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Shirley Richards-Family
to remember
Richards, Theodore Stanley, CSM.
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Contact Info
Home Town Wilkes-Barre
Last Address Hope Mills, NC
Date of Passing Jan 01, 1981
Location of Interment Fort Liberty Post Cemetery (VLM) (Formerly Fort Bragg) - Fort Liberty, North Carolina
THEODORE STANLEY RICHARDS, Captain/Command Sergeant Major (Retired) died 1 January 1981 in Hope Mills, NC. Born 31 August 1922, he entered active duty in 1942 during WWII where he parachuted in Airborne Operations in Normandy, Bastogne, and Holland as a member of the 101st Airborne Division. The beginning of a military career that spanned three wars, including a commission in combat and later a return to the enlisted ranks where he served with distinction as a Command Sergeant Major during the early 1950's throughout the peak training years of Special Forces. His awards include the Bronze Star for Valor, Meritorious Service Medal, Purple Heart, Master Parachutist Badge and Combat Infantry badge, 3rd Award. Words are inadequate as a means to convey our individual feelings in the loss of Ted Richards. A hard, but fair taskmaster, his leadership was inspirational and he never gave an order that he was not willing to carry out himself. He was a Soldier of the highest order of uprightness and conviction. He will be missed.
Other Comments:
" Special Forces Soldier"
I was that which others did not want to be.
I went where others feared to go, and did what others failed to do
I asked nothing from those who gave nothing, and reluctantly
accepted the thought of eternal loneliness should I fail
I have seen the face of terror, felt the stinging cold of fear,
and enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment's love..
I have cried, pained, and hoped, but most of all,
I have lived times others would say are best forgotten.
At least someday, I will be able to say I was proud of what I was.... A Special Forces Soldier
(Author Unknown)
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.
