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Westy’s Regrets – Last Interview with Gen. William WestmorelandBy Charles Newcomb | Vietnam | 4 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post “I wish I had known about that,” the old general confessed to me. Then, sensing an opportunity to speak of frustrations he had never before been given the opportunity to express, “Westy” went on to confess some of his other regrets—much like a father would confess to a son whom he had made some mistakes in raising. For instance, he told me he was unabashedly proud of his reputation as a professional soldier who obeyed even the orders with which he did not agree, a soldier who was raised to cherish ‘honor and duty” and who clung to those concepts his entire career. But, he sighed, he wished he had been more assertive on some issues with his old friend, Lyndon Johnson—especially on policies such as going into Cambodia to cut off enemy supply routes. “I always thought he put too much stock in the advice he got from McNamara,” he huffed. “McNamara tended to make decisions based on numbers, not on other factors that should have been considered. It’s no secret I didn’t care much for the man.” Subscribe Today
With some reticence he told me he regretted letting the day-to-day running of the war keep him from being as forceful about putting his troops first as he always had been before. He also said he regretted that his own family life had suffered so much because of the ominous burden his career had placed on it. And he told me he regretted the “brouhaha” he had with Mike Wallace and CBS some years earlier in which he had been accused of inflating body counts on enemy killed—a brouhaha that resulted in a lawsuit he won handily. Even more, Westmoreland said after an emotional pause and some more thumb tapping on the chair, he regretted the sudden realization that some of his former troops thought of him as a distant, starched-greens, photo-op general striding up the ramp of a C-130—a general who didn’t know his troops were having to forcibly take their jungle boots away from the Vietnamese black-marketeers. “I wish I had known about that,” he sighed. “Things would have been different.” Pages: 1 2Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: Historical Figures, Vietnam War
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4 Comments to “Westy’s Regrets – Last Interview with Gen. William Westmoreland”
The interviewer says, he had “Questions such as why the Vietnamese black market always had a full supply of the jungle boots we sometimes found hard to get through normal supply channels.” Too bad Westy did not know. I literaly cried when I read the article. It is hard enough to live the war over and over. When I got to the Republic of Vietnam in May of 1968, I was given a size 11 boot. I wear a size 10. The supply Sgt. said that I would take those boots and wear em – period. I also have flat feet. Can you believe it and I was still drafted. Thank “God” I flew in helicopters and did not have to walk much. I still have those boots today.
I landed in the Republic of Vietnam during the 2nd Battle of Saigon. We were delayed in landing and stayed at Travis, Oakland, Hawaii, Wake, and Guam. I was blown from my bunk and my friend was wounded during our first night in country.
Disabled 70% Republic of Vietnam Combat Veteran, 1968-1969
By JOHN C. BRUNGER, M.S. Ed. IT on Apr 27, 2009 at 9:29 pm
The first day at my unit in Qui Nhon I asked my platoon sergeant about a mosquito net and of course he told me to go to supply. The nasty supply sergeant did not have any mosquito nets. He told me to find someone about to go home and buy the net off them. I later learned that I could go to town and buy a net on the black market. Lucky for me my boots fit.
Mike Copper, PhD. RVN 67 – 70
By Michael Copper on May 9, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I landed with the 9th Marines at DaNang July 7, 1965. We were short of just about everything except ammunition and C-rations. Many of the troops were soon holding their boots together with comm wire. The Air Force guys at the DaNang airfield had jungle boots and uniforms long before we did.
General Westmoreland landed in our position by hlicopter and gave us a little pep talk–I still rememer how clean and well taylored he looked.
By Jack Swallows on Jun 1, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I met William Westmoreland, strangely enough at a service station on I81 in virginia in January of 2002. I was impressed that he asked about my military experience as an enlisted man before he even revealed who he was. He was very sharp mentally, a distinguished looking man who stood ramrod straight. He was somewhere in his 80’s at the time. We talked for several minutes and before we left we thanked him for his service to our country and I could tell he really appreciated that. It was a day me and my wife will never forget.
Don Haines
By don haines on Jul 28, 2009 at 1:54 pm