GENERAL BERNARD W. ROGERS - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/03/1968 - HFSID 171638

GENERAL BERNARD ROGERS
General Bernard Rogers signed this typed letter on West Point stationery and as Commandant of Cadets to an autograph hunter in 1968.
Typed letter signed "Bernard Rogers" as Brigadier General and Commandant of Cadets. 1 page, 7x7¾, on stationery from the Office of the Commandant of Cadets at United States Military Academy. Jan. 3, 1968. Addressed to Mr. Thomas L. Alford, Sr., Croton-on-Hudson, New York. In full: "Dear Mr. Alford: Thank you for your letter; it is a pleasure for me to be added to your collection. With best wishes for a prosperous and happy new year, I am, Sincerely". With a sympathy for the common soldier that was tempered by a hardnosed strategist's sense, American general Rogers (1921-2008) gained a reputation as one of the brightest thinkers in the U. S. Army during his 44 years in uniform. A West Point instructor, Rhodes scholar and Korean and Vietnam War veteran who won the Distinguished Service Cross after rallying troops in the field during a successful counterattack against a Vietcong raid, Rogers was Chief of Staff of the Army (1976-1979) and later Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (1979-1987), a position that he held for an unprecedented 8 years. He began instituting major reforms in the Army in 1969, when he was commanding officer of the 5th Infantry Regiment at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado. These reforms made the Army friendlier to minorities and women and Army life more enjoyable overall and, incidentally, increased enlistments. Rogers also tried to make the Army a deadlier and more effective force by emphasizing quick and devastating strikes over drawn-out military campaigns - a doctrine that has dominated military strategy since, though with mixed results. During his time with NATO, he developed a policy of "Flexible Response", increasing its conventional forces while decreasing its dependence on nuclear weapons, while repeatedly warning the free world not to drop its guard against the Soviet Union. Fine condition.