 Johnson dispatched Wheeler to Saigon on 20 February to determine military requirements in response to the offensive . Both Wheeler and Westmoreland were elated that in only eight days McNamara would be replaced by the hawkish Clark Clifford and that the military might finally obtain permission to widen the war . Wheeler 's written report of the trip , however , contained no mention of any new contingencies , strategies , or the building up the strategic reserve . It was couched in grave language that suggested that the 206 @,@ 756 @-@ man request it proposed was a matter of vital military necessity . Westmoreland wrote in his memoir that Wheeler had deliberately concealed the truth of the matter in order to force the issue of the strategic reserve upon the President . 
