189-672: William Childs Westmoreland (26 March 1914 – 18 July 2005) was a United States Army general , most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1968 to 1972. Westmoreland adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army , attempting to drain them of manpower and supplies. He also made use of
378-500: A Republican in the 1974 election . He published his autobiography the following year. Westmoreland later served on a task force to improve educational standards in the state of South Carolina. In 1986, Westmoreland served as grand marshal of the Chicago Vietnam Veterans parade. The parade, attended by 200,000 Vietnam veterans and more than half a million spectators, did much to repair the rift between Vietnam veterans and
567-598: A status quo antebellum. Two weeks after a treaty was signed (but not ratified), Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans and siege of Fort St. Philip with an army dominated by militia and volunteers, and became a national hero. U.S. troops and sailors captured HMS Cyane , Levant and Penguin in the final engagements of the war. Per the treaty, both sides (the United States and Great Britain) returned to
756-450: A big-unit war with terrible losses to his own men. By his own admission, by early 1969, I think, he had lost, what, a half million soldiers? He reported this. Now such a disregard for human life may make a formidable adversary, but it does not make a military genius. An American commander losing men like that would hardly have lasted more than a few weeks." In the 1974 film Hearts and Minds , Westmoreland opined that "The Oriental doesn't put
945-558: A captured British General and was cut off. I Company broke through to them with their remaining 16 men. For its outstanding performance from 8 to 12 February 1944, the 3rd Battalion, 504th was presented one of the first Presidential Unit Citations awarded in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). For the remainder of their eight-week stay in the Anzio beachhead, the men of the 504th found themselves fighting defensive battles instead of
1134-473: A daughter, Katherine Stevens; a son, James Ripley II, and another daughter, Margaret Childs. Just hours after Westmoreland was sworn in as Army Chief of Staff on July 7, 1968, his brother-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Van Deusen, commander of 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment , was killed when his helicopter was shot down in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Westmoreland died on 18 July 2005, at
1323-564: A decisive French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu . The Geneva Conference (26 April – 20 July 1954) discussed the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina , and temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones, a northern zone to be governed by the Việt Minh, and a southern zone to be governed by the State of Vietnam , then headed by former emperor Bảo Đại . A Conference Final Declaration, issued by
1512-479: A determined enemy. On steep, barren slopes, the regiment assaulted one hill after another. Mule trains aided in the evacuation of wounded to some extent, but casualties were often carried for hours down the steep hillsides just to reach the road. Finally, the 504th, severely understrength, was pulled back to Naples on 4 January 1944 as rumors of another airborne mission spread. The operation was to be called Operation "Shingle" , and it involved an airborne assault into
1701-634: A few months. The war remains the deadliest conflict in U.S. history, resulting in the deaths of 620,000 men on both sides. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6.4% in the North and 18% in the South . Following the Civil War, the U.S. Army had the mission of containing western tribes of Native Americans on the Indian reservations . They set up many forts, and engaged in
1890-514: A flaming "T" in the center of the drop zone. The regiment assembled quickly and moved to the sounds of cannon and small arms fire within the hour. By dawn, the unit was firmly set in defensive positions. The days that followed were, in the words of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark , commander of the Fifth Army, "responsible for saving the Salerno beachhead." As the 504th (minus the 3rd Battalion) took
2079-463: A full and impartial investigation by Lieutenant General William R. Peers . However, a few days after the tragedy, he had praised the same involved unit on the "outstanding job", for the "U.S. infantrymen had killed 128 Communists [ sic ] in a bloody day-long battle". Post 1969 Westmoreland also made efforts to investigate the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre a year after the event occurred. Westmoreland
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#17330930259082268-530: A functional area. However, officers continue to wear the branch insignia of their former branch in most cases, as functional areas do not generally have discrete insignia. Some branches, such as Special Forces , operate similarly to functional areas in that individuals may not join their ranks until having served in another Army branch. Careers in the Army can extend into cross-functional areas for officers, warrant officers, enlisted, and civilian personnel. Before 1933,
2457-566: A hollow satisfaction achieved. The 504th was then relieved of its active defense of the Rhine and was directed to patrol the area north of Cologne until 1 May 1945. With little resistance to slow it down, the regiment established its command post in the town of Breetze, Germany on the west bank of the Elbe River . Although tanks had been attached to the unit, the 504th was outnumbered 100 to 1 by German troops clogging every road. Nevertheless, throughout
2646-420: A lawsuit against CBS. In Westmoreland v. CBS , Westmoreland sued Wallace and CBS for libel , and a lengthy legal process began. Just days before the lawsuit was to go to the jury, Westmoreland settled with CBS, and they issued a joint statement of understanding. Some contend that Judge Leval's instructions to the jury over what constituted "actual malice" to prove libel convinced Westmoreland's lawyers that he
2835-690: A month – known as battle assemblies or unit training assemblies (UTAs) – and conduct two to three weeks of annual training each year. Both the Regular Army and the Army Reserve are organized under Title 10 of the United States Code , while the National Guard is organized under Title 32 . While the Army National Guard is organized, trained, and equipped as a component of the U.S. Army, when it
3024-487: A new Army Command (ACOM) in 2018. The Army Futures Command (AFC), is a peer of FORSCOM, TRADOC, and AMC, the other ACOMs. AFC's mission is modernization reform: to design hardware, as well as to work within the acquisition process which defines materiel for AMC. TRADOC's mission is to define the architecture and organization of the Army, and to train and supply soldiers to FORSCOM. AFC's cross-functional teams (CFTs) are Futures Command's vehicle for sustainable reform of
3213-455: A non-Airborne battle group and the division was reflagged as the 24th Infantry Division . The colors were relieved on 9 May 1960 from assignment to the inactive 11th Airborne Division and assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and reactivated on 1 July 1960, and then reorganized and redesignated on 25 May 1964 as the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 504th Infantry, joined 1-504th as an element of the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. On 26 April 1965,
3402-525: A pre-dawn crossing after consulting with British Lieutenant General Horrocks and Lieutenant General Sir Frederick A. M. Browning , commander of the British 1st Airborne Corps (of which the 82nd formed a part), in the presence of senior officers of the Guards Armoured and 82nd Airborne Divisions, and Colonel Reuben Tucker of the 504th, and during the night he drew up a plan, and alerted the troops at 06:00 in
3591-472: A predominantly combat support role. The army converted to an all-volunteer force with greater emphasis on training to specific performance standards driven by the reforms of General William E. DePuy , the first commander of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command . Following the Camp David Accords that was signed by Egypt, Israel that was brokered by president Jimmy Carter in 1978, as part of
3780-649: A profligate disregard for human life. Historian Derek Frisby also criticized Westmoreland's view during an interview with Deutsche Welle : General William Westmoreland, who commanded U.S. military operations in the Vietnam War, unhesitatingly believed Giap was a butcher for relentlessly sacrificing his soldiers in unwinnable battles. Yet, that assessment in itself is key to understanding the West's failure to defeat him. Giap understood that protracted warfare would cost many lives but that did not always translate into winning or losing
3969-613: A role in the invasions of Grenada in 1983 ( Operation Urgent Fury ) and Panama in 1989 ( Operation Just Cause ). By 1989 Germany was nearing reunification and the Cold War was coming to a close. Army leadership reacted by starting to plan for a reduction in strength. By November 1989 Pentagon briefers were laying out plans to reduce army end strength by 23%, from 750,000 to 580,000. A number of incentives such as early retirement were used. In 1990, Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor, Kuwait , and U.S. land forces quickly deployed to assure
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#17330930259084158-489: A sector behind the coastal town of Anzio, 35 miles south of Rome. It seemed, however, that even the locals in Naples knew of the operation, so the 504th was glad that the beach would be assaulted from troop-carrying landing craft. The landing on Red Beach went smoothly—at least until enemy planes started their strafing runs on the landing craft. The unit disembarked under fire and was sent shortly thereafter to patrol in force along
4347-705: A strategy of seizing the coastline, blockading the ports, and taking control of the river systems. By 1863, the Confederacy was being strangled. Its eastern armies fought well, but the western armies were defeated one after another until the Union forces captured New Orleans in 1862 along with the Tennessee River. In the Vicksburg Campaign of 1862–1863, General Ulysses Grant seized the Mississippi River and cut off
4536-591: A tactical success that disrupted North Vietnamese buildup, but resulted in the Battle of Hamburger Hill , a political disaster that effectively curtailed Abrams's freedom to continue with such operations. Westmoreland was sent to Vietnam in 1963. In January 1964, he became deputy commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), succeeding Paul D. Harkins as commander in June. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara told President Lyndon B. Johnson in April that Westmoreland
4725-662: Is an airborne forces regiment of the United States Army , part of the 82nd Airborne Division , with a long and distinguished history. The regiment was first formed in mid-1942 during World War II as part of the 82nd Airborne Division and saw service in Sicily , Italy , Anzio , the Netherlands , Belgium and Germany . A parent regiment under the United States Army Regimental System , two battalions from
4914-521: Is not in federal service it is under the command of individual state and territorial governors. However, the District of Columbia National Guard reports to the U.S. president, not the district's mayor , even when not federalized. Any or all of the National Guard can be federalized by presidential order and against the governor's wishes. The U.S. Army is led by a civilian secretary of the Army , who has
5103-670: Is that each brigade will be modular, i.e., all brigades of the same type will be exactly the same and thus any brigade can be commanded by any division. As specified before the 2013 end-strength re-definitions, the three major types of brigade combat teams are: In addition, there are combat support and service support modular brigades. Combat support brigades include aviation (CAB) brigades, which will come in heavy and light varieties, fires (artillery) brigades (now transforms to division artillery) and expeditionary military intelligence brigades . Combat service support brigades include sustainment brigades and come in several varieties and serve
5292-604: Is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces . It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services , and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution . The Army is the oldest branch of the U.S. military and the most senior in order of precedence. It has its roots in the Continental Army , which was formed on 14 June 1775 to fight against the British for independence during
5481-469: Is vital to the success of our mission. ... Backed at home by resolve, confidence, patience, determination, and continued support, we will prevail in Vietnam over the communist aggressor!" Westmoreland claimed that under his leadership, United States forces "won every battle". The turning point of the war was the 1968 Tet Offensive , in which communist forces attacked cities and towns throughout South Vietnam . At
5670-488: The 325th Glider Infantry Regiment (325th GIR) and the Army Rangers . The 1st and 2nd Battalions moved back to Sicily and trained for a drop at Capua —in vain, however, because the enemy had been tipped off and was waiting on the drop zone. Another disappointment followed with the cancellation of the drop on Rome . Last minute intelligence disclosed that "negotiations" between Brigadier General Maxwell Taylor , commanding
5859-693: The 5th Cossack Division were called upon to serve as the occupation forces in Berlin. Here the 82nd Airborne Division earned the name, "America's Guard of Honor," as a fitting end to hostilities in which the 504th had chased the German Army some 14,000 miles (23,000 km) across the European Theater. Following their occupation duty with the 82nd Airborne Division in Berlin, the Devils reported to Fort Liberty , North Carolina . Following their occupation duty with
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6048-543: The 82nd Airborne Artillery , and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio were a trap. Finally, in early September, the 3rd Battalion rejoined the 325th GIR and the Rangers, boarded landing craft , and set out to sea. The men knew they were going to Italy, but little else. Troopers from H Company, with a group of Army Rangers, made the initial landing on 9 September 1943 on the Italian coast at Maiori . They quickly advanced inland to seize
6237-591: The All American Expressway that ran through the city. During these operations, the 504th was often subject to sniper fire and in repeated contact with enemy factions, as it contributed greatly to the establishment of security and to the distribution of food and medical supplies to those in need. Only five days after the arrival of the first U.S. forces, approximately 2,700 American citizens and 1,400 civilians from other nations were evacuated without injury. However, it became apparent that to restore stability to
6426-712: The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be the origin of that armed force in 1775. The U.S. Army is a uniformed service of
6615-923: The Army Strategy 2018 articulated an eight-point addendum to the Army Vision for 2028. While the Army Mission remains constant, the Army Strategy builds upon the Army's Brigade Modernization by adding focus to corps and division -level echelons. The Army Futures Command oversees reforms geared toward conventional warfare . The Army's current reorganization plan is due to be completed by 2028. The Army's five core competencies are prompt and sustained land combat, combined arms operations (to include combined arms maneuver and wide–area security, armored and mechanized operations and airborne and air assault operations ), special operations forces , to set and sustain
6804-523: The Battle of 73 Easting were tank battles of historical significance. After Operation Desert Storm, the army did not see major combat operations for the remainder of the 1990s but did participate in a number of peacekeeping activities. In 1990 the Department of Defense issued guidance for "rebalancing" after a review of the Total Force Policy, but in 2004, USAF Air War College scholars concluded
6993-654: The British 30th Corps , commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Brian G. Horrocks , of the British Second Army. However, the Nijmegen road and rail bridges, which were the last remaining link to the British 1st Airborne Division fighting in Arnhem , remained in enemy hands, and the far bank was heavily defended by the Germans. An assault crossing of the river was necessary, but it was a seemingly impossible task. Gavin intended to make
7182-540: The Ho Chi Minh trail . He was unable to use the absolutist stance that "we can't win unless we expand the war". Instead, he focused on "positive indicators", which ultimately turned worthless when the Tet Offensive occurred, since all his pronouncements of "positive indicators" did not hint at the possibility of such a last-gasp dramatic event. Tet outmaneuvered all of Westmoreland's pronouncements on "positive indicators" in
7371-534: The Maas-Waal Canal . The men of the 504th became even more doubtful the mission would go when told that the planned flight was through the Scheldt Estuary (nicknamed "Flak Alley" by Allied bomber pilots) and that they were reportedly outnumbered by 4,000 of Hitler's Schutzstaffel (SS) troops and an unknown number of German tanks. No cancellation was received, however, and on 17 September 1944 at 12:31 hours,
7560-581: The Netherlands and the United Kingdom , until the 1990s in anticipation of a possible Soviet attack. During the Cold War, U.S. troops and their allies fought communist forces in Korea and Vietnam . The Korean War began in June 1950, when the Soviets walked out of a UN Security Council meeting, removing their possible veto. Under a United Nations umbrella, hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops fought to prevent
7749-615: The Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), Lieutenant General Clark , the U.S. Fifth Army commander, and Lieutenant General Patton , the U.S. Seventh Army commander, along with the Sultan of Morocco and officials of every Allied nation watched the 504th go through its paces. Training included many practice jumps, and one conducted in winds of up to 30 miles-per-hour put nearly 30% of
William Westmoreland - Misplaced Pages Continue
7938-557: The fiscal year 2022, the projected end strength for the Regular Army (USA) was 480,893 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) had 336,129 soldiers and the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) had 188,703 soldiers; the combined-component strength of the U.S. Army was 1,005,725 soldiers. As a branch of the armed forces, the mission of the U.S. Army is "to fight and win our Nation's wars, by providing prompt, sustained land dominance, across
8127-552: The guerrilla hit and run tactics of the communist Viet Cong and the People's Army Of Vietnam (NVA) . During the 1960s, the Department of Defense continued to scrutinize the reserve forces and to question the number of divisions and brigades as well as the redundancy of maintaining two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve . In 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara decided that 15 combat divisions in
8316-404: The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th were alerted, issued parachutes, and loaded on aircraft without knowledge of their destination. Receiving their briefing aboard the plane, the men were told that the U.S. Fifth Army 's beachhead was in danger and they were needed to jump in behind friendly lines. Flying in columns of battalions, they exited over the barrels of gasoline-soaked sand that formed
8505-499: The 504th became the first infantry unit to enter the city of Naples , which it subsequently garrisons, along with most of the rest of the 82nd Airborne Division. The airborne operation at Salerno was not only a success, but it also stands as one of history's greatest examples of the mobility of the airborne unit: within only eight hours of notification, the 504th developed and disseminated its tactical plan, prepared for combat, loaded aircraft and jumped onto its assigned drop zone to engage
8694-522: The 504th dearly; just over 1,100 casualties were sustained. Just under 600 of these, or 25 percent, were suffered during the fighting at Anzio alone and two of three battalion commanders had become casualties. Although Nazi broadcasters warned the 504th by radio that German submarines would never let the Cape Town Castle past the Straits of Gibraltar , the only danger the ship encountered came when all
8883-470: The 504th had ever encountered, including heavy machine-guns, a 20 mm gun, and a half-dozen German armored vehicles. Captain Jack M. Bartley was killed on 21 December 1944. The 504th deployed a captured German halftrack armed with a 70 mm gun manned by two paratroopers with no training in its use. They were successful in knocking out several enemy positions. Still, the 504th took very heavy losses crossing
9072-400: The 504th paratroopers started for Bastogne, not in airplanes, but in large trucks. Along the way, their destination was changed to Werbomont —a point more seriously threatened. The Devils conducted a night movement on foot for eight miles to take up defensive positions. On 19 December Colonel Tucker was ordered to Rahier and Cheneux to link up with the 505th PIR at Trois Ponts. The 1st Battalion
9261-428: The 504th used to cross the 400 yards (370 m)-wide river. The 3rd Battalion's H and I companies, and some engineers from the 307th Airborne Engineers crossed in the first wave, 15 men to a boat, and they were immediately on leaving the far shore the target of German 88 mm cannons, 20 mm cannons, flak wagons, machine guns and riflemen. Nonetheless, the crossing was launched. With only 2-4 oars in each boat,
9450-513: The 82nd Airborne Division in Berlin, the Devils reported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina . The regiment remained at Fort Bragg until 1957, when the era of infantry regiments as tactical units ended and the Pentomic era began, in which designations were used to perpetuate lineages and honors. On 1 September of that year the lineage of Company A, 504 PIR was reorganized and redesignated as HHC, 1st Airborne Battle Group, 504th Infantry and remained assigned to
9639-728: The 82nd Airborne Division received orders to prepare to deploy forces to the Dominican Republic . Two days earlier, a revolution had erupted in the Caribbean nation which put the safety of almost 3,000 American citizens in jeopardy. The initial deployment of 82nd Airborne soldiers came on 30 April 1965, and the two battalions of the 504th followed on 3 May 1965, landing at San Isidro Air Base to perform both military and humanitarian missions in support of Operation Power Pack . The 504th conducted military operations to help establish and maintain control of Santo Domingo and to provide security along
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#17330930259089828-490: The 82nd as one of five battle groups that replaced the three regiments previously assigned to the division. The lineage of Company B, 504 PIR was used to reflag existing elements of the 11th Airborne Division in Germany as HHC, 2nd Airborne Battle Group, 504th Infantry. The 1st ABG, 504th Infantry remained assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until 11 December 1958 when it rotated to Germany (along with 1-505th) to become part of
10017-563: The ADC, urged that the 504th be substituted for the two regiments that had joined the 82nd, the 507th and 508th , taking replacements from either of those units. However, Major General Ridgway, the division commander, vetoed the idea. Later, when Gavin sought volunteers to serve as pathfinders , around 29 men of the 504th came forward. The 504th thus remained in England as "Dry Runs" came one after another. Missions were scheduled for France, Belgium, and
10206-490: The Airborne component of the newly reactivated 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) . Both 1-504th and 1-505th were replaced in the 82nd by 1-187th and 1-503rd, which rotated from the 24th Infantry Division in Germany to the 82nd. The colors of both remained with the 8th until the end of the Pentomic era, at which time (1 April 1963) they were reorganized and reflagged as 1st and 2nd battalions (Airborne), 509th Infantry , elements of
10395-413: The American public's support for the war faster than they. Westmoreland repeatedly rebuffed or suppressed attempts by John Paul Vann and Lew Walt to shift to a "pacification" strategy. Westmoreland had little appreciation of the patience of the American public for his time frame, and was struggling to persuade President Johnson to approve widening the war into Cambodia and Laos in order to interdict
10584-425: The American public. Mike Wallace interviewed Westmoreland for the CBS special The Uncounted Enemy : A Vietnam Deception . The documentary, shown on 23 January 1982, and prepared largely by CBS producer George Crile III , alleged that Westmoreland and others had deliberately understated Viet Cong troop strength during 1967 in order to maintain US troop morale and domestic support for the war. Westmoreland filed
10773-460: The Army (HQDA): See Structure of the United States Army for a detailed treatment of the history , components , administrative and operational structure and the branches and functional areas of the Army. The U.S. Army is made up of three components: the active component, the Regular Army; and two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. Both reserve components are primarily composed of part-time soldiers who train once
10962-401: The Army National Guard members were considered state militia until they were mobilized into the U.S. Army, typically at the onset of war. Since the 1933 amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916 , all Army National Guard soldiers have held dual status. They serve as National Guardsmen under the authority of the governor of their state or territory and as reserve members of the U.S. Army under
11151-411: The Army National Guard were unnecessary and cut the number to eight divisions (one mechanized infantry, two armored, and five infantry), but increased the number of brigades from seven to 18 (one airborne, one armored, two mechanized infantry and 14 infantry). The loss of the divisions did not sit well with the states. Their objections included the inadequate maneuver element mix for those that remained and
11340-401: The Army during the Vietnam War demonstrating a severe erosion of adherence to the army's officer code of "Duty, Honor, Country". The report, entitled Study on Military Professionalism , had a profound influence on Army policies, beginning with Westmoreland's decision to end the policy that officers serving in Vietnam would be rotated into a different post after only six months. However, to lessen
11529-400: The Belgian forest of Büllingen in columns of two along a deep snowy trail, meeting only spotty resistance along the way. While approaching Herresbach , the regiment encountered an enemy battalion in a head-on engagement that surprised both elements. The battle-wise paratroopers, without hesitation, accelerated their pace and moved on the enemy. The machine guns of the lead tank opened up on
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#173309302590811718-401: The British Second Army, after witnessing the crossing, characterized the attack with a single word as he shook his head and said, simply, "Unbelievable." Six crossings were made by 1900. It was there that Dempsey, upon meeting Brigadier General Gavin, shook him by the hand and said "I am proud to meet the commander of the greatest division in the world today." Because only 11 boats returned from
11907-456: The British chairman of the conference, provided that a general election be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state. Although presented as a consensus view, this document was not accepted by the delegates of either the State of Vietnam or the United States. In addition, China , the Soviet Union , and other communist nations recognized North Vietnam while the United States and other non-communist states recognized South Vietnam as
12096-402: The British were weakest to wear down their forces. Washington led victories against the British at Trenton and Princeton , but lost a series of battles in the New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the Philadelphia campaign in 1777. With a decisive victory at Yorktown and the help of the French, the Continental Army prevailed against the British. After the war, the Continental Army
12285-405: The Canadian province of Upper Canada, British troops who had dubbed the U.S. Army "Regulars, by God!", were able to capture and burn Washington , which was defended by militia, in 1814. The regular army, however, proved they were professional and capable of defeating the British army during the invasions of Plattsburgh and Baltimore , prompting British agreement on the previously rejected terms of
12474-425: The Chiunzi Pass and a vital railroad tunnel. On 11 September 1943, the 3rd Battalion Headquarters and G and I Companies, along with the remainder of the 325th GIR, swerved south and landed at Salerno . The military situation deteriorated with each passing hour as German tanks and infantry tried to push the Allies back into the sea. The 3rd Battalion troopers dug in and held on. On standby at airfields in Sicily,
12663-413: The Communists would require declaring a national emergency and fully mobilizing the resources of the US. General Johnson was critical of Westmoreland's defused corporate style, considering him overattentive to what government officials wanted to hear. Nonetheless, Westmoreland was operating within longstanding army protocols of subordinating the military to civilian policymakers. The most important constraint
12852-429: The Germans, while the men of the 504th fired their weapons from the hip at shooting-gallery speed. Within ten minutes, the enemy was overrun with more than 100 killed and 180 captured. Not a single 504th paratrooper was killed or wounded. Finally, on 1 February 1945, the order came to conduct the assault on the Siegfried Line through the Belgian Fort Gerolstein . The following day the 1st and 2nd Battalions jumped off on
13041-402: The Mussolini Canal. After several days of intense German artillery fire, the enemy launched his main drive to push the Allies back into the sea. The 3rd Battalion was committed with elements of the British 1st Infantry Division in the heaviest fighting, with the paratrooper companies, due to the severe fighting, being reduced in strength to between 20 and 30 men. H Company drove forward to rescue
13230-545: The National Guard, while all states maintain regulations for state militias . State militias are both "organized", meaning that they are armed forces usually part of the state defense forces, or "unorganized" simply meaning that all able-bodied males may be eligible to be called into military service. The U.S. Army is also divided into several branches and functional areas . Branches include officers, warrant officers, and enlisted Soldiers while functional areas consist of officers who are reclassified from their former branch into
13419-473: The Netherlands and then canceled at the last moment. For three days the troopers waited for the fog to lift to allow them to drop into Belgium, but the wait proved long enough for Lieutenant General George Patton 's U.S. Third Army to overrun the drop zones, thereby returning the 504th to its English garrison. Therefore, when the word came on 15 September for the 82nd Airborne Division, now commanded by Brigadier General Gavin (thus making Gavin, aged just 37,
13608-541: The Nixon Administration's policies in Southeast Asia. In a 1998 interview for George magazine, Westmoreland criticized the battlefield prowess of his direct opponent, North Vietnamese general Võ Nguyên Giáp . "Of course, he [Giap] was a formidable adversary", Westmoreland told correspondent W. Thomas Smith Jr. "Let me also say that Giap was trained in small-unit, guerrilla tactics, but he persisted in waging
13797-565: The ORC and ERC were combined into the United States Army Reserve . The Army of the United States was re-established for the Korean War and Vietnam War and was demobilized upon the suspension of the draft . Currently, the Army is divided into the Regular Army , the Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard . Some states further maintain state defense forces , as a type of reserve to
13986-458: The Revolutionary War progressed, French aid, resources, and military thinking helped shape the new army. A number of European soldiers came on their own to help, such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben , who taught Prussian Army tactics and organizational skills. The Army fought numerous pitched battles, and sometimes used Fabian strategy and hit-and-run tactics in the South in 1780 and 1781; under Major General Nathanael Greene , it hit where
14175-628: The Sicilian operation proved costly, both in lives and equipment, but the regiment gained valuable fighting experience and managed to hurt the enemy in the process. It was with this experience and pride that the 504th returned to its base in Kairouan to prepare for the invasion of mainland Italy . Back in North Africa, replacements arrived, training resumed, and the 3rd Battalion was again detached, this time to Bizerte , for special beach assault training with
14364-411: The South could not be dealt with by aggressive action against the northern state because intervention by China was something the U.S. government wanted to avoid, but President Lyndon B. Johnson had given commitments to uphold South Vietnam against communist North Vietnam. General Harold Keith Johnson , Army Chief of Staff, came to see U.S. goals as having become mutually inconsistent, because defeating
14553-511: The South led to regular requests for increases in US troop strength, from 16,000 when Westmoreland arrived to its peak of 535,000 in 1968 when he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the US Army . On 28 April 1967, Westmoreland addressed a joint session of Congress. "In evaluating the enemy strategy", he said, "it is evident to me that he believes our Achilles heel is our resolve. ... Your continued strong support
14742-596: The Southwest. Grant took command of Union forces in 1864 and after a series of battles with very heavy casualties, he had General Robert E. Lee under siege in Richmond as General William T. Sherman captured Atlanta and marched through Georgia and the Carolinas . The Confederate capital was abandoned in April 1865 and Lee subsequently surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House. All other Confederate armies surrendered within
14931-506: The Tet Offensive, it was announced that General Creighton Abrams would succeed Westmoreland as commander of the MACV. Westmoreland served as Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972. In 1970, in response to the My Lai Massacre by US Army forces and the subsequent cover-up by the Army chain of command, he commissioned an investigation that compiled a comprehensive and seminal study of leadership within
15120-570: The U.S. held the line for 10 years and stopped the dominoes from falling ." Westmoreland first met his future wife, Katherine (Kitsy) Stevens Van Deusen (1927-2021), while stationed at Fort Sill . She was the daughter of the post executive officer, Colonel Edwin R. Van Deusen. Westmoreland met her again in North Carolina when she was nineteen and a student at University of North Carolina at Greensboro . The couple married in May 1947 and had three children:
15309-526: The United States and is part of the Department of the Army , which is one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The U.S. Army is headed by a civilian senior appointed civil servant, the secretary of the Army (SECARMY), and by a chief military officer , the chief of staff of the Army (CSA) who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . It is the largest military branch, and in
15498-534: The United States (the "Union" or "the North") formed the Union Army , consisting of a small body of regular army units and a large body of volunteer units raised from every state, north and south, except South Carolina . For the first two years, Confederate forces did well in set battles but lost control of the border states. The Confederates had the advantage of defending a large territory in an area where disease caused twice as many deaths as combat. The Union pursued
15687-405: The United States Army was maintained as a small peacetime force to man permanent forts and perform other non-wartime duties such as engineering and construction works. During times of war, the U.S. Army was augmented by the much larger United States Volunteers which were raised independently by various state governments. States also maintained full-time militias which could also be called into
15876-493: The United States' edge in artillery and air power, both in tactical confrontations and in relentless strategic bombing of North Vietnam. Nevertheless, public support for the war eventually diminished, especially after the Battle of Khe Sanh and the Tet Offensive in 1968. By the time he was reassigned as Army Chief of Staff, United States military forces in Vietnam had reached a peak of 535,000 personnel. Westmoreland's strategy
16065-508: The Vietnamese casualties were not just caused by military cross-fire but were a direct result of the US policy and tactics, for example the policy "kill everything that moves" which enabled the US soldiers to shoot civilians for "suspicious behavior". He concluded that, after having "spoken to survivors of massacres by United States forces at Phi Phu, Trieu Ai, My Luoc and so many other hamlets, I can say with certainty that Westmoreland's assessment
16254-423: The acquisition process for the future. In order to support the Army's modernization priorities, its FY2020 budget allocated $ 30 billion for the top six modernization priorities over the next five years. The $ 30 billion came from $ 8 billion in cost avoidance and $ 22 billion in terminations. The task of organizing the U.S. Army commenced in 1775. In the first one hundred years of its existence,
16443-669: The age of 91 at the Bishop Gadsden retirement home in Charleston, South Carolina . He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease during the final years of his life. He was buried on 23 July 2005, at the West Point Cemetery . Westmoreland's military awards include: [REDACTED] United States Military Academy class of 1936 Retired from active service in July 1972. United States Army The United States Army ( USA )
16632-491: The agreement, both the United States and Egypt agreed that there would be a joint military training led by both countries that would usually take place every 2 years, that exercise is known as Exercise Bright Star . The 1980s was mostly a decade of reorganization. The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 created unified combatant commands bringing the army together with the other four military services under unified, geographically organized command structures. The army also played
16821-415: The appropriateness of some of the methods of CBS's editors. A deposition by McChristian indicates that his organization developed improved intelligence on the number of irregular Viet Cong combatants shortly before he left Vietnam on a regularly scheduled rotation. The numbers troubled Westmoreland, who feared that the press would not understand them. He did not order them changed, but instead did not include
17010-633: The army began acquiring fixed-wing aircraft . In 1910, during the Mexican Revolution , the army was deployed to U.S. towns near the border to ensure the safety of lives and property. In 1916, Pancho Villa , a major rebel leader, attacked Columbus, New Mexico , prompting a U.S. intervention in Mexico until 7 February 1917. They fought the rebels and the Mexican federal troops until 1918. The United States joined World War I as an "Associated Power" in 1917 on
17199-605: The attack. Moving cautiously from bunker to bunker, the troopers encountered heavy machine gun and small arms fire at all points. Ironically, the German Army's own Panzerfaust (a light anti-tank weapon with which the 504th was well equipped) was the regiment's most effective weapon against the German pillboxes. Despite the presence of thousands of mines and booby traps, only a small number of those disturbed actually detonated. Freezing temperatures, snow, ice and years of exposure had corroded
17388-550: The authority of the president, in the Army National Guard of the United States. Since the adoption of the total force policy, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, reserve component soldiers have taken a more active role in U.S. military operations. For example, Reserve and Guard units took part in the Gulf War , peacekeeping in Kosovo , Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq . [REDACTED] Headquarters, United States Department of
17577-526: The bridges). In just four hours, the regiment had jumped, assembled, engaged the enemy, and seized its objectives. For the next two days, the regiment held its ground and conducted aggressive combat and reconnaissance patrols until the 2nd Battalion of the Irish Guards , part of the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade of the Guards Armoured Division , made the ground link-up, spearheading the advance of
17766-641: The building, as part of the September 11 attacks . In response to the 11 September attacks and as part of the Global War on Terror , U.S. and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, displacing the Taliban government. The U.S. Army also led the combined U.S. and allied invasion of Iraq in 2003; it served as the primary source for ground forces with its ability to sustain short and long-term deployment operations. In
17955-487: The call came, the regiment staged at Camp Edwards on 18 April 1943, and it made its port call on 10 May 1943, when it departed the New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE). On 29 April 1943, the 504th boarded the troop ship USS George Washington which steamed to North Africa and the regiment's first overseas port of call, Casablanca . They arrived shortly before the end of the campaign in North Africa , which ended with
18144-466: The combatant commanders for use as directed by the secretary of defense. By 2013, the army shifted to six geographical commands that align with the six geographical unified combatant commands (CCMD): The army also transformed its base unit from divisions to brigades . Division lineage will be retained, but the divisional headquarters will be able to command any brigade, not just brigades that carry their divisional lineage. The central part of this plan
18333-507: The detonators. Vicious enemy counterattacks on 3 and 4 February were repulsed, and the unit was relieved. The regiment moved back to Grand Halleux where it spent several days before being trucked across the Belgian-German border. From Aachen, it moved by train back to Laon , France to await orders. Colonel Tucker and the advance detail left Laon on 1 April 1945 and traveled by jeep 270 miles to Cologne (Köln), Germany. Three days later
18522-591: The diary of a Wehrmacht officer killed at Anzio: On 23 March 1944, the 504th was pulled out of the beachhead by landing craft and returned to Naples . The campaign in Italy for the 504th had been costly, but enemy losses exceeded those of the regiment by over tenfold, and the Allies maintained control of the beachhead. Shortly thereafter, the 504th boarded the Cape Town Castle and steamed to England , arriving there on 22 April. The near-continuous fighting in Italy had cost
18711-410: The division's 1st Brigade (Airborne). The colors of 1-504th returned to the 82nd, and on 25 May 1963 they were reorganized and redesignated as 1st Battalion (Airborne), 504th Infantry, an element of the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. The 2nd ABG, 504th Infantry remained with the 11th Airborne Division in Germany only until 1 July 1958, when its colors were inactivated, and the unit was reflagged as
18900-440: The drop zone near Gela . By morning, only 400 of the rest of the regiment's 1,600 paratroopers had reached the objective area. The others had been dropped in isolated groups on all parts of the island and carried out demolitions, cut lines of communication , established island roadblocks, ambushed German and Italian motorized columns, and caused so much confusion over such an extensive area that initial German radio reports estimated
19089-622: The end of FY2017. From 2016 to 2017, the Army retired hundreds of OH-58 Kiowa Warrior observation helicopters, while retaining its Apache gunships. The 2015 expenditure for Army research, development and acquisition changed from $ 32 billion projected in 2012 for FY15 to $ 21 billion for FY15 expected in 2014. By 2017, a task force was formed to address Army modernization, which triggered shifts of units: CCDC , and ARCIC , from within Army Materiel Command (AMC), and Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), respectively, to
19278-439: The end to the practice of rotating divisional commands among the states that supported them. Under the proposal, the remaining division commanders were to reside in the state of the division base. However, no reduction in total Army National Guard strength was to take place, which convinced the governors to accept the plan. The states reorganized their forces accordingly between 1 December 1967 and 1 May 1968. The Total Force Policy
19467-475: The enemy and turn the tide of battle. The 82nd Airborne Division was slated as a unit to be used in the invasion of Normandy the following year. However, Lieutenant General Clark, the Fifth Army commander, was unwilling to give up the division. During the next few weeks in fighting Italy, the 504th, reinforced with the 376th and 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalions to create the 504th Parachute Regimental Combat Team , fought in difficult terrain against
19656-414: The enemy. Under heavy fire and in a minefield, the first wave of 504th troopers was split into two elements, each of which fought its way independently to the predesignated objective. There they rejoined forces, knocked out several machine gun nests, and established a roadblock. Using similar tactics, succeeding waves infiltrated the enemy and set up a defense in the village of Hitdorf . For a short time, all
19845-555: The expectation of the boats to be provided by the British XXX Corps. However, the crossing did not commence until 15:00 after the guns of the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and 153rd (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery , and two troops of the Grenadier Guards Sherman tanks opened fire on the northern (Lent) bank. The British provided 26 canvas boats, each 19 feet (5.8 m) long, that
20034-586: The ferocity of the assault shook public confidence in Westmoreland's previous assurances about the state of the war. Political debate and public opinion led the Johnson administration to limit further increases in US troop numbers in Vietnam. Nine months afterward, when the My Lai Massacre reports started to break, Westmoreland resisted pressure from the incoming Nixon administration for a cover-up, and pressed for
20223-504: The first crossing, eight from the second and five from the third, A Company that followed used locally sourced wooden fishing boats. After remaining in the front-line for the next few weeks, on 16 November 1944, the 504th arrived at Camp Sissone near Rheims in Northern France on British lorries, greeted again by the traditional "We're All American..." of the 82nd band. Soon after, the 82nd moved to Camp Laon and began training with
20412-567: The following years, the mission changed from conflict between regular militaries to counterinsurgency , resulting in the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. service members (as of March 2008) and injuries to thousands more. 23,813 insurgents were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. Until 2009, the army's chief modernization plan, its most ambitious since World War II, was the Future Combat Systems program. In 2009, many systems were canceled, and
20601-471: The forces that landed in French North Africa and took Tunisia and then moved on to Sicily and later fought in Italy . In the June 1944 landings in northern France and in the subsequent liberation of Europe and defeat of Nazi Germany , millions of U.S. Army troops played a central role. In 1947, the number of soldiers in the US Army had decreased from eight million in 1945 to 684,000 soldiers and
20790-420: The full range of military operations and the spectrum of conflict, in support of combatant commanders ". The branch participates in conflicts worldwide and is the major ground-based offensive and defensive force of the United States of America. The United States Army serves as the land-based branch of the U.S. Armed Forces . Section 7062 of Title 10, U.S. Code defines the purpose of the army as: In 2018,
20979-661: The geographical status quo. Both navies kept the warships they had seized during the conflict. The army's major campaign against the Indians was fought in Florida against Seminoles . It took long wars (1818–1858) to finally defeat the Seminoles and move them to Oklahoma. The usual strategy in Indian wars was to seize control of the Indians' winter food supply, but that was no use in Florida where there
21168-421: The greatest friendly fire tragedies of World War II. However, U.S. Navy ships had been under intense Axis aerial attacks, and many were unaware of the impending jump. Twenty-three planes were destroyed, thirty-seven were damaged, and almost 400 casualties were confirmed. Colonel Tucker's plane, after twice flying the length of the Sicilian coast and with well over 2,000 holes in its fuselage, finally reached
21357-466: The guidance would reverse the Total Force Policy which is an "essential ingredient to the successful application of military force". On 11 September 2001, 53 Army civilians (47 employees and six contractors) and 22 soldiers were among the 125 victims killed in the Pentagon in a terrorist attack when American Airlines Flight 77 commandeered by five Al-Qaeda hijackers slammed into the western side of
21546-662: The high casualty rate of Vietnamese civilians, was: "It does deprive the enemy of the population, doesn't it?" However, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF) were able to dictate the pace of attrition to fit their own goals: by continuing to fight a guerrilla war and avoiding large-unit battles, they denied the Americans the chance to fight the kind of war they were best at, and they ensured that attrition would wear down
21735-506: The high ground at Altavilla , the enemy counterattacked, inflicting heavy casualties on the regiment, and the divisional commander, Major General Ridgway, along with Major General Fred L. Walker , commander of the 36th Infantry Division , suggested the unit withdraw. Epitomizing the determined spirit of the regiment, Colonel Tucker vehemently replied, "Hell no! We've got this hill and we are going to keep it. Just send me my other battalion." The 3rd Battalion, then being held in reserve, rejoined
21924-649: The highest cadet rank, and received the Pershing Sword, which is "presented to the cadet with highest level of military proficiency". Westmoreland also served as the superintendent of the Protestant Sunday School Teachers. Following graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1936, Westmoreland became an artillery officer and served in several assignments with the 18th Field Artillery at Fort Sill . In 1939, he
22113-515: The impact of this damaging report, Westmoreland ordered that the document be kept on "close hold" across the entire Army for a period of two years and not disseminated to War College attendees. The report became known to the public only after Westmoreland retired in 1972. On September 21, 1970, Westmoreland became a rated Army Aviator, having successfully completed Army Aviation training at Ft. Campbell , then- Ft. Rucker , and Washington, DC . Westmoreland tried to make Army life more attractive during
22302-561: The inconclusive outcome of the Korean War, Americans expected the war to end with an unconditional surrender of the enemy. A dramatic increase in direct American participation in the Vietnam War began in February and March 1965, with 184,300 military personnel in Vietnam by the end of the year. Viet Cong and PAVN strategy, organization and structure meant that Westmoreland faced a dual threat. Regular North Vietnamese army units infiltrating across
22491-402: The information in reporting to Washington, which in his view was not appropriate to report. Based on later analysis of the information from all sides, it appears clear that Westmoreland could not sustain a libel suit because CBS's principal allegation was that he had caused intelligence officers to suppress facts. Westmoreland's anger was caused by the implication of the broadcast that his intent
22680-477: The initial days of battle with experienced German troops, the regiment wore down the enemy and discovered the Germans had only poorly organized and inadequately equipped follow-on forces. Soon thereafter, the paratroopers received the orders they had been expecting—to attack the Siegfried Line . The regiment was positioned on the right flank of the U.S. First Army , and on 28 January 1945 the 504th advanced through
22869-461: The insurgency had popular support. Consistent with the enthusiasm of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara for statistics, Westmoreland placed emphasis on body count and cited the Battle of Ia Drang as evidence the communists were losing. The government sought to win at low cost, and policymakers received McNamara's interpretation indicating huge American casualties in prospect, prompting a reassessment of what could be achieved. The Battle of Ia Drang
23058-746: The last of the American Indian Wars . U.S. Army troops also occupied several Southern states during the Reconstruction Era to protect freedmen . The key battles of the Spanish–American War of 1898 were fought by the Navy. Using mostly new volunteers , the U.S. forces defeated Spain in land campaigns in Cuba and played the central role in the Philippine–American War . Starting in 1910,
23247-488: The legitimate government. By the time Westmoreland became army commander in South Vietnam, the option of a Korea-type settlement with a large demilitarized zone separating north and south, favored by military and diplomatic figures, had been rejected by the U.S. government, whose objectives were to achieve a decisive victory and not to use vastly greater resources. The infiltration by regular North Vietnamese Army forces into
23436-535: The local banking and textile industries. Eugenia's aunt Bessie Springs Childs' lived with other influential family members in Columbia, South Carolina , owning property that would become the Visanska Starks House . The family operated Springs Industries (now Springs Global ) railroads and utilities. At the age of 15, William became an Eagle Scout in his Boy Scouts of America (BSA) local council's Troop 1, and
23625-404: The low estimates they produced were lies were at the rank of colonel and below. During the acrimonious trial, Mike Wallace was hospitalized for depression, and despite the legal conflict separating the two, Westmoreland and his wife sent him flowers. Wallace's memoir is generally sympathetic to Westmoreland, although he makes it clear he disagreed with him on issues surrounding the Vietnam War and
23814-509: The minds of the American public. At one point in 1968, Westmoreland considered the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam in a contingency plan codenamed Fracture Jaw , which was abandoned when it became known to the White House. In June 1968, Westmoreland was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to succeed General Harold K. Johnson as Chief of Staff of the United States Army . Shortly after
24003-471: The new C-46 Commando aircraft, the first aircraft with two troop doors for parachute exits. At 21:00 on the night of 17 December 1944, Colonel Tucker was summoned to the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters. There he learned that the Germans had broken through into Belgium and Luxembourg with a powerful armored thrust launched south of Aachen in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge . The next morning
24192-511: The newly organized Army War College from October 1950 to July 1952. From July 1952 to October 1953, Westmoreland commanded the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team in Japan and Korea. He was promoted to brigadier general in November 1952 at the age of 38, making him one of the youngest U.S. Army generals in the post-World War II era. After returning to the United States in October 1953, Westmoreland
24381-451: The next several days, the Americans stood at 100-yard intervals collecting souvenirs by the jeep-load as almost never-ending columns of enemy forces poured through the regiment's lines to surrender. At 10:00 hours on 3 May 1945, a jeep full of I Company men grew tired of waiting for a Russian element to link up with them, so they drove down the south side of the Elde and then twelve more miles to
24570-680: The night of 9 July 1943, the 504th helped spearhead the Allied invasion of Sicily in the first airborne military offensive in the history of the United States Army . The paratroopers of the 504th crossed over the Sicilian coast on schedule. Despite extensive precautions to avoid an incident, near the Sicilian coast a nervous Allied naval vessel suddenly fired upon the formation. Immediately, all other naval vessels and shore troops joined in, downing friendly aircraft and forcing planeloads of paratroopers to exit far from their intended drop zones in one of
24759-501: The number of American parachutists dropped to be over ten times the actual number. On 13 July 1943, the 504th Parachute Infantry moved out, spearheading the 82nd Airborne Division's drive northwest 150 miles (240 km) along the southern coast of Sicily. With captured Italian light tanks, trucks, motorcycles, horses, mules, bicycles, and even wheelbarrows pressed into service, the 82nd encountered only light resistance and took 22,000 POWs in their first contact with enemy forces. Overall,
24948-473: The offensive operations for which they were better suited and had been trained. For the first time the men were engaged in static trench warfare like that of World War I a generation before, with barbed wire entanglements and minefields in front and between alternate positions. It was during this battle that the 504th acquired the nickname "The Devils in Baggy Pants," taken from the following entry found in
25137-624: The open field, and at 17:00 were ordered to withdraw 200 yards (180 m) to the edge of a wood. Colonel Tucker ordered the 1st Battalion to engage in an assault on the German forces in Cheneux that night. The Devils pressed forward, and by nightfall had given the Germans their first defeat of the Battle of the Bulge. Through heavy fire, Companies B and C wiped out an estimated five companies of German forces, as well as fourteen flak-wagons, six half-tracks, four trucks, and four 105 mm howitzers. However,
25326-476: The pathfinders of the 504th landed on the drop zone, followed thirty minutes later by the rest of the regiment and C Company of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, to become the first Allied troops to land in the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden —the largest airborne operation in history. By 18:00 hours, the 504th had accomplished its assigned mission (although the enemy had managed to destroy one of
25515-535: The protection of Saudi Arabia . In January 1991 Operation Desert Storm commenced, a U.S.-led coalition which deployed over 500,000 troops, the bulk of them from U.S. Army formations, to drive out Iraqi forces . The campaign ended in total victory, as Western coalition forces routed the Iraqi Army . Some of the largest tank battles in history were fought during the Gulf war. The Battle of Medina Ridge , Battle of Norfolk and
25704-477: The regiment arrived, mostly in "40 and 8s," and immediately took up positions along the west bank of the Rhine River . 504th patrols crossed nightly in small boats, engaging in brisk fire-fights almost every patrol. The enemy made a few attempts to cross to the regiment's side of the river, but all efforts were turned back. On 6 April 1945, A Company crossed the Rhine at 02:30 hours and immediately made contact with
25893-479: The regiment in the 82nd were the 325th and 326th Glider Infantry Regiments , together with supporting units. The 504th PIR, now under the command of 31-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Henry "Rube" Tucker , who had formerly been the 504th's executive officer (XO), soon moved from Fort Benning to Fort Bragg , North Carolina , on 30 September 1942 to finish its training, fill its Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE), and prepare for its staging call. When
26082-576: The regiment, 1st Battalion (1-504 PIR) and 2nd Battalion (2-504 PIR), are currently active, both assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The regiment was initially constituted on 24 February 1942, over two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent American entry into World War II, in the Army of the United States as the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR). The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions were constituted
26271-426: The remaining men rowed with the rifle butts. Only 13 boats made it across, and only 11 of those were in condition to return across the river to deliver succeeding waves. The 1st Battalion formed the second wave, and they established a firm bridgehead from which the units carried the battle to the enemy defending the old Fort Belvedere and captured the bridge from the north side. Lieutenant General Dempsey, commander of
26460-663: The remaining were swept into the BCT modernization program . By 2017, the Brigade Modernization project was completed and its headquarters, the Brigade Modernization Command, was renamed the Joint Modernization Command, or JMC. In response to Budget sequestration in 2013 , Army plans were to shrink to 1940 levels, although actual Active-Army end-strengths were projected to fall to some 450,000 troops by
26649-524: The remote border were apparently concentrating to mount an offensive and Westmoreland considered this the danger that had to be tackled immediately. There was also entrenched guerrilla subversion throughout the heavily populated coastal regions by the Viet Cong . During this time, Westmoreland forbade the CIA from publishing a count of enemy fighters greater than 399,000, because admitting there were more than 600,000 fighters including guerrillas would have revealed that
26838-470: The rest of the 504th and, supported by a huge 350-round barrage from the Navy, repulsed the enemy, forcing the Germans to retreat from Salerno. Colonel Tucker and two of his men were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for their actions at Altavilla. The operation secured the flanks of the Fifth Army, allowing it to break out of the coastal plain and drive on to Naples. On 1 October 1943,
27027-426: The same date as Companies A, B, and C, respectively, of the 504th PIR, and were activated on 1 May 1942 at Fort Benning , Georgia , and was assigned to the U.S. Army Airborne Command. When complete with its regimental training, the 504th, then under the command of Colonel Theodore L. Dunn, was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division , commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgway , on 15 August 1942. Serving alongside
27216-406: The same high price on life as does a Westerner. Life is plentiful, life is cheap in the Orient. And as the philosophy of the Orient expresses it: Life is not important." Westmoreland's view has been heavily criticized by Nick Turse , the author of the book Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam . Turse said that many of the Vietnamese killed were actually innocent civilians, and
27405-403: The service chiefs from each of the four military services belonging to the Department of Defense who advise the president of the United States , the secretary of defense and the National Security Council on operational military matters, under the guidance of the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In 1986, the Goldwater–Nichols Act mandated that operational control of
27594-413: The service of the army. By the twentieth century, the U.S. Army had mobilized the U.S. Volunteers on four occasions during each of the major wars of the nineteenth century. During World War I, the " National Army " was organized to fight the conflict, replacing the concept of U.S. Volunteers. It was demobilized at the end of World War I and was replaced by the Regular Army, the Organized Reserve Corps, and
27783-456: The services follows a chain of command from the president to the secretary of defense directly to the unified combatant commanders , who have control of all armed forces units in their geographic or function area of responsibility, thus the secretaries of the military departments (and their respective service chiefs underneath them) only have the responsibility to organize, train and equip their service components. The army provides trained forces to
27972-415: The side of Britain , France , Russia , Italy and the other Allies . U.S. troops were sent to the Western Front and were involved in the last offensives that ended the war. With the armistice in November 1918, the army once again decreased its forces. In 1939, estimates of the Army's strength ranged between 174,000 and 200,000 soldiers, smaller than that of Portugal 's, which ranked it 17th or 19th in
28161-428: The standard support role in an army. The U.S. Army's conventional combat capability currently consists of 11 active divisions and 1 deployable division headquarters (7th Infantry Division) as well as several independent maneuver units. 504th Infantry Regiment (United States) Armed Forces Expeditions Southwest Asia The 504th Infantry Regiment , originally the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR),
28350-443: The state militias. In the 1920s and 1930s, the "career" soldiers were known as the " Regular Army " with the "Enlisted Reserve Corps" and "Officer Reserve Corps" augmented to fill vacancies when needed. In 1941, the " Army of the United States " was founded to fight World War II. The Regular Army, Army of the United States, the National Guard, and Officer/Enlisted Reserve Corps (ORC and ERC) existed simultaneously. After World War II,
28539-402: The states of California , Nevada , Utah , Colorado , Arizona , Wyoming and New Mexico . The American Civil War was the costliest war for the U.S. in terms of casualties. After most slave states , located in the southern U.S., formed the Confederate States , the Confederate States Army , led by former U.S. Army officers, mobilized a large fraction of Southern white manpower. Forces of
28728-412: The statutory authority to conduct all the affairs of the army under the authority, direction, and control of the secretary of defense . The chief of staff of the Army , who is the highest-ranked military officer in the army, serves as the principal military adviser and executive agent for the secretary of the Army, i.e., its service chief; and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , a body composed of
28917-490: The surrender of almost 250,000 Axis soldiers . Upon arrival the paratroops marched eight miles south of the city where they established a cantonment area consisting of a few stone huts and a tent city. Soon, the regiment was moved by "40 and 8's" northward to Oujda , Morocco . The "40 and 8's" were railroad cars dating from World War I , so called because they were designed to carry 40 men or 8 horses. Training intensified and senior officers such as General Eisenhower ,
29106-400: The takeover of South Korea by North Korea and later to invade the northern nation. After repeated advances and retreats by both sides and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army 's entry into the war, the Korean Armistice Agreement returned the peninsula to the status quo in July 1953. The Vietnam War is often regarded as a low point for the U.S. Army due to the use of drafted personnel ,
29295-463: The theater for the joint force, and to integrate national, multinational, and joint power on land. The Continental Army was created on 14 June 1775 by the Second Continental Congress as a unified army for the colonies to fight Great Britain , with George Washington appointed as its commander. The army was initially led by men who had served in the British Army or colonial militias and who brought much of British military heritage with them. As
29484-419: The time, Westmoreland was focused on the Battle of Khe Sanh and considered the Tet Offensive to be a diversionary attack. It is not clear if Khe Sanh was meant to be distraction for the Tet Offensive or vice versa; sometimes this is called the Riddle of Khe Sanh. Regardless, US and South Vietnamese troops successfully fought off the attacks during the Tet Offensive, and the communist forces took heavy losses, but
29673-417: The total number of active divisions had dropped from 89 to 12. The leaders of the Army saw this demobilization as a success. In the Pacific War , U.S. Army soldiers participated alongside the United States Marine Corps in capturing the Pacific Islands from Japanese control. Following the Axis surrenders in May (Germany) and August (Japan) of 1945, army troops were deployed to Japan and Germany to occupy
29862-412: The town of Eldenburg . There they were entertained by a company of Cossacks , whose specific unit designation none of the men could recall after partaking of the various toasts offered in honor of Roosevelt , Churchill and Stalin . The war officially ended in Europe on 8 May 1945. The 504th returned briefly to Nancy, France until the 82nd Airborne Division, the British 11th Armoured Division and
30051-537: The transition to the all-volunteer force by eliminating reveille formations at dawn, allowing beer to be served in mess halls during evening meals, omitting bed check, easing pass policies, and other directives. Westmoreland's tenure as Chief of Staff ended on 30 June 1972. He was offered the position of Supreme Allied Commander in Europe , but opted to retire on 30 June 1972. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal by President Richard Nixon . Westmoreland ran unsuccessfully for Governor of South Carolina as
30240-447: The troops rushed to the same side of the vessel as it pulled into Liverpool on 22 April 1944. The 82nd Airborne Division band greeted them with "We're All American and proud to be...," and it was assumed that the 504th would rejoin the 82nd for the upcoming invasion of Normandy , scheduled for early June. Yet, as D-Day approached, it became apparent that the 504th would be held back due to a lack of replacements. Brigadier General Gavin,
30429-402: The two companies were decimated, with 23 killed and 202 wounded; eighteen enlisted men remained in Company B, and thirty-eight men and three officers in Company C. Company A of the 1st Battalion, 504th, as well as the first platoon of Company C of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their outstanding performance during this action. Throughout
30618-676: The two defeated nations. Two years after World War II, the Army Air Forces separated from the army to become the United States Air Force in September 1947. In 1948, the army was desegregated by order 9981 of President Harry S. Truman . The end of World War II set the stage for the East–West confrontation known as the Cold War . With the outbreak of the Korean War , concerns over the defense of Western Europe rose. Two corps, V and VII , were reactivated under Seventh United States Army in 1950 and U.S. strength in Europe rose from one division to four. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops remained stationed in West Germany, with others in Belgium ,
30807-444: The unit in the hospital with broken bones, sprains and bruises. Finally, the order came and the 504th moved by truck to Kairouan , Tunisia , which was to be the 82nd Airborne Division's point of departure for the Allied invasion of Sicily . Colonel James M. Gavin , commander of the 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (with the 3rd Battalion of the 504th attached), led the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Husky , and, on
30996-452: The unpopularity of the war with the U.S. public and frustrating restrictions placed on the military by U.S. political leaders. While U.S. forces had been stationed in South Vietnam since 1959, in intelligence and advising/training roles, they were not deployed in large numbers until 1965, after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident . U.S. forces effectively established and maintained control of the "traditional" battlefield, but they struggled to counter
31185-475: The war. In the final analysis, Giap won the war despite losing many battles, and as long as the army survived to fight another day, the idea of Vietnam lived in the hearts of the people who would support it, and that is the essence of "revolutionary war". For the remainder of his life, Westmoreland maintained that the United States did not lose the war in Vietnam; he stated instead that "our country did not fulfill its commitment to South Vietnam. By virtue of Vietnam,
31374-416: The withdrawal. The 504th had lost only nine men to the enemy's 150, and 32 troopers were captured for 10 days and forced marched 100 km to Plettendorf, Germany then were liberated by elements of the 83rd Infantry Division . Whether the two companies achieved the higher aim of diverting enemy forces from a more important sector upstream is unknown. For the men involved, it was a small-scale " Dunkirk " with
31563-417: The world in size. General George C. Marshall became Army chief of staff in September 1939 and set about expanding and modernizing the Army in preparation for war. The United States joined World War II in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Some 11 million Americans were to serve in various Army operations. On the European front , U.S. Army troops formed a significant portion of
31752-409: The youngest divisional commander in the U.S. Army), to jump in ahead of the British Second Army , commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Miles C. Dempsey , 57 miles behind enemy lines in the vicinity of Grave , in the Netherlands, few believed the mission would actually be conducted. The operation would require seizing the longest bridge in Europe over the Meuse ( Maas ) and several other bridges over
31941-400: Was Superintendent of the United States Military Academy from 1960 to 1963. In 1962, Westmoreland was admitted as an honorary member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati . He was promoted to lieutenant general in July 1963 and was Commanding General of the XVIII Airborne Corps from 1963 to 1964. The attempted French re-colonization of Vietnam following World War II culminated in
32130-400: Was "the best we have, without question". As the head of the MACV, he was known for highly publicized, positive assessments of US military prospects in Vietnam . In 1965, TIME named him man of the year. He was mentioned in another Time magazine article as a potential candidate for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination . As time went on, the strengthening of communist combat forces in
32319-439: Was adopted by Chief of Staff of the Army General Creighton Abrams in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and involved treating the three components of the army – the Regular Army , the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve as a single force. General Abrams' intertwining of the three components of the army effectively made extended operations impossible without the involvement of both the Army National Guard and Army Reserve in
32508-431: Was appointed the chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division . After the war, Westmoreland completed paratrooper training at the Army's Jump School in 1946. He then commanded the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment , 82nd Airborne Division . From 1947 to 1950, he served as chief of staff for the 82nd Airborne Division . He was an instructor at the Command and General Staff College from August to October 1950 and at
32697-662: Was at first very small and after General St. Clair's defeat at the Battle of the Wabash, where more than 800 soldiers were killed, the Regular Army was reorganized as the Legion of the United States , established in 1791 and renamed the United States Army in 1796. In 1798, during the Quasi-War with France, the U.S. Congress established a three-year " Provisional Army " of 10,000 men, consisting of twelve regiments of infantry and six troops of light dragoons . In March 1799, Congress created an "Eventual Army" of 30,000 men, including three regiments of cavalry . Both "armies" existed only on paper, but equipment for 3,000 men and horses
32886-442: Was calm. Company A was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for its action during this engagement. Then the enemy counterattacked. The first counterattack was broken less than fifty yards from the perimeter, while the second was preceded by heavy artillery preparation. As enemy tanks and infantry closed in, the outnumbered and outgunned A Company fought its way back to the river's edge. The regiment sent I Company across to support
33075-408: Was certain to lose. Others point out that the settlement occurred after two of Westmoreland's former intelligence officers, Major General Joseph McChristian and Colonel Gains Hawkins, testified to the accuracy of the substantive allegations of the broadcast, which were that Westmoreland ordered changes in intelligence reports on Viet Cong troop strengths for political reasons. Disagreements persist about
33264-442: Was convinced that the Vietnamese communists could be destroyed by fighting a war of attrition that, theoretically, would render the North Vietnamese Army unable to fight. His war strategy was marked by heavy use of artillery and airpower and repeated attempts to engage the communists in large-unit battles, and thereby exploit the US's vastly superior firepower and technology. Westmoreland's response, to those Americans who criticized
33453-425: Was deputy assistant chief of staff, G–1, for manpower control on the Army staff until 1955. In 1954, Westmoreland completed a three-month management program at Harvard Business School . As historian Stanley Karnow noted, "Westy was a corporation executive in uniform." From 1955 to 1958, he was the United States Army's Secretary of the General Staff. He then commanded the 101st Airborne Division from 1958 to 1960. He
33642-480: Was false". He also accused Westmoreland of concealing evidence of atrocities from the American public when he was the Army Chief of Staff. In more than a decade of analyzing long-classified military criminal investigation files, court-martial transcripts, Congressional studies, contemporaneous journalism and the testimony of United States soldiers and Vietnamese civilians, I found that Gen. William C. Westmoreland, his subordinates, superiors and successors also engaged in
33831-421: Was fraudulent and that he ordered others to lie. The reality was complicated. Westmoreland had made it clear to his subordinates that he preferred low estimates of enemy strength. His chief of intelligence, Brigadier General Phillip Davidson , responded by ordering his subordinates to produce low estimates, but said he believed those low estimates would in fact be valid. The officers who acknowledged openly that
34020-575: Was never available to Westmoreland, because it was considered politically unacceptable. In public, Westmoreland continued to be sanguine about the progress being made throughout his time in Vietnam, though supportive journalist James Reston thought Westmoreland's characterizing of the conflict as attrition warfare presented his generalship in a misleading light. Westmoreland's critics say his successor, General Creighton Abrams , deliberately switched emphasis away from what Westmoreland dubbed attrition. Revisionists point to Abrams's first big operation being
34209-436: Was no winter. The second strategy was to form alliances with other Indian tribes, but that too was useless because the Seminoles had destroyed all the other Indians when they entered Florida in the late eighteenth century. The U.S. Army fought and won the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), which was a defining event for both countries. The U.S. victory resulted in acquisition of territory that eventually became all or parts of
34398-415: Was ordered to take the towns Brume, Rhier, and Cheneux. At 14:00 on 20 December 1944, 1st Battalion (less A Company) moved out toward Cheneux, where it was immediately engaged by a battalion of the SS- Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper 's Kampfgruppe Peiper of the I SS Panzer Corps . Crossing an open 400-yard field laced every fifteen yards with barbed wire, the 1st Battalion faced the heaviest enemy fire
34587-528: Was procured and stored. The War of 1812 , the second and last war between the United States and Great Britain, had mixed results. The U.S. Army did not conquer Canada but it did destroy Native American resistance to expansion in the Old Northwest and stopped two major British invasions in 1814 and 1815. After taking control of Lake Erie in 1813, the U.S. Army seized parts of western Upper Canada, burned York and defeated Tecumseh , which caused his Western Confederacy to collapse. Following U.S. victories in
34776-452: Was promoted to first lieutenant, after which he was a battery commander and battalion staff officer with the 8th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks , Hawaii. In World War II , Westmoreland saw combat with the 34th Field Artillery Regiment , 9th Infantry Division , in Tunisia , Sicily , France , and Germany ; he commanded the 34th Battalion in Tunisia and Sicily. He reached the temporary wartime rank of colonel , and on 13 October 1944,
34965-439: Was quickly given land certificates and disbanded in a reflection of the republican distrust of standing armies. State militias became the new nation's sole ground army, except a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Point 's arsenal. However, because of continuing conflict with Native Americans , it was soon considered necessary to field a trained standing army. The Regular Army
35154-523: Was recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo from the BSA as a young adult. After spending a year at The Citadel in 1932, he was appointed to attend the United States Military Academy on the nomination of Senator James F. Byrnes , a family friend. Westmoreland said his motive for entering West Point was "to see the world". He was a member of a distinguished West Point class that also included Creighton Abrams and Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Westmoreland graduated as First Captain ,
35343-441: Was staying on the strategic defensive out of fear of Chinese intervention, but at the same time Johnson had made it clear that there was a higher commitment to defending Vietnam. Much of the thinking about defense was by academics turned government advisors who concentrated on nuclear weapons, seen as making conventional war obsolete. The fashion for counter-insurgency thinking also denigrated the role of conventional warfare . Despite
35532-414: Was ultimately politically and militarily unsuccessful. Growing United States casualties and the draft undermined United States support for the war, while large-scale casualties among non-combatants weakened South Vietnamese support. Westmoreland was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina , on 26 March 1914 to Eugenia Talley Childs and James Ripley Westmoreland. His upper middle class family was involved in
35721-502: Was unusual in that U.S. troops brought a large enemy formation to battle. After talking to junior officers General Westmoreland became skeptical about localised concentrated search and destroy sweeps of short duration, because the Communist forces controlled whether there were military engagements, giving an option to simply avoid battle with US forces if the situation warranted it. The alternative of sustained countrywide pacification operations, which would require massive use of US manpower,
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