Word: combat
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...will remain behind when the first chosen units depart Viet Nam for other stations in the Pacific, or in the case of 8,000 men, for the U.S., the war goes on. To the majority, the withdrawals remain little more than a gesture. Those just beginning tours in the combat zone might hope for future troop cuts. But few look beyond the next patrol. "Man, it doesn't mean nothing," said a member of a 25th Division weapons platoon on hearing the news, and his remarks were echoed by most of the men in his unit. Some servicemen share...
...Pacific. A team of 100 military and civilian Defense Department experts, who gathered in a movie theater, reviewed the already prepared top-secret folders and quickly made the decision on which troops to start pulling out of Viet Nam. The two 9th Infantry brigades and the Marine regimental combat team include roughly 17,000 men. They will be joined by about another 8,000 rear-echelon and naval personnel. The total number of American servicemen in the country will go down by less that 5%?but U.S. ground combat strength will be reduced by nearly...
...National Liberation Front. By meeting with South Viet Nam's President Nguyen Van Thieu and spelling out the common ground between Washington and Saigon, he tried to underline the solidarity of the two governments in the face of Communist efforts to divide and conquer. In giving more combat responsibility to the South Vietnamese, Nixon advertised U.S. confidence?such as it is?in the combat readiness of Saigon's forces. He aims to convince the Communists that they must negotiate with Thieu and not hold out in the expectation of dealing with a more malleable successor. If Nixon can dull dissent...
...Nixon approach carries other concomitant difficulties. The effectiveness of many South Vietnamese combat units remains in doubt, and no one knows for sure whether they will be able to maintain the present military balance as U.S. troops are withdrawn. One South Vietnamese official recently told Secretary of State William Rogers: "It's like a man learning to ride a bicycle. We think we can do it, but you never know until the man running alongside takes his hand away." Thanks to better training, better equipment and massive support from U.S. air and artillery, the South Vietnamese are improving. But they...
...them all at once would have looked too much like what White House insiders call "an elegant bugout." In any event, there would be opportunity later to take out more support personnel. To underline his seriousness, Nixon felt that most of the men to be replaced initially must be combat troops...