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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-05846 to 363-05853.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-05846 to 363-05853
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Title
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Article about Ambassador Maxwell D. Taylor's final farewells in Saigon
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Description
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Original title: "taylor", Keever's title: "Ambassador Taylor, author of 'The Uncertain Trumpet,' prepares to depart an uncertain Vietnam", article for the New York Herald Tribune about Ambassador Maxwell D. Taylor's final farewells in Saigon
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AI Usage Disclosure
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
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Transcript
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deepe taylor--1 july 27, 1965 FOR USE WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, OR THURSDAY, JULY 29. I’LL CABLE WHICH DAY LATER. SAIGON--Ambassador Maxwell D. Taylor prepared to make his final farewells in Saigon today, leaving behind his own paratrooper-son, Tom, [insertion: to fight] in an Asian ground war the soldier-statesmen throughout his career had opposed. “Not all the Taylors have left Vietnam,” the 63-year-old Ambassador reported joked this week, referring to his son, Captain Thomas Happer Taylor, who would remain behind with an American unit north of Saigon. (More) deepe taylor--2 july 27, 1965 Like his father, the son is a United States Army airborne officer, (note to editors: if wire services have announced arrival of the 101st Airborne units, then add: specifically in the 101st Airborne Division, which his father twenty three years personally assisted in developing and a year later [XXXX indicating deletion] commanded in some of the toughest and most heroic fighting in World War II: the airborne assault on D-Day, June 6, 1944; the airborne invasion on September 17, 1944 and the campaigns of the Ardennes and Central Europe.) (More) deepe taylor--3 july 27, 1965 As the Ambassador made his final round of farewells to the Saigon diplomatic corps and members of the American community, a few observers recalled one of the speeches he made shortly after arriving in Saigon one year and three weeks ago. He mentioned in [XXXX indicating deletion] one speech to the members of the American community that he had read newspaper reports that Robert Kennedy, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and Secretary of State Dean Rusk had volunteered for the tough assignment as Ambassador. “But I was chosen,” he told his audience. “I had that one quality none of the others possessed. I was expendible.” (More) deepe taylor--4 july 27, 1965 A year later--this week--his prophecy came true. Taylor’s ambassadorship in Vietnam was filled with crunching ironies. During forty years in the United States Army, beginning as a 21-year-old Westpoint student in 1922, Taylor had devoted his career to one objective: American victory--in World War II and in Korea, in both wars, he was to see the bitterest fighting. Yet, by recommending the spectacular bombing of North Vietnam, the objective was, at least officially, conference table negotiations, which observers here consider at best half-victory. As one of the most intellectual military officers, Taylor reportedly consistently opposed [insertion: since the Korean War] sending American troops to fight a ground war in Asia. Now the total of American troops in Vietnam, increasing daily above the [deletion: once maximum 75,000] 83,000 number, include his own son and his famous 101st Airborne Division, which had once been part of the strategic reserve to defend America itself. deepe taylor--5 july 27, 1965 Long considered the most politically astute of the American generals, Taylor in the late fifties resigned in protest against America’s super-reliance on [deletion: [illegible]] nuclear power. He wrote a brilliant book, “The Uncertain Trumpet” to convince others--he did; by 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed him Military Representative of the President and a year later appointed him Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While Taylor [XXXX indicating deletion] advocated the broadening of American military power from total nuclear resources to more conventionalized power, the increasing numbers of conventional American ground troops have yet to display dramatically they have found the answer to this newest threat of all--the guerrilla-subversive war. “Maybe Taylor will go home a write a book called, ‘The Uncertain Vietnam’,” one Saigon wag laughed this week. (More) deepe taylor--6 july 27, 1965 Because of the complexity of this new threat, American paratroopers--such as his son--are consistently spied upon by unarmed, semi-literate Vietnamese rubber plantation workers who report [XXXX indicating deletion] their operational movements to the Communist enemy. A strict disciplinarian because of his military background Taylor during his Pentagon days ignored even [XXXX indicating deletion] pain to perform his duties. [deletion: His] He often commanded the American military establishment in Washington with his back in a brace. Even [deletion: the coc] his farewell cocktail parties on the cement floors in Saigon buildings cause him a restless night’s sleep. Yet, on his 63rd birthday last year, he was to witness a parade of political [deletion: riots] chaos, which momentarily topped the American-backed government. For several days the city of Saigon was virtually ruled by teenage hoodlums. (More) deepe taylor--7 july 27, 1965 Within Vietnam, he consistently beseeched Vietnamese politicians, generals and bureaucrats as well as religious leaders to unify their efforts for political stability. The result was a myriad of coups, counter-coups, false-coups and [XXXX indicating deletion] demi-coups and constant intrigue. Part of the problem was considered to the be the widespread Communist penetration within the national government, police, armed forces, student and religious groupings. The Communists have already developed the deadliest form of warfare--the war without guns--yet, the most forward-thinking of American leaders, including Taylor, have yet to found the answer to it. Even paratroopers, such as Taylor’s son, are considered by reliable observers here as [deletion: only] at best a partial answer. The younger generation Vietnamese “Young Turk” generals, by opening ignoring Taylor’s pleas for political stability, rebutted the judgment of America’s most famous combat general. This was the final irony. The departure of Ambassador Taylor is reportedly not [deletion: an] the end [insertion: or shift] of an American [XXXX indicating deletion] policy for Vietnam--the toughline policy of incoming Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge may be tougher than that of Taylor’s. deepe taylor--8 But the final farewells of Ambassador Taylor in Saigon do mark the end of an era and the end of a generation [deletion: for] of American soldiering. [deletion: His son,] Captain Tom Taylor, his son, ushers in a new generation. -30-
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Date
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1965, Jul. 27
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Taylor, Maxwell D. (Maxwell Davenport), 1901-1987; Diplomatic and consular service; Ambassadors
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B187, F5
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
