The Vietnam War, This Week, The Gazette and Daily, York PA

Vietnam War Weekly Front Pages

 16 January 1966 – 22 January 1966

The Gazette and Daily, York PA 

How long could the “peace offensive” continue?

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The Johnson administration was tentatively planning to end its “peace offensive” in Vietnam shortly after the end of the lunar new year cease-fire, the night of 23 January, unless some favorable response from the north Vietnam was received by then. A series of tough and pessimistic public statements within the last 24 hours reflected the official view that the United States could not afford to wait much longer for signs that North Vietnam was willing to make some moves toward peace. Informed sources said that the administration had received no indication to show that the Communists intended to accept the peace bid launched on Christmas Eve, when the US suspended bombing raids on North Vietnam. US Senate leaders expressed hope that the cease-fire would continue, and pressure was coming in from many governments abroad. The rest of the week the White House said that no deadline had yet been set for ending the peace offensive, and that the matter was under “continual review and assessment.”

United Nations Secretary General U Thant suggested on Thursday that all elements of the South Vietnamese people, including, presumably, the National Liberation Front, should participate in the country’s postwar government. Concrete proposals on this point at this time by the United States or any party concerned might hasten the start of negotiations, he said. It would be difficult to justify a refusal to negotiate once such proposals have been made, he reasoned. He also said that any lasting settlement would have to have the support of all great powers including China. The NLF, he said, should also take part in peace talks. The next day the US Secretary of State rejected Thant’s suggestions.

The Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, announced on Monday that the Defense Department would seek an increase of 113,000 men in the strength of the armed forces. The increase, plus an additional 94,000 civilian defense department personnel to be requested, would be covered by a $12.3 billion supplemental defense appropriation that would go to Congress on Tuesday. The increase would be in addition to an expansion of force ordered last summer and now in progress. The Secretary said that the new expansion may not be fully completed by the end of the current fiscal year.

The commandant of the Marine Corps, just back from Vietnam, called for a united front here at home; he suggested that some sacrifices may be necessary “as far as luxuries are concerned,” and that longer casually lists may have to be borne. It would require “possibly an overall massive effort to bring this to a close,” he added. Meanwhile a retired Army general charged that United States military objectives in South Vietnam were stretching the resources of American forces “beyond reason.” He warned that if the US applied the force needed to attain its military goals, it should expect China to enter the war in South Vietnam and reopen the Korean front as well.

Pennsylvania Senator Joseph Clark told the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Council of the United World Federalists that “we must not let the war hawks who spout nonsense about total victory over ‘godless communism’ stampede the president into a quick resumption of the bombing of North Vietnam.” “I believe that General MacArthur was right when he warned about getting sucked into a huge and costly war on the landmass of Asia,” Clark said. “I am unalterably opposed to trading American coffins for Vietnamese real estate.”

The United States moved nearly 9,000 additional combat troops into Vietnam on Tuesday. About 4,500 Marines of the famed First Regiment landed by amphibious vehicles at Chu Lai, 62 miles south of Da Nang. At the same time, more than 4,000 soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division’s Second Brigade came on shore on the sandy beaches of Vung Tau, about 30 miles southeast of Saigon. Including the newly arrived units, the United States now had nearly 210,000 men in Vietnam.

Twenty-nine New England scientists charged that chemical warfare being used by the United States in Vietnam was “barbarous” and “shows a shocking deterioration of our moral standards.” Tear and nausea gas ad been used in Vietnam but the statement was directed particularly at rice-destroying chemicals employed recently by the United States against South Vietnamese areas believed to be held by the guerrillas. The group, which included a Nobel prize winner and 16 Harvard scientists, said, “Even if it can be shown that the chemicals are not toxic to man, such tactics are barbarous because they are indiscriminate; they represent an attack on the entire population of the region where the crops are destroyed, combatants and noncombatants alike.”

(Photo courtesy newspapers.com, York Gazette and Daily)