Episode 26: The Complicated Vietnam War Legacy of William Westmoreland

Between 1951 and 1967, William Westmoreland was among our nation’s most respected airborne leaders. He commanded the legendary Rakkasans, the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, during the Korean War, leading the regiment until it was pulled offline and returned to Japan. As commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the early Cold War, he increased the Screaming Eagles’ airborne proficiency and restored the division’s WWII pride and discipline. He commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps in 1963, focusing the Corps headquarters on the rapid response mission it holds today. He was then sent to Vietnam where he served as the deputy commander and then the commander of all forces in the Vietnam War. The January 1968 Tet Offensive changed Westy’s fate. The stunning North Vietnamese attacks on major southern cities introducing widespread criticism of his leadership. That criticism broadened after the war, with news reports of his focus on body counts and allegations that he deceived the American public about the success of American operations during the war. The most lasting criticism came from Army officer H.R. McMaster and military historian Lewis Sorley, both of whom published books condemning Westmoreland’s command style, intelligence, and integrity. His reputation has never recovered. On this episode of the 18th Airborne Corps podcast, we look to give Westy a fair hearing and perhaps at least partly restore his reputation. Historian Dr. Gregory Daddis, retired Army Colonel and history professor at San Diego State University, is leading the nation in research on Westmoreland's actions in leading an incredibly complex and still misunderstood fight in Vietnam. Gregory’s 2014 book, “Westmoreland’s War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam” offers new scholarship on the general’s decision making, actions, and advice to President Lyndon Johnson. It turns out, this is a subject and a man that deserves more consideration. After the 1975 fall of Saigon, Westmoreland was an easy villain, a scapegoat for a nation coming to grips with a disastrous, humiliating failure of a war. McMaster and Sorley pounced on the narrative that William Westmoreland misunderstood the North Vietnamese and the social dynamics of the South. The truth of his actions is a subject worth exploring and there is no one more prepared to lead through that exploration than Gregory Daddis. Gregory A. Daddis is originally from the Garden State of New Jersey and holds a bachelor of science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a master’s degree from Villanova University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduating from West Point, he served for 26 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel. He is a veteran of both Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, and his military awards include the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, and the Meritorious Service Medals. His final assignment in the army was as the Chief of the American History Division in the Department of History at the United States Military Academy. Gregroy Daddis specializes in Cold War history with an emphasis on Vietnam. He has authored five books and participated in a number of initiatives to help educate the larger public on historical matters. He worked as an official advisor for the 2017 Ken Burns documentary, The Vietnam War, and has led multiple tours to Vietnam for educational purposes. As part of his military deployments, he served as the command historian to the U.S. Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) in Baghdad, Iraq. Daddis also has been a panelist for grant reviews with the National Endowment for the Humanities, performed as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for The Journal of Military History, and volunteered as a regional coordinator for the Society for Military History. He has published several op-ed pieces commenting on current military affairs, to include writings in the New York Times, the Washington Post, th