# Were there World War I veterans in Vietnam?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-world-war-i-veterans-in-vietnam/608096>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 2, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-world-war-i-veterans-in-vietnam/608096 "2012-01-02T01:36:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-world-war-i-veterans-in-vietnam/608096/1 "2012-01-02T01:36:00Z")

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The youngest World War I veterans would have been born around 1900. By the beginning of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, they would have been in their late 50s to early 60s.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-world-war-i-veterans-in-vietnam/608096/2 "2012-01-02T02:23:24Z")

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If you date US involvement from 1955, certainly among senior staff. General Samuel Tankersley Williams (1897 - 1984) commanded the MAAG from 1955 to 1960. Williams fought in WW I:

> **[Samuel Tankersley Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Tankersley_Williams)**
>
> Lieutenant General Samuel Tankersley Williams (August 25, 1897 – April 26, 1984) was a senior United States Army officer. Williams became prominent in army history for being reduced in rank from brigadier general to colonel, and then resuscitating his career to again advance to general officer rank. He also commanded the 25th Infantry Division during the Korean War and served as commander of Military Assistance and Advisory Group – Vietnam, the predecessor to Military Assistance Command – Vietnam...

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-world-war-i-veterans-in-vietnam/608096/3 "2012-01-02T02:35:23Z")

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Unlikely. My uncle, who enlisted in the Army shortly before Pearl Harbor, served a tour in Vietnam in the early part of the war, and was considered ancient.

The first American with the official title of military commander in Vietnam was [Paul D. Harkins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_D._Harkins), born in 1904, who graduated from West Pont in 1929. His successors, Westmoreland and Abrams, were born a decade later. Both [Chiefs of Naval Operations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_naval_operations#List_of_Chiefs_of_Naval_Operations_.281915-Present.29)during that era were born in 1906. If the senior leaders hadn’t been around for WWI, I seriously doubt anyone junior to them would have been.

Upon review, I see **yabob** researched deeper than I did.