General John D. Lavelle: Is his Honor Restored?
Posted: Thursday, August 05, 2010
by James Banner
John D. Lavelle was a four star, Air Force Gen. during the Vietnam (1972) back when Nixon was President. Gen. Lavelle was scrutinized and investigated against by Congress and the military for secret bombings of the North Vietnam . Once the story was exposed, the Gen. was quickly demoted to Maj. Gen as punishment for issuing such orders. He was ridiculed for a job not well done and was thrown under the bus several times. He was so distraught that he had to retire with the charges against him.
The baffling discovery of some historical documents proves that the Gen. was innocent. They were discovered by two historians who happen to come across the information mistakenly. There were transcripts of the documents that divulged conversations between Gen. Lavelle and Nixon. "I don't want him to be made a goat, goddamnit," Nixon told his security advisor on June 14, 1972 before it was exposed. Nixon responded after the Gen.'s demotion," You, you destroy a man's career..Can we do anything now to stop this damn thing?" Unfortunately, it was too late.
On June 26, 1972, Nixon really was feeling anxious to do something to help the Gen. but instead turned the other cheek. During a press conference, he announced that the attacks were unauthorized and he had no knowledge of the actions. The Gen. was blamed for everything that happened for that case. All he said was that he was following commands from the upper echelon, which was true. After this, an article was written in the Air Force magazine regarding the case. But the folks who wrote discovered something else too. They found audio tapes of Nixon ordering the bombings.
Bottom line is that Gen. Lavelle, may he rest in peace, suffered through a demotion and public humility for a task that was not entirely his fault. Orders were given and he followed them. Was it right? Wrong? Whatever. The Gen. suffered and hopefully his name can be honored or restored as a great American or in this case, as a four star General. He was saved after his demotion, even after he retired, because back then he was paid full pension benefits.
Reference: Washington Post, Front page "Record set straight for U.S. general."
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)I read an interesting book on Richard Nixon "The Arrogance of Power". I'm not surprized to read about how Gen. Lavelle was made a scapegoat. Nice that you spoke out about the injustice, James.Thanks Jennifer. I think that his story needs to be heard on Searchwarp and around the world.
Nixon was a real S.O.B., but like all of his ilk, he was more protective of his own kind.Nixon had issues beyond issues. You're right, he protected his own and tried to keep his nose above water.
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