Roderick Wetherill Roderick " Rod " Wetherill , Sr . ( January 19 , 1918 – June 26 , 1978 ) was a notable officer of the United States Army from World War II through the Vietnam War . The official Army history of the War in southeast Asia considers him to have been a " key . . . commander in Vietnam " . Education and early career . Wetherill graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1940 , as had his father and would his son . While a young Lieutenant , he married Josephine Bolling , in March 1941 , at a church in Waban , Massachusetts ; his bride was a daughter of Army officer Alexander R . Bolling , who later became a Lieutenant General and former Chief of Army Intelligence . He was working there at West Point after graduation , and residing in Highland Falls , New York , when his son Roderick Wetherill , Jr . , was born on January 20 , 1942 . His first son was born six weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor , and the day after his own birthday . He was promoted several times during and after World War II . In June 1953 , then - Lieutenant Colonel Wetherill took part in a " retrograde movement " at Pukhan River , towards the end of the Korean War . He was " division artillery advisor " at the battle of Pukhan River , and witnessed first - hand the horrible casualties ; he said , " I could see by the gun flashes the arms legs and faces hanging all over the wire . " He also attempted to save some soldiers from being captured as prisoners of war by the Chinese " Red " Army . From about 1955 to 1957 was a Colonel stationed at the Headquarters , Continental Army Command . From April 1963 through December 1964 , he was chief of staff of the V Army in Germany , at the rank of Brigadier General . Vietnam War . After a long military career , Wetherill rose to the rank of Major General . Wetherill was appointed the Senior Advisor , IV Corps , Delta Military Assistance Command on June 1 , 1969 , and served until his retirement in May 1973 . He advised General Abrams in June 1969 to transfer certain units of the Vietnamese army out of Saigon to the Mekong delta area to allow them to gain combat experience , but Wetherill ' s advice was ignored . Just as he feared , the North Vietnamese army invaded the Mekong Delta in August 1969 . Wetherill was quoted extensively in a nationally syndicated UPI story about the offensive . Specifically , he noted that this was not merely the Viet Cong being involved , but regular enemy troups being engaged for the first time in the area . He famously said about those North Vietnam troop movements in the Mekong Delta : In September 1969 , Walter Cronkite of CBS News reported that some civilian advisors had also advised withdrawing U . S . troops ; he further quoted Wetherill as describing both the displaced persons there and the withdrawal of American troops . Fort Sill . Wetherill was sent stateside to Fort Sill , which he commanded from February 1970 through the end of May 1973 . As a commanding officer of Fort Sill , and its artillery school during the early 1970s , Wetherill was the named defendant in a famous conscientious objector case during the Vietnam War , " Polsky v . Wetherill " , 438 F . 2d 132 ( 10th Cir . 1971 ) . The Tenth Circuit decided " Polski " on jurisdictional grounds , without getting into the merits of the case , while sitting " en banc " . However , the Supreme Court vacated that judgment in " Polsky v . Wetherill " , 403 U . S . 916 , 91 S . Ct . 2232 , 29 L . Ed . 2d 693 ( 1971 ) , and remanded it back to the 10th Circuit for further consideration . On remand , the 10th Circuit ruled in favor of the petitioner ' s request for a " writ of habeas corpus " , and against Wetherill , in " Polsky v . Wetherill " , 455 F . 2d 960 ( 10th Cir . 1972 ) . " Polsky v . Wetherill " was cited was precedent ( " mandatory authority " ) in " Miller v . United States Army " , 458 F . 2d 388 ( 10th Cir . 1972 ) . He once sent an enlisted man to psychiatric evaluation , rather than trial , in " Lozinski v . Wetherill " , 21 USCMA 77 , 44 CMR 131 ( C . M . A . 1971 ) . In another case , " Robertson v . Wetherill " , 21 USCMA 77 , 44 CMR 131 ( C . M . A . 1971 ) , he ordered an enlisted man who was charged with possession of marijuana to face a general , rather than special , court martial . At Fort Sill , Wetherill also organized the 1970 Field Artillery Systems Review , which aimed for a major " Modernization of the Field Artillery System . " He inspected at least two college ROTC units in 1971 , including that of Henderson State University in Arkansas . Writings . Wetherill ' s official papers have been collected , which primarily concern field artillery issues , such as personnel and gunships versus field artillery . He was the editor of the United States Army ' s monograph about the history of U . S . Field Artillery from 1972 to 1973 . His written report to General Frederick C . Weyand on August 31 , 1970 , about the " Command of I Field Force in Vietnam " was used as a " case study " in " the development of close air support . " Roderick Wetherill , Jr . . Roderick " Rick " Wetherill , Jr . ( b . January 20 , 1942 Highland Falls , New York , d . September 9 , 1996 Fairfax , Virginia ) was an officer of the United States Army from the Vietnam War through the Reagan administration ' s arms war . He was decorated with several high honors . He was educated at West Point Military Academy , like several of his male relatives , Wetherill , Jr . was the son of Wetherill and Josephine Bolling , daughter of Army officer Alexander R . Bolling , who later became a Lieutenant General and former Chief of Army Intelligence . So many of Wetherill ' s relatives attended West Point — his father , a grandfather , and two uncles among them — that is was said his blood was " grey " , which is the color of the uniforms at the Army ' s military academy . He was raised an " army brat " in Highland Falls , immediately south of the Academy ; he was an Eagle Scout and football player at Highland Falls High School and graduated in 1960 . He joined the Army , attended their preparatory school , and was class of 1965 at West Point . He also graduated from the Command and General Staff Schools of the Army . Wetherill served first in Germany before 1968 , and finished Airborne and Ranger school s . During a tour in the Vietnam War , from 1968 to 1969 , he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Republic of Vietnam ' s Cross of Gallantry . He earned his M . B . A . while an advisor to the ROTC at the University of Arizona ( 1969 – 1973 ) . He served with Army Support Group in Panmunjom , South Korea ( 1973 – 1974 ) the 1st Cavalry Division and executive officer of the 1st Battalion , 5th Infantry at Fort Hood ( 1975 to 1977 ) , CGSC ( 1977 to 1979 ) , Individual Training Division at the Pentagon ( 1979 – 1982 ) , and Office of the Secretary of Defense ( 1982 – 1987 ) , during the Cold War build - up . He retired as a lieutenant colonel . In addition to the Bronze Star and Cross of Gallantry , he earned a Meritorious Service Medal and the Defense Superior Service Medal . He was widely eulogized after his death .