Posted on Apr 25, 2016

Johnson announces appointment of Westmoreland - Apr 25, 1964 - HISTORY.com

SP5 Mark Kuzinski

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http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/johnson-announces-appointment-of-westmoreland?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2016-0 [login to see] 6&om_rid=9754f68e782e800e414bdd9d8de07d822418f1b24b8c839f0c0af3b24529c73a&om_mid=41222727&kx_EmailCampaignID=4245&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2016-0 [login to see] 6&kx_EmailRecipientID=9754f68e782e800e414bdd9d8de07d822418f1b24b8c839f0c0af3b24529c73a
President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that Gen. William Westmoreland will replace Gen. Paul Harkins as head of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) as of June 20. The assignment would put Westmoreland in charge of all American military forces in Vietnam. One of the war’s most controversial figures, General Westmoreland was given many honors when the fighting was going well, but when the war turned sour, many Americans saw him as a cause of U.S. problems in Vietnam. Negative feeling about Westmoreland grew particularly strong following the Tet Offensive of 1968, when he had requested a large number of additional troops for deployment to Vietnam. On March 22, 1968, President Johnson announced that Westmoreland would depart South Vietnam to take on the post of Army Chief of Staff; Gen. Creighton Abrams replaced him as the senior U.S. commander in South Vietnam. CPT Aaron Kletzing

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Johnson announces appointment of Westmoreland - Apr 25, 1964 - HISTORY.com

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Edited 8 y ago

Posted 8 y ago

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LTC Stephen F.

Posted 8 y ago

Thanks for reminding us that 52 years ago President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that Gen. William Westmoreland will replace Gen. Paul Harkins as head of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) as of June 20 SP5 Mark Kuzinski. I expect that most of us are unfamiliar with GEN Paul Harkins who led MACV. That is great for him since the clandestine operations of MACV were supposed to unknown to the public.
However I think most people over 20 have heard of Gen. William Westmoreland. It seems he was either interviewed or discussed on the nightly news a few days a week in 1967 and 1968.

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