Notes PART I 5. MACV ComdHist, 1968, p . 248 . Pre-Tet 1968 6. Ibid ., pp . 238, 345 ; MACV ComdHist, 1967, pp. 156—7 ; HQMC , Status of Forces, Dec67—Jan68 . CHAPTER 1 7. Gen William C. Westmoreland USA (Ret .) inrvw, dtd 4Apr83, p . A PUZZLING WA R 11 (Oral HistColl, MCHC) ; MACV ComdHist, 1968, pp . 248, 443 , 475—77 ; MACV ComdHist, 1967, p . 9 . Unless otherwise noted the material in this chapter is derived fro m 8. MACV ComdHist, 1967, p . 124 . For relations between FMFPac an d MilHistBr, Office of the Secretary, Joint Staff MACV, Command His- III MAF, and between III MAF and Seventh Air Force, see the previ- tory, 1967, hereafter MACV ComdHisc, 1967 ; MilHistBr, Office of ous volumes in this series, Shulimson and Johnson, U.S . Marines i n the Secretary, Joint Staff MACV, Command History, 1968, hereafte r Vietnam, 1965 ; Shulimson, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1966; and Teller, MACV ComdHist, 1968 ; HQMC, Status of Forces, Dec67—Jan68 ; Rogers, and Fleming, U .S. Marines in Vietnam, 1967, passim . See also FMFPac, Marine Operations in the Republic of Vietnam, hereafte r BGen John R . Chaisson Itrs to his wife, dtd 6Sep67, 30Sep67, an d FMFPac, MarOpsV with specific month ; CGFMFPac, Pacific Opera- 14Nov67 (Chaisson Papers) . tions, tab F, General Officers Symposium Book, 1967, hereafte r 9. MACV ComdHist, 1967, p . 167 ; For command relations betwee n CGFMFPac, Pacific Opns ; III MAF ComdCs, Dec67—Jan68 ; LtGe n Army and Navy Flotilla Group see MajGen William B . Fulton, River- John R . Chaisson Papers (Hoover Institution on War, Peace and Revo- ine Operations 1966—69, Vietnam Studies (Washington : Dept of th e lution, Stanford University), hereafter Chaisson Papers ; Assessmen t Army, 1973), pp 85—8 . and Strategy Files (Indochina Archives, Institute of East Asian Studies , University of California, Berkeley), hereafter A&S Files, Indochin a 10. MACV ComdHist 1967, p . 6 ; MACV ComdHist 1968, pp . 217 , Archives ; LtGen Victor H . Krulak, First to Fight, An Inside View of the 222—23 . U.S . Marine Corps (Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, 1984) , 11. Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p . 127 . See also MACV Comd - hereafter Krulak, First to Fight; Adm Ulysses S. Grant Sharp, USN , Hist 1968, pp . 7 and 22—3 . CinCPac, and Gen William C . Westmoreland, USA, ComUSMACV, 12. Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p . 240 . Report on the War in Vietnam (As of 30 Jun 1968) (Washington : GPO , 13. Gen William C . Westmoreland, USA, Comments on Shulimson , 1968), hereafter Sharp and Westmoreland, Report on the War; Ge n U.S . Marines in Vietnam, 1966, dtd 28Ju178 (Vietnam Comment File) . William C . Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports (Garden City, New York : 14. Willard Webb, JCS Historical Office, in Vietnam Historians Work - Doubleday & Co, Inc ., 1976), hereafter Westmoreland, A Soldier shop, Plenary Session, 9 May 1983 (Washington : Hist&MusDiv , Reports; Edward J . Marolda, By Sea, Air, and Land, An Illustrated Histo- n .d .[1984]), p . 12 . ry of the U .S . Navy and the War in Southeast Asia (Washington : Nava l Historical Center, 1994), hereafter Marolda, By Sea, Air, and Land; Jac k South Vietnam and I Corp s Shulimson and Maj Charles M . Johnson, U.S . Marines in Vietnam, The 15. The preceding paragraphs of this section were largely drawn fro m Landing and the Buildup, (Washington : Hist&MusDiv, HQMC, 1978) , Stanley Karnow, Vietnam, A History (New York : The Viking Press, 1983) , hereafter Shulimson and Johnson, U .S . Marines in Vietnam, 196 .5; Jac k pp . 213—311, 386, 444—452, hereafter Karnow, Vietnam; Col Dave R . Shulimson, U .S . Marines in Vietnam, An Expanding War, 1966 (Wash- Palmer, Summons of the Trumpet, (San Rafael, California: Presidio Press , ington : Hist&MusDiv, HQMC 1982), hereafter, Shulimson, U .S . 1978), pp . 1-48, hereafter Palmer, Summons of the Trumpet; and the pre- Marines in Vietnam, 1966 ; Maj Gary F. Telfer, LtCol Lane Rogers, and vious volumes in this series : Capt Robert H . Whitlow, U .S. Marines in Victor K . Fleming, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, Fighting the North Viet- Vietnam, 1954—64, The Advisory and Combat Assistance Era (Washington , namese Army, 1967 (Washington : Hist&MusDiv, HQMC, 1984), here - D .C. : Hist&Mus Div, HQMC, 1977); Shulimson and Johnson, U .S. after Telfer, Rogers, and Fleming, U.S . Marines in 1967 ; BGen Edwi n Marines in Vietnam, 1965; Shulimson, U .S. Marines in Vietnam, 1966; H . Simmons, " Marine Corps Operations in Vietnam,1968," Naval Telfer, Rogers, and Fleming, U.S . Marines in Vietnam, 1967, passim . Review, 1970 (Annapolis, Maryland : U .S . Naval Institute, 1970), pp . 16. MACV ComdHist, 1968, pp . 142—3, 270, 300—01, 335, 341 ; 290—320, hereafter Simmons, " Marine Operations, 1968 . " HQMC, Status of Forces, Dec67—Jan68 . There is a slight discrepanc y III MAF in January 196 8 between the figures in the command history and the Status of Forces . 1. HQMC, Status of Forces, Dec67—Jan68 . See also III MAF ComdC , The text uses the figures in the Status of Forces as more representative Jan68 ; FMFPac, MarOpsV, Dec67—Jan68 ; and MACV ComdHist , of the period at the beginning of 1968 . For the strength of the Navy, 1967, pp . 127—8 . see Marolda, By Sea, Air, and Land, p. 216 . For the powers of the Mil- 2. III MAF ComdC, Jan68 ; MACV ComdHist, 1967, pp . 127—8 . itary Council, See Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p . 219 . MACV ComdHist, 1968, pp . 275, 300—01 . 3 . Gen Robert E . Cushman, Jr. Biographical File (Ref Sec, MCHC) . 17. MACV and Command Relation s 18. CGFMFPac, Pacific Opns, pp . 10—11 . 4. MACV ComdHisc, 1967, p . 124 ; Sharp and Westmoreland, Report 19. MACV ComdHisr 1968, p . 376; HQMC, Status of Forces , on the War, pp . ii—iii, 79, 156, 291—4 ; Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, Dec67—Jan68 . passim . 20. Shulimson, U.S . Marines in Vietnam, 1966, pp . 73—91 . 655 656 THE DEFINING YEAR 21. MACV ComdHist, 1968, pp 378—80 ; HQMC, Status of Forces , 36. MACV ComdHist, 1968, pp . 128—9 . Dec67 ; Simmons, "Marine Operations, 1968," p . 293 . 37. Krulak, First to Fight, p . 217 . 22. Ibid . ; III MAF msg to CG1stMarDiv, dtd 26Dec67, Encl 27, 1s t Focus on the Nort h MarDiv, ComdC, Dec67 . 38. Shulimson, U .S. Marines in Vietnam, 1966, pp. 139—98 ; Teller, 23. Gen Robert E . Cushman intvw, Nov 1, 1982, (OralHist Coll , Rogers, Fleming, U .S. Marines in Vietnam, 1967, passim . MCHC, Washington, D .C .), pp . 8—9, hereafter Cushman Intvw, 1982 . 39. Shulimson, op . cit ., pp . 314—18 ; Teller, Rogers, and Fleming, op. 24. 3d MarDiv, III MAF Campaign Plan Review, Working Paper, n .d . , cit ., pp. 86—94; LtGen Louis Metzger, "Memoir," ms, pp . 57—114 . Subj : Command Relations with 1st ARVN Division, Encl 78, 3d Mar- 40. This and the following paragraph are derived from : The Pentago n Div ComdC, Pt II, Supporting Documents, Dec67 . Papers, The Defense Department History of United States Decisionmaking o n The Enemy Vietnam, The Senator Gravel Edition, 4 vols (Boston : Beacon Press , Additional Sources for this section are: Douglas Pike, "The Othe r 1975), vol 4 ., pp . 285—89 hereafter, The Pentagon Papers, Gravel Edition; Side," in Peter Braestrup, ed ., Vietnam as History, Ten Years After th e MACV ComdHist, 1967, pp. 143—49 ; Westmoreland, A Soldier Paris Peace Accords (Washington ; D .C . : University Press of America, Reports, pp . 227—230 ; Lyndon B . Johnson, The Vantage Point, Perspectives 1984), pp . 71—7, hereafter Pike, "The Other Side ;" Robert Pringle, of the Presidency, 1963—1969 (New York : Holt, Rinehart, & Winston , "NVA Order of Battle" ms, hereafter Pringle, Order of Battle;" Davi d 1971), pp . 369—71, hereafter Johnson, The Vantage Point . Fulgham, " If MACV Hasn 't Said It, DIA Won't Say It; " ms ; hereafte r 41. Additional source for this paragraph is III MAF ComdC, Dec67 . Fulgham, " If MACV Hasn 't Said It " ; Gen William C . Westmoreland, News Conference Folder, dtd 26Jan1982 . MACV vis a vis Marine s Additional sources for this section are: Gen Wallace M . Greene , 25. Pike, "The Other Side," p . 73 ; Television France, Transcript of Personal Notes and Related material Pertaining to United States and Incvw with General Giap, "La Peste Ho Chi Minh " [The Ho Chi Minh Marine Corps Participation in Operations in Vietnam Binder, Ge n Trail], 18Feb83, "The 10,000 Day Lie," The Washington Times, dtd Wallace M . Greene, Jr., Personal Papers Collection, MCHC, hereafte r 16Mar83, p . 11 . See also Karnow, Vietnam, pp . 257—9 . Operations in Vietnam Binder, Greene Papers ; Victor H . Krula k Papers, hereafter Krulak Papers ; Cushman intvw, 1982 ; MajGen Ray- 26. MACV ComdHist 1967, pp. 15—7 ; MACV ComdHist, 1968, pp . mond L . Murray Incvw, 27Jun75 (OralHist Coll, MCHC, Washington , 60—7, 96, 103—4, 108 ; Pike, "The Other Side," pp . 73—4 ; Pringle , D.C.), hereafter Murray intvw ; Senior Officers Debriefing Program , "NVA Order of Battle. " U .S . Army, Military Institute, Carlisle Bks, Pa., hereafter Senior Offi - 27. Ibid . cers Debriefing, Carlisle . 28. MACV, Briefing on Enemy Order of Battle, dcd 23Nov67 (A& S Files, Indochina Archives), MACV ComdHist, 1967, pp .27—8 ; CIA , 42. For examples of General Greene's views see: CMC, Memorandu m Special National Intelligence Estimate, "Capabilities of the Viet- For the Record, dtd 22Jul65, Subj : Record of Conference on Southeas t namese Communists for Fighting in South Vietnam, " dcd 13Nov6 7 Asia held at White House and CMC, Memorandum for the Record , (Westmoreland News Conference Folder, 1982) ; Pringle, "NVA Orde r dcd 7Nov66, Subj : I Corps Estimate "Force Requirements and Long of Battle ;" Fulgham, "If MACV Didn't Say It . " Range Estimates for I Corps, RVN" in Operations in Vietnam Binder , 29. Gen William C . Westmoreland, Press Statement, dtd 26Jan198 2 Greene Papers .