Leader for All Reasons

Soon after landing in South Viet Nam with a new second star on his shoulders, Marine General Lewis Walt recognized that the U.S. role there called for qualities of heart and mind that are not defined in military manuals. "In this war," he said, "a soldier has to be much more than a man with a rifle or a man whose only objective is to kill. He has to be part diplomat, part technician, part politician--and 100% a human being." As the top Marine in Viet Nam, facing an array of challenges matched by no other corps commander in the war, Old Pro Lew Walt, 54, proved himself a leader for all reasons. Last week, after two years of unremitting war, Walt headed home to a hero's welcome and a new job as the Marines' deputy chief of staff for manpower.

With a command that embraces 10,440 sq. mi.--all five of the northernmost provinces that comprise I Corps --Walt had the task of stabilizing South Viet Nam's queasiest territory. The region was plagued by the country's most aggressive guerrillas, threatened with the massive cutting edge of well-armed North Vietnamese divisions and abroil with political dissidence. From the outset, Walt gave priority to winning over the civilians and holding the villages.

Hamlet by Hamlet. His humanitarianism made good military sense. "When we realized that 180,000 people lived within 82-mm. mortar range of the Danang Airbase, and when we realized that there would be no way to police every house," said Walt, "we decided that the only way to solve it was to make sure that we had friendlies living around the airfield." The number of Vietnamese now living in secure areas has doubled, to 1,000,000, during Walt's tour.

The husky Kansan, winner of two World War II Navy crosses, was so committed to pacification that the Marines became known as "Walt's Peace Corps." While assault units like the 1st (Airmobile) Cavalry rode their helicopters to major set-piece battles against big Communist forces in unpopulated areas, Walt's outnumbered Marines, for the most part, had to fight mile by mile, hamlet by hamlet.

The switch in tactics from the gung-ho role in World War II and Korea made Walt a frequent target of criticism. The controversy also pointed up a split between Marine and Army commanders. Army men, pointing to such bloody engagements as la Drang, argued that the way to win was to kill the V.C. first and pacify the population later. The Marines replied that search-and-destroy tactics suitable for the wastes of the Central Highlands could not be employed in the populous seacoast of "Eye" corps. Moreover, they pointed out, wherever Army troops pulled out, the Viet Cong flowed back in.

Unfailingly Considerate but... Burdened with defense of the major jet bases at Danang and Chu Lai, committed to winning over a skeptical population and handicapped by having only 230 helicopters (v. 430 in one Army airmobile division), Walt fought the kind of war that the terrain demanded and his experience dictated. As popular with his troops as with the Vietnamese urchins he daily fed candy, Walt was known to enlisted men as "our squad leader in the sky" because of his tireless helicopter visits to combat areas. His blue eyes often misted over the sight of wounded Marines; yet they could freeze like an arctic night at the sight of an officer derelict in duty. A general and more than one full colonel were booted out of Viet Nam under the assault of Walt's sharp temper. Yet to those who did their job, he was unfailingly considerate.

General William Westmoreland, who was quick to appreciate Walt's achievements--as was the Pentagon, which awarded him his third star after just nine months in Viet Nam--asked the Marine in the spring of 1966 to extend his one-year tour for six months. Then, after Walt's smashing defeat of a North Vietnamese division last summer, Westy asked him to stay another six months.

Soldier's Soldier. Six weeks ago, with 76,000 Marines and 19,000 soldiers under his command, Walt finally closed with major elements of 71,000 guerrillas and regulars threatening I Corps. Though the Marines pulverized the Communist forces, they took high casualties. Walt's critics cited the U.S. losses as the reason for his surrendering command to Lieut. General Robert E. Cushman Jr. Actually, it was known long before the DMZ battles that Walt, bone-weary from endless rounds of 15-hour days, was leaving Viet Nam at the end of his second year.

Westmoreland, in an unusually warm tribute at change-of-command ceremonies last week in Danang, pinned the Distinguished Service Medal on Walt's barrel chest and said: "My admiration for this man is without bounds. General Walt is a Marine's Marine and a soldier's soldier. He's not only big physically but big morally, a man of almost unique professional abilities, an officer of great courage and outstanding leadership attributes."

Characteristically, Walt's thoughts were not with himself but with his Marines and fallen comrades. "I have a deep feeling of sadness as I recall those young men who have given their lives," he said, "but there is no higher cause than that of freedom."

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