Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) - May 10, 1967, Oakland, California He Was A Kid Too But I Shot First DA Vietnam lAPt The U.S Marines wwe telling the story of Steve day He is an private from Silver Spring Aid a member of a reconnaissance team He was hit four limes m fne hours in a brisk exchange with North Vietnamese but the only man of eight in his team able to carry on the fight Lopez and the others were sent in a helicopter to observe trails in the lulls Khe Sanh recently the scene of 12 days of some of the most vicious fighting in the war The Marines found several empty bunkers then moved to the crest of a hill for a better vantage poM At midnight the team came under heavy fire They were surrounded by a company of North regulars about 150 men said he was hit in the head as soon as the firing started then was hit in the chest leg and head he said The enemy was about two feet from us at limes They walked right up to us I shot the first one and the last one One of the ones 1 shot looked very young like 17 He walked right up to me 1 looked at him and knew thai if 1 didn't shoot him he would shoot me I was lying down on the ground and he didn't see me until he was right on top of me I shot first They were all the place I saw at least 15 dead in front of our position Lopez kept continual radio contact with his outfit the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion and directed air and strikes Four of his team members were killed and the others were so y wounded that reported he could only that they were breathing the darkness oi s said kept calling for the artillery to drop it closer drop it closer A Marine captain who talked to Lopez most of the time by radio vaid Tne kid was fantastic Back here we were actually scared to drop them closer He once mentioned that he had bewi hit lie kepi I'm all right A helicopter making a cue attempt took fire Two crew members were wounded and the pilot was killed Another helicopter was shot up in another rescue at- tempt Helicopter fired at the the darkness between artillery barrages With dawn jet fighters were called in Contact was broken and a helicopter picked up the survivors Lopez Check my camera 1 look some good flicks out there and 1 want to get them developed He is in satisfactory tion at a Da Nang Navy pital A RESPONSIBLE METROPOLITAN NEWSPAPER YEAR NO 130 ES WEDNESDAY MAY 10 1967 DAILY A MONTH Richmond s A ii i B f- He's Been Framed A smashed window framing a doleful ball player tells the story here Paul Vadakin 8 of Buffalo had to admit to his dad policeman Tom Vadakin that he hit the ball that did the the Vadakin home Paul's booming drive sailed over the head of xi Burglars Loot Home of Man Slain in Tavern Robbery Thieves broke into the home of murder victim John Gilbert last night and stole a sion set and all his clothing Gilbert 75 was shot to death yesterday by one of two bandits who staged a robbery at Frank's Oasis a bar at 6500 E Mth SI Police have arrested Percy Jones 35 of 1788 E 21st Si in connection with the slaying He is held for investigation of murder Insp Richard Armando said Jones car has been ed in the crime Gilbert a retired General Motors plant worker lived alone with his pet miniature poodle Skipper at 1730 Avc Gilbert's son Oakland man George Gilbert of 7626 Valentine St told police he had been at his father's home until about 7 p.m yesterday and had removed some MVC power tools and other goods that might attract City Wants More Subway Escalators The City of Oakland Mill fears there won't be enough escalators in downtown sub- way stations A B Ordway chairman of the Mayor's Rapid Transit Advisory Committee told Hay Area Rapid Transit HART officials yesterday the city wants more escalators at the and street stations beneath Broadway lie loir Ihc ing Committee there should be more escalators at the entrances BART each station have a total of 1.1 tors serving all three levels This includes escalators from the street to mezzanine level ami from the mezzanine to the two train levels according to James Browne BART com- munity relations officer BART intends to install four escalators at each station and to leave room for three more Street and two more at SI i eel Browne said Monday Ordway was assured that at no time would all of the lators between the street and Continued Page I Col 6 glars He said he left the lights on in the house But a neighbor noticed a door ajar at the slain man's home this morning and called Gilbert The son said the looters took every garment they could find and he will have to buy a suit in which to bury his father The younger Gilbert took Skipper his father's pet dog who had been with his master in the tavern but became frightened by the shooting and fled home his leash trailing A neighbor Mrs John chi of 1003 Ave had cared for Skipper until the son could come for him Gilbert and the police were completing an inventory of the slain man's home today to Continued Page -I Col 2 small world Reading's Plea for U.S Bombers Mayor Voted city Role Hit Another Out of Off ice ETHICS DiRATE Pay Park Bonds Lose By CURT SUTLIFF RICHMOND Mayor ton Spinner and incumbent councilman Bernard Evans running as a team were soundly defeated in day's city council runoff Incumbent Stanley Grydyk was overwhelmingly returned to office polling votes the first candidate in mond history to reach the vote mark A record turnout of voters also overwhelmingly killed a bid by firemen to get a ter amendment passed giving them equal pay with men and rejected park and recreation bonds and a museum bond issue Grydyk an accountant and attorney was given his ond six-year term on cil He also was the highest finisher in the April primary with a record field of 20 dates Insurance and real estate man Donald Wagerman with nine years experience on the City Planning Commission finished second in yesterday's general election with followed by Nathaniel Nat Bates with They will their seats on the nine member council on May 22 Businessman C J Red Doherty finished fourth with votes followed by in- cumbent Mayor Milton M Spinner with votes and incumbent councilman nard Evans with votes The previous individual high vole record was held by John Sheridan who captured votes in 1957 But votes represents a bigger number and a higher percentage of Continued Page 4 Col 3 Russian U.S Destroyers Scrape at Sea Compiled from AP and UPI WASHINGTON -A destroyer scraped against a U.S destroyer in the Sea of J a p a n today when it too close to vering vessels despite ed warnings A Defense Department an- said there were no injuries and only minor damage to both ships The U.S destroyer was the USS Walker The Soviet ship was identified as the of the Kotlin class From flic Pentagon ment it appeared that the viet ship was the Walker The Soviet warship was ob- serving a task force con- Continued 3 Col 3 STANLEY GRYDYK DONALD WAGERMAN NATHANIEL BATES Sunshine And Showers There'll be a rainbow round your shoulder tomorrow cording to the song today He predicts it will be sunny with a 10 per cent chance of showers Tonight may bo wetter with a -10 per cent chance of chilly rain tures ranging from -10 to degrees Tomorrow's h i g h s will from 551063 In the mountains there will be occasional snow tonight and tomorrow will be partly cloudy with snow flurries in the high ranges tures will be lower and the snow level will drop to feet By JIM WOOD Mayor John H Reading day attacked divisive and disruptive federal anti- poverty agencies and called for reforms to bring them into harmony with City Hall In testimony prepared for the U.S Senate Subcommittee on Employment Manpower and Poverty the mayor said Oakland will insist that al agencies refrain from passing local government He also toid the San cisco hearing that the poverty program by its heavy sis on representation of the poor may be fostering mony rather than bringing groups together There is no city agency 10 serve the rich or to sent he said But by government policy we now have a commission of the poor and they in turn have set up specific racial grams for example the Spanish-speaking target area committee Charges have been made that we used to have a white power structure made up of the wealthy elite but that does not justify setting up a whole new government for example of poor Negroes What we need is closer co operation of all social eco- nomic cultural and racial ments of the Reading said Reading praised the tive director of Oakland's erty program Dr Norvel Smith and applauded the forts of the Oakland Economic Development chairman Judge Lionel son But he was firm in his criticism of f d e r a 1 policy which would make the body independent of the city He said the by its makeup is not equipped to work with employers Only three of 39 delegates are ness people with the sary contact and he said Reading said that less federal agencies had in- on working through the on this summer's con- employment p r o- gram Reading said that hood organizations sponsored by the poverty war many times have been used by dents to launch irresponsible charges and to sow tent He said that actual Page 4 Col 2 MIG Base Compiled from AP and DPI SAIGON U.S Navy jets today returned to the key north Vietnam Port of Haiphong and bombed two power plants within the city limits and Kien An the huge MIG interceptor base on the outskirts men said The bombers attacked fire that knocked down a American plane lost over North Vietnam Its pilot was listed as ing in action In the ground war U S Marines killed 31 Communists during a six-hour battle just below the demilitarized zone DMZ yesterday erneck were given as 24 killed and 19 wounded U.S jets earlier had hit only big power plants in Haiphong before But the strike at Kien An's long weather jet strip was the first U.S jest earlier had hit only two MIG bases near Hanoi Hoa Lac which is now ed knocked out of action The battle in the northwest corner of South Vietnam developed when a Communist force of unknown strength opened up with per and automatic weapons fire on part of the 3rd Marine Regiment nine miles west of Khe Sanh Fighting continued for five hours The North Vietnamese broke contact earlier last night after the Marines called in reinforcements and air port A Marine patrol reported cating 203 North Vietnamese bodies in fresh graves near yesterday's battle site They had been killed in 12 days of mountain fighting the battle of Khe Sanh ended last week when the Marines drove the North Vietnamese from the last of three gic hills in the area close to the Laotian border and just below the demilitarized zone Farther south in the 1st Corps area of South Vietnam a task force of or more Marines continued a ward sweep flushing out North Vietnamese infiltrators miles below the der The U.S Command said 346 Reds have been killed since the operation was launched April 21 while rine casualties have been 52 killed and 232 wounded through heavy anti-aircraft U.S Navy A4 Skyhawk the Lightning Kills Girl Near Shrine Portugal UPI Lightning struck and killed a girl last night be- hind the Shrine of Fatima where Pope Paul VI will ship on his brief trip here Some farmers said the dent was a bad omen for the papal trip Paul's fourth trip abroad since he became tiff in 1963 The child Luzia Dos Reis Lopes was killed instantly when she was struck at a spot not far from where Lucia Dos Santos said she saw the Virgin Mary in an apparition 50 years ago Saturday Dissidence Haunting Mao Purge By RAYMOND LAWRENCE Foreign News Analyst Mao battle to purge his enemies is cal and worsening in at least four provinces ing to the Chinese Communist Party own ers In Szechwan province dreds of thousands of ants fought Maoists and more than persons were re- ported by Japanese killed or wounded within four weeks The situation in the Continued Page 3 Col 1 Guard Wins OK From Generals By FRED S HOFFMAN WASHINGTON AP A committee of generals has cretly voted 11 to 10 for a con- plan to drop 15 tional Guard divisions and four reserve brigades it was learned today The National Guard sions expected to be ed include the Infantry and the Armored both of California Narrow as it was the vote Is regarded as a boost for the plan which is believed to have the general blessing of Secretary of Defense Robert S McNamara The proposal latest step in a year-long Pentagon drive to streamline the reserve forces is expected to en- counter stiff opposition from powerful members of Con- gress The Reserve Forces Policy Committee ed last week The Regular Army the Guard and the Re- serves have seven tives each on the panel Pentagon officials have classified details of the plan on which the generals voted as secret The Army said de- tails include information on force structure manning and equipment levels and and contingency ning which could assist a enemy It is known that the effect of the reorganization posal would be to place tually all the combat units of the Army backup forces in the National Guard and service support outfits in the Reserve The cutting edge of the Guard would he reduced to eight divisions and pendent brigades a total of Continued Page 3 Col 4
