Vietnam War air force general posthumously exonerated
22nd December 2010
John D Lavelle was demoted and forced to retire in April 1972 after being relieved of duty for violating presidential restrictions on aerial bombing during the Vietnam War.
He maintained his innocence during congressional hearings held after his dismissal and died in 1979.
Declassified documents and transcripts of President Richard Nixon’s Oval Office audio tapes now show that more aggressive bombing in North Vietnam had been secretly authorised in early 1972.
Nixon’s the one.