GI's return to war zone for defensive action
FIRE BASE TIMBUKTU, Vietnam
W) - The "Fire Base Five" of Bravo
Company, after a show of balkiness and
a lot of publicity, are back at war.
Before heading out on a combat mis-
sion yesterday, the five who had ob-
jected to going on a Saturday night
patrol - and several other company
members said that the Army's policy of
"active defense" of fire bases is not
their idea of a defensive posture.
"We've never been out of an offen-
sive position since we got to Vietnam,"
declared Specialist Four Albert Grana
of Los Angeles, the author of a com-
plaint addressed to Sen. Edward Ken-
nedy, (D-Mass.), which was signed by
more than 60 of the company's 120
men.
NEWS PHONE: 764-0525
The unit's assignment last week to
protect U.S. artillery at beleaguered
Fire Base Pace near the Cambodian
border "was the straw that broke the
camel's back,'.' Grana said. ,
Kennedy has called for congressional
investigation of the incident at Pace, in
which the five men said they did not
intend to go on a patrol.
The patrol was canceled before the
issue of disobeying orders could arise.
But publicity prompted the army to
replace Bravo Company prematurely
at Pace with another company.
Bravo Company was transferred to
Fire Base Timbuktu, in a quiet region
75 miles northeast of Saigon.
While at Pace, Bravo Company casu-
alties were two men wounded by shrap-
I}
nel from enemy shells. Pace has been
in the middle of recent fighting 75
miles northwest of Saigon .
One of the reluctant five, .Spec. 4
Richard Neighbours of Whittier, Calif.,
gave his reaction to the order/ last Sat-
urday to move out from Pace into a
night ambush position. He had only 67
days left to serve in Vietnam.
Neighbors said "I didn't know any-
thing about the area. I wasn't going to
go sitting out there for three hours and
take a chance on getting shot."
The 15-man patrol was to move 490
yards east of Fire Base Pace and set
up a night defensive position to lie in
wait for any moving enemy, said Bravo
Company's commander, Capt. Robert
Cronin of Somerville, Mass.
Such excursions are a common part
of "active defense." Lt. Col. Wallace
Tyson, Battalion commander explained:
"I don't believe you can stay static
on a fire base when you're getting 35
rounds a day .. . If you can go out
there and ruin the enemy's plans you
save yourself later on."
Also common during this phase of the
war were the complaints that arose
among the soldiers concerning the great
number of new men, none of whom
knew the terrain and poor artillery and
air support.
The five made known to the patrol
leader, Lt. Ronald Shuler of Fayette-
ville. N.C., that they did not intend to
go, but Shuler insists: "If that patrol
had gone there's no doubt in my mind
that these men would have gone."
It never came to that because 15
minutes before the patrol was to have
moved out, a Vietnamese liaison offic-
er reported two South Vietnamese units
already were in the assigned area. Since
no order was given and none violated,
no disciplinary action was taken.
It was not a matter of cowardice,
Shuler said. He noted that one of the
five had volunteered for a previous pa-
trol. The men agreed with that.
"I think those people were just using
common sense in saying they didn't
want to go out there," said Sgt. Walter
Wernli of 't'hree Rivers, Tex.
The next day, the same 15 men
were given a daylight patrol in the
same area.
VANESSA REDGRAVE
OLIVER REED
in
KEN RUSSELL'S'
CONTROVERSIAL
MASTERPIECE
THE DEVILS
SHOWN TON ITE
7&9
a o 'TH Forum
FIFTH AVENUE AT LIBERTY
liii DOWNTOWN ANN ARBO
L.JLJ INFORMATION 761-9700
page three
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, October 14, 1971
Oliver Reed portrays a virile and
rebellious priest.
nw-s...briefs~
By The Associated Press
BRITISH TROOPS in Northern Ireland blasted craters in
back roads near the border of the Irish Republic yesterday in
an effort to shut off arms smuggling to the Irish Republican
Army.I
Security forces say most of the gelignite, an explosive used in
Belfast and other Northern cities, originated in the republic.
Irish Prime Minister Jack Lynch said that the blastings create
"a physical barrier between the people of this island."
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Melvin Laird claimed yesterday
that an increase in Soviet missile-firing submarine construction
could place the United States "at a very great political disadvan-
tage."
Laird said stepped-up Soviet submarine construction will enable
them to match this country's fleet of 41 Polaris submarines by 1973,
a year earlier that he had previously forecast.
Stressing the importance of negotiating from strength, Laird
said he is convinced the American people "would be willing to acceptI
a parity position" with Russia, "but I do not believe they would
accept a position of inferiority."
SEN. MIKE MANSFIELD (D-Mont.) yesterday said it is
"rather doubtful" the Senate will take up this year the proposed
Constitutional amendment to guarantee women equal rights
with men.
Although the House approved the Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA) Tuesday by a 354-23 vote, Mansfield, an ERA proponent, said
the Senate's time for the rest of the year is likely to be taken up
with other legislation. He also told newsmen he anticipates an ex-
tended debate when the Senate does consider ERA, which was fili-
bustred to death in the Senate in the last Congress.
JOHN CONNALLY, Treasury Secretary made a plea for bi-
partisan support of President Nixon's new economic program yes-
terday, calling the fears of many businessmen unjustified.
Speaking before Citizens for a New Prosperity, a private group
recently formed to promote Nixon's economic policies, Connally said
he hoped the fears would be short-lived, and expressed a desire that
the policies not be made a partisan issue.
UNION STRIKES in the soft coal industry and in East and
Gulf Coast shipping industries continued to hinder the nation's
economy yesterday.
Besides layoffs in related industries such as railroads, many'
firms faced a dwindling of essential supplies.
United Mine Worker Chief Tony Boyle accused management of
hiding behind President Nixon's economic program to avoid settling
the strike in the coal industry, which began Oct. 1. The dock strike,
which began the same day, is estimated to cost the nation $17 million
a day.'
Evidence traces
responsibil ity o
MyLai inquiry
FT. MEAD, Md. (N) - Col. Oran Henderson's court-
martial was informed yesterday that the colonel once of-
fered to take full responsibility for a "command inquiry" he
instituted into the My Lai raid and for a finding that "ir-
responsible acts of killing noncombatants did not occur."
Henderson's offer came in a letter he wrote to Gen. Wil-
liam Westmoreland, the Army chief of staff, on Dec. 10,
1969, just after the start of the Pentagon inquiry into the
My Lai affair.
The letter was introduced as prosecution evidence against
GI protesters
Members of Bravo Company who had objected to going out on an
offensive" night patrol last Saturday have since been trans-
ferred to another area. Yesterday, however, they did go out on a
mission. (See story above.)
FEB. APPEAL:
Wei glasspredicts
Chicago
7'S
absence
CHICAGO (A) -- Oral argu-
ments on the appeal of the con-
troversial Chicago 7 conspiracy
trial are set for February - two
years after five men were con-
victed of inciting rioting at the
time of the Democratic National
Convention in 1968.
But defense lawyer Leonard
Weinglass of Newark, N.J., does
not expect a reunion of the de-
fendants when the7th U.S. Cir-
cout of Appeals hears arguments
on the conviction of the five de-
fendants and the contempt sen-
tences levied against all seven de-
fendants, both defense lawyers
and a defendant who was severed
from the trial. "I'll be there with
Mr. Kunstler," Weinglass said.
Weinglass was sentenced to 20
months and 5 days for contempt
by Judge Julius Hoffman at the
conclusion of the U.S. District
Court trial which began Sept. 24,
1969 and ended Feb. 18, 1970.
The five defendants convicted
of inciting rioting were sentenc-
ed to five years in prison and
fined $5,000. Two other defend-
ants were acquitted of all char-
ges.
Judge Hoffman, however, sen-
tenced all seven defendants to pri-
son terms for contempt. The sen-
tences ranged from 2 months to
2% years.
The five convicted defendants
and the two codefendants sen-
tenced for contempt spent two
weeks in the Cook County Chicago
Jail before they were released on
$15,000 bonds each.
SHOP TONIGHT AND FRI[
UNTIL 9:00 P.M.
Henderson, who is accused of
not properly investigating
atrocity reports and of lying
twice to the Pentagon in-
quiry.
In the letter, Henderson who
commanded the 1st Brigade at
My Lai said he conducted a "com-
mand inquiry" after receiving re-
ports of wild shooting by troops
and the death of 20 noncombat-
ants by artillery and helicopter
gunship fire during the March 16,
1968 assault on the Vietnamese
village.
"This inquiry," the letter stat-
ed, "was initiated by me without
guidance or knowledge of any
higher headquarters and conse-
quently was based solely upon
my judgment." He wrote. "I was
unable to produce a single witness
or a thread of evidence to sub-
stantiate the eyewitness report."
Henderson said he informed his
commander, then Maj. Gen. Sam-
uel Koster of the Americal Di-
vision, that "irresponsible acts of
killing noncombatants did not oc-
cur.
Henderson, who has declared
his innocence, reported to the
Americal Division on April 24.
1968 that the civilian death toll
at My Lai was only 20 persons
accidentally killed by artillery
and gunship fire.
A succession of witnesses at the
court martial has testified they
saw upwards of 150 bodies of wo-
men, children and old men in var-
ious locations in and around the
hamlet.
The latest such body count was
given yesterday by former Spec. 4
Lawrence Colburn.
'Soviets plan'
hike in arms
aid to Egypt,
MOSCOW (AP)- The Soviet Un-
ion said last night it will step up
military aid to Egypt because of
the "dangerous situation" in the
Middle East.
The Kremlin decision to further
Egyptian military strength--des-
pite the purge of Moscow support-
ers in Cairo - was announced in
a joint Soviet - Egyptian com-
munique issued after a summit
meeting of the top Soviet leader-
ship with Egyptian President An-
war Sadat.
Sadat and his high level dele-
gation left Moscow yesterday aft-
ernoon following two days of in-
tensive consultations in the
Kremlin. They were seen off by
Communist party chief Leonid
Brezhnev and Premier Alexei
Kosygin.
The communique charged Is-
rael and the United States with
responsibility for the current crisis
in the Middle East.
The new arms aid to the Arabs
evidently is designed in part to
counter the American "all-around
support."
The leaders of both countries
reiterated their demand that Is-
rael comply with a 1967 United
Nations Security Council resolu-
tion and withdraw its troops from
"all Arab territories."
_.
i
TONMGH
AT
7-9 P.M
IT
lomwoompmq*uuwqrmqmrqrgppwek
T T IGH DIAL
8-6416
.
and in the end only they will survive.!
I HEL LSTROM CHRONICLEI
I1
Cl1
S .0 -z
Issho yi Geng
\A41
Jarman laces up the granny
boot for the men. . .a rugged
back-to-nature block leather
14-incher to keep company
with your knickers and
tucked trouser looks. $29.
c c
FRIDAY
a film by Nagisa Oshima
Death by Hanging
"The most fantastic scenario in cinema history. A
__'"!'