[Mb-civic] CBC News - WESTMORELAND REFUSED TO CONCEDE AMERICA LOST WAR IN VIETNAM

Tue Jul 19 05:15:26 PDT 2005

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WESTMORELAND REFUSED TO CONCEDE AMERICA LOST WAR IN VIETNAM
WebPosted Mon Jul 18 23:31:50 2005

---Gen. William Westmoreland, one of America's most decorated and most
controversial soldiers, has died.

The retired general held the distinction of commanding every unit in the
American army from platoon to chief of staff.

Westmoreland graduated from West Point in 1936, just before the start of
the Second World War. During the war he commanded artillery battalions in
Sicily and North Africa.

But it was more than 20 years after the end of the war in Europe that
Westmoreland came to prominence in the U.S.

In 1964, he was a three-star general commanding American troops in
Vietnam, the longest and most divisive war the U.S. ever fought.

He later was named army chief of staff and served in that role until his
retirement from active duty in 1972.

Westmoreland always contended the U.S. did not lose the war in Vietnam.
"It's more accurate to say our country did not fulfill its commitment to
South Vietnam," he said. "By virtue of Vietnam, the U.S. held the line
for 10 years and stopped the dominoes from falling."

In 1965, Time magazine named him its Man of the Year.

Although controversial, it was Westmoreland who led a march of veterans
in 1982 in Washington for the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial,
something he called the "proudest" moment of his long military career.

In 1982 CBS' 60 Minutes accused Westmoreland of deliberately
underestimating North Vietnamese troop strength. Westmoreland sued
for libel, but after a highly publicized 18-week trial, he settled
for an apology.

He also made an attempt at running for public office, trying
unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for South Carolina
governor in 1974.

Westmoreland was 91 when he died of natural causes at a nursing home in
Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday.