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Part of The CIA's Spy-Drops Into Red Viet

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New York

]{eraUJ ar'ribune

13

The CIA's Spy-Drops Into Red Viet
By Beverly Deepe
A Special Correspondent

SAIGON.
The U.S. Central Intellirence Agency canceled in midJuly its part of a multi-million-dollar contract with a
private American aviation
company that had the undercover mission of airlifting
guerrillas and supplies behind
enemy lines in North Viet
Nam and Communist-held
sections of Laos.
Reliable military sources
said that pilots of more than
12 aircraft included Chinese
and Turkish nationals, but no
Americans, American civilians
were used for ground support,
administrative and maintenance functions.
The American government,
through the CIA, about two
years ago, had sign_e d jointly
with the Vietnamese government a contract with a private American firm called
American Aviation Investors
Inc. The CIA broke the contract several weeks ago.
The cancellation of the
American co-signature was interpreted here as a rebuke to
South Vietnamese Premier
Gen. Nguyen Khanh, who has

in recent weeks launched a ·
"Go North" campaign to attack Communist North Viet
Nam. Gen Khanh's campaign
contradicted American policy
,a t the time. Presumably the
American government broke
the contract in order to limit
his capacity to send Vietnamese Special Forces guerrillas and saboteurs into
North Viet Nam and Laos.

UNMARKED
Since · the cancellation of
the contract, Gen. Khanh
has toned down and redefined his "Go North" policy
to mean simply a means of
finishing the war "instead of
letting it drag on." And since
then, North Vietna,mese PT
boats have twice attacked
American desbroyers in international waters off the coast
of North Viet Nam.
The Tonkin Gulf attacks
led directly to retaliatory
strikes by U.S. planes against
the torpedo boats' bases and
supply centers - far more
drastic action than the clandestine guerrilla operations
north of the border. But the
U. S. shows no sign o! adopting the "Go North" slog•a n.

The CIA contract with
American Aviation Investors
Inc. called for a highly mobile
undercover air operation involvin~ several helicopters,
six to eight C-45 and C-47
transport aircraft, some o!
them equipped with radar,
and L-28 Helio-courier planes.
None of the silver-colored
aircraft carried identification
markings or insignia; except
black numbers.
The C-45 and C-47 transport aii'craft are often used to
drop paratroopers behind
enemy lines; helicopters have
the capabilities of landing in
small ju~gle clearings and
the four- seater L-28 Hellocouriers can land on short
clearings and runways.
Other American private
aviation companies with missions comparable to American Aviation Investors are
presumably still in operation.
The American government at
times contracts with private
firms to implement programs
for which the U. S. government officially cannot be held
responsible.
When asked about such activities, Gen .. Khanh simply
smiles and says, "We can not
discuss that." American mili-

tary sources confirm that
South Vietnamese Special
Forces1 trained by their
American counterparts, are
dropped behind enemy lines,
but details "are classified."
The (Wives of South Vietnamese Special Forces troops
sent to North Viet Nam also
sometimes inadvertently drop
information. 'l'ne wives call
the mission into North Viet
Nam an ·•express train to
death." Casualties on such
missions are considered high,
although one· Vietnamese
Special Forces officer has
been dropped into Communist-held sections o! Southern
·Laos sit times and has fought
his wa:v. back to safety.
I

LANDING

· Within the past six weeks,
reliable Vietnamese sources
confir~ed t hat a South Vietnamese Special Forces unit
landed on the South · China
Sea coast near the North
Vietnamese city of Dong Hoi,
about 30 miles north of the
17th
Parellel
separating
North a:nd South Viet Nam.
They succeeded in sabotaging
the city water system.
The trtost detailed in!ormatio regardin11: South Vlet-

name.se saboteurs and guerrillas operating in North Viet
Nam comes from North Vietnamese 1'adio broadcasts and
newspapers, but the aecu;racy
of the information is difficult
to asses.s.
On April 22, 1964, the
North Vietnamese govern- ,
ment ,r eported a "spy trial"
in which a Communist military court two days earlier
tried a group of seven "spy.
commandos of the U. S. and
its henchmen in South Viet
Nam who had been airdropped on a mountain region of Cam Xuyen district,
Ha Tinh province." The
North Vietnamese report
listed names and ages of the
seven "spies" and their sentences which ranged from
three years to life imprisonment.
Duties o! the seven were
listed as chief of the group,
deputy chief, radio operators
and psychological warfare expert. The report said that
from November, 1962, the
seven were directly trained
by American officers 1n spying activities, and were airdropped into th~ Nm,th Vietnamese
pr9,vince
during
early morniJtg hours of Oct.
8. -1963