Kitsy Westmoreland On Service, Family, And The Army Life

Mrs. Kitsy Westmoreland grew up in an Army family that was closely tied to West Point, her father and later her brother having graduated from the Military Academy. When Kitsy Van Deusen was nine, she met her future husband, William Westmoreland, who was an Artillery Lieutenant serving at Fort Sill, where her family was stationed. After WWII, she again met William Westmoreland, and in May, 1947, they were married. At the time, they were stationed at Fort Bragg, but assignments to Fort Leavenworth, Fort Campbell, and West Point soon followed. When Westmoreland served in Korea, Kitsy went to Japan. When he was sent to Vietnam, the family went too. In 1965, the family left Saigon and moved to Hawaii, but Kitsy made frequent trips to Vietnam. When Westmoreland became Chief of Staff of the United States Army, the family moved to the D.C. area. In 1972, William Westmoreland retired, and the family moved to South Carolina, where he ran for governor in 1974. William Westmoreland died in 2005, but Kitsy Westmoreland still lives in South Carolina. In this interview, Kitsy Westmoreland describes her life as an Army Brat and an Army Spouse. She talks about her own family, and the many friends she made over the years, including Mamie Eisenhower and Dolores Hope, Bob Hope’s wife. She provides her recollections of life in the Superintendent’s House at West Point, and of living and working in Vietnam, where she was a Red Cross Nurse’s Assistant in Saigon. Later, she served on Red Cross flights carrying wounded Soldiers to the Philippines and Hawaii. Finally, she discusses life with General Westmoreland after he retired from the Army, and explains what West Point means to her.