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Don't you just love hanging out with the bosses????

In 69/70 tour, got knee chopped up near Tay Ninh. They would not send me back to field for a while. Worked for Abrams as an "action officer." Westmoreland would send memos and DFs everywhere, expect replies from every level of command up and down along the way. He got CYA BS on top of BS.

Abrams wanted action.

Whenever there was a serious problem, such as abuse of troops, bad morale, theft of gmvt funds, bad medical care, really bad leadership, racial problems, etc., Abrams would send a team of two of us to check it out. Usually one E-8/E-9, very experienced, older WW2 vet who served with Abrams in Europe and one O-3/0-4 combat arms stud (the baddder-assed looking the better).

The NCO would go talk with the NCOs, I'd go see the officers. We'd both begin the interview with an EM. Who ever got the best rapport with the EM would finish the interview.

This system got the problems solved in 24 hours! Abrams once relieved a lying, troop wasting 2 star division commander and had him on freedom bird in 90 minutes!

Of course, Westy did look sooooo good in his dress whites at those nightly embassy parties.......

Whenever there was a serious problem, such as abuse of troops, bad morale, theft of gmvt funds, bad medical care, really bad leadership, racial problems, etc, Abrams would send a team of two of us to check it out. Usually one E-8/E-9, very experienced, older WW2 vet who served with Abrams in Europe and one O-3/O-4 combat arms stud (the badder-assed looking the better). ...
This system got the problem solved in 24 hours...

Not with SMAJ of the Army William O. Woolridge, it didn't. And so far as I know, for the slackoff officer responsible for him who let him get away with his crap, who never was relieved or reprimanded....

And Abrams really went over the line with his charges against Col Rheault and CPT Marasco and the other 5th Group SFers, charging them with murder for eliminating a NVA double [triple?] agent on CIA orders prior to the Operation Dewey Canyon invasioon of Cambodia. Since SF's pre invasion recon of objectives for that incursion and the *Operation Menu* location of likely airstrike targets were conducted by presidential order, the defense for the officers so charged could very well have resulted in an impeachment for LBJ had the war's congressional opponents found out then what was coming. Why LBJ didn't just do to Abrams what Truman did to MacArthur is above my pay grade, but I do know that some SF folks had a backup plan in the event anything had happened to any of those being held at Abram's orders while they were in custody. Aren't those helicopter crashes of senior officers tragic?

-archy-/-