The Vietnam War, This Week, The Republican, Kane PA
Vietnam War Weekly Front Pages
19 September 1965 – 25 September 1965
The Republican, Kane PA
Could we “be spared the grave business of war?”
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Pope Paul VI told thousands of pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square Sunday that he would pray that the world “be spared the grave business of war.” The pontiff’s voice was filled with emotion as he spoke from a window of his Vatican palace apartments. Earlier, the pope celebrated mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica. Those who saw him said he looked tired and depressed.
On Tuesday a US helicopter with four crewmen was shot down in North Vietnam as it tried to rescue a downed American pilot. The four crewmen and the pilot were listed as missing. North Vietnamese troops were seeing heading for the pilot after he ejected from his F-105 Thunderchief Monday. The plane was on a bombing mission at a bridge south of Vinh, 100 miles north of the border between North and South Vietnam, when it was hit by heavy ground fire. Anti-aircraft fire also struck the rescue helicopter and drove off a second chopper.
US B-52 jet bombers staged the 30th strike of the Vietnamese war, hammering suspected Viet Cong targets in Binh Duong province. No assessment was made of the effectiveness of the raid 25 miles north of Saigon by the Guam-based Strategic Air Command bombers. Elements of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade uncovered a big Viet Cong hospital hidden a dense jungle northwest of Saigon. The paratroopers discovered the medical facility Tuesday while combing a Communist-infested area near the district capital, 40 miles from Saigon.
The Viet Cong struck again in the Mekong Delta Wednesday night, raiding two government outposts while US warplanes ranged over Communist North Vietnam bombing boats and bridges. The Communist guerrillas inflicted light casualties in the raids on the outposts. There was no estimate of Viet Cong losses in night fighting in Kien Tuong province, 50 miles west of Saigon, and Kien Guang province, 130 miles southwest of the capital. Radio Hanoi claimed North Vietnam shot down two US AD6 fighters Wednesday, bringing the total of downed American aircraft to 592. Another Radio Hanoi broadcast said more than 200 US troops were put out of action during the fierce fighting at An Khe, South Vietnam. US sources said casualties were only moderate for the 101st Paratroopers.
High-ranking Vietnamese military officers said a government firing squad executed three Vietnamese accused of being Viet Cong sympathizers. The officer said the three were shot by a firing squad in a soccer stadium. A South Vietnamese military spokesman said the execution was originally postponed because news photographers refused to obey orders not to take pictures until after the last shot was fired. The three persons were among five arrested Monday during an antigovernment demonstration by about 200 persons in downtown Da Nang. They were sentenced to death Tuesday by a military tribunal on charges of inciting the demonstration.
(Photo courtesy newspapers.com, Kane Republican)