Introduction on september 7, 1967, at a press conference in washington, dc, united states secretary of defense robert mcnamara announced plans for the construction of an electronic antiinfiltration barrier below the demilitarized zone dmz, the line of. The cover of the book is a slickly contemporary minimalist design, cleverly. As much as any other individual, secretary of defense robert s. The story behind the mcnamara line by peter brush a version of this article appeared in vietnam magazine, february, 1996, pp. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war. Prior to his presidency, eisenhower was a lifelong military man, commanding the dday invasion while serving as supreme allied commander in europe during world war ii in february 1954, president eisenhower refused to commit american troops to the franco. Mcnamara papers 5 scope and content note the papers of robert strange mcnamara 19162009 span the years 19342009, with the bulk concentrated between 1968. The leader of the american campaign in vietnam, general william westmoreland and secretary mcnamara decided to start measuring the progress of the war based on the number of enemy forces killed. Robert strange mcnamara, one of the most recognizable and controversial figures of. He switched to using enemy body counts instead of territory or land based objectives to measure the americans success in the war. Vietnam war body count its baaacckk deep state goes. Foreign relations of the united states, 19611963, volume.
Blight is professor of international relations research, thomas j. Even after the war stopped there was no accountability in the us. The vietnam war body count controversy centers on the counting of enemy dead by the united. Hm3 robert michael casey united states navy for service as set forth in the following citation.
Herring explained, in a war without front lines and territorial objectives, where attriting the enemy was a major goal, the body count became the index of progress. Thats one of the more grisly aspects of the vietnam war that the u. True to his lifelong passion for charts and statistics made famous in the body counts that he still defends mcnamara lists 11 major causes for our failure in vietnam. Mcnamara, secretary of defense for presidents kennedy and johnson, helped lead america into vietnam. Mcnamara has 22 books on goodreads with 5550 ratings. Personal narrative of a tour of duty with the usmc in vietnam. Alternatively, visit the official book sites below.
I too fought in viet nam as a 2nd lt in the marines and the first time i read this i concluded the author had to have been there as a marine officer and this book was based on his experiences. Blog, buying, new homes opting for new home construction whether to buy an existing home or have one built is yet another decision to make during the homebuying process. Brigham is associate professor of history, and director of the program in international relations, vassar college. Robert michael casey was attached to golf company, 2nd battalion, 7th marines, 1st marine division, in 1968. The calderons tv pilot the calderons is a fulllength tv pilot that was an official selection of the nytvf and won the dynamic media award at sva 2006. Mcnamara writes vietnam mea culpa the washington post. The body count concept affirms westmorelands strategy of attrition and gave tangible evidence of winning the war. The mcnamara fallacy is named after robert mcnamara. Mcnamara personified the american commitment in vietnam. Jul 09, 2009 an oped sent out this morning by the future of freedom foundation mcnamaras other body count debacle by james bovard, july 9, 2009. Mcmasters only book, dereliction of duty is an explosive and authoritative new look. Unfortunately this body count metric led to a war of attrition, a policy of. Later he became the first president of the ford motor company from outside the ford family, and eventually found himself as the u. Jul 06, 2009 former defense secretary robert mcnamara died monday.
The mcnamara fallacy originates from the vietnam war, in which enemy body counts were taken to be a precise and objective. In july of 1965, facing an insurgent viet cong and yet to see signs of a u. The bloodiest year in vietnam and two other books on the indochina. He played a major role in escalating the united states involvement in the vietnam war. In lewis sorleys book a better war, published in 1999 after studies of voluminous previouslysecret papers of. Learn more about the elegant self and sign up for robs 7 free strategies to refine your elegance. The mcnamara fallacy originates from the vietnam war, in which enemy body counts were taken to be a precise and objective measure of success. The vietnam center and sam johnson vietnam archive.
Body counts and success in the vietnam and korean wars. The mcnamara fallacy learn to spot it and to avoid it. Gary mcnamara is a radio talk show host for red eye radio show in the westwood one radio networks with two videos in the cspan video library. Their goal was to reach the tipping point where they had eliminated more bodies than the north could replace. In the springof1967he confessed his apostasy to lbj. Just before the fall of saigon, thieu fled to taiwan. Mcnamara s last book on vietnam was one of the most controversial books ever published in this country. Or learn about strength to awaken and get a taste of this book by signing up for the 12 training strategies. Fluorescence microscopy data acquired for 3b bayesian localization microscopy. Private pessimism in a private memorandumhegave to the president on 19 may1967, mcnamarapainted a darkpicture. In retrospect mcnamarasbookis of particularinterest to the with lbj. George mcnamara, mary david, tom stossel, tom coates 2010 rogers pmn neutrophil chasing bacteria panorama movie text 20100920m updated with new web links 20120203f. Foreign relations of the united states, 19611963, volume iv.
Mcnamara devised the body count measurement to determine. In a 1995 interview with terry gross, mcnamara reflects on vietnam and admits his serious doubts about. Ronald spector, professor of history and international relations at george washington university, is the author of after tet. Revisiting thoughtsengendered by mcnamaras retrospect. Of the casualties listed on the wall approximatley 1,300 remain missing in action still. See more ideas about french colonial, french army and french foreign legion. This book will reignite the passionate debate about the war, about mcnamara, and about the lessons we can take away from the tragedy.
Robert strange mcnamara june 9, 1916 july 6, 2009 was an american business executive and the eighth united states secretary of defense, serving from 1961 to. Lloyd gentry is at home for two weeks from his tour of duty in vietnam. Praised for her lushly evocative mezzo and attentive and precise musicianship, clare mcnamara brings her signature vocal quality and sensitive interpretation to a wide variety of. Defense secretary robert mcnamara briefing the press on vietnam at the pentagon in 1965. Written twenty years after the end of the vietnam war, former secretary of defense robert mcnamaras controversial memoir answers the lingering questions that surround this disastrous episode in. About shawn and leslie leslie and shawn have been married since 1988 and have two boys. Body count mass market paperback february 1, 1988 by william huggett author 4. Report of mcnamara taylor mission to south vietnam. The day the bimoba bible was dedicated to god and made available to the public, a woman shared a story that answers this question. Mcnamara papers a finding aid to the collection in the library of congress manuscript division, library of congress washington, d. Mcnamara was responsible for the institution of systems analysis in public policy.
Dan mcnamara created a fulllength tv pilot which was an official selection at the nytvf and seen on comedy central. I too fought in viet nam as a 2nd lt in the marines and the first time i read this i concluded the author had to have been there as a marine officer and. This is the second time i read this book and i wish the author had put some details about his life as an afterward in the book. Mcnamara believed that the fight against communism in asia was worth the sacrifice of american lives, and yet he eventually came to believe that the war was, in fact, unwinnable. In 1967, he replaced ky and remained president of south vietnam until the final days of the war against the north. Im the robert belknap core faculty fellow at columbia, where i completed my ph.
Former defense secretary robert mcnamara, who died on july 6, was best known for ratcheting up the vietnam war thanks to the false claims he provided to president johnson, congress, and the american people. Eisenhower 18901969, a republican, was the popular 34th president of the united states, serving two terms from 1953 to 1961. Broadly speaking, my research focuses on the intersection of ancient rhetoric and philosophy, and im currently writing a book on quintilian and his central role in the long tradition of viewing certainty as a matter of consensus, an understanding at odds with the modern scientific. During the vietnam war why was body count used as a. The body count was a measurement of adversarys manpower losses. Robert strange mcnamara june 9, 1916 july 6, 2009 was an american business executive and the eighth united states secretary of defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under presidents john f. Yes, robert mcnamara and theodore draper are correct in their assessment of the vietnam war. There were countless acts of courage and sacrifice described.
The wrong kind of loyalty mcnamaras apology for vietnam. Written twenty years after the end of the vietnam war, former secretary of defense robert mcnamara s controversial memoir answers the lingering questions that surround this disastrous episode in american history. It cost the vietnamese people more than 34 million dead and wounded, property damage in the trillions. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time my marine, his company, his battalion, and doc casey and they handled a horrific situation in the finest tradition. In a 1995 interview with terry gross, mcnamara reflects on vietnam and admits his serious doubts about us policy and the decisionmaking that. For extraordinary heroism on 16 may 1968 while serving as a corpsman with company g, second battalion, seventh marines, 1st marine division in commection with operations against the enemy in the republic of vietnam. However, mcnamaras publication of in retrospect coinciding with the twentieth anniversary of the fall of saigon does make the motive for publication suspect. Institute for international studies, brown university.
In retrospect by robert mcnamara overdrive rakuten. During his 45year work career randy mcnamara led transformational courses for 300,000 people in north america, south america, europe, the middle east, australia, new zealand, and asia. Your memorandum of 21 september 1963 2 directed that general taylor and secretary mcnamara proceed to south vietnam to appraise the military and paramilitary effort to defeat the viet cong and to consider, in consultation with ambassador lodge, related political and social questions. The lack of fortified positions to take over in the brush of vietnam and the extremely rugged nature of the terrain made it difficult to really say. Vietnam war defense secretary seeks reconciliation in hanoi mcnamara to meet old foes. I first encountered the very well written body count back when i was a lad during the early 1980s when vietnam war message movies still werent quite the rage just yet, probably in my sophomore year in high school. Secretary of defense during the vietnam war and the kennedy administration. Critics note that guerrilla warfare and widespread resistance can thwart this formula. On 8 march 1964, mcnamara visited south vietnam to report to president. Body counts and success in the vietnam and korean wars jstor. By 1967he hadturned to ciafor independent, candid analyses ofthe wars progress and hadcommissionedthe gathering of whatbecame thepentagonpapers. Former defense secretary robert mcnamara died monday. For those of you interested in books about vietnam, heres a list, along with.
Hm3 robert michael casey vietnam veterans memorial wall. Page 1 the daily banner 10 july 1967 hoosier state. He also shows conclusively that war could not be won militarily by the united states. During the vietnam war, thieu maintained a powerful role in the south vietnamese government under president nguyen cao ky. Secretary of defense robert mcnamara published in retrospect, the first of his three books dissecting the errors, myths and miscalculations that led to the vietnam war, which he now believes was a serious mistake. Praised for her lushly evocative mezzo and attentive and precise musicianship, clare mcnamara brings her signature vocal quality and sensitive interpretation to a wide variety of repertoire throughout the united states and abroad. Now that i have the bible in my language, my family has better health and more money. He was the cando man in the cando society in the cando era, david halberstam wrote in the best and the brightest, and during the kennedy and early johnson years, he managed americas expanding involvement almost as if he were a desk officer. There were 10 million americans under arms during the war. He has been asked by the bainbridge lions club to show slides he took while serving in vietnam and tell about vietnam at a special meeting in the lions club building wednesday, july 12, ta 8.
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