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MAJ Mark E Cooper
to remember
Engler, Jean E., LTG.
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Contact Info
Last Address Washington, D.C.
Date of Passing Nov 10, 1993
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Lieutenant General Jean E. Engler was born in Baltimore, Maryland on August 3, 1909 and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1933.
During World War II, he directed the design, development, and testing of the military general purpose tire, and as project manager was responsible for the development and production of synthetic rubber tires.
After World War II, as the Chief, Maintenance and Supply Division in Tokyo, he planned and organized the collection and rebuild of all materiel from the Pacific Theatre. While assigned to the Chief of Industrial Office Branch, Office Chief of Ordnance, he planned the Tank and Automotive Production Program for supporting the Korean Conflict. In 1952, he was appointed Chief of the Industrial Division, Ordnance Tank and Automotive Command. In this position, he originated the “Controlled Accelerated Cycle”, that is, the developmentto- production cycle for complex major end-items.
Additionally, he established the optimum balance between stocks on hand and production capability through his mobilization planning concept. As Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army, Vietnam, he established four major ports and base complexes which resulted in a fully responsive logistics system that met the need of the combat and support soldiers. As the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics from 1967 to 1969, he implemented four significant policy actions. First, he established a user-oriented supplysystem with direct contact to units in the field; second, he modernized the logistics Automatic Data Processing system on a worldwide basis; third, he standardized ammunition supply management; and finally, he established the depot maintenance closed loop support system. His military career was one of a continuous effort to provide the best materiel to combat and support forces at the lowest cost. General Engler retired in 1967.
General Engler died on 10 November 1993 and was laid to rest in Section 7-A of Arlington National Cemetery.
Vietnam War/Tet Counteroffensive Campaign (1968)
From Month/Year
January / 1968
To Month/Year
April / 1968
Description This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.