Daily Sitka Sentinel (Newspaper) - April 30, 1975, Sitka, Alaska Member of the Associated Press T HE DAILY SENTINEL Sitka Alaska April S Vietnamese Pour Into U.S Bases By TOM JORY Associated Writer Thousands ot South ese have joined a widening stream of refugees bound for the United States and what could be months of grappling with red tape and uncertainly About of the refugees some who saw their homeland torn by war the government they supported in collapse ar- rived at West Coast military bases Tuesday Many others filled a temporary tent city on Guam Military officials on the island listed the refugee population early today at They said it would reach as evacuees streamed in from initial processing centers on Wake Island and at Clark Air Force Base in the pines South Vietnamese pilots flew their planes to Utapao in ern Thailand today members of the Saigon government's armed forces and their families American sources said a total of 118 planes had arrived at by noon today bringing an estimated South The United States began ing the refuges on to Guam as Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj said that it was America's re- sponsibility to remove them Senate Republican Leader Hugh Scott lold reporters that by noon Tuesday gees had been evacuated from the country Later in the day President Ford said in a evacuation of cans was complete Hours er the Saigon government rendered and North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops entered the city Military and Immigration and Naturalization Service workers on Guam said they cleared refugees Tuesday for departure to the Stales and that they expected the rate to increase lo a day in 10 days Most of to pass through Camp Hendleton lif the sprawling Marine base near San Diego were cans with Vietnamese wives their children and their wives families By late afternoon many had been processed and were headed home Saigon Surrenders to North Vietnam Troops By GEORGE ESPER Writer SAIGON AP The Saigon American buildings which government surrendered Saigonese cleaned out after and Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops occupied the capital Al first the South Vietnamese slood in doorways and watched the their former occupants were evacuated Otherwise life returned to a semblance of normalcy People strolled streets and greeted troops pour into city then the Viet Cong and North some began cheering with smiles and Many former government shakes Motorbike traffic picked But others arrived with her homes nor friends in this country and for them military and civilian authorities ly prepared necessary shelter food and medical services The Pentagon said temporary homes would be provided gees at Pendleton at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and al Ft Chaffee Ark Spokesmen at Eglin and Chaffee said officials there were geared for the first arrivals by the end of the week Preparations were being made to provide housing for refugees at each of the installations officials said There was no clear word on how long the refugees would re- main al the bases One soldier at Chaffee said he had been sued orders diers turned in thir arms and tried to lose themselves amid civilian population But there were periodic outbursts of gunfire some from pockets of resistance and others from celebrating Viet Cong and North Vietnamese firing into air A police colonel shot himself in front of the National bly building after walking up to an army memorial statue ad saluting He died later in a pital Some South Vietnamese pilots up Viet Cong flags appeared on many buildings Hundreds of South ese applauded as scores of North Vietnamese tanks ar- mored vehicles and Chinese trucks drove down Unity Boulevard to the presidential palace shortly after noon The six-story U.S Embassy which withstood a determined Viet Cong commando attack in 1968 was no match today for thousands of Saigonese getting their last American handout TEAMS teams head up Mt St Helens on Sunday to look for five climbers from University of Sound who were caught in avalanche Saturday All Jive died Al Wirephoto Ford's Tense Time Ends for Ford with Last Evacuation Trip from Saigon continued today to fly They took everything including of relatives and other members of the armed forces to neighboring Thailand eral thousand South ese fled the country by this route Tuesday And U.S officials struggled with the logistics of resettling the kitchen sinks and a chine to shred secret ments A bronze plaque with names of five American men who didd in the 1968 attack was torn from the lobby wall An Associated Press the estimated South retrieved it WASHINGTON AP Here is the text of President Ford's statement on the withdrawal of Americans from Vietnam The statement was read Tuesday by Press Secretary Ron Nessen Colonel Says CIA Tried to Kill Castro WASHINGTON AP A re- tired Air Force colonel says the CIA once requested a plane un- der his command and flew two men into Cuba to kill Fidel tro L Fletcher Prouty said he came forward an count of his involvement in the abortive plot in late 1959 or early 1960 because of a attack by former CIA Director Richard Helms against CBS newsman Daniel Schorr for re- porting possible CIA in- volvement in assassination schemes It got me a little said of Helms which was widely re- ported and televised Prouty who handled Air Force liaison with the CIA said in a telephone interview day he was positive Helms knew about the plot to kill tro Helms has claimed to have no knowledge of CIA for any assassinations but hasn't mentioned the of unsuccessful attempts At the time of Castro attempt Helms was in almost total control of the the past week I had ordered the reduction of can personnel in the United Slates mission in Saigon to els that could be quickly during an emergency while enabling that mission to continue to fulfill its duties During the day on Monday Washington lime the airport al Saigon came under rocket as well as artillery fire and was effectively closed The military situation in the area deteriorated rapidly 1 therefore ordered the evacuation of all American remaining in South nam The evacuation has been CIA's clandestine operations completed I commend the against Cuba said of the armed forces who Helms was assistant to Richard accomplished it as well as Bissel Graham Martin and tor of plans the agency's he staff of his mission who tricks served so well under difficult conditions This action dirty closes a chapter the American experience I ask all Americans to close ranks lo avoid recrimination Tornados Kill Five Tornadoes killed five persons as thunderstorms rumbled through the South today ing out a rash of twisters Heavy thunderstorms during the night lefl many sections of Vicksburg Miss and dria La power Three persons were killed and five were injured when a twister smashed through the south Texas community of cey during Tuesday afternoon Louisiana State Police said the worst damage appeared to be in the eastern central tion of that stale Large hail accompanied vere thunderstorms that raked portions of Louisiana Kansas Oklahoma and Missouri Rains of an inch or more were com- mon Wintry weather clung lo tions of the northern Rockies and Plains Up to 14 inches of snow fell the area of South Dakota on Monday and Tuesday Flooding both from recent heavy rains and melting snow plagued scattered areas from Minnesota and North kota to Mississippi and siana Army engineers said the Mississippi River was rising ward a new crest in South 2 Die in Slope Crash called Prouty said he dispatched a specially equipped Air Force plane at the CIA's request lo land two Cuban exiles on a road near Havana The Pas to look be assassins were equipped goals we share and to with a high-powered rifle and work together on the great and knew asks lhal remain to be how lo get lo a building in vana which overlooked a ing where passed said He said engine plane landed and re- safely lo Eglin Air Force Base in Florida bul the two exiles as far as I know were picked up between where they were lefl off and lown said one of the exiles was named Oscar and that the plane had been flown by mercenaries on CIA payroll Now an Amtrak official was wilh the Defense Department's Office of Special Operations at the lime of He from Air Force in 1963 and wrote a book called The de- tailing his experiences as Air Force liaison wilh the CIA said he knew of one or two other assassination against following Bay of Pigs but said he did not know of missions because he was not directly in- in them By FRANCES LEWINE Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON AP ident Ford spent an anxious 24 hours as he made the decision for all-out evacuation of cans from Saigon and waited for the last helicopter to leave safely When it was all over late Tuesday afternoon and he closed a chapter in the can Ford asked the nation to close ranks avoid recriminations to work together on the great tasks that remain to be Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger who shared the deci- hours with the President described Ford as somber and determined after going through those what anxious 24 hours ger said that until the last copter left We couldn't really know if any of those compounds would be attacked or whelher missiles would be used against our evacuation Ford's ordeal as in-chief began shortly after 6 p.m Monday when an aide slipped quietly into the Cabinet room the While House and passed a note lo the President as he presided over a routine meeting of energy advisers The note said situation in Saigon was deteriorating and Iwo U.S marines had been killed It was morning in Vietnam and the Tan Son airport near Saigon was under rocket and artillery fire Afte whispered consultations wilh the aide LI Gen Brent A curity Council meeting began with only one topic for dis- whether now was the time for the final evacuation Ford decided that if the ing in Saigon stopped by dawn would be made for Sne more day lo planes in the airlift Ford went to the White House residence greeted his wife and drank a martini Within ules he was joined by croft and Kissinger who told him the situation at Tan Son Nhut was becoming more Still no final evacuation was ordered At p.m EOT Ford decided to put option four into effect an all-out helicopter evacuation making use of armed Marines and heavy helicopters from he U.S carrier task force in the South China Sea The President went back to his Oval Office and met a hour before midnight in the Military Situation Room with it helped evacuate from the country before the surrender The end of official American presence in the try came late Tuesday People in Hanoi raced into the streets and embraced each his closest White House ad- visers then went lo bed where he was interrupted briefly twice by phone calls With only four hours sleep of the Yugoslav news Ford was up at agency reported Flags it is our embassy said a laughing young ese soldier The Viet Cong took over the Saigon radio station and an- We representatives of the liberation forces of ing intelligence reports the newspapers arid watching tele- vision Press Secretary Ron Nessen announced that the President planned to go ahead with his regular morning schedule But a special Cabinet meeting and a session with bipartisan other in a a general explosion formally proclaim that gon has been totally liberated We accept the unconditional surrender of Gen Duong Van Minh president of the former government A curfew was ordered from 6 p.m to 6 Government em- ployes were urged to return to were raised and the North Vietnamese capital became the noisiest and happiest city in the world At on April 30 1975 the flag of the Provisional Revolutionary Government PRG of the Republic of South Vietnam fluttered above the work and students and other youths were urged to pate in a demonstration at a leaders of Congress was hastily palace of the puppet president time to be announced later called was to wich in between them a uled meeting with Jordan's King Hussein to discuss another world trouble spot the Middle East Hour after hour the White House had to postpone a ger briefing that was to come when the evacuation ended nally it was under way at p.m as Nessen reported the last helicopters are now in the air s Saigon a Madhouse as N Viets Take Over and on other buildings in the declared Hanoi's nam News Agency in a cast monitored in Tokyo The broadcast reiterated that Saigon has been renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the late North Vietnamese leader President Duong Van Minh announced his government's unconditional surrender in a broadcast at midmorning and ordered the South Vietnamese armed forces to turn in their He was then picked up U.S Ambassador Graham Martin who left Saigon day in a helicopter airlift that carried some 900 Americans and about South ese from the city landed on the USS Blue Ridge in the South China Sea In Thailand American sources said about 125 planes had arrived at Utapao Air Base with an estimated South Vietnamese The United States began ing the refugees on to Guam as by North Vietnamese and Viet Thai officials said it was Cong troops and taken to an un- responsibility to remove known location Four hours later a of North Vietnamese soldiers brought the retired By MATT Associated Press Writer them Informed sources said the first U.S Air Force took off shortly after noon with 185 Vietnamese aboard Non-Communist Asian and he appealed again to the tries reacted to the surrender general back to a microphone SAIGON AP Scores of North Vietnamese lanks ar- mored vehicles and drove down Unity Boulevard lo the South Vietnamese presidential palace shortly after noon today Several hundred South Ford ordered top of- applauded as North FAIRBANKS Alask AP Two persons were killed and two were injured in a ter crash on the North slate troopers say State troopers report that a Bell 206 helicopter owned by Gay Airways of crashed miles southwest of early Tuesday The craft with a pilot and three passengers was on a flight from Pass Troopers say one passenger was killed in the crash and two passengers an the were injured is reported lo have walked len miles to Franklin pipeline camp lo gel help for the injured The injured men were flown from Bluffs to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for Hospital officials say one of the passengers died Prince Charles has arrived en route lo hospital here for the last slop in his The names of dead and rent visit lo Canada Manitoba's premier Ed Schreyer greeted he prince on Prince Tours Man AP summoned for a al Security Council meeting Al p.m Youths Held In Slaying TOK Alaska AP State say that four young persons are being held by in California in con- with the apparent der of a Packwood Wash man in Alaska The body of Arthur I ham 66 was found Sunday in a wooded area near the Tok er Campground seven miles chest Troopers said police in mento arrested ven Floyd Bendle Monday on a Vietnamese troops waved blue and red flags wilh a low star in the center and stepped down into broad boulevard Meanwhile in front uf the National Assembly building a police colonel walked up to an army memorial statue saluted and shot himself in the head He died a short white later in a hospital Shots rang out around the City Hall A North Vietnamese infantry platoon dressed in olive drab uniforms and black rubber sandals look up sive positions in the square in front of the building They exchanged shots with a few holdouts somewhere in the vicinity A few people on rode by and looked They dejectedly left the ships as Viet Cong drove along the in jeeps and rucks waving Viet Cong flags and cheering Knots of civilians slood in doorways and the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese drive past At they showed no emotion Laler people began ing as more North Vietnamese poured into the city Ky Nhan a Vietnamese who had been graphs to the Western press for three years came to the AP office with a Viet Cong friend and two North Vietnamese diers and said I guarantee the safety of everybody here government forces to give up Mrs Nguyen Thi Binh the with a shrug of resignation and a sigh of relief The long foreign minister of the PRG ny Of Vietnam has come to an said in an interview in Da said Thailand's Foreign Nang on Tuesday lhal Minh Ministry Prime Minister might still have some role to ril Pramoj said his play in of Vietnam is ready to recognize whatever Loud explosions were heard government emerges in lale afternoon in Saigon They were aboard an Foreign Minister Carlos P Romulo of the Philippines barge burning in corned the surrender so that Saigon River bul no damage lives will be spared And was in the cily except Indonesian Foreign Minister al the U.S and Adam Malik said his country should nol find any difficulty in adjusting itself with whoever in in Vietnam In Washington President Ford said Tuesday that the end of the American evacuation closed a chapter in CORDOVA Alaska AP the American experience aod Three Anchorage men whose firing was coming from In a short while it subsided Between President Duong Van surrender cast and the entry of the injured have nol released pending identification and of his arrival Tuesday by airplane Thc cause the crash is under boy and two also were being held girls South Vietnamese soldiers and A trooper spokesman said the civilians jammed aboard r eral coastal freighters tied up from Hay investigation victim apparently was en route to visit his son Gerry a er on the pipeline along the Saigon River hoping they could escape I have been a revolutionary for 10 said Nhan My job in the Viet Cong was liaison with the international George Esper the AP bureau chief served them Coca-Cola and some leftover cakes Many of the city's residents were walking or riding about the streets The North ese were as curious about the Saigonese as the local people were about the men from the North But many stayed at home They are nice now but we must said one old woman in a telephone con- versation We want said Nhan No more killing plane crashed on Montague Island have been cued by the Coast Guard in good shape A Coast Guard spokesman said Ron Samsel Gerry cher and Curt Van Allyn were taken by helicopter to Cordova late Monday after their plane crashed on takeoff from Patton Bay The spokesman said the Coast Guard was alerted to the crash by a pilot for Northwest Orient Airlines who picked up a faint emergency signal from the plane while passing over the island Sunday The Coast Guard said the men were recovering a buoy belonging to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration country to avoid he recriminations SITKA AREA TIDES Thursday High tide at 8.8 Low tide 3.6 High tide at p.m 7.6 Low tide at p.m 0.2 Courtesy of ALASKA FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN Sitka Forecast For tonight and Thursday cloudy Winds to 15 mph Temperatures into the mid For Friday partly cloudy skies
