He pursued a conservative course military and create several unusual military methods. He spent most of his time in the MACV headquarters in Saigon, known as Pentagon East. In his strategy he sought to kill infiltrated and indigenous Vietnamese Communist soldiers more rapidly than they could be replaced. He was under constant pressure from Washington. His plan didn't work and North Vietnam was able to infiltrate Communist soldier faster. In 1968 he was replaced with General Abrams. He complained that President Johnson bullied him into enlisting public support for the war.
Since retiring from the Army in 1972, he has spent his time giving speeches. Some of these tended to suggest that the Vietnam War was not lost militarily, but in a political sense. He has attempted to vindicate his conduct of the war from 1965 to 1968. Unlike many officers, he has appeared at public gatherings of Vietnam veterans and has been warmly received.