What a February. More snow here in New Jersey. It snowed, sleeted, iced snowed again and is planning to snow some more. We got about four inches [That's what she said! Sorry, couldn't resist -Ed] and didn't even bother to break out the snow blower, except to clear the driveway entrance. Right now the driveway is a sheet of ice. Very Russian.
One other thing about Rush that always stuck with me. He used to talk about how much he loved his job. How on Sunday nights he felt a sense of anticipation when most people felt angst. On Monday mornings he'd pop out of bed and couldn't wait to get to work. That's exactly how I how I approached about being a college professor. Thanks, Rush.
We've moved on to Lewis Sorely's biography of Westmoreland. It is with sadness, scorn and disappointment that we shake our head. Generals came back from the field telling Westy that his attrition search and destroy strategy just isn't working. He didn't listen. Almost everyone else in MACV saw it. Why didn't he? Sorely's bio is great, BTW. Highly recommended.
After the war, well, we shake our head again. The man failed at just about everything. Westmoreland insisted the US didn't lose the war. He ran for office and lost. He sued CBS and settled rather then take the case to a jury. Westmoreland tried to be an elder statesmen type but nobody wanted him. As they say Westmoreland faded. He was forgotten. We had no idea he lived till 2005. Very few showed up to his funeral at West Point. Our dad was still at NBC News then, and when he asked if anyone wanted to go up there and cover the story, nobody even knew who he was. 'Oh, right....the Vietnam guy.'
Next week we'll tackle the Great Salvation of 1976's Korean War chapter. Since we broke the original MS into two books we get to explore ideas in greater detail. We'll be expanding this chapter. With the general officer corps decimated, the Western White House is going to tap Westmoreland to command the relief task force. We had slated Haig for this job. But Rockefeller and the DoD (now in Gillette, Wyoming) will decide they need him representing America's interests in Europe. And so begins Westmoreland's redemptive story arc. Some of you people didn't want us to turn this into a trilogy. Never forget that we are very good at what we do.
Below, your Friday Flag:
Hey your weather is lose in my yard can you come and get it also my dad a Vietnam vet was there 65 to 66 one of the first Marines in country never had anything to say about Westmoreland the man he hated was LBJ claimed till he died that if LBJ let them fight the war without interference it would of been over in 6 months funny story went to visit my uncle in Dallas one year and my Dad took a 300 mile detour to keep from driving on the LBJ memorial highway last thing not Vietnam but started reading a series of books by Donald Frazier it's about the civil war in Louisiana sugar area where your grandma is from never read anything before on the war here it's very good has lots of stuff I never knew about the first book in the series is Fire in the Cane Feild
ReplyDelete