Article about American use of tear gas

Item

derivative filename/jpeg
363-06862 to 363-06869.pdf
Digital Object Identifier
363-06862 to 363-06869
Title
Article about American use of tear gas
Description
Original title: "gas", Keever's title: "U.S. Policy Markers Might Backpedal on Allies' Use of Non-Lethal Gas Use in Combat", article about America reversing their position on allowing the use of non-lethal riot control tear gas on the battlefield
AI Usage Disclosure
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.
Transcript
deepe gas--page 1 sept. 9, 1965 SAIGON--American policymakers may soon reverse their [deletion: former] position and allow the consistent use of non-lethal [XXXX indicating deletion] riot control tear gases on the Vietnam battlefield, reliable sources indicated today. (More) deepe gas--page 2 sept. 9, 1965 The gas issue, which caused [XXXX indicating deletion] sensational headlines and world-wide consternation in late March, again broke into the news this week when a U.S. Marine Corps battalion commander countermanded military orders and used tear gas--without authorization--to flush out nearly 400 Vietnamese women and children from Viet Cong tunnels near the coastal city of Qui Nhon, 250 miles north of Saigon. (More) deepe gas--page 3 An official military investigation is currently underway to determine whether the Marine Corps battalion commander, Lt. Col. L. N. Utter, deliberately broke military orders [deletion: specifi] specifying that tear gas would not be used on the Vietnam battlefield without authorization from higher headquarters. American military sources indicate that [insertion: the approval of] General William C. Westmoreland, [XXXX indicating deletion] commander of Military Assistance Command in Saigon, would have been necessary to authorize the use of the tear gas--and that he would have had to obtain approval from higher headquarters--in the Pacific command in Honolulu and possibly from the Pentagon. (More) deepe gas--page 4 “This Marine colonel may turn out to be a hero,” one reliable source indicated. “Every [insertion: (American)] general in this town (Saigon) wants to use non-lethal gas.” (Source 1) Another reliable source explained, “this Marine colonel incident may make it possible for the Administration to row back from their former stand against the use of police control gases here. But there has been no row-back yet. But if in several more weeks another battalion commander accidentally breaks the order, and several more weeks later another breaks it, pretty soon the outside world will accept it as a normal occurence.” (Source 2). deepe gas--page 5 When the Associated Press reported the use of non-lethal gas in Vietnam in late March, the story caused a world-wide sensation--and a considerable number of [deletion: headqua] headaches in Washington. “I’d rather lose the war rather than [XXXX indicating deletion] use gas,” one high-ranking Administration official reportedly [XXXX indicating deletion] said. “I’m not going to go through that again. There’s something about the word gas that we can’t understand.” (Source 3). deepe gas--page 6 The highest ranking American military officials here, speaking in private, openly opposed the Administration’s position and were bitter that [deletion: in] Washington officials had failed to handle the “flap” well enough to permit continued use of the [deletion: police] non-lethal gas. “The tear gases and vomiting gases are ideal counterinsurgency weapons,” one high ranking military official [deletion: [illegible]] complained. “But [deletion: [illegible]] just try to use it!” (Source 4) (More) deepe gas--page 7 Another American advisor, who had previously [XXXX indicating deletion] appraised the use of non-lethal gas during his Pentagon tour, explained, “We could effectively use [XXXX indicating deletion] tear gas and vomiting gas in Vietnam, but it still has alot of limitations. First of all, the effects last only ten minutes, which means that the government troops must pounce into the area immediately after the gas is dropped. Sometimes, if the winds are too strong, the gas does not drop to the ground, but just drifts away without any effect. But still, gas could [deletion: effectively be used] best be used when the Viet Cong have seized a government post. Instead of bombing the post and the civilian population, helicopters could use [XXXX indicating deletion] drop the gas, and the government troopers could be dropped in to pick up the Viet Cong fighters and the wounded Vietnamese government troops.” [insertion: (Source 5)] (More) deepe gas--page 8 One non-Western counter-insurgency expert was also reportedly miffed at the Administration’s opposition to the use of non-lethal gas. He looked at the gas issue [deletion: at] from the conceptual level as a means to revolutionize the nature of war. “The West is fighting in Vietnam what the Communists call revolutionary warfare,” he explained. “Now, with the development of gas, the West has all the means to revolutionize the nature of war--the nature of war being to kill people for political reasons. The Americans could conceivably, as the use of gas is perfected, win the war without killing people--and this would revolutionize the nature of the war itself. The Americans and the Vietnamese government, for example, could conceivably capture the Viet Cong hard-core battalions in their base areas, instead of spending years of chasing them around the jungles or trying [deletion: [illegible]] to kill them with mass bombing raids.” [insertion: (Source 6.)] -30-
Date
1965, Sep. 5
Subject
Vietnam War, 1961-1975; United States. Armed Forces; Tear gas munitions; Tactics; Chemical warfare
Location
Saigon, South Vietnam
Coordinates
10.8231; 106.6311
Size
20 x 26 cm
Container
B187, F6
Format
dispatches
Collection Number
MS 363
Collection Title
Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
Creator
Keever, Beverly Deepe
Collector
Keever, Beverly Deepe
Copyright Information
These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
Publisher
Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
Language
English