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Contact Info
Home Town Sikeston
Last Address Fort Huachuca, AZ
Date of Passing Jan 17, 1986
Location of Interment Fort Huachuca Post Cemetery (VLM) - Sierra Vista, Arizona
"Lam Nut Bau troi, Rung chuyen Trai Dat" (Crack the Sky, Shake the Earth)
~ Signal to communist forces telling them to commence the greatest battle in the history of Vietnam. The Tet '68 offensive was countrywide and well coordinated, with more than 80,000 communist troops striking more than 100 towns and cities. The Saigon region was among those areas hit.
During Tet '68, the 25th Infantry Division was engaged in fierce battles around Saigon and Ton Son Nhut airfield just outside the Capital. Moving quickly into the path of the Viet Cong Units poised for the attack, the 25th Infantry Division absorbed the full force of the enemy blows and then counter-attacked viciously to smash the enemy offensive. The Division Commander, Gen Mearns and his Chief of Staff, Col Wilson were in the thick of it. Both officers were in constant heliborne control over the the action as it unfolded.
Col Wilson was scheduled to DEROS on TET '68. He extended his tour for another two months to help with the battle. Many soldiers give thanks to the 25th Infantry Division for their actions those days.
Col Wilson was one of the chief architects for the "Rings of Steel" strategy (Hop Tac) used in Vietnam. As an Aide for Gen Harold K. Johnson and Professor at the CGSC, he helped shape and formalize the doctrine used in this approach. Col Wilson worked closely with Bernard Fall regarding the defensive and offensive strategy to be used in South Vietnam (see photo).
Other Comments:
Awards & Decorations:
He was also awarded the Russian Medal for Valor, Knight's Cross Medal 1st OLC, and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Fourragere. There is currently no provision for this profile to display these awards.
Most profile information taken from: Parameters, Spring 1998, pp. 93-109 "To Change a War: General Harold K. Johnson and the PROVN Study", by Lewis Sorley. ...and Col Wilson's Official Personnel Records on file at the National Personnel Records Center, St Louis, MO. Including my direct knowledge of him - I was custodian of his OMPF and had the opportunity to see him fairly often while we were assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi, Vietnam.
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.