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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-04411 to 363-04412.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-04411 to 363-04412
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Title
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Letter from Keever to Hank (Christian Science Monitor editor)
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Description
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A letter written by Keever to her Christian Science Monitor editor, Hank, about her interview source within the US Marine Corps Combat Operations Center, Brigadier General J.N. McLaughlin. It appears from the letter that the US State Department and President Johnson had been denying Keever's reports that the US was withdrawing troops, so Keever wanted to clarify her sources to her editor.
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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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Dear Hank:
Saigon, Vietnam
August 26, 1968
I'm enclosing a short piece, which is rather significant im
its own way. At this time, it is exclusive; it is relatively
non-perishable and won't be outdated by any battlefield developments
here. So, when the rush of news events subsides, maybe you can
find a small space for it.
My first
started
He was
Also, I meant to get a short note off to you on my source
for the piece I wrote about the up to 50 per cent withdrawal of the
NVA mainforce from the South--since it's not very discreet to
cable such material. I also notice the State Depta denied it to
Dave Willis, in the last batch of papers Imust received. The
piece was based on an interview with Brig. Gen. J. N. McLaughlin (USMC),
who is Director of the Combat Operations Center abg directly under
General Abrams. The COC runs the American side of the war on a
minute-to-minute basis-as distinct from the longer-range operational
planning of the J-3 section. As usual, I opened the interview by
establishing the rules of attribution; he chose the "background"
attribution of "informed sources," rather than direct quotation to
himself or the American command, which I agreed with.
question was about General Abrams new strategy--and he
talking about the NVA withdrawl and the current lull.
quite open about the withdrawal from the South and gave me the
Communist order of battle of which divisions had pulled back across
the border. This was his view of the military fact on the battlefield
at the time; his interpretation of what that fact meant, however,
followed the standard official line that the main-forces had withdrawal
only to prepare fro another offensive.
of course, I hit
the story hard; to me, the story--the news angle--was the extent of
the withdrawal, but I also quoted his interpretation that this was just
preparation for another offensive. I doubt very much that the general
would have given me such detail after President Johnson's hard-line
speech; but, this was just several days before that. If the President
and State Department choses to ignore, deny or obfuscate what the
MACV generals say here, it's a pretty good indication of the political
currents but I don't think it should change what is x the military
facts, as expalined and interpreted by an official source, speaking
not for attribution.
So,
Incidentally, too, this is not out of line with what other senior
people had been telling other correspondents here--but the other
correspondents were not the wire services, who had been covering the lull
only by predictions of another offensive, without attempting to define
the extent of the lull. A few weeks before the McLaughlin interview,
Keyes Beech of the Chicão Daily News told me he was informed by General
Abrams, as well as CIA sources, that there had been a significant
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2.
withdrawal move by the NVA from the South, although they had a lower
percentage at an earlier timeperiod. I believe he wrote this for his
paper, although I didn't see the playback here.
I should have written you soonor about this, not only for your
information, but also to pass on this information to the Washington
people to give them some idea of the direction of things here,
from this vantage point. I'll try to make sure to do this in the
future, should a similar situation arise in the coming days.
Been
Sincerely,
Sev
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Date
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1968, Aug. 26
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Subject
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United States. Marine Corps. Division of Operations and Training; Interviews; Keever, Beverly Deepe
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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, F38
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Format
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correspondence
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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
