Obama restores rank of disgraced Vietnam general

[OntarioVanMan]

Obama restores rank of disgraced Vietnam general - Yahoo! News


WASHINGTON – More than 30 years after his death, an Air Force general has been exonerated of charges that he violated presidential restrictions on aerial bombing during the Vietnam War and that he ordered the falsification of records to conceal the missions.

John D. Lavelle was forced to retire in April 1972 at the rank of major general — two stars below the rank he held as commander of air operations in Vietnam — after being relieved of duty for ordering unauthorized airstrikes against North Vietnamese military targets.

He maintained his innocence during congressional hearings held after his dismissal.

He died in 1979.

The story took a new twist in 2007 with the publication in Air Force Magazine of an article by a retired Air Force general, Aloysius Casey, and his son, Patrick Casey. They used declassified documents and transcripts of President Richard Nixon's Oval Office audio tapes to show that Nixon had secretly authorized more aggressive bombing in North Vietnam in February 1972.

 

[nightshift]

Sounds like the plot right out of Flight of the Intruder. Wonder where Coonts got his idea from? (I think I have the right author).

 

[chefdennis]

LOL.... You started this thread why!?!?!?

You posted on Joe's thread on the same article 8 times!!!

 

[pjjjjj]

Obama restores rank of disgraced Vietnam general - Yahoo! News


WASHINGTON – More than 30 years after his death, an Air Force general has been exonerated of charges that he violated presidential restrictions on aerial bombing during the Vietnam War and that he ordered the falsification of records to conceal the missions.

John D. Lavelle was forced to retire in April 1972 at the rank of major general — two stars below the rank he held as commander of air operations in Vietnam — after being relieved of duty for ordering unauthorized airstrikes against North Vietnamese military targets.

He maintained his innocence during congressional hearings held after his dismissal.

He died in 1979.

The story took a new twist in 2007 with the publication in Air Force Magazine of an article by a retired Air Force general, Aloysius Casey, and his son, Patrick Casey. They used declassified documents and transcripts of President Richard Nixon's Oval Office audio tapes to show that Nixon had secretly authorized more aggressive bombing in North Vietnam in February 1972.

People just stink.

 

[JackDalton]

Talk about a pathetic outcome...the General's dead, Nixon's dead, and 30 years later an illegitimate President forces a four-star general, Stanley McChrystal, to resign.

Maybe in 2040, the elected president can restore McChrystal's position and clear his name!

On another note, why would anyone want to be part of a military that treats it's members this way? Really, if the commander in chief turns his back on a general, why would lower ranks be exempt from this same type of abandonment?

 

[greg334]

Actually McCrystal was forced to resign his post, not his rank or his career. He only lost his post, and nothing else. He is retiring but I think a lot of this has to do with the fact he was tired of the BS with the new CiC and the VP who thinks he is an expert on military affairs.

There are a few generals who were promoted and then demoted throughout history. A number of them seemed to have done something wrong and against the policies of the administration they served under.

One of the blaring example is MacArthur who thought he was more important than the president, not just once (in Korea) but also in the Pacific and in post war Japan he set his own policies and made decisions that went against the president and congress's orders. It seems he felt that there was a need for a president to run the country and the generals to run the military.