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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-04271 to 363-04289.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-04271 to 363-04289
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Title
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Article about the precarious government in Saigon
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Description
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Original title: "politics", Keever's title: "Sniper Fire and Artillery Shellings into Saigon loses Elite's Support." Article draft about the presence of Việt Cộng forces five miles from the Presidential Palace in Saigon and the strain this has placed on the domestic political situation in South Vietnam. Written for the Christian Science Monitor
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AI Usage Disclosure
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
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Transcript
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- Page 1
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zczcs sag
Jy 1jp
politics 1 (normass/deepe)
SAIGON, MAY 9-The dominion of the South Vietnamese government
is shrinking as it wages its fight on two frustrating and separate
battlefronts.
The shrinkage caused by the first battlefront-only five miles
from the Presidential Palace is symbolized by a Viet Cong flag flying
in the Chinese sector of the city called Cholon. The government's
authority and apparatus for felig ruling is being openly and violently
contested by organized Viet Cong and North Vietnamese battalions on the
fronges of the city and by roving sniper teams and harrassing artillery
fire in the heart of the city.
MA
flue
==more reuter
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- Page 2
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zcze sag
ᎩᎩ ljp
politics 2 (normass/deepe)
The shrinkage caused by the second battlefront-one-third of the world
away is symbolized by full-fledged American and North Vietnamese diplomats
luggage
unpacking their go in Paris. Though crucial decisions--or non-decisions--
swinging the future of South Vietnam are to be discussed by Washington
and Hanoi envoys,
Saigon government officials are to be represented only
by observers--which they feel gives them an unequal and inferior
status.
==more reuter.
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- Page 3
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zczos sag
Jy 1jp
politics 3 (normass/deepe)
The current Communist offensive into the environs of
Saigon and its hr suburbs has inter-meshed these two remotely
separated battlefields-and is beginning to pose the ved gravest
crisis to date for the government of President Nguyen Van Thieu.
Informed sources here believe that the Communist offensive, dunens
launching their "fighting while negotiating"
phase of the war, is designe
to strengthen their bargaining position in Paris, y while internally
been launching a coordinated political-economic-military campaign
I attempting to topple the
regime, MND SEIZE
Power
American-backed constitutional
THE NAME of
The
==more reuter
Communist inspired. "Peace Alliance.
48
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- Page 4
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zcze sag
ᎩᎩ 1jp
politics 4 (normass/deepe)
Thus far, while there is a bewildering is growing
political disillusionment with the lack of Presidential leadership, there
seems to be no rampant prevailing fear that the Communists will succeed
in toppling the gomen government in the short-range future.
This
assessment seems to be held both by informed Vietnamese as well
First,
as the Western diplomatic community. They site several reasons.
American support here is still considered to be stronger than ever for the
Thieu government-partly expressed by s Washington's decision to
invite Thieu to be the United States in June. Second, because the big-unit
military contests be between the Allies and Communist units attempting
to penetrate the city have turned into bloody, but lop-sided victories.
GOVERNMENT units.
for the Allies, which included mostly Vietnamese end coments Third,
while the government has lost the leadership for several key Vietnamese
commanders, the dynamic, if not reckless, courage of these rour
officers has shored up the prestige
AND
dence
by buoyed up the prestige/of
the Sai gon officer corps. Even, critics of the controversial General
Nguyen Ngoo Loan, head of the National Police who was wounded leading a
A Pocket
his troops to charge attack the Communists,
e now prai se him "for having
the guts to get out their with his men and do something."
==more reuter
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- Page 5
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8080 986
Jy 1jp
politics 5 (normass/deope)
Likewise, the Thieu government has been helped somewhat by the
growing disco disenchantment with the Communists, at least on the surface,
The
by the among the md middle and upper classes in sag ng Saigon,
small-unit Viet Cong activity, such as roving aniper teams and propaganda
groun groups, have given these a good case of jitters. The In the Chon
Cholon section, the Viet Cong at activity is su assumed by good sources
to be the supplemented by the sit of pro-loist Rod Quards, utilizing
Vietnae Vietnamese of Chinese origin. Even the liberal anti-America
the most liberal elements of the Western diplomatic corps here, excluding
the French, were shocked by the mutilation fo of a di West Gorman
Embassy official-they believe it will harm North Vietnam in Europe where
Hanoi has been attempting to establish diplomatic contects with Austria and
Swodon, Also, these diplomatic sources are irked that Communists
would begin unrolling one of the bloodiest battles on the streets of
just as the prospects of ponce they had so long advocated began
in Paris,
Sigon
more routor
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8020 926
yy 1jp
politics 6 (normass/deepe)
Also, the Communists use or artiller slamming of artillery and
mortar fire into the heart of the city--the indiscriminate use of firopower
the American command has long beon criticized for in the countryside--has
done little to persuade the saigonese to join their ranks, at least at
this point.
Gradul
Gradually,
some Vietnamese population have begun to voice the
opinion that the Communists--especially the Viet Cong-may be weaker
militarily
than they have given the impression both to the Vietnamese people and to
the outside world. A few note that the Communists are using more womon
in their attacks in Sac at Saigon bridges and in Cholon; hence they must be
short of manpower. Others note toy the Communists have turned over
important propaganda dution to teenagers, rather than experienced cadro.
And others notice that their use of long-range weapons into the heart of
AND
rather then
the city are also a sign of weakness military weakness,
the NorthERN. Zation
COMMUNIST WAR HAS NOT won them
strongth.
Hdmiration.
Htm Southern
== more Rentin
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- Page 7
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zczc sag
yy 1jp
politics 7 (normass/deepe)
And, few city-dwellers here have forgotten the Comm Communists'
acation and burying-d
live of
execution of more than 1000 Vietnamese
more than 1000 Vietnamese in the Iue area when they seized control there
for 25 days of the Tet offensive.
However, the grimmest days lie ahead for the Thieu government
in both the internal political and military fields. On the southern
flank of the city, the battle has shifted from the 8th precinct of Cholon,
where a heated battle took place at the "Y" bridge leading from the Mekong
Delta between both American af and Vietnamese units and one company of
<<
the P Phu Loi 2 battalion-a predominantly North Vietnamese unit.
While
this company was-in official reports--smashed at the bridge trying to enter
AS
the city, military sources now consider this simply a diversionary move
battalions
for the remaining two
companies which are holes up holed up
outside the 4th precinct, across the river from the heart of Sug Saigon city.
Companies
These two North Vietnammes Vietnamese "unts are hence squze squeezed
on one side between the Saigon port-a strategic point for the government-
and between the huge gas tank farm in Nha Be district, where a sizeable
reserve of petroleum for running the Allied side of the war is held. If
the North Vietnae Vietnamese companies succeed either in closing
destroying the port or the petroleum tank farms, the Vietnamese government
would be considered in a serious predictament militarily, politically and
economically.
ar
==more reuter
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zcze sag
ᎩᎩ ljp
politics 8 (normass/deepe)
American helicopter gunships have been peppering the area
since mid-day Thursday and Vietnamese armor and infantry have been
rushed into the area. Huge billows of smoke fog the mid-section
of Saigon me thig oven and sniper teams, for the first time working
in broad daylights have beengen begun to operate near the central
market area of Saigon and near the office of the Christian Science Monitor.
Meanwhile, all six of the major roads leading into Saigon
have been under varying degrees of Communist pressure-thus
effecting an deenema
economic blockade of the city from the countryside.
More serious on the ceremo economic side, is the problem of meat. The
city's sole u slaughterhouse, situated in the heart of the heavy fightin
One of several large
near the "Y" bridge," is currently inoperative.
chicken farms on the outskirts of the city has been destroyed by the
fighting. Hence, a shortage of meat is looming ahead; already
meat prices have doubled or tripled in the past five days since the
Communist offensive began. Produce from the countryside, especially
vegetables, have res also jumped in price. Ironically,
imported C
California og org oranges---a luxury product, supposedly,
sell for 200 piastres a kilo,
roughly $1 a pound, but Vietnamese
oranges from the countryside are 300 piastres a kilo.
more reuter
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- Page 9
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zcze sag
ᎩᎩ lip
politics
(normass/deepe)
since the Tet offensive,
Viechte Vice Vietnamese shopkeepers
have been reluctant to order or hold large stocks of supplies; hence
shortages of all kinds and a bounding inflation are predicted by
housewives, for their economic future.
All ro six major roads leading into Saigon are under
PASSAble
military convoys
Sure only for armed
firow the Vietnamese and American commands
major Communist regiments are poised on the
have assessed by that several
outskirts of Tan Son Nhut airport ready either to attack or to shell it.
"With the roads closed, and that leaves only the airways to supply
Saigon," one sour source expi ed. explained. "And if Tan Son Nhut
is blown up, Saigon will be finished."
more reuter
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- Page 10
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zcze sag
Jy 1jp
politics 10 (normass/deepe)
Well
Economically,
Vietnamese families were not as prepared with
stockpiles of necessities for this offensive as they were at Tet--
The
when shops are traditionally closed for a week. However, psychologically,
Sia Saigonese were in a much better frame of mind than at Tet.
Tet offensive was a shocker for them; but this time the Vice
Vietnae Vietnamese government had warned them in davao advance.
especially in Cholon, Chinese and Viode Vietnamese
intensely worried, although not in panic. They expect the worst
in the coming days--some even talk of full-month of trouble.
Still
families are
==more reuter
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zcze sag
ᎩᎩ 1jp
politics 11 (normass/deepe)
visited wi
On the second day of heavy fighting in Cholon, this correspondent
with a Vietnamese family living there. As
an American huleep ch helicopter whirfed
the housewife poured Chinese tea,
overhead and slammed in its 2 rockets a half-mile away at a Communist
As the helicopter banked, the empty brass .30 calibre
és concentration.
machinegun casings thundered eh earthward resounding like hellstorm
All School AR
N
hail stones the garage roof.
the yard the
the gap yard--they were more
She called the children from playing in
interested in searching for the brass.
Asked how she kept her "cool," the middle aged housewife
replied, "I'm very worried inside, but outside I don't show it."
lond
Automatically, her thoughts turned to her last similar frightening experience.
"When I was young the Allies and
Japanese were fighting and bomb
threw me from the second floor the down the staircase to the first story.
I was really worried then, but I only I had only myself to worry about.
Now, I have five children and I'm scared. I didn't sleep a wink last night."
==more reuter
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zcze sag
ᎩᎩ l.jp
politics 12
(normass/deepe)
number
Others report that Vietnamese of Chinese origin, who are restaurant
waiters and workers in the daytime, put on their black guerrilla
pajamas at night to assume sniper positions on the top of Chinese-owned
hotel roofs or to form small squads to attack police sub-stations.
Eroded
three
Gradually,
of the nine
e police precinct leadership is being erant
net precinct police chiefs have been wounded in the
fighting and more sub-precinct level police officers/killed.
"We know some of these Chinese guerrillas," one source explained.
"You can see them working in Cholon shops in the daytime, but at night
world
they become Communists. We dare not to look at them. If we pretend to
recognize them, we may be killed in retaliation."
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2020 sag
Jy 1jp
politics 13 (normass/deepe)
Another Chinese
A Camed Chinese worker living in the reb heart of Cholon explained:
"Everyone is really scared. Even to heard a dog bark at night gives one
goose pimples. You never know who's moving outside. When the shooting starts,
we all get under our bods near the wall.
"The government has ordered us to put out of oil lamps in front of our
houses when the electricity is offend it's off alot. But, the next morning,
the oil lamps are broken. We kiek never know who has broken them--yea
we never see anyone and we don't open the door to look."
==more reuter
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zesc sag
Jy 1jp
politics 14 (normass/deepe)
City-dwellers living on the top floor of high buildings-once the
Geico choicest place as a Vietnam oquivalent of ponthouse apartmonts-
have become terrifiod that Communist artillery or general high-level
crossfires will harm then and many have moved to lower floors of the
pertne apartment houses.
More than 29,000 regu rofugoos have been officially estimated
by the Voto Vietnamese government to have been created by the fighting
in Saigon-Cholon along alone.
Estimates in Gia Dinh haven't province
had not yet been made but ro are expected to run high, where heavy ground
fighting and American helicopter rocketing have taken place. The evacuees
can be seen almost over everywhere in Saigon; carrying a small bundle
of personal belongings in blanko wrapped up in blankets or Vietnamese
newspapers.
== moro router
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2020 sag
yy 1jp
politics 15 (normass/deepe)
One ingenuous evacuee converted his tri-wheeled Lambretta into
a family mini-trailer, stretching ponchos out for shade in
the afternoons and satehing a tiny hammock in the rear for his baby.
HANG.T
mobile
He chose not to set up house in another fixed point, but instead,
like a
S
in FING Spot where
da modern-day gypsy, parled his vehicle VOR
was no fighting. He said he had enough savings to feed his family
for a month; "after that I'll have to think of something else."
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2020 sag
yy 1jp
politios 16 (normass/deepe)
But
Te President Thieu is criticized here as being too slow
PEOPLE
to talk to the Vietnamese period during this terrifying time; his first
address to the nation on television was scheduled for the fourth night
of the offensive, but was cancelled, and was rescheduled for the fifth
night. (Ed note: please insert from
his address).
wires anything appropriate from
One of his public appearances was caffe cancelled.
In the longer-term, Thieu is criticized not acting fast
enough after the first Communist offensive in late January to prepare
the country for this wave of attacks. The se sources note that the program
to arm the people has become bogged down in the
Sued between him and his Vice President, Nguyen Cao Ky.
-and-down d
The general
became
mobilization bill to increase the Vietnamese armed forces began mired
down in the two-house legislature, bikin bickering on details rather
than substance. The cry for nationalist unity was dissipated by both
Thieu and Ky as both men formed their own personal political front
organizations,
t rather than rallying the political personalities/into
Ks
one unified at anti-Communist camp. The reorganization of the Vietnamese
Amed Forces and the anti-corruption drive are more of a facade rather than
a reality as the generals themselves could not agree on whether Thieu's or
Ky's followers were to be reformed.
more reuter
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zczo sag
yy 1jp
politio 16 17 (normass/deepe)
One rumor,
Even amidst the current crisis, a cross-current of rumors circulate
around Saigon about the rivalries between Ky and Thieu.
circulated by the French sources, indicates that Ky would fly away
to Paris, the exile spot for previous Vietnamese failures. This would
jerk the hard-line anti-Communist anchor out from under the Thieu government,
make it easier to form a Communist-dominated coalition ofther pander, police
Some
The RumORS- the
A
Thieu as President or without Thieu. While the rumor seems to have little
Nervousne
credence, it has the value for the Communists creating even more per
and confusion about the stability of the Vietnamese government.
pro-French sources here openly predict and attempt to fantan Thieu
is not so much likely to be toppled by the pro-Communist loti leftwing
peace alliance as by the right-wing general around Ky who believe Thieu
has not displayed an adequate sense of urgency in confronting the
Communists since in the political area si arena since Tet.
==more reuter
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zcze sag
Jy 1jp
polities 18 (normass/deepe)
dynamic
While Ky himself is anti-French, is a vocal, block of to any
internal accomodation with the National Liberation Front, any attempt by
him and his followers to topple the legal government would clearly be
H MAJOR
Victory foR
considered
at this time of
These lethal rumors,
as playing into the Communist
circulating at this crucial time,
appeare appears to be giving more credence to the Communist-inspired
Alliance of National, Democratic and Peace Forces, which seems to be more
Element
composed more of pro-French and pretria neutralist sympathizers than
of outright Communists. If the French sources and proteges here are not
openly backing this A121ac Alliance, which Washington has lready
refused to negotiate with, then they are clearly supporting it by
H
negative rumors and disruptive propaganda, diplomatic sources here believe.
This is one of the short-term reasons the Vietnamese government officials
as well as American officials, speaking in private, are so unhappy
about the selection of Paris as a peace site. Some Americans would rather
thave
seen Warsaw rather than Paris as the talk site, first because Paris
links the Americans with the colonialist war which the French fought in
1
Vietnam, second because of Frances position of destroying the American
military posture in NATO and third because the French in Vietnam are viewed,
but as committed "to the utter humilitation for of the
not as neutrals,
American position,"
Saigon
as one diplomat explained. "In a crucial situation like
this in on and with peace talks in Paris, the French can
the fulcrum of events and tip the balance of these decisive
Point"
simply nudge
Pivot
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zC2c sag
Jy 1jp
politics 19 (normass/deepe)
Tomorrow I'll
(Hank: sorriest I'm late in getting this to you.
interview the American commander for Saigon area and try to do a long
takeout on S Saigon military situation. This seems to be basically
and update of the turncot story, which is unravelling in slow motion.
Please alert John Hughes that I'm afraid Tan Son Nhut will be closed
to commercial traffic later this week, if he is planning to come
in.
Did you
Sorriest,
I believe the May 9 zeepager should be perfect the timing.
run the two-part series on the co Alliance?
If not, I suggest you
update and do so. It will be increasingly important in the future.
I he haven't gotten my mo memos mailed to you and BD Beb, but I
suppose it's just, as well to wait until the outcome of this to know the
answers to you questions.
Have you finalized the beneficiaires of my
life insurance policy as I mentioned in my memo? My thanks and red regards
Bev).
==end reuter
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Date
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1968, May 9
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Subject
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Saigon (Vietnam); Mặt trận dân tộc giải phóng miền nam Việt Nam; Vietnam (Republic); Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Bombardment
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B10, F28
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
