Posted on Dec 16, 2016
Westmoreland asks for more troops - Dec 16, 1965 - HISTORY.com
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Gen. William Westmoreland, Commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, sends a request for more troops. With nearly 200,000 U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam already, Westmoreland sent Defense Secretary Robert McNamara a message stating that he would need an additional 243,000 men by the end of 1966. Citing a rapidly deteriorating military situation in which the South Vietnamese were losing the equivalent of an infantry battalion (500 soldiers) a week in battle, Westmoreland predicted that he would need a total of 600,000 men by the end of 1967 to defeat the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. Although the high tide of U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam never reached the 600,000, there were more than 540,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam by 1969.
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCOL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. SFC(P) Hercules Lobo MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell LTC (Join to see) SPC Britanny *Winnie* Balthaser Maj Kim Patterson
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCOL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. SFC(P) Hercules Lobo MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell LTC (Join to see) SPC Britanny *Winnie* Balthaser Maj Kim Patterson
Westmoreland asks for more troops - Dec 16, 1965 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.com
Vietnam War
Warfare
Military History
American History
Posted 8 y ago
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The General was right, but we also needed less micromanaging of the conduct of the war by our politicians - who were clearly in over their heads.
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For so many of us this was the start of a life changing experience,and tragically for over 58000 it was a life ending one,Welcome Home Brothers all.
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It would have been wonderful if we had consistently taken the war to the north with both strategic bombing and ground insertions of sizable forces into North Vietnam SP5 Mark Kuzinski. We generally fought a strategically defensive war in South Vietnam which is one of the major reasons we never had a chance of actually winning the war.
We failed to learn the lessons of the Korean war. When we went north in Korea to the Yalu River we threatened China. Douglas Macarthur wanted to push through to fight the same Chinese who were fighting in Korea yet on their turf. POTUS Harry Truman would have none of it.
The USA for a time raised the force levels in South Vietnam but since we didn't bring the ground, air and sea war north the best we could hope for was parity.
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL TSgt Joe C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SFC William Farrell SSgt (Join to see) SGT (Join to see) SGT Forrest Stewart SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Maj William W. "Bill" Price Capt Tom Brown SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4"SSgt Robert Marx SGT Robert George PO2 Ed C.
We failed to learn the lessons of the Korean war. When we went north in Korea to the Yalu River we threatened China. Douglas Macarthur wanted to push through to fight the same Chinese who were fighting in Korea yet on their turf. POTUS Harry Truman would have none of it.
The USA for a time raised the force levels in South Vietnam but since we didn't bring the ground, air and sea war north the best we could hope for was parity.
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL TSgt Joe C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SFC William Farrell SSgt (Join to see) SGT (Join to see) SGT Forrest Stewart SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Maj William W. "Bill" Price Capt Tom Brown SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4"SSgt Robert Marx SGT Robert George PO2 Ed C.
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