 According to the Pentagon Papers , " A fork in the road had been reached and the alternatives stood out in stark reality . " To meet Wheeler 's request would mean a total U.S. military commitment to South Vietnam . " To deny it , or to attempt to cut it to a size which could be sustained by the thinly stretched active forces , would just as surely signify that an upper limit to the U.S. military commitment in South Vietnam had been reached . " 
