Hungarian Heritage Review, 1991 (20. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1991-09-01 / 9. szám
air superiority forced Hussein to fight blind and let the allies stay one step ahead of the Iraqis, Boyd notes. Hussein's tanks, his main maneuver force, had to stay dug in. The cutting of supply lines isolated and demoralized the Iraqis in front- line trenches. Meanwhile, at sea, two brigades of Marines pinned down the Iraqi coastal defense but never launched an amphibious assault. Deceptive tactics. Along the Kuwaiti border, the allies struck at seven different points to confuse the Iraqis. The 1st Marine Division sent in infiltrators to find the weakest spots in the Iraqi defenses, then slipped through. The 2nd Marine Division went through more directly, but when it met resistance, it moved sideways to slip past. Meanwhile, the 1st Armored Cavalry Regiment faked a full scale attack at Western Kuwait while the 11 divisions of the VII and XVni Corps sped around the Iraqis' flank to cut off escape routes and hit the Iraqis from behind. Despite this grand success, some maneuverists remain worried that they are still viewed as a fringe movement. Wyly, who is the vice-president of the Marine Corps University at Quantico, is being retired early from the Corps - evidence, some believe, of an oldtimers' attempt to punish a renegade. At West Point, Maj. Grossman runs a Maneuver Warfare Symposium, but "the hierarchy likes to keep us at arms length," he says. Others, like Wass de Czege, now a brigadier general and an adviser to the Secretary General of NATO, are more sanguine:" I would think after Desert Storm, we wouldn't have any trouble at all," he says. By Peter Cary U.S. News & World Report. May 6,1991. HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSISTANCE CONWAND, VIETNAM APO San Francisco 96222 GENERAL ORDERS NUMBER 2086 26 October 1967 AWARD OF THE SILVER STAR 1. TC 320. The following AWARD is announced. FOR THE 00FMANDER: :Í I! iJ!OFFICIALj_ VENCEL WASS de CZEGE, HUBA OF101766 CPT INF USA Awarded: Silver Star Date action: 12 August 1967 Theater: Republic of Vietnam Reason: For gallantry in action: Captain Wass de Czege distinguished himself by gallantry in action on 12 August 1967 while serving as Senior Advisor, 39th Ranger Battalion, 1st Ranger Group, Army of the Republic of Vietnam. On this date, the battalion made contact with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force and was pinned down in a devastating cross fire of automatic weapons and mortar fire. Observing that the battalion was taking numerous casualties, Captain Wass de Czege, at great peril to himself, moved through the intense blanket of enemy fire to a forward vantage point from which he directed repeated, devastating artillery and air strikes onto the enemy positions. After supporting weaponry had reduced the volume of enemy fire, Captain Wass de Czege returned to the Command Group. When a squad of North Vietnamese Army soldiers attempted to attack the Command Post, Captain Wass de Czege swiftly deployed a counterattack which neutralized the enemy thrust. Throughout the five hours of unremitting intense combat, Captain Wass de Czege valiantly and with utmost courage moved about the battlefield directing supporting weaponry and rallying the outnumbered Vietnamese soldiers to aggressively engage the enemy. As a direct result of his positive leadership and inspiring courage under fire, the battalion, though threatened with possible annihilation, retained its combat integrity and continued to offer stiff opposition to the enemy. Captain Wass de Czege's conspicuous gallantry in action was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflects great credit upon himself and the military service. Authority: By direction of the President under the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved 9 July 1918 WALTER T. KERWIN, JR. ■— —— —— Major General, USA Chief of Staff SEPTEMBER 1991 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 17
