12. Fact: The US poured men, equipment, and air power into the fight
During the first two years of American combat involvement on the ground in Vietnam, the United States and its South Vietnamese allies enjoyed near total control of the skies over the warzone and by the end of 1965 huge advantages in firepower deployed on the ground. Westmoreland enjoyed near total support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as the President, and the press was so enamored with the general that TIME Magazine named him their Man of the Year for 1965. Westmoreland twice appeared before Congress while retaining his command in Vietnam, an unprecedented event, in which he stressed that the Americans were winning, telling Congress in 1967, “We have reached an important point where the end begins to come into view”. Westmoreland never claimed to be prevented from fighting by politicians. Instead he claimed he was winning the war.
