Comments on: Gen. William C. Westmoreland Was Right

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 18:55:36 +0000

Per Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, stated "Although American intervention failed in Vietnam, it bought time for the rest of Southeast Asia. In 1965, when the US military moved massively into South Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines faced internal threats from armed communist insurgents and the communist underground was still active in Singapore. Indonesia, in the throes of a failed communist coup, was waging konfrontasi, an undeclared war against Singapore. The Philippines was claiming Sabah in East Malaysia. Standards of living were low and economic growth slow. America's action enabled non-communist Southeast Asia to put their own houses in order. By 1975 (when the Vietnam war ended) they were in better shape to stand up to the communists. Had there been no US intervention, the will of these countries to resist them would have melted and Southeast Asia would have most likely gone communist. The prosperous emerging market economies of Asean ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations) were nurtured during the Vietnam War years."

By: Ed fogarty

Ed fogarty — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:54:27 +0000

Thank you Mr. Reid.

By: John Reid

John Reid — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 00:20:46 +0000

Here's what I know for a fact about General Westmoreland. As an infantryman, infantry squad leader and LRRP teamleader: I always had sufficient ammo, food and clean water when I was in the field. Depending upon who else was in contact at the time I always had incredible combined arms support when we made contact. When I was wounded, I received immediate evacuation to an incedible medical hospital system.

General Westmoreland took care of his troops in the tradition of other GREAT US Army generals like Omar Bradley. I will always have the utmost respect for General Westmoreland and all those rear eschelon support troops that he put in place to look after those of us in the field in Vietnam. Airborne All The Way. John Reid: 173d 67-68, 101st 68-69, 173d 1970, 101st 1971.

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:06:16 +0000

We stuck our nose in the middle of their Civil War and we got our nose bit off…………. We have no business fighting wars against any country unless we are attcked by that country………………..

By: Rod Coale

Rod Coale — Tue, 04 May 2010 22:07:20 +0000

Your article stated: "But the ultimate symbol of American strategic failure, the Tet Offensive", BUT I strongly believe and what I knew at the time of the Viet Nam War was that the TET offensive was a disaster for Viet Cong and that “Political Interference“, NOT Army “leadership incompetence” was the cause of our "defeat" in Viet Nam.
To say otherwise would be/and is 'disingenuous'!

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:03:41 +0000

I hit the beach of Vietnam July 7, 1965 with 7th Marines. I left in August 1966. I was just a dumb PFC, but by the time I left I could tell it was going to get a lot worse before it got better. When they stopped bombing the North I knew we were lost. Stupid politicians running a war. Stupid politicians starting a war. And years later they write a book to tell us they knew they were stupid and did it anyway. Some folks just have unlimited gall.

By: dirk

dirk — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:32:22 +0000

first..thanks to john brunger for his selfless service to his country..

second…no thanks to the politicians who got the us involved in the vietnam war…for what??? with the communists in control now(which is what we wanted to prevent)…nike is the largest private employer…gucci has a saigon store…and you could get baskin robbins in hanoi…so much for the domino theory and the red takeover of asia

By: henrylim88

henrylim88 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:28:15 +0000

RIP for the fallen on both side

By: Chuong

Chuong — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:30:49 +0000

As myself a Vietnamese who wanted the South to win. I agree that there was not a lot of chances for the United States but I am very thankful for everyone who fought in the war.

By: JOHN C. BRUNGER

JOHN C. BRUNGER — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:17:03 +0000

BUNDY: "It is an awful mess.
JOHNSON: "What is Laos worth to me? What is Laos worth to this country? We've got a treaty, but hell, everybody else has got a treaty out there, and they're not doing anything about it."
(From the transcript of a telephone call on May 27, 1964, between President Lyndon B. Johnson and McGeorge Bundy, his national security adviser. A year later. Johnson began the large-scale deployment of troops to Vietnam. The transcript was released in February by the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas)

As my deceased friend would remind me, retired Republic of Vietnam Major Julian Dubuc, in September of 1954, the United States, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan formed the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO. The SEATO charter was vitally important to the American rationale for the Vietnam War. The United States used the organization as its justification for refusing to go forward with the 1956 elections intended to reunify Vietnam, instead maintaining the divide between communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. As the conflict in Vietnam unfolded, the inclusion of Vietnam as a territory under SEATO protection gave the United States the legal framework for its continued involvement there. The problem was Johnson's structure in running the war as a fool.

From a Disabled Republic of Vietnam Combat Veteran