[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 110 (Monday, September 18, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8655-S8656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM R. CORSON

 Mr. HAGEL. Madam President, I would like to make a brief 
statement about a man who in every way embodied the spirit and reality 
of an American patriot. Seldom does one have an opportunity to bump 
into someone during life's journey who has affected events of our time. 
Such a man was retired Marine Corps Colonel Bill Corson who passed away 
in July.
  His passing reminds us all of our own mortality and destiny and how 
important it is to live our lives with honor and dignity. That is how 
Bill Corson lived his. It was a privilege to know him. I will miss his 
wise counsel and friendship.
  I first met Bill in 1981 when I was serving as the Deputy 
Administrator of the Veterans Administration. He was a man who was 
deeply and unselfishly devoted to his country. Bill left college and 
enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War II. He served in Korea 
and Vietnam. His decorations included the Navy Commendation Medal with 
Combat ``V.'' He spent most of his career on special assignment with 
the CIA, the White House, the Marine Corps, and the State Department. 
Bill went on to teach at the U.S. Naval Academy and write several books 
on national security issues.
  Bill was relentless in the pursuit of meeting the challenges faced by 
the country he loved so much. He was a man of immense integrity, a man 
of knowledge, a man of ability, a man of compassion, a man of faith, 
who always gave his country his best. And America is stronger today 
because of this remarkable man.
  He was a friend of mine, and I extend heartfelt condolences to his 
wife Judy and his family.
  Madam President, I ask that the attached obituary from The Washington 
Post on Bill Corson be printed in the Record.

               [From the Washington Post, July 19, 2000]

     William R. Corson, 74, Author and Retired Marine Officer, Dies

                            (By J.Y. Smith)

       William R. Corson, 74, a retired lieutenant colonel in the 
     Marine Corps and expert on counterinsurgency warfare who was 
     almost court-martialed for publishing a book that was high 
     critical of U.S. policy in Vietnam, died July 17 at Surburban 
     Hospital. He had lung cancer.
       For much of his career, Col. Corson was an intelligence 
     officer on special assignment with the CIA and the Marine 
     Corps. He spoke Chinese and specialized in Asian affairs.
       In 1962, after four years as a liaison officer in Hong 
     Kong, he was assigned to the office of the secretary of 
     defense. This put him in touch with decision-making at the 
     highest level as U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia deepened.
       He began studying Vietnam in the early 1950s, when France 
     was still trying to hold on to its colonial possession. In 
     1966, he was ordered there as commanding officer of a Marine 
     tank battalion.
       Early in 1967, he was named director of the Combined Action 
     Program, in which small detachments of Marines served with 
     South Vietnamese militia in villages throughout the country. 
     The purpose of the program was to provide security from the 
     communists and win the loyalty of the people to the Saigon 
     government.

[[Page S8656]]

       According to an official Marine Corps history, the program 
     was highly successful. Col. Corson was praised by his 
     superiors for his ability to relate to Vietnamese villagers 
     and win their confidence.
       In 1967, when he returned to the United States, he received 
     another sensitive assignment in Washington, becoming deputy 
     director of the Southeast Asia Intelligence Force in the 
     office of the assistant secretary of defense.
       But by that time he was convinced that U.S. policies in 
     Vietnam were doomed and he decided to write a book.
       The book, ``The Betrayal,'' argued that the Saigon 
     government supported by Washington was corrupt and 
     incompetent and that it was perceived by ordinary Vietnamese 
     as being as much of a threat to their well-being as the 
     communists. Unless the United States devised policies to take 
     this into account, the book said, the war would be lost and 
     American servicemen would have died in vain.
       Publication was set for July 1, 1968, by W.W. Norton and 
     Co. Inc., a month after Col. Corson was scheduled to retire 
     from the service.
       This brought into play Marine Corps regulation that 
     required officers on active duty to submit statements on 
     public policy to review before making them public. Col. 
     Corson claimed that this did not apply to him because the 
     book would not go on sale until after he had become a 
     civilian.
       Marine Corps officials responded by having his retirement 
     held up and by taking steps to convene a general court-
     martial. These plans were dropped on the grounds that they 
     would only serve to draw attention to the book. Col. Corson's 
     retirement went through a month later than originally 
     scheduled.
       Co. Corson later taught history at Howard University for a 
     year and then wrote several books on national security 
     issues, including ``Promise or Peril,'' ``Consequences of 
     Failure,'' ``The Armies of Ignorance'' and ``The New KGB'' 
     with Robert T. Crowley.
       He also wrote a column on veterans affairs for Penthouse 
     magazine for several years and was the publication's 
     Washington editor.
       William Raymond Corson was born in Chicago on Sept. 25, 
     1925. He attended the University of Chicago, but left in 1943 
     to enlist in the Marine Corps during World War II. After the 
     war, he graduated from the University of Miami, where he also 
     received a master's degree in business and economics. He 
     later received a doctorate in economics at American 
     University.
       In 1949, Col. Corson was commissioned in the Marine Corps. 
     He served in the Korean War in 1952. From 1953 to 1955, he 
     was a student in the Chinese language course at the Naval 
     Intelligence School in Washington. From 1964 to 1966, he 
     taught a course on communism and revolutionary war at the 
     U.S. Naval Academy.
       His military decorations included the Navy Commendation 
     Medal with combat ``V''.
       Col. Corson, a resident of Potomac, was an elder and clerk 
     of session at Harmon Presbyterian Church in Bethesda.
       His marriage to Charlotte Corson ended in divorce.
       Survivors include his wife, Judith C. Corson, and their 
     three children, Adam, Zachary and Andrew, all of Potomac; two 
     children from his first marriage, Christopher Corson of 
     Silver Spring and David Corson of Greenville, S.C.; and five 
     grandchildren.

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