Paul D. Harkins
Paul D. Harkins | |
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Bronze Star (2) |
Paul Donal Harkins (May 15, 1904 – August 21, 1984) was a career officer in the
Early life
Harkins was born in
Career
Initial assignments
Assigned initially to the 7th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss, Harkins continued to hone his horsemanship and play polo. In 1933, he completed the Cavalry School's equitation course at Fort Riley, after which he remained there for several years as an instructor. Beginning in 1939, he commanded F Troop, 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Myer, serving under regimental commander George S. Patton, Jr. In 1941, he graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
World War II
During the period immediately prior to U.S. entry into
In January 1942, Harkins was assigned to the
Harkins followed Patton when Patton became commander of the Seventh Army. As deputy chief of staff, Harkins played a major role in planning the Allied invasion of Sicily and in July 1943 he took part in the initial landings and combat at Gela.
Harkins was then named deputy chief of staff for
Harkins was present with Patton at the famous command and staff meeting called by General
Harkins remained in Germany after the war and took part in the occupation of Bavaria, transferring to Fifteenth Army when Patton was assigned as commander of that unit. Harkins escorted Mrs. Patton back to the United States following Patton's death in December 1945.
West Point cheating scandal
From 1946 to 1951, Harkins served as deputy
Harkins had made it plain that he felt that the nationally ranked football team was not in line with his vision of the USMA. In a controversial decision, he asked cadets to gather information about the cheating. A formal inquiry was held and ninety cadets were dismissed from the academy. Some had not participated in the cheating, but knew of it and had not reported it, which was considered a breach of the Cadet Honor Code ("A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do").
The head coach for Army at that time, Earl "Red" Blaik, felt that Harkins was "a black and white man with no shades of gray" and accused him of bias. Blaik's son was one of the cadets who knew of the cheating, but had not acted.[6]
Korean War
In 1951, Harkins was to head the Plans Division of the Army staff's directorate of Operations and Training (G3) and in 1952 he was promoted to
In 1954, Harkins was again assigned to the Army G-3 directorate, this time working in the International Affairs division as Director of Military Assistance Advisory Groups which included activities and missions in 42 countries. In July 1956, he was assigned as the Army's deputy chief of staff for operations and training, G-3.
Post-Korean War
Harkins was promoted to lieutenant general in 1957 and assigned as commander of NATO's Allied Land Forces, Southeastern Europe, with headquarters in İzmir, Turkey. In addition to efforts to modernize NATO's communications infrastructure, Harkins also endeavored to improve relations between Turkey and Greece.
In 1960, Harkins went to
Vietnam
In January 1962, Harkins was promoted to general as commander of Military Assistance Command—Vietnam, the successor unit to Military Assistance Advisory Group—Vietnam; this change came as part of the initial U.S. troop buildup which escalated into the Vietnam War. Harkins appeared on the cover of Time magazine, (What it Takes to Win, May 11, 1962), where he was described as "look(ing) every inch the professional soldier". The article detailed the commitment of the United States to stay in Vietnam, even if it took a decade, quoting then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy from November 1962, "We are going to win in Vietnam. We will remain until we do."[10]
Controversy
At the beginning of his command of MACV, Harkins and his staff had repeatedly expressed optimism about the course of the war. Members of the U.S. press nicknamed him "General Blimp" (after the cartoon character Colonel Blimp) because of their belief that he inflated the success of U.S and South Vietnamese military activities. As violence continued to escalate, many reporters began to perceive that what they were seeing in the field and being told confidentially by officers such as Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann did not match the information released by Harkins and his staff and they concluded that Harkins was being misinformed by his staff or untruthful. The Battle of Ap Bac in particular seriously affected many of the reporters' view of Harkins' credibility. When details of the battle emerged that differed from the Army's official version, it became a very serious matter, and press reports of it embarrassed the Kennedy administration.
Harkins was described by
Mark Moyar, an associate professor at the U.S. Marine Corps University feels that Halberstam and Sheehan, along with other reporters, "horribly tarnished the reputations of some very fine Americans, including General Harkins".[12] Moyar writes that others, such as John Mecklin (then on leave from Time as Public Affairs officer for the US embassy) observed Harkins living a "Spartan" life in Saigon and traveling "daily" by small plane around the country to gather and evaluate information from South Vietnamese and American troops. Moyar observes that, while Harkins was not a "creative or brilliant strategist", he was a "superb motivational and technical coach, which was what the situation most demanded".[13][14]
Time magazine correspondent Lee Griggs and Mecklin parodied the general in song at one time for saying the war was "well in hand". Sung to the tune of the Christian hymn Jesus Loves Me, the verse went:
We are winning, this I know, General Harkins tells me so.
In the mountains, things are rough,
In the Delta, mighty tough,
But the V.C. will soon go, General Harkins tells me so.
Griggs recalls the General overheard this and "did not smile".[15]
Harkins' comment to his replacement, General Westmoreland
As he described in a later interview with historian Michael MacLear, when General William Westmoreland replaced Harkins in 1964, Westmoreland recalled that he got varying readings on the situation from Harkins, whose favorite poet was Kipling; when veering from optimism to pessimism Harkins would "constantly" quote a version of line from a Kipling poem for him:
The end of the fight is a tombstone white
With the name of the late deceased.
And the epitaph drear, a fool lies here
Who tried to hustle the East.
Said Westmoreland: "I'm very fond of Kipling because he's a soldier's poet," but he confessed, "I didn't take it quite to heart." The reason given by MacLear being that neither Kipling nor even
When Harkins left in June 1964, there were between 11,200 and 16,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson raised the levels to 500,000 men under Westmoreland by 1968.
Retirement
Harkins retired after returning from Vietnam, and was an advisor for the
Harkins wrote a book on General George S. Patton Jr. and the Third Army, 1969's When the Third Cracked Europe: The Story of Patton's Incredible Army. Harkins was also a technical consultant for the 1970 film Patton, and was portrayed by actor Lee Patterson in the made-for-TV sequel The Last Days of Patton, broadcast the year after his death.
Death and burial
Harkins died in Dallas on August 21, 1984.[17]
Family
In 1933, Harkins married Elizabeth Mae Conner. They were the parents of a daughter, Virginia.[18] Virginia Harkins married West Point graduate Leslie D. Carter Jr., the son of Major General Leslie D. Carter.[18]
Awards
Note – not a complete list
- U.S. decorations and awards
oak leaf clusters
| |
Legion of Merit | |
V device and one bronze oak leaf cluster
| |
Air Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters | |
American Defense Service Medal | |
American Campaign Medal | |
campaign stars
| |
World War II Victory Medal | |
Army of Occupation Medal with 'Germany' clasp | |
National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star | |
Korean Service Medal with two bronze campaign stars | |
Vietnam Service Medal with bronze campaign star |
- Foreign decorations and awards
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
|
United Nations Service Medal
|
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960–device |
Korean War Service Medal |
In addition, he received foreign decorations from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the U.S.S.R., and South Korea.
References
- ^ President Lyndon Baines Johnson Remarks Upon Presenting the Distinguished Service Medal to General Harkins.1964-06-24
- ISBN 978-1-85109-960-3.
- ^ Current Biography Yearbook. New York, NY: H. W. Wilson Co. 1965. p. 179.
- ^ Current Biography Yearbook, Volume 25. New York, NY: H. W. Wilson Co. 1964. p. 20.
- ^ "Paul D. Harkins, 1929". apps.westpointaog.org/. West Point Association of Graduates. 1984. Archived from the original on 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
- ^ ISBN 0-684-87290-0p. 120-124
- ISBN 978-0-8117-2896-6p. 204
- ISBN 0-7603-1071-8p. 203-204
- ^ "USMA Bicentennial History". Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ To Liberate from Oppression Time magazine 1962-05-11 retrieved 2208-01-02
- ^ ISBN 0-226-91795-9p.100-110
- ^ Moyar, Mark History Archived 2009-12-26 at the Wayback Machine National Review Online 2007-07-05 retrieved 2008-01-03
- ISBN 978-0-521-86911-9.
- ^ The Papers of John Martin Mecklin Dartmouth College retrieved 2008-01-02
- ^ Memories of a Fallen City Time magazine 1975-05-12 retrieved 2008-01-02 nb The article refers to the parody as being to the tune of Rock of Ages but is actually Jesus Loves Me
- ISBN 978-0312845902 Online: [1]Accessed July 18, 2009.
- ISBN 978-1-59884-173-2.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
Further reading
- Harkins, Paul When the Third Cracked Europe;: The Story of Patton's Incredible Army Stackpole Books 1969 ISBN 978-0-8117-1164-7
External links
- Harkins, Paul D. (November 10, 1981), Oral History Interview (PDF), Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
- Paul D. Harkins at Find a Grave
- U.S. Army Pacific Biography, accessed December 31, 2010
- Paul D. Harkins Photograph Collection Archived 2015-11-24 at the Wayback Machine, US Army Heritage and Education Center, accessed January 15, 2013.