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William C. Westmoreland (1914 - 2005)

William Childs Westmoreland was born in Saxon, South Carolina. He was an American General who served as United States Army Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972. After graduating from West Point Military Academy in 1936, he became an artillery officer and served in several different commands.

During World War II, Westmoreland's battalion was selected to be the artillery support of the 82nd Airborne Division and, by May 1945, he was serving as the chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division. During the Korean War, Westmoreland commanded the 187th Regimental Combat Team. Westmoreland also commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak from 1964 to 1968, with the Tet Offensive. While in Vietnam, he adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army.

Westmoreland's years of service spanned from 1936 through 1972. General Westmoreland was a highly decorated soldier. In addition to three Distinguished Service Medals, three Legion of Merits, two Bronze Stars

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Soldier Profiles: General William C. Westmoreland

By Blaine Taylor

In 1989, this writer had occasion to interview four-star General William Childs Westmoreland, now 86, formerly U.S. military commander in South Vietnam and at the time of the interview a retired Chief of Staff of the Army.

Not only had I read his memoirs just a few days before our meeting, but I had also served in the Vietnam War myself as an enlisted man of the U.S. Army 199th Light Infantry Brigade during 1966-1967, and thus had my own perspective on the struggle. When I met him in 1989, the general had already been a top soldier, pilot, diplomat, warrior, and confidant of presidents. He was still the ramrod-straight imperial proconsul of my youth.

Westmoreland was the nation’s number one Vietnam vet whose wife, Kitsy, lost a brother killed in the war, LTC Frederick Van Deusen. Westmoreland is still speaking about the war and taking part in memorial marches around the United States. He told an earlier interviewer that the hardest decision of the war for him was to recommend to President Lyndon Johnson that

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William Westmoreland

25th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1914–2005)

William Childs Westmoreland (26 March 1914 – 18 July 2005) was a United States Armygeneral, most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1968 to 1972.

Westmoreland adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, attempting to drain them of manpower and supplies. He also made use of the United States' edge in artillery and air power, both in tactical confrontations and in relentless strategic bombing of North Vietnam. Nevertheless, public support for the war eventually diminished, especially after the Battle of Khe Sanh and the Tet Offensive in 1968. By the time he was reassigned as Army Chief of Staff, United States military forces in Vietnam had reached a peak of 535,000 personnel.

Westmoreland's strategy was ultimately politically and militarily unsuccessful. Growing United States casualties and the draft undermined United States support for the war,