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William C. Westmoreland Becomes Commander of MACV

June 20, 1964

1964-06-20_William_Westmoreland
1964-06-20_William_Westmoreland
General William C. Westmoreland attends official ceremonies for the arrival of Royal Thai Army forces, September 21, 1967. (National Archives)

Lieutenant General William C. Westmoreland unofficially succeeds General Paul D. Harkins as commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Westmoreland formally assumes command and is promoted to full general on August 1.1

1Graham A. Cosmas, MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Escalation, 1962–1967, United States Army in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 2006), 123. Regarding the June 20 date, see George S. Eckhardt, Command and Control, 1950–1969, Vietnam Studies (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1991), 42; and Harry G. Summers, Jr., The Vietnam War Almanac (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985), 358. Tucker, ed., Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, 814–15.