Stanley R. Resor, who served as Army Secretary during some of the Vietnam War’s darkest moments, including the massacre of civilians at My Lai, died April 17 at his home in Washington. He was 94. Stanley R. Resor, who served
Stanley R. Resor, who served as Army Secretary during some of the Vietnam War’s darkest moments, including the massacre of civilians at My Lai, died April 17 at his home in Washington. He was 94.
He had complications from renal failure, said his son Edmund Resor.
Resor, a decorated Army veteran of World War II, was a corporate lawyer in New York and registered Republican when he joined the Johnson administration in 1965. He was recruited by his former Yale classmate, Cyrus Vance, who was serving as deputy Defense secretary.
By the time Resor resigned in 1971, he had been the longest-serving Army secretary since the civilian position was created in 1947.
President Lyndon B. Johnson named Resor under-secretary of the Army in March 1965 and promoted him to secretary the following July. He inherited a military branch in the midst of a rapid escalation of forces in Vietnam. As Army secretary, Resor had overall responsibility for the soldiers’ welfare and handled administrative issues related to managing the growing force.
After resigning as Army secretary, Resor served as the U.S. delegate to negotiations on military-force reductions in Europe. He briefly was under-secretary of Defense during the Carter administration before retiring from government service in 1979.
Survivors include his second wife, whom he married in 1999, Louise Mead Resor, of Washington; seven sons from his first marriage, Stanley R. Resor Jr. of Greenwich, Conn., Thomas Resor of Deadham, Mass., Edmund Resor of New York, James Resor of Chevy Chase, Md., and Charles Resor, John Resor, and William Resor, all of Wilson, Wyo.; a sister; 20 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. —AP
