TUESDAY.
"Everyone Id Southern Oregon
Read! The Mail Tribune"
Published Dally except Saturday by
33 Noi Ih fir St., Ph. 77i-6141
ROBERT W RUHL. Editor
HERB GREY Advertlilnf Menace!
GERALD T LATHAM. Bui Mir
ERIC w ALLEN JR.. Mne Editor
KAHL H ADAMS, City Editor
MAHRV rHIPMAN Teles Editor
RICHARD JEWETT. Sporla Editor
OLIVE ST ARCHER Women'! EOltol
DALEERICKSONCirculatlon Mjr
An IndeDendent Newspapel
Entered ai second clasi matter at
Medford Oregon under Act 01
March 3, 1897
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Flight o' Time
Mediord and Jackson County
History from the tile of The
Mail Tribune 10, 20. 30. 40
and SO yean ago.
Iff YEARS AGO
Sept. 17. 1953 (Thursday)
Jackson county's 11th polio
patient of the year, a 19-year-old
Talent girl, was flown to a Eu
gene hospital last night by Mer
cy Flights air ambulance plane.
Cpl. Harvey L. Rogers, last
Medford prisoner of war to be
released by the Communists,
was home today.
20 YEARS AGO
Sept. 17, 1913 (Friday)
W. M. McAllister, local attor
ney, leaves for duty as army
captain.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pol" column: "A Mas'
sachusetts solon has been in
dicted for mail fraud. People
with long memories recall in the
last national mandate, his elec
tion was vital to both state and
nation to prevent the loss of
'social gains'."
30 YEARS AGO
Sept. 17. 1933 (Sunday)
Siskiyou highway jobs
will
open soon.
Fruit harvest to cut attend
ance as schools open tomorrow.
40 YEARS AGO
Sept. 17, 1923 (Monday)
Lee (Duh) Watson returns
from extended stay in Los An
geles. Valley delegation to bid ship
load of Oregon cedar for Japan
Godspeed.
50 YEARS AGO
Sept. 17. 1913 (Wednesday)
Lee Jacobs named by council
to fill vacancy as mayor.
Medford golf club subject of
article in Seattle Times.
What's Your I.Q.?
Nina or ten correct li superior;
taven or eight ii eicellent; five or
ii ll good.
1. Which country of Central
America is largest in area'.'
2. Was Roger Bacon a monk,
chemist, or an authority on
optics?
3. What legislative body exer
cises exclusive jurisdiction over
the District of Columbia?
4. What Federal agency en
forces requirements as a proper
ly labeling wool products?
5. Does a wombat most re
semble a snake, a bear, an al
batross, or a whale?
6. Is an invidious remark most
likely to provoke laughter, ill
will, or good-will?
7. "Colonel Pyncheon" Is a
character in which Nathaniel
Hawthorne novel?
B. In which European coun
try did Wilhelm, former Em
peror of Germany, die?
9. Norway is a republic; true
or false?
10. The Inhabitants of Mada
gascar are known as M g ans?
Annwern: 1. Nicaragua. 2.
All three. 3. Congress. 4. Fed
eral Trade Commission. 5.
Bear. ft. Ill-will. 7. "The
House of Seven Gables." (.
The Netherlands. 9. False.
10. Mnlagasiane.
810,000 Oregoncms
Said Eligible To Vofe
SALEM (UPD-More than
810,000 Orogonians will be eli
gible to vote in the Oct. IS lax
referendum, Elections Supcrvi
nor Jack Thompson predicted
today.
Deadline for registering was
Sept. 14.
Thompson ald he would navt
the official registration totals in
about two weeks.
4 A-
I -rfS
VjAISOCIATION
ShPTL.MBLR 17, 1963
The Constitution s 1 76 Years
It starts this way:
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran
quility, provide for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and
our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the
United States of America.
It ends this way:
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states
present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven, and of
the independence of the United States of America the twelfth.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.
IN BETWEEN the preamble and the conclusion
are the seven brief articles which, together
with the later amendments, form the most im
pressive document of government ever written.
It is not a perfect charter of government, for
it was designed and formulated by fallible hu
man beings, who could not know what the future
held. Still, it has formed the basis for our liber
ties, and the framework upon which our laws and
our traditions are based.
Today exact! v 176
its ratification in convention we stand in awe
to know that those brilliant and sober men were
able to devise a document sufficiently flexible
that, even though the world and society and gov
ernment have changed
it still serves.
HPHE biggest and most important change in the
- Constitution was proposed little more than twoi
years later on Sept. 25,
ed a little more than two years after that on
Dec. 15, 1791. This was when the Bill of Rights,
the first ten amendments to the Constitution,
became an integral part of it.
It is not easy to change the Constitution,
which is as it should be. After adoption of the
Bill of Rights, it has been amended only 13 times
and two of these cancelled each other out, the
18th and 21st.
The second-largest period of change was im
mediately following the
13th, 14th and 15th amendments were adopted,
abolishing slavery, protecting citizenship and
guaranteeing equal protection of the laws, and
protecting the right to vote. (These guarantees,
sadly enough, have not all been uniformly en
forced, and still are not, even today, in some
parts of the nation.)
npHE most controversial of the more recent
amendments are the 16th, which permitted the
income tax, and the 18th prohibition which
was repealed by the 21st.
The others provided
of Senators; for woman suffrage; revising the
terms of president and vice president, providing
for annual sessions of congress, and the line of
succession; limiting the president to two terms;
and allowing citizens of Washington, D.C., to
vote in presidential elections.
Each of these have gone through the tedious
process of getting a
of Congress, and ratification by three-fourths of
the states. (The other method of amending the
Constitution by a constitutional convention
has never been employed.)
pONSERVATIVES are fond of calling for "a
return to Constitutional principles." But at
the same time, many of them are promoting pro
posed amendments which would, in effect, com
pletely negate the delicate balance of power
worked out over the years between the state and
federal governments, and send the nation back
into a state of Confederary, by granting the ulti
mate and supreme power to the states a power
they surrendered 176 years ago.
lhus far these crippling amendments have
not gotten very far, and the chances are they
won't get much further.
But a nation which could pass a prohibition
amendment is theoretically capable, in a moment
of aberation, of doing equally foolish things. The
"states' rights" amendments, and the even more
crippling so-called "liberty amendment," would
throw the nation's polity and economy into chaos.
'PI IE main body of the Constitution, those seven
articles, sets forth in brief and orderly fashion
the powers, duties, limitations and responsibili
ties of the various arms of government.
It is obscurely worded in some portions, but
is magnificently clear in others.
Some portions arc outmoded (no "letters of
marque and reprisals" have been granted for
many years). But others are sharply pertinent
today. For instance:
This constitution, and the laws of the United States which
shall he made In pursuance thereof; and all treaties made,
or which shall be made, under the authority of the United
States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges
in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the consti
tution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
TH1E Constitution, and
Kiglils, is the most tangible guarantee of the
rights and liberties and privileges of all Ameri
can citizens.
Yet no document can, of and by itself, do the
job alone. It is administered by human beings,
and if it does not command the loyalty and re
spect and support of a majority of the citizens,
it is little more than a scrap of'paner.
But as long as it does command that support,
and as long as it remains a barrier to the .ever
ambitious forces of tyranny and injustice, we
can all be thankful that we live within its pro
tective shadow, todav as 176 yeai-s ago todav.
E.A.
years from the date of
almost unrecognizably,
1789 and was approv
Civil War, when the
for the direct election
two-thirds vote in each house
particularly the Bill of
"We've Decided Against The Test-Ban Treaty
We Want The Right To Develop
Our Own Bomb"
-rw was,
mara.
... Communications ...
Letter! to the Editor must bear the nam and address of the writer, although under
certain circumstances the us ol a pen name or initial for publication is permissible.
The Mail Tribune reserves the right to edit all Utters with a view to clarification and
condensation. Lelteri submitted for publication must not exceed 400 words. The letters
printed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of the paper; in fact the
contrary is often the case.
Distressed
To the Editor: I am greatly
distressed by the inconsistency,
the criminal greed, and the lack
of common humanitarian prin
ciple animating and actuating
those businessmen who operate
markets that sell in their "sa
loon departments" beer and
wine of many kinds, (not to
mention the real saloons (tav
erns) and other outlets), that
do so much to destroy the mor
als, manners, principles, and
general equilibrium of men and
women and youth! Not only so,
but "open seven days a week
for your convenience."
Our lawbrcaking and moral
bankruptcy, "The inhumanity of
man to man makes countless
millions mourn," and still for
filthy lucre simply, and mer
cenary gain entirely, the Jug
gernaut car, the liquor traffic
continues unrestrained to crush
its multithousands under its iron
wheels! Yes, and the brutish
traffic is too rapidly diminish
ing our common sense and re
sistence; populating our mental
hospitals; and our cigarette
smoking, beer and wine guzzling
mothers are bringing forth ane
mic weakling children, born
lacking normal strength and
capacity, as is so often told in
our news channels. And con
sider this, the mourning millions
are trying by spending millions
of dollars for "tranquilizers" to
alleviate their mental and moral
torture, only to sink deeper into
the morass, or the whirling
maelstrom !
What care the brewers who
sing the praises of their alcoho- j
lie potion:
What care the distillers and
the wineries who peddle so wide
ly their mockers?
What care the mercenary ad
vertising mediums who help
them so well?
What care the saloon keepers
on Front Street, or anywhere
else?
What care our "super mar
ket owners with their "saloon
departments?" What care they j
about car wrecks killing thous- j
anHs: the moral and mental
wrecks of overcrowded memai jn the limits of the current ' two scnoois wouio jeopardize we
hospitals? What care any of budget and are of a good re-1 position of Medford's tradition
them about anemic weakling ! sale value. The use of them i ally victorious athletic teams,
children being born in or out of ! also gives the Medford schools Can this possibly be the situ-
wedlock to grace excuse me
I mean disgrace our already
too anemic and weakling race?
Yes. Mr. Editor. I am dis- j
Iresscd, greatly distressed! I
think I have a just right to be,
for that person was so right who
said, "The inhumanity of man to
man makes countless millions
H. R. Bulman
Route 4, Box 316A
Medford, Oregon
Favors Sales Tax ,
i iv,A KMiinr- Vniir editorial
in ii Friday's Daoer regard-
ing a sales tax was a very good
one. If we have to have ' more .
money I'm in favor of getting it
mis way.
It is no longer possible to
meet the rapidly increasing cost
of our bureaucratic state gov
ernment without such a tax.
Further increases in our al
readv loo high income and prop
erty taxes are simply out of the
question.
A sales lax is the only mod
ern way to collect such a large
amount of moncv. It is more
or less painless, a little is paid !
out each day and everyoooy
into llie act It is self 1IK na(1 lhcr reason for section of land, bought with bor
dualizing: people' with 'large j 11 hurrying home ; He had to rowed money.
l .m. nav more than those i
mTe
thev are able to buy more prod-1
uets such as cars, clothes, fur-j
niture, etc. The state would also
m,u,.i h..iuppn i anH .1 million
dollars per vear from the many
thousands of tourists and vaca-,
tioners who come lo Oregon i
even' summer and spend two
or three davs to two weeks
here. These people would not
mind paying a sales tax. in1
fact a lot of them expect to naiTHr. r ir ilM?
most of them have such a tax !
x1
MKDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MKDFORD. OREGON
in their home state and are
used to it.
If the legislature would work
up a proper sales tax bill I
believe the voters would accept
it. Something like a 3 per cent
tax with food and prescription
drugs exempt, and also gaso
line. The bill would also have
to stipulate that present income
and property taxes would be
lowered in proportion to the
amount brought in by the sales
tax. The last time a sales tax
bill was presented to the voters
this was not done and the peo
ple voted it down, with good
reason.
By lowering income and
property taxes we would no
doubt attract more new busi
nesses and industry in the state,
which we greatly need to pro
vide jobs for the expanding
population and the many young
people coming into adulthood.
Elmer W. Knips
147 South Holly st.
Medford.
Utile Hcrt" School Houses
To the Editor: This is a hit
late, but the letters your edi
torial of 9463 apparently in
spired prompts me to answer
it. The thought that you, a
staunch supporter of schools,
would place beauty before ed
ucation is hard to accept.
E.H.A. explained the reason for
the temporary classrooms and
their location in his editorial of
82863. I am sure you are
aware the school board had an
other choice, of operating Med
iord High school in shifts.
PotllH it hp that vnil ilist litnlr
nnp Innk at Ihp fii'Sl rlnscrnnm
and jumpcd to conclusions as
vou did about the removal of
diseased trees from the school 1
lawn? 1
The suggestions that those
buildings were erected to im
press the voters was unworthy
The members of the school
board and administration arc
voters, too, and well aware that
increasing taxes are fast be-
coming a burden. They should
be commended on the use of
prefabricated buildings to solve
the classroom shortage. These
huilriines were of a Drice with-
a chance, to try, on a small ;
scale, the new concept of win-
dowless school buildings, with
controlled ventilation and tom-
In the Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
In Aberdeen, South Dakota, five, four and three. Their
Mrs Andrew Fischer, aged 30, 1 names are Danny, Charlotte,
gives birth to qui.up.e.s-..n,s!Jt-e.yn and Deni
bringing the U.S.A. into the 1
limelight hitherto monopolized
by ranada Argentina and Vene-
,
'IM1E dispatches add
A The father, who works for a
wholesale grocery firm in Abei-j
deen and in his off time operates
a small farm just outside the
town, sweated out the ordeal of
waiting and then hurried home
to milk Ihe cows There are two
of them and thev have to be
milked each morning and eve-
mng
S'"1 hack ,0 lhir 'IVE OTHER ,,,,, .... ,
Red -eyed fron.1'"l ,come
sleeplessness, he told the hos-
pital attendants who queried
mm as io now u icu lo oe tne
: father of oumtunlets:
"I've never been so shocked
in all mv life." He added: "I've
never seen mv wife so surprised
as when she found out about it.
. She's really aappv about it.
thoiaaa "
'0nvr Mvri. six,
Traditionally Friendly Relations With
Portugal Dimmed by U.S. African Views
Bv PHIL NEWSO.M
UPI Foreign News Analyst
LISBON, Portugal (UPI)-In
Portugal's marbled parliament
building which began as an
18th Century
convent a hih
government of
ficial sighed
with regret.
"D i f f e rences
between gov-
ernments are
always unfortu
nate," he said.
s.w.om "But wl?en
come between
friends they are especially pain
ful." For in Portugal there is both
a regret and a deep resentment
over what the Portuguese re
gard as United States' abandon
ment of a friend and ally in
NATO and a misunderstanding
of Portugal's determination to
retain its overseas territories
in Africa.
Portugal, traditionally aloof
from European commitments,
joined NATO in 1949 and an
nounced it did so only because
1 perature. And at no extra cost.
You could be more right than
sarcastic when you mention the
"little red schoolhouse." It
could well be that the "you owe
it to us" attitude of some of
our children could be changed
by a return to less elaborate
school buildings. But I'm afraid
many of us oldsters just don't
want to remember what we
were taught in the days of the
old copy book; that we have to
pay for everything we get.
Honestly now do you really
think those neat little green
classrooms are eyesores?
Verna Flowers
355 Berrydale ave.
Medford.
o
Editor's note: Yes.
Shocked
To the Editor: A few weeks
ago I made a hurried trip
through Medford and had oc
casion to drive past my old
Alma Mater. 1 was as shocked
as you and other Medford citi
zens to see the "temporary
classrooms" on the front lawn.
There was insufficient time to
make proper inquiries as to the
problems faced by the Medford
School Board but, for what it is
worth, my many years in public
education have proven that such
classrooms are seldom finan
cially justified and practically
never temporary.
I am all too aware of the prob
lems facing many school admin
istrators and boards which force
them to unsatisfactory "solu
tions" to immediate problems. I
have never known the problems
to be lessened by insulting the
aesthetic sensibilities of their
patrons. Surely some more suit-
able location could have been
found for the classrooms if they
had lo be constructed which
would have preserved the beauty
of the high school campus.
Before leaving M- 'ord I was
told by one citiz that the
Board had purchased another
site many years ago but had
failed to build another high
school when needed because of
pressure from prominent citi
zens who feared that a division
of the current student body into
ation :
Fred C. Sander
5700 The Toledo
Long Beach 3, Calif.
1., f..llhprhiwvt he said hp hadn't
; decided on names for the five
new ones,
, ..Jls( A B
C. D and E,
reckon.'
he added.
! V t EMORY goes back to a fam-
nf pl".on-
.Ml lUllll. 1U Udlll Ul'll-ta. IW
triplets. Just one set of twins,
Thev lived at the edge of a
I jn region not loo
different in its economics from
Aberdeen, in South Dakota,
"orc vc. There
was no intern nioncv. ine
father started with a quarter
"'"" m '"l.w ""c
atHMI ' year .Int. he econ-
1,s history , each child was a
niember of the family work
""" r-iK'n 10 make the
vin-to milk the cows, to feed
thc ",cs- 10 Plow ,he Riound. To
Planl 11,0 rrops To tend them
a' they grew To harvest them I
as they matured.
For the children, each am v.
ins child was another playmate ;
of U.S. participation.
In 1951, Portugal signed a
common defense pact with the
United States and gave the U.S.
free use of an airfield on Santa
Maria Island in the Azores.
Also in 1951, because of her
own economic recovery, Portugal
refused further U.S. Marshall
Plan aid and has gone on her
own ever since.
It came as a shock then in
1962 when the United States
joined the Afro-Asian countries
in demanding that Portugal give
up her grip on Angola, her larg
est and most prosperous prov
ince in Africa, and permit self
determination. Portuguese officials freely ad
mit that Portugal's current re
fusal to sign a new agreement
on the Azores base springs from
U.S. and Portuguese differences
over Africa.
And Portuguese-U.S. relations
plunged to a new low in Au
gust when Premier Antonio de
Oliveira Salazar accused both
the United States and Russia of
pressing African liberations for
their own individual advantage
in control of African markets.
In the United Nations, Salazar
charged, self-determination had
become synonymous with inde
pendence regardless of a peo
ple's ability to rule themselves.
And in Lisoon mere is a con
viction that if independence
were to come now to Angola, it
Strictly
Personal
By Sydney J. Harris
(ci Field Enterprises, Inc.
UNITY VS. FUNCTION
A couple dropped in for tea
last Sunday afternoon, and dur
ing the conversation the wife
mentioned that
TL I they had been
shopping for an
apartment, but
with no sue-
' cess, snowing
-V !& that she owned
a hand some
building in a
most desirable
location, I ask-
Harri- ed her why she
didn't take an apartment in her
own property.
"It would drive me crazy,"
she shrugged. "As the tenant,
I'd expect the owner to pay
for all the repairs and decorat
ing but, as the owner, I'd
insist that the tenant take bet
ter care of the apartment. My
nervous system couldn't stand
such a strain!"
We all laughed, of course,
hut her jest was rooted in
serious fact. She was really
saving that she prefers to
keep her functions as Land
lord and as Tenant quite sep
arate because combining
them might force her to give
up a viewpoint she now finds
comfortable and profitable.
The tremendous size and
complexity of our society has
given each of us a special
ized task and role to play;
and it has become dangerous
ly easy for each of us to con
sider his separate function as
the whole person.
We arc the Landlord, the
Tenant, the Banker, the Work
man, the Stockholder, and so
on. These roles are usually
so demanding, and so re
stricting, that we forget our
selves as a human entity, and
become only part of a person:
the part that is directly en
gaged in making a living and
protecting our possessions.
Perhaps we can see the prob
lem more clearly with an every
day illustration. When the aver
age man is driving his car. he
is a Motorist, and pedestrians
arc menaces or fools who seem
to be his sworn enemies; when
he is walking, however, he be
comes a Pedestrian, and then
Ihe motorist is seen as the luna
tic foe.
Yet. above both the Motorist
and the Pedestrian is the higher
concept of the Good Citizen,
who wants justice and fair treat
ment for walkers and drivers
alike, and whose attitude does
not depend on whether he hap-
! pens at any given moment to be
walking or driving.
1 1 The lady who refused to move
j into her own building was deny
ing her unity as a person, and
preferred to'think of herself as
i separate function. Her attitude.
Wlllll' UIIUl'I MrtllllilUll', IS I II t
j greatest single stumbling block
in the wav of a decent and flex-
: ible social order - for. until
i we are willing to put ourselves
: in another Person's place, to
incorn,.rale his views in ours.
.'".-mn., ouj .ijmvu
, a b,lt,r world.
in the not too numerous hours
of relaxation. For the parents.
each was another helper to
liphtcri the load of making a
iiv,n8 T,erc was ncvcl. any
wondering about what to do
next. There was alwavs
PLENTY to do.
t
. A nw.
il Life was simpler then
That was back in the days
when our economy was a basi-
callv RURAL economy.
The URBAN SPRAWL had not
then been even imagined.
mi?' i
m
would fly into tribal pieces with
the whole rich area up for
grabs.
The winds of change blow
slowly over Portugal and
change also has been slow to
come to its overseas provinces
in Africa.
It is a source of pride to
Portugal that on the bloody
"night of the long knives" on
March IS, 1961, black African
troops turned back the first
wave of terrorism that saw the
butchering of Europeans in set
tlements of northern Angola
near the border with the Congo.
It was the start of the Ango
lan revolt which focused world
attention on Portuguese over
Matter of Fact
(C New York Herald
THE COMMAND POST
BINH DAI, Kicn Hoa, Viet
Nam The command post of
the battle was a little shack
next to the
mud fort of the
militiamen of
Binh Thanh, a
strategic ham
let. Here the
district chief,
Capt. Hoa, a
tough little
man with a
Buddhist med
al on a neck
chain, was gabbling earnestly
to the L-19 liaison plane cir
cling endlessly overhead.
On the high bank of the mud
fort was Maj. John S. Ames,
commander of the provincial
advisory group. Alternately, he
gazed out across the exquisite
green sweep of rice fields, to
the clump of jungle a couple
of hundred yards away, whence
came the pop-pop of firing; and
turned to glare at his radio
equipped jeep with furious ani
mosity. "Goddam it, why should the
radio cut out today? Goddam
it, I hope the L-19 gets through
on the Vietnamese net."
SUDDENLY there was a cry
from one of the group of
women waiting by the mud fort
to help the wounded men, who
occasionally limped or were
carried back across the rice
fields from the sharp fight in
the patch of jungle.
The sharp-eyed woman point
ed excitedly. And there, sure
enough, were five AD-6 fighter
bombers. The L-19's call for
air support had indeed g o t
through.
Like a small but intelligent
dog leading a flock, the L-19
invited the AD-6S to follow
along; and over the thickest
patch of jungle it dropped marker-bombs.
The smoke plumes
rose, acid-carmine against the
perfect blue of the late after
noon sky. The first AD-6 swoop
ed to the attack. There was
a crash of rocket. At this new
noise, the aigrettes and white
herons soared up in alarm from
the rice fields all about.
For 20 minutes, the strafing
and rocketing continued. Then
it was over, and as the planes
flow homewards, little Capt.
Hoa urged his men forward,
into the newly strafed area
which the enemy had hastily
fortified hours before. Now the
noise of the battle rose and
became more continuous. Sud
denly, it was ominously dom
inated by the rattle of Brown
:ig automatic rifles.
yHAT meant that the air at- j
lac nau laiieu iu lane uui
any of the three BARs the
Communists were known to
have. And that meant, in turn,
that the battle could end only
in a draw. For in that jungle,
no man can see more than three
yards ahead and, in these con
ditions, the little district chief's
force of village militia and civil
guards could not hope I c
a dug-in position protected by
heavy automatic fire.
As the d"'k began to fall, the
faces in t' hut command-post
grew grimmer almost by the
minute. You could almost see
them thinking about the Com
munist force's melting away
under cover of darkness. The
women who had been helping
CAMPAIGN
HEADQUARTERS
"Haslrilly. It s (he uvnal campaign stuff phnux. in n
Indian headdress, kissing hahies. elhnir-grnnp lunches. But
hal l this one. 'eating watermelon in Ihe Souih?"
seas territories.
For the safe of the Portu.
guesc position it is unfortunate
that important reforms giving
the Africans equality with Euro
pean workers and a greater
voice in their own affairs havo
come only after the "night of
the long knives."
But the Portuguese nut only
are determined, they are confi
dent. There are hints that forthcom
ing months may see a referen
dum to prove that Africans in
the overseas territories prefer
to remain Portuguese. Mean
while, both for the Afro-Asians
and the United States, it ij
hands off Portuguese Africa.
By Joseph Alsop
Tribune Syndicate
the wounded, understanding tha
outcome, went into the nearby
hamlet and returned with food
for the troops. At last the ordrr
was given to break off the fighl,
and files of men trudged back
across the rice fields, carrying
a couple more wounded.
That is how a rather ordi
nary, indecisive, fairly repre
sentative minor battle of this
war in Viet Nam now looks.
The battle had begun even be
fore we left Saigon, when a pa
trol sent out at dawn by tha
Binh Thanh strategic hamlet
ran smack into a reinforced
company of Viet Cong troops.
The hamlet used its new radio
to call for help from Capt. Hoa.
The district chief threw in all
the men he could gather and
borrowed more support (hut
very little was available) from
the provincial commander.
BOTH sides suffered. A bam
boo hemlct, blood - stained
and bullet-pierced, was the solo
proof of the Viet Cong's losses,
for they still carry away their
dead and wounded when they
can. Capt. Hoa's men had five
dead and 12 wounded among
about 250 men, which is a rath
er heavy casualty list for irreg
ulars to accept without flinch
ing. Indecisive as it was. more
over, the battle at Binh Thanh
strategic hamlet must have Riv en
less than no satisfaction lo
the Viet Cong commander of
Kien Hoa province. To begin
with, his reinforced company
almost certainly had the mis
sion of overwhelming the ham
let's mud fort and if possibln
the hamlet itself by a surprise
attack at night. Instead, tha
company was surprised by Ihe
dawn patrol of the men of the
hamlet.
To go on, this is one of Ilia
"front line hamlets" of Capt.
Hoa's district of Binh Dai. Like
the other two districts of this
province. Binh Dai is an ishnd,
with all but impenetrable man
grove swamps at its seaward
end. The swamps are the Viet
Cong stronghold. Capt. Hoa has
therefore laid out his strategic
hamlets in thc pattern of a
defense in depth command, with
the front line nearest tho
swamps
BEING in the front line,
Binh Thanh hamlet has suf
fered everything from petty
harrassing attacks to major as
saults since the hamlet was
formed. Yet here was Binh
Thanh still on thc alert, still
resisting, with its women spon
taneously gathering to aid tho
troops.
"In the five months I've been
here," Maj. Ames told me as
we left Binh Thanh, "no night
has passed without an attack
on at least one of thc strategic
hamlets. We have more than
250 of them by now. In all that
time, not one of them has failed
to resist. In the great majority
of cases the VC has been beat
en off, quite often with heavy
losses. And although some ham
let forts have been lost, no
actual hamlet has ever hern
overrun."
There is something oddly in
consistent, hero, with the widely
propagated picture of Vietna
mese masses with no will to re
sist and a positive tendency to
regard the Communists as" the.
i preferable alternative.
n1 p
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