50 years ago today, June 7, in sunny Vietnam-land - Where were you?

2015-06-07T09:09:59-04:00

Big News Day!
General Westmoreland reported to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the Viet Cong were stronger than ever and that ARVN was taking heavy casualties and suffering from a high rate of desertions and an unwillingness to take the offensive.
Westmoreland said, "I see no course of action open to us except to reinforce our efforts in SVN South Vietnam with additional U.S. or third country forces as rapidly as is practical."
He asks for a 35 battalion U.S. / 3rd Country force and identified 9 additional battalions which may be required at a later date.
This gave rise to the “44 battalion” debate within the Johnson administration, a discussion of how many U.S. combat troops to commit to the war.
Westmoreland felt that the South Vietnamese could not defeat the communists alone and he wanted U.S. combat troops to go on the offensive against the enemy.
His plan was to secure the coastlines, block infiltration of North Vietnamese troops into the south, and then wage a war of attrition with “search and destroy” missions into the countryside, using helicopters for rapid deployment and evacuation.
Westmoreland had some supporters in the Johnson administration, but others of the president’s advisers did not support Westmoreland’s request for more troops, because they disagreed with what would be a fundamental change in the U.S. role in Vietnam.
In the end, Johnson acquiesced to Westmoreland’s request; eventually there would be over 500,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2015 9:44 AM

2015-06-07T09:44:53-04:00

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. As always a very informative share. Thanks for playing a big part and help educate others here on RallyPoint!

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jun 7 at 2015 10:15 AM

2015-06-07T10:15:15-04:00

I was a little over 9 years from being born! :)

Response by SGT Forrest Stewart made Jun 7 at 2015 10:45 AM

2015-06-07T10:45:21-04:00

Excellent reporting! I was two years old in Billings, Montana.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2015 11:17 AM

2015-06-07T11:17:34-04:00

None of my siblings, myself included, were a twinkle in our Mother's eyes, yet.

Response by LTC Ed Ross made Jun 7 at 2015 11:18 AM

2015-06-07T11:18:30-04:00

Gen Westmorland was one of the reasons we lost the Vietnam War. His strategy to fight a war of attrition with search and destroy operations reflected his WWII/Korean War mentality. The most important element of any counterinsurgency war is to protect the population not simply try and decimate the enemy. You can never kill enough of them. General Abrams knew this but by the time he took command it was too late. Gen Petreaus knew this and used it with the surge in Iraq to win the war before President Obama withdrew all the U.S. troops and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Winning counterinsurgency wars requires sufficient boots on the ground for a long as it takes. Otherwise, don't bother.

Response by CAPT Douglas McDonald made Jun 7 at 2015 11:39 AM

2015-06-07T11:39:49-04:00

Working at the Ford Motor Co pavilion at NY Worlds Fair..lost my 2-s deferment..hello USN..!

Response by CPO Emmett (Bud) Carpenter made Jun 7 at 2015 3:20 PM

2015-06-07T15:20:57-04:00

Going to boot camp NTC San Diego. Start of a 24 year trip that took me around the world twice , two trips to Vietnam and half way around the world four times

Response by Sgt Jay Jones made Jun 7 at 2015 4:27 PM

2015-06-07T16:27:15-04:00

Preparing to become a Freshman in High School!

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Jun 7 at 2015 8:55 PM

2015-06-07T20:55:15-04:00

Just finished HS.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Jun 7 at 2015 9:10 PM

2015-06-07T21:10:31-04:00

Just finished HS.

Response by SSG Lloyd Becker BSBA-HCM, MBA made Jun 8 at 2015 2:26 AM

2015-06-08T02:26:57-04:00

What I find interesting in this is that, JFK wanted to pull out completely from Viet Nam. Shortly after the assasination, LBJ signed the Executive Order committing troops to Viet Nam.

This question always raises a nasty head in a conversation; exactly, what did LBJ have to gain from committing troops to Viet Nam? After all, JFK wanted out. Shouldn't LBJ follow suit? If he would have followed suit, a lot of us would not have been to Viet Nam, to include me.

Some say, LBJ was part of the plot to kill JFK. Why else, the motorcade was mapped out, whether in New Orleans, or Dallas.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 25 at 2015 1:21 AM

2015-06-25T01:21:47-04:00

Just looking at a picture of that maniac angers me!!!

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Jan 6 at 2018 11:10 AM

2018-01-06T11:10:18-05:00

Has there ever been a general who asked for a reduction in forces? Not likely.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Jan 6 at 2018 11:56 AM

2018-01-06T11:56:28-05:00

June 7, 1967, I was still in college. That summer I was nervously awaiting the results of the Air Force board that considered Sophomore AFROTC students for two-year scholarships. My parents had run out of money for college and I wouldn't be able to complete my degree without the ROTC scholarship. My wife and I were working full time that summer to keep our little family afloat. Her parents supported us by babysitting our daughter. I came out on the list as an alternate for the scholarship. Fortunately for me, somebody else failed the physical or otherwise wasn't able to accept the offer. By late summer I had a two-year ROTC scholarship in hand. It paid for tuition, fees, books, and provided a stipend of $101/mo. I was commissioned in 1969 and started pilot training.

Response by LCDR Arthur Whittum made Jan 27 at 2018 5:19 PM

2018-01-27T17:19:13-05:00

Seven days home from SEA. still yellow-skinned from malaria pills. Two or three different kinds in play back then. The ones that I took must have worked, or I was just lucky.

Response by LCDR Arthur Whittum made Jan 27 at 2018 5:24 PM

2018-01-27T17:24:09-05:00

Just realized my header title. I was a CWO2 back then.

Response by SSG Edward Tilton made Jan 27 at 2018 5:42 PM

2018-01-27T17:42:36-05:00

Fifty Years ago I was home, back from two tours

Response by SSgt Boyd Herrst made Jul 8 at 2018 5:04 PM

2018-07-08T17:04:08-04:00

1968 - just finished freshman year(9th grade, 2d year AFJROTC. C/SSGT, Flight
Leader/Cmdr.

Response by SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D made Mar 23 at 2021 7:35 PM

2021-03-23T19:35:46-04:00

I was flying fire support for this guy, General Westmoreland, at over 10,000 feet on the port side of his chopper. His chopper must have been equipped with O2 because he was about 1000 feet above me. But it was in 1967.

Response by SFC Melvin Brandenburg made Mar 23 at 2021 9:22 PM

2021-03-23T21:22:35-04:00

4 days old