Important TLS Mark Clark; "Should have used more force in Viet Nam" "Truman A great president""

Interesting letter written by Mark Clark dated August 1, 1980 on the Citadel stationary as president Emeritus. Accompanied with a signed 8"x10' B&W photos signed in black ink.

Letter in full: Dear Robert, your letter of July 17 has been received and I’ll try to answer your questions briefly

1. The President of United States of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces by law in the case of President Carter I do not feel he has exercise that responsibility adequately for he has reduced the strength of our Armed Forces to the extent that I’m worried of the security of my country.

2. I served under President Truman when he was president and I was the occupational commander and High Commissioner in Austria. I knew him well respected him greatly. The same applies to General MacArthur. He was a magnificent soldier and I regret the manner in which he was separated from the service after so many years of dedicated involvement in the defense of his country.

3. With regards to Vietnam I’m sorry we ever put soldiers a short Vietnam but the president having done so, we should’ve gone in with our full strength use our air navy properly and destroy the enemy within two months. The president pulled our punches for political reasons I believe and that’s why we had such a disaster in that war sincerely Mark Clark

Mark Wayne Clark KBE (May 1, 1896 – April 17, 1984) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the United States Army during World War II. During World War I, he was a company commander and served in France in 1918, as a 22-year-old captain, where he was seriously wounded by shrapnel. After the war, the future U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, noticed Clark's abilities. During World War II, he commanded the United States Fifth Army, and later the 15th Army Group, in the Italian campaign. He is known for leading the Fifth Army in its capture of Rome in June 1944. In March 1945, Clark, at the age of 48, became the youngest American officer ever to be promoted to the rank of four star general. General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, a close friend of Clark's, considered him a brilliant staff officer and trainer of men. Clark was awarded many medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second highest award. A legacy of the "Clark task force" that he led in 1953–1955, which reviewed and made recommendations on all federal intelligence activities, is the term Intelligence Community.

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