A Conversation With Lt. General Harry W.O. Kinnard

Then-Lt. Col. Harry W.O. Kinnard parachuted with the 101st Airborne Division into France on June 6, 1944. From there he would lead his men through Normandy, then into Holland, before finding he and the rest of the 101st surrounded at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. It was there that he gained everlasting fame by suggesting General Anthony McAuliffe’s one word response to the German demand for surrender: “NUTS!”

General Kinnard would go on to become the original commander of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), and has been called the father of airmobile warfare. It was under his leadership that the 1st Cav became battle-tested in Vietnam. General Kinnard spoke of his experiences at the Ninth Annual Conference in a discussion moderated by Gene Pell.

Gene Pell: In July, 1965, then-Major General Harry Kinnard took command of the 1st Cavalry Division, and one month later deployed to South Vietnam with his soldiers.

The climate was quite a bit different for you in the jungles and rice paddies of Southeast Asia from the war in Europe during World War II, and particularly in a place called Ia Drang, where at this point you were commander of the 1st Cavalry Division. That was a pretty bloody fight, wasn’t it?

General Kinnard: Yes it was. And I have often thought about the same differences that you just described—the complete difference between the weather and the terrain in Germany and Vietnam. We were in the highlands of Vietnam, of course.

I would like to back up just a bit regarding the 1st Cav. The Army had not done as well in developing its movements as it had in firepower. This was recognized by a lot of people, including Secretary McNamara. McNamara had directed the Army to take a hard look at improving our mobility through use of aircraft, primarily helicopters, but other aircraft as well.

At the time I was the assistant division commander of the 101st Airborne down at Ft. Campbell. I received a phone call that the Chief of Staff of the Army wanted to see me in Washington the next day. Well that’s a little rare, for a brigadier general to be called up by the Chief of Staff! But anyway, I went.

He said to me, “Harry, we’re going to find out how fast and how quickly the Army can embrace air mobility; how quickly and how completely. And you’re going to be the guy to do it.” And I said, “Yes sir!” He said, “It’s very important. I’m going to let you have your pick of personnel,” which was wonderful.

So I left walking on cloud nine. But it was a tough thing. For two and a half years we tested everything; it was called the 11th Air Assault Division, and I was the commander of it. We tested everything that you could think of, to include even atomic war. Starting with guerilla war and going all the way up through the spectrum to include atomic war. So there was a real question of whether the Army was going to improve this thing. At the end of test of the 11th Air Assault Division, we fought the 82nd in a big maneuver in the Carolinas, and we whipped the socks off of them, frankly, despite some very bad weather.