Word: walts
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Soon after landing in South Viet Nam with a new second star on his shoulders, Marine General Lewis Walt recognized that the U.S. role there called for qualities of heart and mind that are not defined in military manuals. "In this war," he said, "a soldier has to be much more than a man with a rifle or a man whose only objective is to kill. He has to be part diplomat, part technician, part politician-and 100% a human being." As the top Marine in Viet Nam, facing an array of challenges matched by no other corps commander...
With a command that embraces 10,440 sq. mi.-all five of the northernmost provinces that comprise I Corps -Walt had the task of stabilizing South Viet Nam's queasiest territory. The region was plagued by the country's most aggressive guerrillas, threatened with the massive cutting edge of well-armed North Vietnamese divisions and abroil with political dissidence. From the outset, Walt gave priority to winning over the civilians and holding the villages...
Hamlet by Hamlet. His humanitarianism made good military sense. "When we realized that 180,000 people lived within 82-mm. mortar range of the Danang Airbase, and when we realized that there would be no way to police every house," said Walt, "we decided that the only way to solve it was to make sure that we had friendlies living around the airfield." The number of Vietnamese now living in secure areas has doubled, to 1,000,000, during Walt's tour...
...husky Kansan, winner of two World War II Navy crosses, was so committed to pacification that the Marines became known as "Walt's Peace Corps." While assault units like the 1st (Airmobile) Cavalry rode their helicopters to major set-piece battles against big Communist forces in unpopulated areas, Walt's outnumbered Marines, for the most part, had to fight mile by mile, hamlet by hamlet...
...switch in tactics from the gung-ho role in World War II and Korea made Walt a frequent target of criticism. The controversy also pointed up a split between Marine and Army commanders. Army men, pointing to such bloody engagements as la Drang, argued that the way to win was to kill the V.C. first and pacify the population later. The Marines replied that search-and-destroy tactics suitable for the wastes of the Central Highlands could not be employed in the populous seacoast of "Eye" corps. Moreover, they pointed out, wherever Army troops pulled out, the Viet Cong flowed...