The only Melvin to serve in a cabinet post in the 20th century was this man as Nixon's Secretary of Defense
Described by Henry Kissinger as a man of "buoyancy and rascally 
good humor," Laird .... Laird became secretary of defense in President Nixon's 
cabinet and... [DOC] [TLE] Vietnam War facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles ... [PAR] The total number of Americans who served in South Vietnam was 2.7 million.