Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990 TAG: 9004200379
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE SHENANDOAH BUREAU
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"For 10 years, we played a major role in blocking the threat of communism in that important part of the world," said Westmoreland, who commanded U.S. troops in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968.
The war in Vietnam, he said, was a limited war "with limited but positive results." One goal of the war was to protect strategically important counties south of Vietnam, he said - which have since formed a stable alliance, and are still non-communist.
Westmoreland, a retired four-star general and Army chief of staff, and a former superintendent at West Point, spoke Thursday night at Virginia Military Institute's Jackson Memorial Hall as part of VMI's Johnson Lecture Series. Past speakers have included former President Gerald Ford, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, British Prime Minister Edward Heath and White House chief of staff Howard Baker in 1988.
Westmoreland was less upbeat about the fate of Vietnam itself, saying the withdrawal of American troops left the U.S. without any power to bargain with Hanoi.
"Nobody wants to go to Vietnam anymore," he said. "Everybody seems to want to get out. The South Vietnamese have made tremendous sacrifices. What have they won? The answer is, they haven't won anything."
Westmoreland also told the audience of cadets and local residents that he spent five years as a cadet himself - one at The Citadel in South Carolina, and four at West Point.
He also noted his grandfather was a graduate of VMI - which drew cheers.
The former general, who was in uniform, told the cadets to remember when they were military officers themselves to challenge their troops.
"Morale is the essence of achievement," he said. "Troops take pride in doing a difficult task."
by CNB