Creighton Abrams

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (1914-1974) was a United States General who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968-72. He succeeded General William Westmoreland as the head of the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam and introduced what was referred to as Vietnamization, which was designed to gradually bring the U.S. involvement in Vietnam to and end, and have South Vietnam responsible for executing the war.

Born in Springfield, Massachussetts, he graduated from West Point in 1936 and served in World War II as the commander of a decorated 37th Tank Battalion. His unit relieved Allied forces in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. He served in Korea (1953-54) and West Germany (1960-62) before becoming vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army and being promoted to the rank of general in 1964. He was appointed deputy commander of MACV under Westmoreland in 1967. From 1972, until his death in 1974, he served as Army Chief of Staff.

Abrams is also famous for the quote, "They’ve got us surrounded again, the poor bastards," which was uttered during the Battle of the Bulge [1]. The M1 Abrams battle tank is named after him.

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