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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1975)
diforial Crumbling South Vietnam is lesson for U.S. fiS8P 72 tinu nfflr vji rf l wii t w .-- A to r li m, v 'hi r Yoo hoo, Henry " There's a touch of deja vu to this week's front page headlines: North Viets Push Farther South, South Viet Slippage Threatens Saigon, U.S. Begins Airlift. It seems as though it has all happened before. And it has. But this time one thing is different-the United States is not likely to bring itself back into the war, and for South Vietnam that spells doom. While attention was focused on a toppling Cambodia, the Communists were hacking away at a crumbling Vietnam a province at a time. The fall last Sunday of Da Nang, Vietnam's second largest city, is only the latest in a series of North Vietnamese victories (courtesy of South Vietnamese ineptness) that will soon have the Communists checking their road maps for the shortest route to Saigon. But the fall of Da Nang is more than just another battle in a war that never seems to end. What happened there last week is clearly a product of the past and, unfortunately, a harbinger of the future. Before its capture, Da Nang's population of 500,000 had swelled to about two million-mostly refugees seeking the shelter of a major city and government troops. Neither did them much good. Military sources say there was a total breakdown of discipline among the 100,000 troops in Da Nang. When it became apparent that the city would be captured, ships and planes were sent in to evacuate refugees, meaning women and children. They came back filled with South Vietnamese soldiers who are lambs on the battlefield but real fighters when it comes to grabbing the last seats on a flight to what are, at least momentarily,' the back lines. Thousands of people tried to cram aboard evacuation planes. Soldiers pushed women and children out of the way. Those who couldn't get inside the plane tried to ride outside and those who couldn't ride outside lobbed grenades at the plane in an attempt to ensure that the sinking ship went down with all the rats aboard. In addition to raising questions about the logic of Americans dying for a country whose own soldiers won't die for it, the fall of Da Nang poses a problem for President Nguyen Van Thieu who two weeks ago vowed that his troops would retreat no farther than that city. This week his political opponents are gloating over the imminent possibility of not having Thieu to kick around anymore. The fall of Da Nang proves two things. First, President Nixon's Vietnamization program (training the ragtag South Vietnamese army to do what American troops could not) was a failure. One-third of the South Vietnamese army has been destroyed. Just in the last two weeks the Vietnamese have managed to lose track of two 13,000-man divisions. One division that didn't vanish into thin air might as well have-9,000 of the 13,000 men have been killed or captured. The new, improved South Vietnamese army has managed to lose control of 13 of the country's 44 provinces. More than half the population has been captured or forced to flee their homes. Second, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning peace treaty negotiated by Henry Kissinger didn't work, something we knew from the beginning but were willing to overlook in the name of peace with honor. The question left unanswered is what the United States will do if the fall of Saigon, and thereby South Vietnam, becomes unavoidable without U.S. military intervention. While President Ford, as a matter of honor, may be forced to ask Congress to approve limited military intervention, it seems unlikely that Congress would approve such a move. The actions of the South Vietnamese army during the fall of Da Nang have perhaps taught us a lesson that years of fighting for them did not. Wes Albers fa IF I'M G0ING- TO HELP Y00 IVITH YOUR VOmXJRK, iU HAVE TO CMl W T0M6UT ' FrE0DI. FAR our, MM I I okamou) &m ME WUR NUMBER. . I i JWV JOT i , J4 ljfin oh, smY,mu, I'M FRESH OUT. oredom found in snowbound My H otn Town Because of a snowstorm, I had the displeasure of spending Spring Break in My Home Town. What follows is a brief rundown on some of this wondrous city's better attractions. -It is appropriate to start with a description of Broadway, the hub of the city. Running from north to south, this main arterial is a collection of discount stores, fast-food joints and gas stations. To the motorheads, Broadway is known as the "main drag", or simply "main." Some of them might as well call it home, for all the time they spend on it. One of the more pleasant sights to be found on this stretch of road is the Stockyard. After a heavy rain, the runoff from the cattle pens does wonders on your olfactory system and your car's exterior. Leaving Broadway, we can pay a visit to a local "nightclub" and source of "entertainment" for young people. A jukebox, foosball table, pool table, six booths, 3.2 beer, and a lot of dolts make up the atmosphere of this drinking establishment. According to the advertisement, "you can get anything you like" at this bar, which actually means you can get nothing there except a headache and a sense of wasted time. page 4 The center of culture for My Home Town resides in two liberal arts colleges. One is run by the Benedictine Nuns and the other was established by the Congregational Church. If you're looking for an education at these schools, forget it. About all you'll find are the same people you went to high school with, unchanged and as dull as ever. joe dreesen a Sfftymo ct it fill The local police force and the parents of My Home Town have finally learned about drugs. This has created a lot of controversy and problems. In a style reminiscent of Hitler's Gestapo, the police have set out to bust anyone and everyone With their fists and informers, they're doing a pretty good job of "ridding the streets of drug abusers " or at least they think so. ' The high school in My Home Town is a lingering remnant of the 1950s. The words "innovation" and change" cannot be found in the school's dictionaries. What you learn in this high school isn't important as long as your actions and beliefs are in line with whatever instructor happens to be teaching you. Along with handing out sterile and sanitized versions of history, political science and English, the instructors insist upon imposing their morals and beliefs on students. What a student does after class is everybody's business. For example, students are still reprimanded by school authorities if they're caught smoking cigarettes after school hours. It's never been explained as to what relevance smoking cigarettes has to education. Now that you've had a brief rundown on some of this city's more interesting places and institutions, you re' probably wondering about the purpose of this column. After all who the hell cares about My Home Town? Well, the point is, My Home Town is Grand Island, is Norfolk, is Scottsbluff, is Ogallala, is Ord, is McCook.is.... . thursday, april 3, 1975 daily nebraskan