Oral history transcript, William DePuy, interview 1 (I), 10/28/1985, by Ted Gittinger
Title:
Oral history transcript, William DePuy, interview 1 (I), 10/28/1985, by Ted Gittinger
Number of Pages:
53
Description:
DePuy's work as Director of Special Warfare under Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans; forming special forces in the army; White Star Team operations; Operation Switchback; DePuy's work as Director of Plans and Programs under the Assistant Chief of Staff for Force Development; DePuy's involvement in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis; how DePuy became Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) and his duties as such; the battles at Binh Gia, Binh Ba, Dong Xoai, and Song Be; the state of the Vietnam War in late 1964 and early 1965; the Montagnard (Degar) uprising of September 1964; MACV planning for a large-scale U.S. deployment in Vietnam; the plan to deploy the First Cavalry Division to An Khe; the first Hop Tac operation; DePuy's search and destroy plan; military and government problems and mistakes in the Vietnam War; the series of events that made up Operation Attleboro; the work of the First Cavalry Division; DePuy working under chiefs of staff Richard Stilwell and William Rosson; working with Allied troops from Korea and Australia; DePuy's work with the First Division; DePuy's reputation for removing incompetent commanders from their posts; DePuy's view of press coverage of the Vietnam War; leadership in the First Division; DePuy's work as Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities; response to the Tet Offensive and DePuy's related report to General Earle Wheeler and presentation to LBJ; the request for 206,000 more U.S. troops in Vietnam following the Tet Offensive; the dispute between General William Westmoreland and CBS.
