The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam

by Max Boot

Vietnam, up from only 685 when he assumed office. In February 1962, the lower-level Military Assistance Advisory Group would be expanded into the U.S. Military Assistance Command—Vietnam (MACV), led by a four-star general, initially Paul Harkins, a protégé of George S. Patton’s. American advisers would now be embedded with all South Vietnamese army units down to battalion level, while American-flown aircraft would provide air support to the South Vietnamese army. Lansdale had argued in favor of letting military advisers participate in combat. “It would make all the difference in the effectiveness of their relationship to the Vietnamese,” he argued; “comrades are listened to, when they share the risk.”41 His advice was taken, and before long U.S. Air Force crews were flying attack missions in the guise of training Vietnamese crewmen who were simply along for the ride—not quite what Lansdale envisioned, but the natural consequence of allowing gung-ho Americans eager for combat to get into the thick of the action.42 The Taylor-Rostow