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Seventy-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
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Hue: Death of Vietnam's Beautiful City
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 1968
NIGHT EDITOR: RICHARD WINTER
Rocky vs. Johnson: Choosing
Between Tweedledum and Tweedledee
N ONE OF THE contenders for the
Presidency this year is more similar to
President Johnson in temperament and
political philosophy than New York Gov.
Nelson Rockefeller. And for that reason
none at this juncture has a better chance
of beating him.
A Natio
O Losers
IN A CURIOUS bit of about-face follow-
Sen. Robert Kennedy's declaration of
candidacy, the Johnson Administration
has discovered a new fondness for Sen.
Eugene McCarthy. Despite McCarthy's
strong challenge to the President in New
Hampshire, Vice-President Hubert Hum-
phrey lauded the Minnesota senator:
"McCarthy's campaign has been decent,
honest and gentlemanly."
The Johnson forces have not, of course,
seen the light of McCarthy's reasoning
against administration policy in Vietnam.
Rather, the LBJ strategists realize that
Kennedy is the more formidable foe and
have set out to do exactly what the New
York Senator says he is trying to avoid
-split 'the dissident Democratic vote
among two peace candidates.
The idea is to depict Kennedy as an
irresponsible, deal-making and expedient
politician. Humphrey disclosed a 1962
Kennedy statement saying "We are going
to win in Vietnam. We will remain here
unt'il we do."
McCarthy has already added to the
peace wing's disaffection for Kennedy by
declining the New Yorker's offer to cam-
paign for McCarthy in Wisconsin.
He further lambasted Kennedy's proposal
to Johnson for a commission to review
Vietnam strategy as "untenable and
pointless."
WITH THE ANTI-JOHNSON vote spread
between two rivals, the Johnson Ad-
ministration can pick up enough support
to be renominated in, the August con-
vention. Therefore, it is expedient to en-
courage as much dissension between Mc-
Carthy and Kennedy as possible.
The real losers of a knock-down drag-
out battle will not be the two senators,
however. The American-young, for whom
McCarthy says he entered the race to
give a legitimate political channel, will
now split their efforts between an ideal-
istic but improbable candidate and a
more attractive but cynical politician.
The Johnson-Humphrey team has
reason to rejoice over two rivals. For the
moment they can attack Kennedy and
bolster McCarthy without serious harm
to their own chances. Politics, afterall,
does create very odd bedfellows.
-DAVID KNOKE
Both are New-Deal, welfare-state lib-
erals. Both analyze foreign policy in the
Cold War, anti-Communist cliches of
containment and preparedness. And both
cull their main political support from
men like themselves: the hard-on-Com-
munism, welfare state liberals of the '40's
and '50's.
But these same liberals have never
really liked Johnson. His ambition has
always been too transparent, his corn-
pone Texas style too undignified for men
of their more sophisticated tastes. In a
year when "protest" has become fash-
ionable, a vote for Rockefeller is the only
protest these liberals have.
If Rockefeller can continue to convince
opponents of the war that he shares their
convictions, his base of support will be
easily broad enough to sweep him into
office in November.
ALTHOUGH Rockefeller's public state-
ments on the war up to now have
been either frankly hawkish or non-com-
mittal, many moderate doves insist that
he is their man. Walter Lippmann and
Gen. James Gavin are just the foremost
names on a growing list of those bam-
boozled by the Rockefeller mystique.
Whether Rocky can continue to juggle
both hawks and doves without dropping
either may determine the success of his
campaign. Despite the evidence, one
might hope that those who oppose the
war will not indefinitely support a man
whose only stated opinions on the war
so far might have been made by H. L.
Hunt.
TOMORROW Nelson Rockefeller will
announce his candidacy. Soon he will
have to make some kind of statement on
Vietnam. Can he continue the juggling
act?
Why not? All he need say to soothe
both hawks and doves is that he doesn't
like (or, better) has reservations about
the way the war is currently being waged.
Although this position will not distin-
guish Rockefeller materially from Nixon
(who has promised to "end the war"
without saying how), Nelson, because he
does not have Dick's "slippery" image to
overcome, may be able to pull it off suc-
cessfully.
Rockefeller would win a Nelson-Lyn-
don race hands down. Two questions,
however, remain unanswered.
WILL THE RACE be Johnson-Rockefel-
ler? If Rockefeller picks up momen-
tum in the primaries there will possibly
be enough liberal switchover votes and
cross-registrations to deny Johnson the
Democratic nomination.
Secondly, if the race is Johnson-Rocke-
feller - does it make any difference
which of them is elected?
-URBAN LEHNER
By STEVE D'ARAZIEN
H UE, SOUTH VIETNAM (CPS)
-"Hue is something special to
the Vietnamese. It is not like Sai-
gon. In Hue the people walk tall.
They wear their most beautiful
clothes. They are proud. Hue is
Vietnam."
The speaker was a Vietnamese
cameraman for CBS. Hue holds a
special place in the hearts of the
Vietnamese. It is the ancient cap-
ital of Vietnam, her oldest city,
the city least tainted by foreign
influence. And it is her most
beautiful city.
In 1966, when Venerable Trich
Tri Quang led the Struggle Move-
ment against the Ky regime for
free, representative government,
Hue was aligned with the militant
Buddhists and almost succeeded
in ousting the government forces
from the I Corps area. Ever since
then Saigon has held a grudge
against Hue. The government's
opportunity to crush Hue came
just two years later.
On the morning of January 31,
the National Liberation Front
took the city with little loss of
life. The NLF flag was raised on
the tall flagpole over the imper-
ial palace. It was not until Feb-
ruary 24 that the banner was
lowered, and even then fighting
was fierce in some parts of the
city.
Only when the last brick was
smashed and the dust had settled
was the empty victory claimed.
The flags were switched but once-
proud Hue lay in ruins. It is be-
lieved 3,000 civilians had died -
an exact count is not yet known-
and 60,000 residents of Hue are
now refugees. Saigon had had its
vengeance.
WHEN I ARRIVED in Hue, I
was confined to the South side
of the Purfume River where
fighting was sporadic. The bridge
had been blown by the NLF in
the first days of the battle then
almost a month old. I went to the
hospital. It was a once-beautiful,
spacious and lushly-landscaped
30-building complex, now half in
ruins. Only one ward was func-
tioning in a situation where the
whole hospital, if intact, would
have been crowded.
Bombs had ripped the roofs off.
Rockets and recoilless rifles had
torn huge holes, sometimes ten
feet across, in the sides of build-
ings. All the glass was shattered
by the concussions. Most of the
walls were peppered with the sil-
ver-dollar sized pock-marks of the
fifty calibre machine guns. Every-
where there was rubble.
Why was the hospital so hard-
hit? A Canadian doctor with me
began asking people in the area-
one-time patients, personnel, and
refugees now living in the rubble
was a VC. "Of course," he said.
"Every dead one is VC."
"MY HOUSE IS GONE," said
one ARVN soldier. Many of the
ARVN soldiers had fought their
way into Hue only to find their
homes destroyed by American
guns and bombs.
From their military and po-
litical viewpoint, the Americans
had no choice. The alternative to
the destruction of Hue was to let
the NLF have it. They couldn't be
starved out - they'd brought
enough supplies for months. They
were dug in deep. "We had to
destroy the city to save it," an of-
ficer said in a now-famous state-
ment.
As the days of liberation turned
to weeks, the American command
put the pressure on to retake the
city. They decided anything goes
and that led to the massive fire-
power thatnwas employed. Big
eight-inch naval guns and 155
mm howitzers bore down on the
city from mlies away. We could
hear the thud as the shells ex-
ploded from the barrels; hear
them whistle overhead, grow si-
lent; and then count one, two. ..
ten seconds before the deafening
explosion was heard from miles
away on the other side.
They used mortars and rockets,
750 pound bombs and napalm.
For the first time in the city the
Marines got to use a thing called
Ontos, a small tracked vehicle
with six 106mm recoilless rifles
on it. Fired in sequence, the six
guns could level a two story build-
ing.
.. * *
AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING stu-
dent from the University of Sai-
gon. in Hue for the Tet period,
said many students at the Uni-
versity of Hue assisted the NLF.
But "the Vietnamese people want
neither Ho nor Thieu," Le Nu Buu
insisted. He was careful to add "I
know many American students
are against the war."
Trinh Tien Khanh is a student
at the University of Hue. His
home was destroyed and he had
only the clothes on his back. He
said, "Some faculty here, in liter-
ature and law, have a good idea
of the VC. They and students as-
sisted." He said he thought the
destruction of Hue would make
many more people turn to the
NLF'.
Vo Lien, also a Hue student,
said many people had died of
starvation during the attack. He
believed students and faculty in
the Faculty of Medicine had also
joined the Front.
"The North Vietnamese did not
burn houses and kill people. The
Americans and the ARVN did
that," another Hue resident said.
It was certainly true that it was
American firepower that destroyed
the city. The NLF had the city
and was careful not to damage
it. They had evacuated the resi-
dents from areas the Americans
were likely to strike. This ac-
counts for the relatively low num-
ber of casualties, considering the
massive physical damage.
lo
Buddhist Struggle Movement in Hue . .
*
-"Were there any VC in the
hospital?" One man said none.
Another said a few. The largest
estimate was six. Yet U.S. mili-
tary spokesmen claimed the hos-
pital had been a command post.
We met a young man who was
living in one of the few unscathed
buildings. He was a medical stu-
dent who had been studying
there. He was afraid to leave be-
cause, not being in the South
Vietnamese army (ARVN), he
would be mistaken for a VC. "I
think you Americans have de-
stroyed' much for a few VC," he
said plaintively.
THE NEXT DAY we were
roused for the flag raising cere-
mony by an eager young marine.
The province chief, Colonel Phan
Van Khoa, had returned from
hiding and was anxious to lower
the NLF flag. He wanted some re-
porters there for the historic mo-
ment. We were practically herd-
ed into his jeep.
He had assembled a group of
refugees to watch his ceremony,
to sing the national anthem as
the flag went up. They did not
look joyous as they stood, bewil-
dered, in the rain.
The Colonel made a long speech
-too long-all the while carefully
positioning himself behind a
monument just in case there ws s
sniper fire from across the river
where fighting continued. The
flag went half-way up the pole
and disappeared. Someone had
shot it down.
LATER I CROSSED over to the
north side of the city. I spent the
day among the ruins covering
about half of the six square kil-
ometer area of the citadel. Only
in the Northeast corner were any
buildings still intact. These were
the poorest houses. Along the
river on the main street, Tran
Hung Dao, the beautiful shops
were in ruins. Inside the citadel
wall, the fine homes and colorful
little pagodas were leveled for as
far as the eye could see. About 90
per cent of the citadel area was
devastated and will probably be
bull-dozed.
Along the river ARVN soldiers
and marines were looting the
fashionable stores. Liquor and
camera shops were the hardest
hit. At one point the soldiers
brought in a truck to help them
haul away the loot. Back at the
hospital I had noticed the ambu-
lances had been stripped.
While bodies were still rotting
on the ground - I counted 14 and
I wasn't looking for them - the
U. S. marines were recklessly rac-
ing up and down the streets on
stolen motorcycles, unsure of how
to operate them. In another part
of the city body-less four wheel
vehicles, smaller than a jeep,
called mules, were hot-rodding
through the streets, sending the
few remaining refugees scurry-
ing for cover. The soldiers were
lapping up "liberated" La Rue
beer by the case.
At one point I spied a body and
asked a marine if he thought it
... Revenged by Saigon Two Years Later
1Gm
4
Letters: For a McCarthy-Kennedy Effort
Drop Mosher-Jordan Protest
HE REQUEST by the women of Mos-
her-Jordan Hall that their unit not
be converted to a coed facility should be
abandoned. The conversion is being
made to correct shortages in men's hous-
ing units and faculty office space. The
women, who apparently fear they will be
moved to undesirable rooms, should re-
consider their request in light of the
benefits to come from the change.
With the current housing situation, a
surplus of women's housing and a short-
age of men's housing has developed. This
is a fact of cold arithmetic and a situa-
tiori which the Housing office has no
choice but to correct by shifting housing
designations.
The decision to convert Alice Lloyd and
Uj4r Iutc~jigauu Daily
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Daily except Monday during regular academic school
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Fall and winter subscription rate: $4.50 per term by
carried ($5 by mail); $8.00 for regular academic school
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Editorial Staff
MARKA LEvIN, Editor
STEPHEN WILDSTROM URBAN LEHNER
Mosher-Jordan to coed units was not a
hastily-made move. It came after care-
ful consideration of recommendations
made by the Hughes Committee on Hous-
ing. The change-over of Mosher-Jordan
was proposed for the fall of 1969, but a
pressing need for faculty office spaces --
a shortage critical by any measure--caus-
ed the move to be pushed ahead a year.
because of the conversion of part of West
Quad to office space.
THE OBJECTION boils down to an in-
sistance that the University not meet
pressing needs in the areas of office
spaces and men's housing units. Objec-
tions based on attachments to rooms or
fear that suitable rooms are not available
elsewhere seem inappropriate if not
trivial in an academic setting.
The one complaint that the women
do hold legitimately is the unfortunate
timing of the announced changes. John
Feldkamp, director of University Hous-
ing, has apologized for the inconvenience
which the change is causing.
Alternative locations for the conver-
sions have been selected. But if plans to
turn Mosher-Jordan into coed housing
were abandonned, the residents of the al-
ternative locations would be confronted
with an even shorter notice of impending
To the Editor:
IN A TIME as dangerous a. any
the nation has experienced in
a century, this committee has
organized to help achieve the,nom-
ination of the Democratic Party
for a candidate who would:
1) Achieve a prompt negotiated
settlement to a calamitous war in
Southeast Asia; 2) Urgently at-
tack the problems of domestic
poverty and urban decay and work
for the establishment of racial jus-
tice and harmony in the United
States; 3) Restore standards of
personal candor and integrity to
the highest office in the land.
UNTIL THIS WEEK only one
man, Sen. Eugene McCarthy, had
offered his candidacy on these
principles. We wholeheartedly ap-
plauded his courage, supported
his campaign in New Hampshire
and rejoice in the growing success
and momentum of his effort. His
strong performance in New Hamp-
shire demonstrated both the degree
of disaffection of Democrats with
the present Administration and
the ability of Sen. McCarthy to
serve as articulate rallying-point
for that disaffection.
The New Hampshire results were
an indispensable first step toward
preventing the present Adminis-
tration from controlling the Na-
tional Convention in August. Un-
precedented efforts, however, still
remain ahead of those of us de-
termined to see the nation assume
a fresh course in national and
international affairs.
With the announcement of the
candidacy of Sen. Robert Ken-
nedy, those efforts received a new
impetus. The Democratic Party is
privileged to be able to consider
two candidates capable of return-
ing it to the cause of world peace
and dynamic domestic reform
which are the only bases on which
it can hope to maintain the al-
legiance of the majority of the
American people in the decades
ahead.
THE COURSE of the campaign
will tell which of these dedicated
men is better able to assume
leadership of the Party and the
nation. In the meantime, we would
hope that no differences among
Democrats dedicated, as we are,
to a change in the present leader-
ship would be permitted to weaken
their vital common effort.
Thi -nm mn .glt n fini, f
A Lame Excuse
To the Editor:
IT IS with extreme concern that
I note the comments of one
Michael Davis and Mark Schrei-
ber concerning the failure of the
referenda in this past election.
Their allusions to plot to defeat
the referenda and pronouncements
of future "education" of the stu
dent body to the so-called "evils"
of classified research and mem-
bership in the IDA can only serve
to stir feelings of revulsion among
those who seriously considered the'
issues and cast their ballots
against them.
Although the number of voters
who cast ballots on the questions
was far from a substantial repre-
sentation of the student body, the
overwhelming rejection (58.7%
and 57.5% respectively) should
serve, at least, to indicate the
leanings of the average student. A
defeat of such proportion of any
candidate or issue in a public
election would certainly be cause
for assessment by the defeated of
the reason for theirhrejection.
But do Schreiber and Davis ad-
mit that their ideas are not held
by the student body? No, they
wish to press their worn out plati-
tudes upon us after we have clear-
ly indicated we want no part of
them.
THE ACCUSATIONS of a con-
spiracy to defeat the referenda
are the most ludicrous, lame ex-
cuses for defeat that have been
heard since Richard Nixon's defeat
in California.' I was never co-
erced nor had the slightest pres-
sure placed upon me nor even
heard any suggestion of how to
cast my ballot even though I am
a student of engineering and am
constantly in contact with those
whom Mr. Beattie's article (Daily,
Mar. 14) would seem to intimate
were "planning carefully against
the passage of the referenda." In
fact, I voted for Mr. Schreiber,
who impressed me with his activ-
ity in housing. He was not en-
dorsed by the Engineering Coun-
cil; and I am sure many of his
votes were cast by those not ap-
proving of the referenda.
It is my sincere hope that Mr.
Schreiber and Mr. Davis will re-
consider their statements as well
as their positions on classified re-
search. There is a point to which
the patience of the student body
can be tried, and it is rapidly be-
ing approached.
-Bruce S. Levine, '71
LBJ & SGC
To the Editor:
THE REACTION of SGC lead-
ers, as reported in The Daily,
to the defeat of the referenda
concerning classified research is
most amusing (or depressing)
when compared to events on the
national level. In spite ,of world-
wide opinion to the contrary,
President Johnson pursues a pol-
icy in Vietnam which he believes
to be correct. In spite of an over-
whelming defeat of the referenda,
the SGC leaders pursue a policy
which they believe to be correct.
As Daily editors are fond of say-
ing, "Only in America . .
After the new Hampshire pri-,
mary, I can imagine President
Johnson saying, "It appears as,
though some people were plan-
ning carefully to beat me." It's
probably just coincidence that this
sounds like Mark Schreiber say-
ing "It appears as though some
people were planning carefully
against the passage of the ref-
erenda." Such an infantile remark
makes me wonder if the barber
still gives Mr. Schreiber a sucker,
when he gets a haircut.
-Prof. M. David Curtis
Chemistry department
Incomprehensible
To the Editor:
IN SEPARATE letters (Mar. 16),
Howard Miller, Brian D. Ze-
mach, and Mark E. Bowles accuse
Michael Koeneke and me of being
bad representatives because we
said, even before all the votes had
been counted, that we thought the
students had made a mistake by
defeating the referenda on clas-
sified research and IDA. I don't
know how Mike feels, but I find
the accusation incomprehensible
-for two reasons.
FIRST, If I hadn't made my
position on classified research
clear during the campaign, then,
perhaps, I would have been in-
discrete to make it known so soon
after elections. However, anyone
who read my platform or heard
me speak before Voice or Engin
Council, knew my position. I was
elected-presumably by people
who thought I meant what I said.
I should suppose that part of
being a good representative is
not going back on one's word.
SECOND: I have not advocated
and I won't advocate-SGC le-
gislating against a valid vote of
the students. That, I think, is
what "Let the students decide"
means. What I have advocated-
~, _.) n - .4rii - to oraxn a 'p
trying to get students to recon-
sider. That, I think, is what my
"we have to go back and do a lot
of educating" means.
I am, even though I hold elec-
tive office, entitled to have opin-
ions, to believe them contrary
to a valid vote of the students,
and to try to convince others that
I'm right. Indeed. I am, I think,
even entitled, as an individual,
to act in accordance with them.
If my constituents want to deny
me that, then let them say so and
I will give up my office for hon-
est work.
-Michael Davis, Grad
CGonfusing
To the Editor:
WOULDN'T take the results of
the two referenda too serious-
ly; what they probably show is
how confusing it is to set up a
ballot whereon people vote "no"
by marking "yes."
-Tucker T. Coon, Grad.
.Davis Speech
To the Editor:
IT WAS CERTAINLY gracious
of Michael Davis to take it
upon himself to represent the stu-
dent body at the inauguration of
President Fleming. He succeeded
in presenting himself as an un-
mannered ass before the distin-
guished representatives of 470 col-
leges and universities, not to men-
tion Dr. and Mrs. Fleming. As a
member of this body which he
claimed to represent, I feel I must
protest.
Davis' veiled threats of student
power were lost on the audience,
who greeted the moving climax of
his political diatribe ("We must
seek . we must wait. . .") with a
smattering of applause and some
scattered laughter. Certainly the
listeners were convinced of stu-
dent concern and involvement at
the University; they were also
convinced that a student does not
know when political comment is
appropriate and when it is not.
That this generation of students
was able to witness the inaugur-
ation of a president who is aware
of their interests is gratifying. It
is unfortunate that an opportun-
ist like Davis was chosen to spot-
light himself, instead of givng
tr.., a n n,.mimy n hpalf
-)Ali
- ~ ,.r.
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