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The Red and Black. Friday. May 1$. I»7S
DAVID BOREN STEIN
«
Be aware of communists
THE OPINIONS OF THE RED AND BLACK
Stop secrecy
The University Council mem
bers have been denied access to
information regarding the delib
erations and actions of a Council
committee.
Steve Patrick and Ed Greene,
Council members and student
senators, asked Dwight Douglas,
chairperson of the committee
studying University solicitation
policy, to give them a copy of the
committee’s recommendations.
Douglas refused on the grounds
that the report had not been
completed and he did “not wish
to distribute anything that the
committee was not going to
recommend.’’ Patrick said he
was told by Douglas that Presi
dent Fred Davison’s office sup
ported Douglas' decision.
Patrick and Greene wanted the
material to study in advance of
the upcoming Council meeting
with plenty of time to consult
legal counsel if necessary. As
council members they have
every right to know of any
committee actions, considera
tions or recommendations. The
decision to prevent Council mem
bers from having access to this
material is no surprise. As we
wrote in an editorial May 6, an
atmosphere of secrecy pervades
this administration. Patrick and
Council member Paula Cheat
ham will introduce a motion at
the coming meeting calling for
all Council actions to be public.
This would remedy the situation
and we hope the Council will
approve the motion.
For most students the war in Vietnam
was something that occurred only at
dinner time To the many veterans who
served it was a war with indefinite goals
which spawned such groups as Vietnam
Veterans Against the
War. To Porter Hal-
lyburton the war
was seven and a half
years in various
North Vietnam pri
son camps.
Lt Commander
Hallyburton is 34
years old and was 24
years old when his Navy F-4 fighter
plane was shot down while escorting
bombers north of Hanoi. Porter is
presently connected with the Navy's
Office of Public Information and is a
journalism graduate student
I spoke with Porter following the recent
collapse in Indochina I think his com
ments are interesting because of the
unique perspective he can offer students
today not only because of his years as a
POW but also because he was just out of
college when he enlisted
Porter does not claim to be an expert
on all phases of our Vietnam involvement
but only an expert on being a POW His
F-4 was shot down as he said, "for flying
too low and too slow," while escorting
bombers against bridges in North Viet
nam.
In 1965 he volunteered because he
thought what the U S. was trying to do
was. “ good and worth while," although
eventually he came to disagree with how
we were doing it. He maintains that
throughout the war the U.S. telegraphed
its intentions to the Communists. Early in
the war bombing runs such as Porter's
warned the N. Vietnamese to scatter
their munition factories in the jungle.
Later when the U.S. bombed the factories
they were hard to find. Often times.
Porter recalled, “Good targets were
avoided for political reasons.”
When I asked if he had felt misled by
the government and its seeming inability
to execute the war he noted. "The gov
made little effort at indoctrination. What
we knew, we knew from regular sources.
Porter saw several reasons for the U.S.
involvement. These included: the
freedom of South Vietnam, the military
strategic position of S. Vietnam concern
ing Thailand and Burma, the economic
importance of S. Vietnam, especially as a
food producing region and finally the
desire to tell the Communists that, “this
is the spot,” where we will stop you
As a prisoner he first went to a
detention center known as the Hanoi
"Hilton." His 6 foot by 6 foot cell
contained leg irons, a rice mat for sleep
and a bucket. The “Hilton" was shared
with N. Vietnamese political prisoners
who were there for two week “reindoctri
nation" courses. If after two weeks,
according to Porter, they answered all
the questions “correctly" they were sent
home. If they failed to answer "correct
ly" the prisoners would never get out.
News of the anti-war demonstrations
that rocked the U.S. was the only tie the
POWs had with the United States for
most of their internment. This news was
exagerrated, “10 fold." Porter blames
the protest for prolonging the war.
During his imprisonment he saw the
protests as encouraging the N Vietna
mese. In fact, he noted, the N. Vietna
mese would have a large celebration
whenever there was a big protest in the
Slates. Today, however, he holds no
grudge against those who believed that
both sides were morally wrong in
continuing the war. However, he believes
Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and friends
would have been guilty of treason if the
war had been declared. He saw their
actions as giving aid and comfort to the
enemy.
The N. Vietnamese did not allow the
Red Cross to visit the prisoners and the
POWs were subject to frequent tortures.
Porter noted their physical torture was.
"the type that left no scars." He added
the communists liked to impose “self-in
flicted" torture. A popular method con
sisted of forcing the prisoners to sit
awake, at attention, on a concrete block
for indefinite periods. Usually, after
three days the prisoners would halluci
nate. After the agony became unbearable
the prisoners would gladly accept a
beating so they could return to their
cells.
One of the worst experiences of his
captivity was the “Hanoi March" of July
6, 1966 This occurred after the first U.S.
bombing of the city. One hundred POWs
were forced to march four or five miles
through the city where they were spit
upon and made the targets of rocks and
beatings.
Another form of torture was isolation ,
The prisoners received punishment if
they tried to communicate with each
other. Also difficult were visits by foreign
correspondents. When such visits took
place the POWs were lorced to give me
"right" answers If they did not, they
were tortured
Porter sees the students of today as ,
being more politically concerned than in
his college days But he warns that the
ideals of the so-called "liberal" students
would be the first to fall under a ,
communist regime. Socialism and social .
legislation he views as a step on the road !
to communism The American practice of I
dismissing the threat of communism he , i
blames on the crying wolf by Joe
McCarthy.
He sees the U.S. inability to fight the
war resulting from the unique position *
that the U.S. was deeply affected through
casualities and expens.' but never really
felt threatened. The threat he saw was in
the spectre of world communist domina- *
(inn.
As students it seems to me that we
should be aware of the communists'
intents. We are a generation that has ’
grown fat and lazy because of a false
sense of security. We must be careful in
asking the government to take over our
individual responsibilities because every *
time we ask the government to do
something for us we lose a little freedom
JACK BURKE
One
The end of the war in Vietnam has
been looked upon by America with the
same nonchalance and apathy as the war
was when American fighting men were
dying there
Clearly. nobody
really gives a damn!
The only people who
seem to have any
feelings one way or
the other about Viet
nam are the veter
ans who fought here,
the veterans of that
era or the relatives
of those who died or are still missing
there Even many of those who were in
some way related to the war don't want
to talk about it for fear of recrimination
To the Vietnam veteran, the war has
been something very personal Like all
wars, each veteran has his own story to
tel! Unfortunately, for the “no win"
Vietnam veteran, no one wants to listen.
America's deaf ears don't care to try to
listen and understand the plight of the
man who had to fight a war that had no
popular support
America wants to forget the despair,
the agony and the waste that it viewed
for years each night at 6:30 when the
network anchormen gave the daily score
of the gore. Those who had that evening
news perspective from the safety of their
homes 10.000 miles from the bloodshed
could easily and comfortably live without
Jack Burke is recruiting coordinator and
advisor in the Office of Veterans Affairs.
the daily thoughts of the goings-on in
Vietnam. As the war progressed, it was
easy to become disinterested.
Because of that same disinterest, but
now. even on a larger scale, the Vietnam
veteran is the closest reminder to
America that Vietnam was nothing but a
horrendous and wasteful error It is
something to be blocked from the mind
For the veteran, though, it is difficult
to forget the 56.000 or so w ho died — 2,219
of those were from Georgia. It-is also
hard to erase the more than 330.000 who
are permanently disabled and the 1000 or
more of our comrades who are still
unaccounted for and listed as missing in
action
The Vietnam veteran, even the severe
ly disabled, is not looking for sympathy
But. Vietnam veterans are tired of taking
the blame for being the instigators of the
war that five presidents kept sending us
to. Most of those who served in Vietnam,
particularly the combat veteran, had no
choice but to go there, and America
continues to view him as the antagonist
The Vietnam veteran was as confused,
if not more so. than all the rest of
America, except he was there in the thick
of things He was confused about who his
enemy was He was confused about
escalation and de-escalation From 1968
to 1970, he was confused about whether or
not America wanted him there
This personal confusion was compound
ed when he returned home to find a cold
shoulder from those who viewed the war
from a safe and comfortable vantage
point Even the government was disinter
ested in where he had been even though
“they'' had sent him
Care in VA hospitals has been hopeless
ly inadequate An astounding and cele-
Letters Policy
Letters to the editor should:
•Be typed, double spaced, on a
60-space line.
•Be brief, to the point.
•Include name, address and phone
number of contributor.
•Be original, rather than duplicates
of letter to other persons or publica
tions
of them, too
brated case in point: In 1973, in order to
save money, the Office of Management
and Budget requested that the air
conditioning in VA hospitals be turned off
during the summer. A Congressional bill
to turn off the air conditioning in OMB
quickly rescinded that order.
Unemployment among Vietnam era
veterans is double the national average
at 17.3 percent
To this date, no affirmative action has
been taken to deal with those men still
listed as missing in action
To America, these problems are insig
nificant because America, too. is confused
and it has always been easier to forget
than to deal with the problems that don’t
have direct effect.
So America has simply and silently
absorbed the 2.6 million Vietnam veter
ans and 6 5 million Vietnam era veterans
and refuses to let those veterans remind
them of the “scars" from which America
will suffer for years to come.
But, for those veterans who are scarred
by the stigma of having served in
Vietnam, there is a need factor that must
be recognized They need to have
America stop blaming them for fighting
that war. The Vietnam veteran was
simply a means for fighting a 10 year
battle for which there was no popular
end He took a severe battering there, as
the figures show, and there is no reason
to have to take another one at home.
For those who become uneasy when
meeting a Vietnam veteran, think about
who he is or was He was someone
snatched out of society for two, three or
four years. He was a neighbor, a school
chum, an athlete, a friend. He wasn't a
monster then, nor is he now He's just
seen more than most his age.
He went t<v war because his country
told him to go They said communism
was a threat to our democracy You
believed that too. So, he went in the name
of freedom thinking that he was helping
America to continue to be the greatest
place to live.
But. while he was away fighting,
America carried on its business as usual
unaware and uncaring about what was
happening thousands of miles away.
Americans were content playing golf and
swimming and laughing and drinking and
being free because that's what America
is all about
While America played, veterans were
dying or ducking helplessly in the mud
for cover.
The media did a tremendous job in
conveying to America that the American
soldier was the world's best killer But,
today, thousands of men are in jail or
have less than honorable discharges
because they refused to continue to kill
America saw only one side of the war
— the American offensive. They saw the
bombings, the strafings, the napalm, the
artillery strikes and the search and
destroy missions. And America and the
world protested loudly.
But America seldom viewed the mur
derous ambushes perpetrated by the
Vietcr.ng America did not consider the
thousands of Vietnamese civilians mass
murdered by the Communists in Hue in
1968 America never considered the
treachery of the North Vietnamese who
recently swept the country all the way to
Saigon. Where are the international and
American protests now? Are American
soldiers the only villains' 1 It appears so
by the treatment they receive.
Let's stop making quick judgements
about the Vietnam veteran. Try to put
yourself in his sometimes empty shoes
first.
Think about sleeping in the rain and
mud for days on end. Think about eating
cold, canned food for weeks. Think about
being shot at day after day. Think about
being ambushed by unseen assailants and
calling for protective artillery and air
support but being refused because there
are "friendlies" in the area. Think about
finally being airlifted back to safety after
you've laid in the mud for hours bleeding.
Think about remembering only the flash
and the explosion after regaining consci
ousness only to find a leg or arm missing.
Think about your best friend dving beside
you.
If you think this sounds like sensation
alism. think again Think about fighting a
war that no one back home supported
Next time you meet a Vietnam veteran,
think about asking him how things are
going instead of saying. "Oh! Are you
one of them’"
letters
letters
Support student lawyer'
TO THE EDITORS:
The senate has recently voted for the
funding of a lawyer for the Student Legal
Counseling Services We, the chairs of
both Coalition and FOCUS student par-
m
THE RED AND BLACK
Thomas R. Franklin, editor
Eddie Brock, Miriam Pace,
Business manager Executive editor
Paul Curtis and Edie McLaurin. news editors; Steve Burns, copy editor: Kathv
Hogan Nancy Rogers and Buddy Waller, associate news editors; Deborah Blum
city editor, Rob Massey, associate city editor; Rick Franzman. state editor'
Victor Hall, associate state editor. Bob Longino feature editor. Lynn
Plankenhorn. associate feature editor. Terry Gibney, LOOKOUT’ editor Bill
Durrence. photography editor; Rick Millians. sports editor Bill Eichenberger
associate sports editor. Karen McKay, wire editor. Bred McCnll. art director'
Tom Bradford, production manager
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ties, wish to join The Red and Black, the
senate Allocations Committee, and the
Student Senate in the support of this
funding We recognize the necessity of a
lawyer to serve the needs of any student
by providing legal representative as well
as legal counsel We also would like to
encourage individual students as well as
student organizations to join in the
endorsement of this needed service.
STEVE CAMP
SUSAN TOPPING
Coalition Chairpersons
CURTIS PORTERFIELD
FOCUS Chairman
Protest PIRG
solicitations'
TO THE EDITOR:
I wish to protest G-PIHG's solicitation
for petition signatures. The individuals
manning < personning’i the petition sta
tions abridged the rights of University
students by attempting to coerce, badger
or even cow people into signing their
petition.
I was accosted (the only word applies-
ble) by at least two of these PIRG-ers.
My reasons for opposing G-PRIG are my
own: I resent being called upon to
explain my motives in public
Were G-PIRG so high-minded as is
claimed, they would .11 include an
anli-PIRG petition in their effort or 2)
post a single, centralized petition for
their supporters ,4o sign
Either of those methods-would elimi
nate these "vacuum cleaner, dictionary"
salesmen and their victims. Either woidd
afford a rnp<h belter picture of their
support.
Or do they want to know. .
R. GILLESPIE
Terminology
a cop-out'
Hi TIIE EDITOR:
Regarding Steve Oney's music article
on page four of the May 13 issue of
LOOKOUT!: It is a moot point who is or
is not a redneck, although I'm convinced
Steve Oney would readily confer that title
upon anyone who even remotely appreci-
ales any of the myriad forms of country
music from Doc Watson to George Jones
to Willie Nelson If that is the implication,
1 proudly claim the label (though I’m
sure my Iriends at the Silver Saddle Club
would enjoy further discourse with Mr
Oney on the matter). It angers me,
however, that Mr Oney would use the
label in a perjorative sense in reference
to Mickey Newberry or his fans
Mickey Newberry is one of the most
acutely sensitive and incredibly gifted
writers in any area of music today. His
songs speak with an honesty and openess
which comes directly from his soul and
strikes just as directly at the soul of
anyone who will listen
This is. in no way, to degrade the
artistry of Tom Waits Mickey Newberry
himself praised Wails, saying he was
“years ahead of his time " To condescen
dingly refer to Newberry or his fans as
“redneck," however, is, at best, an
unwarranted cheap shot and a cop-out
from the labors of thoughtful criticism.
JOHNJARRARD
Com m u n / vers i ty.
is rewarding 1
TO TIIE EDITOR:
Thursday's article by Jane Singer on*
Communiversity was very well written
and super-effective in conveying the
basic substance and objectives of this
laudable student program that is much*
deserving of news space and reporting
consideration.
If this volunteer program now suffers •
from lack of student awareness, then it is
truly a loss, both to those missing out
because of their unfortunate unfamdiar-
ity with it. and to thasj,' still wailing for a*
volunteer to answer their call for someone
"to help It is a sad loss to those missing
out as it is truly an exciting, dynamic,
and richly rewarding experience for •
many volunteers who give of their time'
to someone who needs and appreciates
them. This is what C'nmmurmI'rsity Hi ajl
about — giving of your time to someone .
in need, either through the Big Brother-
Big Sister program or the tutoring and
referral programs The real benefits to
the volunteer who has an appreciation for *
the good that is being accomplished by
his actions are beyond the most liberal-
calculations
•
I urge all to inspect the student
t.ommuniversity program and hope many
will hear the voices that call out for
them
EI.ISE VAN HECKE
NON'DI ORAZI
PERRY BARRETT
