Word: ridgway
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...fill their time and place in history as General Alfred Maximilian Gruenther. As NATO's first Supreme Commander in Europe (SACEUR), Eisenhower and his towering prestige rallied and heartened Europe's terrified nations and gave them confidence that the thing could be done. His successor, General Matthew Ridgway, was a blunt soldier who demanded more troops than the Europeans were willing to supply, stepped on many toes, and left no happy memories. In a time of peace-mongering, Gruenther has inherited the demanding and delicate...
...Item: Ridgway. As the President expected, a reporter brought up another troublesome issue: General Matthew B. Ridgway's attack in the Satevepost upon the Eisenhower Administration's defense policies. The President dismissed, abruptly, General Ridgway's contention that domestic politics influenced the reduction of the U.S. Army: "Well, first, if ever I have made a military decision out of deference to internal politics then I have been guilty of violating my own best determinations. I am determined never in that field to be influenced by such a thing." The President advised his questioners to check with Defense...
Then the President bore down hard on Ridgway: "As all of you here know, since back in 1940, I have been receiving advice from every kind of military assistant. Their advice is often expressing their own deeply felt, but, let us say, narrow fears...
...Ridgway fought hard for his position while he was in the Pentagon, but he seems to have lost. Now he is fighting a different battle, which his loyalty to his commandor-in-chief did not allow him to engage in while he was on active duty. He is attempting to get his views before the country. That he do so is all the more essential because Charles Wilson seems to be chopping up the Army and at the same time assuring everyone that the Army is more powerful than ever. The recent redesignation (but not reorganization) of all training divisions...
Unfortunately, the press has played up the issue of "political" control of the military establishment. This is not relevant to the present fracas. Civilians do and should have the last word in determining military policy. But before that last word is spoken, every responsible voice should be heard. Ridgway's views should be pondered thoughtfully by those who bear the burden of our security...