Frederick C. Weyand
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| Frederick Carlton Weyand | |
|---|---|
| Born September 15, 1916 | |
 General Frederick C. Weyand |
|
| Place of birth | Arbuckle, California |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1938-1976 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | 25th Infantry Division II Field Force Military Assistance Command, Vietnam U.S. Army, Pacific U.S. Army Chief of Staff |
| Battles/wars | World War II Korean War Vietnam War |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Service Medal(5) Silver Star Bronze Star (2) Commander of the Legion of Merit |
Frederick Carlton Weyand (born in Arbuckle, California, September 15, 1916) is a former U.S. Army General. Weyand was the last commander of American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1972-1973, and served as US Army Chief of Staff from 1974-1976.
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[edit] Career Summary
[edit] Early career
Weyand was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officers Training Corps program at the University of California at Berkeley, where he graduated in May 1938. He married Arline Langhart in 1940.
[edit] World War Two
From 1940-1942 Weyand was assigned to active duty and served with the 6th Field Artillery. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in 1942 and served as adjutant of the Harbor Defense Command in San Francisco from 1942–1943. He moved on to the Office of the Chief of Intelligence for the War Department General Staff in 1944. He became assistant chief of staff for intelligence in the China-Burma-India Theater from 1944–1945. In the immediate aftermath of the war he was in the Military Intelligence Service in Washington from 1945–1946
[edit] Service After World War Two and During the Korean War
He was chief of staff for intelligence, United States Army Forces, Middle Pacific from 1946–1949. He graduated from the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning in 1950. He became commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment and the the assistant chief of staff, G–3, of the 3d Infantry Division during the Korean War from 1950–1951.
[edit] Prior to the Vietnam War
He served on the faculty of the Infantry School from 1952 to 1953. Following this assignment he attended the Armed Forces Staff College, and upon graduation became military assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management until 1954. He moved on to become military assistant and executive to the Secretary of the Army from 1954 to 1957. He then graduated from the Army War College in 1958, moving on to command the 3d Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, in Europe, 1958–1959. He served in the Office of the United States Commander in Berlin in 1960 then became chief of staff for the Communications Zone, United States Army, Europe from 1960–1961;. He was the deputy chief and chief of legislative liaison for the Department of the Army from 1961–1964.
[edit] Vietnam War Service
Weyand became commander of the 25th Infantry Division, stationed in Hawaii, in 1964. He continued to lead the division as it was introduced into operations in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966. He served as the head of the 25th Division until 1967, when he became deputy, then acting commander, and finally commander of II Field Force, Vietnam responsible for III Corps Tactical Zone comprising the 11 provinces around Saigon. In 1968, he became chief of the Office of Reserve Components. In 1969, he then was named the military advisor to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge at the Paris Peace Talks. In 1970 he became assistant chief of staff for force development. Later in 1970, he became deputy commander and commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. He succeeded General Creighton Abrams, who became the army Chief of Staff, as Commander of MACV on June 30, 1972. By the end of 1972 General Weyand had overseen the withdrawal of all United States military forces from the Republic of South Vietnam
[edit] Post-Vietnam Commands and Chief of Staff
He was commander in chief of the United States Army, Pacific, 1973; was vice chief of staff of the United States Army, 1973–1974; was chief of staff of the United States Army, 3 October 1974–31 September 1976; supervised Army moves to improve the combat-to-support troop ratio, to achieve a sixteen-division force, to enhance the effectiveness of roundout units, and to improve personnel and logistical readiness; retired from active service, October 1976.
[edit] Confidential Source for 1967 New York Times Article
In an editorial in the New York Times on December 11, 2006, Murray Fromson, a reporter for CBS during the Vietnam War, stated that General Weyand had agreed to reveal himself as the confidential source for New York Times reporter R.W. Apple's August 7, 1967 story "Vietnam: The Signs of Stalemate." General Weyand, then commander of III Corps in Vietnam, told Apple and Fromson (who reported the same story for CBS) that "I’ve destroyed a single division three times . . . I’ve chased main-force units all over the country and the impact was zilch. It meant nothing to the people. Unless a more positive and more stirring theme than simple anti-communism can be found, the war appears likely to go on until someone gets tired and quits, which could take generations." This story was the first intimation that war was reaching a stalemate, and contributed to changing sentiment about the war.[1]
[edit] Promotion dates
| Rank | Temporary | Permanent |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd Lieutenant | May 1938 | 1938 |
| 1st Lieutenant | June 1941 | ? |
| Captain | February 1942 | July 1948 |
| Major | November 1942 | July 1953 |
| Lieutenant Colonel | March 1945 | September 1961 |
| Colonel | July 1955 | September 1966 |
| Brigadier General | July 1960 | August 1968 |
| Major General | November 1962 | August 1968 |
| Lieutenant General | August 1968 | ? |
| General | October 1970 | ? |
[edit] External Sources
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Creighton W. Abrams |
Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam 1972–1973 |
Succeeded by Command disbanded |
| Preceded by Creighton W. Abrams |
Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1974–1976 |
Succeeded by Bernard W. Rogers |
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