Creighton Abrams

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr.
General Creighton W. Abrams
Born	September 15, 1914(1914-09-15) Springfield, Massachusetts
Died	September 4, 1974(1974-09-04) (aged 59) Washington, D.C.
Buried at	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United_States_Army_ United States Army
Years of service	1936-1974
Rank	General
Commands held	37th Tank Battalion Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division 63rd Tank Battalion 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment 3rd Armored Division V Corps Military Assistance Command, Vietnam U.S. Army Chief of Staff
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War Vietnam War
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross (2) Defense Distinguished Service Medal (2) Army Distinguished Service Medal (4) Silver Star (2) Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star with V device

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (September 15, 1914 – September 4, 1974) was a general in the United States Army who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72 which saw U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fall from a peak of 543,000 to 49,000. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until shortly before his death in 1974. In honor of Abrams, the U.S. Army named the XM1 main battle tank the M1 Abrams. The IG Farben building was also named after him from 1975 to 1995.

Career summary

Early career

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. graduated from West Point in 1936 and served with the 1st Cavalry Division from 1936 to 1940, being promoted to first lieutenant in 1939 and temporary captain in 1940.

Abrams became an armor officer early in the development of that branch and served as a tank company commander in the 1st Armored Division in 1940.

World War II

4th US Armored Division

COA of 37th Tank Battalion

During World War II, he served with the 4th Armored Division, initially as regimental adjutant (June 1941 - June 1942) then as a battalion commander (July 1942 - March 1943), and regiment executive officer (March 1943 - September 1943) with the US 37th Armor Regiment. A reorganization of the division created a new battalion, the 37th Tank Battalion, which he commanded until he was promoted to command Combat Command B of the division in March 1945. During this time he was promoted to the temporary ranks of major (February 1942) and lieutenant-colonel (September 1943).

During much of this time his unit was at the spearhead of the 4th Armored Division and the US Third Army, and he was consequently well known as an aggressive armor commander. By using his qualities as a leader and by consistently exploiting the relatively small advantages of speed and reliability of his vehicles, he managed to defeat German forces that had the advantage of superior armor and superior guns^{[citation needed]}. He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, for actions on September 20, 1944 and December 26, 1944.

On April 23, 1945, Will Lang Jr. wrote a biography called "Colonel Abe" for Life (magazine)

Abrams was known as an aggressive and successful armor commander. General George Patton said of him: "I'm supposed to be the best tank commander in the Army, but I have one peer — Abe Abrams. He's the world champion."^[1] Frequently the spearhead of the Third Army during World War II, Abrams was one of the leaders in the relief effort that broke up the German entrenchments surrounding Bastogne and the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

He was noted for his concern for soldiers, his emphasis on combat readiness, and his insistence on personal integrity.

Between wars

Following the war he served on the Army General Staff (1945–1946), as head of the department of tactics at the Armored School, Fort Knox (1946–1948), and graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth (1949). He was briefly promoted to (temporary) colonel in 1945 but reverted to lieutenant colonel during World War II demobilization.

He commanded the 63d Tank Battalion, part of the 1st Infantry Division, in Europe (1949–1951). He was again promoted to colonel and commanded the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment (1951–1952). These units were important assignments due to the Cold War concern for potential invasion of western Europe by the Soviet Union. He then attended and graduated from the Army War College in 1953.

During his tenure in Germany he was on the cover of Time Magazine on October 13, 1961. He was to grace the covers again on April 19, 1968, and February 15, 1971.

Korean Service

Due to his service in Europe and his War College tour, he joined the Korean War late in the conflict. He successively served as chief of staff of the I, X, and IX Corps in Korea (1953–1954).

Staff Assignments and Division Command

Upon return from Korea he served as Chief of Staff of the Armor Center, Fort Knox (1954–1956). He was promoted to brigadier general and appointed deputy chief of staff for reserve components at the Pentagon (1956–1959). He was assistant division commander of 3rd Armored Division (1959–60) and then commanded the division (1960–62) upon his promotion to major general.

He was then transferred to the Pentagon as deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (1962–63), then was promoted to lieutenant general and commanded V Corps in Europe (1963–1965).

Vietnam

Creighton W. Abrams watches Bob Hope at Long Binh in Vietnam.

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was promoted to General in 1964 and appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army, but not before being seriously considered as a candidate for Chief of Staff. Due to concerns about the conduct of the Vietnam War, he was appointed as deputy to General William Westmoreland, head of the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam, in May 1967. Abrams would succeed Westmoreland as commander on June 10, 1968, although his tenure of command was not marked by the public optimism of his predecessors, who were prone to press conferences and public statements. While Westmoreland had for years run the war using search-and-destroy tactics, these gave way to the clear-and-hold strategies that Abrams was so keen to implement. Under his authority, American forces were broken up into small units that would live with and train the South Vietnamese civilians to defend their villages from guerrilla or conventional Northern incursions with heavy weapons. Abrams also devoted vastly more time than his predecessor had to expanding, training, and equipping the ARVN. In contrast to Westmoreland, Abrams implemented counterinsurgent methods that focused on winning the hearts and minds of the population. Nevertheless, there was still more continuity than change in Vietnam after Abrams succeeded Westmoreland.^[2]

This strategy was successful, as evidenced by the ability of ARVN forces to repel a full-scale NVA Easter Offensive in 1972 with US aerial support. Following the election of President Richard Nixon, Abrams began implementing the Nixon Doctrine referred to as Vietnamization. The doctrine aimed to decrease U.S. involvement in Vietnam. With this new goal, Abrams had decreased American troop strength from a peak of 543,000 in early 1969 to 49,000 in June 1972. That same year, Abrams stepped down from the Military Assistance Command. However, while Abrams was changing the way the war was fought, the prolonged efforts and expense of the war had by then exhausted much of the American public and political support. Abrams disdained most of the politicians with whom he was forced to deal, in particular Robert McNamara and McGeorge Bundy, and had an even lower opinion of defense contractors whom he accused of war profiteering.

Abrams was also in charge of the Cambodian Incursion in 1970. Troop levels in Vietnam eventually reached 25,000 in January 1973, at the time of the four power Paris Peace Accords. Although it occurred before he assumed total command, he bore the brunt of fallout from the My Lai massacre in March 1968.

Chief of Staff

General Abrams was appointed Chief of Staff of the United States Army in June 1972, after serving in the Military Assistance Command. However, he was not confirmed by the United States Senate until October 1972 due to political repercussions involving insubordination by one of his subordinate commanders. It has also been reported that Congress had delayed the confirmation to question the administration's war in Cambodia.

During this time, Abrams began the transition to the all-volunteer Army. The General would serve in this position until his death, due to complications from surgery in September 1974. A heavy cigar smoker, General Abrams suffered from lung cancer.

Personal life

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 15, 1914.

Abrams married Julia Bertha Abrams (1915–2003) in 1936. Julia Abrams founded the Army group of Arlington Ladies and devoted a great deal of her time to humanitarian causes.^[3]

The Abrams had three sons and three daughters. All three sons became Army general officers: Brigadier General Creighton Williams Abrams III, retired Army General John Nelson Abrams and Major General Robert Bruce Abrams. Daughters Noel Bradley, Jeanne Daley and Elizabeth Doyle all married Army officers.

Creighton died of lung cancer in Washington D.C. after being re-admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he previously had a cancerous lung removed. He was the first Army chief of staff to die in office.

Abrams is buried with his wife in Section 21 of Arlington National Cemetery. Julia Abrams was 87 when she died from congestive heart failure and emphysema on Jan 31, 2003 in Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Notes

1. ^ "Nation: Pattern's Peer". Time. April 14, 1967. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836935,00.html. 
2. ^ http://www.mensjournal.com/is-this-any-way-to-fight-a-war/print "That claim touches a nerve when put to Gentile. “We don’t know how Iraq is going to turn out,” he snaps. With that, the colonel returns to his binders. They hold reams of cable communiqués from Vietnam war commander General William Westmoreland and his successor, General Creighton Abrams. Westmoreland embodied the traditional approach: a hard-charging, hammer-swinging leader who used search-and-destroy tactics that focused on the enemy. Abrams favored counterinsurgent methods, focused on winning the hearts and minds of the population. History remembers Westmoreland poorly for his role in Vietnam, and Abrams as the general who would have rescued victory if he hadn’t run out of time. Gentile feels otherwise. “People think we were losing in Vietnam, and oh, a better general with better tactics came in and saved the day,” he says, waving his arms for emphasis. “Nonsense.” That’s what led Gentile to dig through antique war correspondence from two dead generals. “There was more continuity than change in Vietnam after Abrams arrived,” he says — people have it backward. And in a way he’s right: Westmoreland once declared that the jungles of Vietnam were “no place for either tank or mechanized infantry units.” And Abrams — well, the Army named a tank after the guy."Dan Abrams is the man Nixon said. Retrieved 07MARCH.2011.
3. ^ O'Neill, Helen. "Special lady for each Arlington soldier-Volunteers honor troops and make sure none is buried alone". MSNBC.com. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37416579/ns/us_news-life/. Retrieved 30 May 2010. 

References

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal
	World War II portal

• Sorley, Lewis. Thunderbolt: General Creighton Abrams and the army of his time. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992. ISBN 0-671-70115-0
• Sorely, Lewis. "A better war. The unexamined victories and final tragedy of America's last years in Vietnam". Orlando: Harcourt, 1999. ISBN 978-0-15-100266-5

External links

• Arlington Cemetery website
• Interview with Lewis Sorley on Vietnam Chronicles: The Abrams Tapes 1968-1972 at the Pritzker Military Library
• Source of quotes

Military offices
Preceded by Gen. Barksdale Hamlett	Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1964 – 1967	Succeeded by Gen. Ralph E. Haines, Jr.
Preceded by William Westmoreland	Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam 1968–1972	Succeeded by Frederick C. Weyand
Preceded by Bruce Palmer, Jr.	Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1972–1974	Succeeded by Frederick C. Weyand

Persondata
Name	Abrams, Creighton Williams
Alternative names
Short description	United States Army General
Date of birth	September 15, 1914
Place of birth	Springfield, Massachusetts
Date of death	September 4, 1974
Place of death	Washington, D.C.