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• Editorials
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Guest Editorial
Is Work A Right
Or An Obligation
Hotard’s Holler
By John Hotard
“Hur-ry! Hurry! Step right
up, folks! Don’t be the last kid
in your parking lot to get this
week’s revised edition of last
week’s edition of ‘WHERE THE
HECK AM I GOING?’, which
has the latest map showing
where to go on campus and how
to get there in 25 blocks or less.”
Any day now I expect to hear
a barker in the parking lot yel
ling just such phrases. The peo
ple who laid out this campus
should have, in my opinion, re
ceived at least an honorable
mention in the Seven Wonders of
the World contest. The last time
I saw a maze of this sort was
in the sixth grade. Our class
had an ant farm, but even the
ants didn’t have one-way tunnels
and street signs which read “Do
not enter — do not turn left
or right —• no U turn.”
There are several ways you
can beat the driving problem on
campus.
One way is to walk. But then
you are surrendering to the pow
ers at large, and that is what
they want you to do.
Another way is try to fool the
KK’s. Say, for instance, you’re
in your car on Military Walk
in front of Guoin Hall. You want
to go to Sbisa Hall, which is two
blocks behind you. Legally you
can do one of two things: turn
left and go by way of the Sys
tems Building, or turn right and
go by way of Kyle Field. Or
else you can back up.
I did this once. I would have
gotten away with it, but I had
to stop and explain to this KK
why my tail light was punched,
through his headlight.
One of the big headaches of
driving on campus is the con
tinual construction work being
carried on. As soon as I learn
the shortest route from one place
to another, some nut comes along
and builds a fence across the
road. Have you ever walked back
to your car from class and found
it surrounded by a eight-foot
fence? You might as well forget
it, for that fence isn’t moving.
You’ll have to wait until the
construction job is finished and
they tear down the fence. Then
you go pay the 5,978 parking
tickets for parking in a con
struction zone. I know one Ag
gie who parked his car in front
of the library a few months ago.
He’s trying to sell it.
Stop signs can be run at a
risk; fences, no. If you run
through a fence—say the one be
hind the library — you will eith
er hit the crane which will top
ple over on top of you, or else
sail out into the wild blue yonder
and come to rest in the bottom of
the library’s newly-formed swim
ming pool.
Another problem arises when
some stranger on campus stops
you in front of the Trigon and
ask the way to the Academic
Building. First you point out the
Academic building. Now try to
tell him how to get there in his
car. I would recommend the senic
route if he is not in a big hurry.
That’s the one which runs in
front of the President’s mansion.
Since I’m on the subject of
driving on campus, I might as
well throw in a few remarks
about the parking problems.
Last semester I parked in the
A&M Press lot. It's a good lot—
asphalt and everything. The only
bad thing was trying to get to
the Chemistry Building in a di
rect manner. This meant cross
ing about 35 feet of mud caused
by construction work. On some
mornings I could walk across
without getting dirty. On rainy
mornings, someone was nice
enough to put ONE thin board
across the mud. One thin board
didn’t cut it. It sagged in the
middle, just far enough down so
that your feet sunk in the mud
and water went in your shoes.
This semester I park behind
Guion Hall, which is also a good
lot. But like any good lot, it
doesn’t last long and soon it’s
full. Then I have to park in
the mud pit behind it. &%$*%$*.
However, funds were recently
allocated for a paved lot east
of Kyle Field, to be known
henceforth as the “Wellborn lot.”
To build this lot, they are raising
the price of parking permits.
This means that next year I get
to pay more to park farther
away from campus. I haven’t
quite figured that one out yet.
Things are looking up on cam
pus, though. The latest rumor
has it that the driving and park
ing problems will be taken care
of just as soon as the library
annex is completed.
Cbe Battalion
Page 2
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, April 27, 1966
# Opinion*
• Cartoons
• Features
Aggie Related Tales Of Viet Nam
The right to work is one thing. The obligation to work is
another. Man was not put here to take it easy, nor was he put
here to have someone else provide for him. Initiative, productive
ness, ability, and willingness have long been reliable yardsticks
by which we have measured human endeavor — and rewarded it.
No other standard was needed in a moving, virile, progressive society.
But this foundation stone for greatness as a people and as a nation
seems to be “passing by the boards,” so to speak.
A friend of ours operates a service station, or did, until a couple
of weeks ago. And although he paid good wages, he could not get
any help who were willing to work half as hard as he did. In a
comparatively short period of time, he lost 38 pounds, and his doctor
advised him to give it up.
He believed the public was entitled to service and he gave
service when a customer drove into his place of business. He ex
pected his employes to react accordingly, although he was a rea
sonable man who knew human frailities as well as anybody. But
he said that they felt imposed upon if he told them to clean a wind
shield or check the tires or water. And the tragic thing about it
all was that most of them just did not care.
One man told him he didn’t mind being dismissed, that he’d
had “plenty of jobs, and could always get another one when he
wanted to.” And he added that he’d get his unemployment check
anyway, and “that was enough for bread and beans!”
All over this country there are jobs to be filled — jobs crying
for men and women to tackle them and do them. There is no shortage
of jobs, but there is a definite paucity of willing hands and hearts
that are not afraid to work for their pay.
Service stations need men, banks need men, newspapers are
crying for reporters who can turn in a creditable job. In almost
every walk of life, qualified men are in demand. And while many
of the jobs require specialized training, many of them merely re
quire a willingness to learn — an attitude — a desire to earn a living
instead of having an overly benevolent government “guarantee”
it!—FRED POOL.
“I consider it a challenge, a
privilege and an honor to be
called to serve my country in this
way.”
Thus, Don W. Harris, Class of
’62, summed up a year spent in
South Viet Nam. A, native of Col
lege Station, he served as an ad
visor to a Vietnamese unit from
April 6, 1965, until March 31,
1966.
He is married and will take his
wife Jan and son David, with him
to his next assignment: The
Advanced Artillery School at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Youth Helped
By Draft At 18
Parents shouldn’t panic when
their 18-year-old son gets his
draft call, says an outstanding
counselor and educator. As long
as he’s going to be drafted any
way, he says, 18 is the best pos
sible age.
This is the advice of Dr. David
Goodman in his forthcoming
guidebook for parents, “What’s
Best for Your Child — and You”
(Association Press; $3.95; April
25). In addition to his draft-call
advice, Dr. Goodman shows how
to meet many other common fam
ily problems that may cause
anxiety or tension. He speaks as
a professional family life coun
selor for more than a decade, a
former principal of one of New
York’s best known private high
schools, and as a widely read
writer and speaker who receives
thousands of letters and queries
yearly from troubled parents.
When that draft call comes, Dr.
Goodman writes, “eighteen is a
good age for entering military
service. The body then is full of
energy, and the imagination is
keen for adventure, adventure
that is otherwise almost impos
sible to experience in our much
too ordered society. Young males
like to feel their oats. They de
rive a tremendous satisfaction
from the sheer sense of body
power. Youth lives in its body.
Youth enjoys the physical activi
ty that goes with military train
ing. Furthermore, a young fel
low needs and enjoys the satis
faction of having measured up to
the demands of army life. When
he gets through his sixteen weeks
of basic training, he feels good
because now he knows he can
take it. That’s a very fine feel
ing. It will hold him in good
stead when he faces up to the
requirements of his later life.
“After high school, many a
young fellow has had his fill of
schooling. He is weary of the
world of books. If he goes on
to college, the life there frequent
ly bores him. Boredom is the
lot of more college freshmen than
outsiders will ever believe. Yet
these same boys, though not now
really interested in education,
would return to it with new zest
and vigor after a two-year stretch
in the Army.
“Entering service after college
—or, worse still, after profession
al school—is not so pleasant a
prospect. The 22- or 24-year-old
young man does not have the
same physical zest as the eigh
teen-year-old, nor the same spir
itual exuberance. He faces Army
life as a necessary duty, not as
an exciting or interesting adven
ture. He’ll go through with it
and do his part, but he won’t en
joy it. What he wants most is to
go on with his career, to get mar
ried, to settle down.
“So don’t try to hold back your
high school graduate son from
meeting his draft call, perhaps in
the dim hope that later the Army
may not need him at all. Army
service is good for your boy, and
18 is the age when he is best
ready to meet it. When he comes
out, he’ll appreciate even more
the advantages you have to give
him.”
THE BATTALION
Opinions expressed in The Battalion ~ S
(lt"C tnOSC of the student Winters only. The otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous
Battalion is a non tax-supported non- p he^n ed .re e Tuo £ i ££d of ~’ ub,i ~ tiOB of “ n oth "
profit, self-supporting educational enter- Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texaa.
prise edited and operated by students as News contributions may be made by telephoning 846-6518
a university and community newspaper. Forid^rtJn/or^ 4 ' YMCA Bundin *
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Joe Buser • _ .. . ,
chairman; Dr. David Bowers, College of Liberal Arts; Dr. ““Vka ^ 1 n
Robert A. Clark, College of Geosciences; Dr. Frank A. Me- til' 60 Advertising rate YuriilhlT on renllit Addrvi?-
Donald, College of Science; Dr. J. G. McGuire, College of ^rR^alion d R^ 4 *YMrA mfudi!^
Engineering: Dr. Robert S. Titus, College of Veterinary The Battalion, Room 4, YMCA Building, College Station. Texas.
Medicine; and Dr. A. B. Wooten, College of Agriculture. ^
EDITOR GLENN DROMGOOLE
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M Is Managing Editor - - Tommy DeFrank
CairJi Associate Editor tarry Jerden
May, and once a week during summer school. Sports Editor Gerald Garcia
News Editor Dani Presswood
. , „ MEMBER ... Amusements Editor Lani Presswood
The Associated Press, Texas Press Association staff Writers Robert Solovey, Mike Berry
Represented nationally by National Advertiaing Service, Sports Writer Larry Upshaw
Inc.. New York City. Chicago, Loe Angeles and San Francisco. Photographer Herky KlllmgSWOrth
Lt. Harris was presented the
South Vietnamese Medal of Hon
or First Class “for his support,
aid, and help given to the South
Vietnamese in the province in
which he served,” the first man in
his area to receive this award.
A cadet in “A” Athletics while
at A&M, he started working in
the circulation department of The
Battalion while attending A&M
Consolidated and was circulation
manager his last two years in
Aggieland. The following is his
story as told to Battalion Asso
ciate Editor Larry Jerden.
After volunteering for Viet
Nam, I was sent to the Army
Special Warfare School at Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, for a six-
weeks session in the tactics and
techniques of the Communist
guerrillas, then to language
school for a three-month short
course in the Vietnamese lan
guage.
From there, I went to Saigon,
then to Sector Advisory Team
Number 84, located at Cao Lanh,
in Kien Phony Province, about 75
miles Southwest of Saigon.
This was one of the greatest
challenges of my career — to
advise a group of patriotic people
fighting Communism, who want
ed to be helped. A group of peo
ple has asked this country to help
them, and we are helping. This
is our first challenge against
Communism, to show all nations
that we can protect anyone who
asks our help.
When I wasn’t in combat, it
didn’t look like a country at war.
The only indications of war were
the fortified areas and the large
number of guards around them.
Only when we were harassed by
the VC, either by sniper or mor
tar fire, did the true realism of
war and death occur to me.
I WAS a district advisor to a
Vietnamese District Chief, the
lowest level of advisor in Viet
Nam. We had a five-man team
in the small My An District. The
camp we advised had the mission
of guarding the intersection of
two canals, as the Mekong Delta
region is primarily agricultural.
We were in a completely isolat
ed area. There were no secure
roads to travel, so the only way
in and out was by chopper. Our
area of control was completely
encircled by VC territory.
Beyond our area of control was
a sort of no-man’s land, which we
controlled during the daytime and
Charlie (VC) controlled at night.
Outside this area, the VC had full
reign.
About 10 per cent of my work
was strictly military, mostly deal
ing with operations against the
VC, while the rest was advising
in economic and educational mat
ters.
We went on patrol about once
a week. Sometimes they were
“walks in the sun,” sometimes
we made light contact, and a
couple of times we were caught
in ambushes. These didn’t result
in any deaths on our side, but a
couple of fellows got wounded.
Our casualties ran about one man
injured a week, with a man get
ting killed now and then.
ONE NIGHT, shortly after I
arrived, we were returning from
a night ambush we had set for
Charlie. There were 10 in our
group: eight Vietnamese, an
American sergeant and myself.
Instead of setting a trap for
Charlie, however, he set one for
us. As we moved out of our
positions to return home, about
10 a.m., we were attacked by a
VC platoon of about 35 men. They
hit us with small-weapons fire
and landed a few mortar rounds
about 50-75 meters around us.
We were returning by an alter
nate route, which was fortunate,
because Charlie’s main ambush
was on our previous trail.
As soon as the firing started,
the Vietnamese troops formed a
protective ring around me and I
manned the radio to call District
Headquarters, and within five
minutes we had rounds falling on
target. I knew how to adjust fire
from artillery school, and when
the first rounds landed, the VC
pulled out. They are deathly
afraid of artillery. It can kill!
THE MAJOR concern of the
farmer is not the government in
Saigon, though he does know that
is the seat of government. His
day-to-day thoughts are more
concerned with the District Chief,
and what that chief can do for
him. ‘Can he protect me from
the VC? Protect my crop? Can
he get me what I need?’
These people do know what
Communism is, and they want no
part of it, otherwise, they would
not fight it the way they do. The
District Chief is a military man,
appointed by Saigon, but that
didn’t bother the citizens of my
district. Our chief was a man of
extraordinary capabilities who
did everything in his power for
the people.
As advisors to him, our specific
job was to parallel his requests
to our counterpart up the line,
making sure he got whatever he
needed.
This is a war of the mind, of
psychology, not of military might.
It is a war for the hearts and
minds of the people of Viet Nam.
Only by winning them will the
war ever be won. The VC have
many beautiful lies with which
to lure them. These lies look
tremendous on paper, but the
Vietnamese are beginning to
learn. They have learned that
the Communist promises of
“everything soon” never mater
ialize.
THE GOVERNMENT, on the
other hand, is producing. The
VC fight this with more lies, tell
ing the farmers that if they side
with the government, or go to
government-controlled areas, they
will be killed, tortured or beaten.
But we have proven that when
the people know the truth, when
they truly have a choice, 90 per
cent will choose the government.
I personally think Vice-Air Mar
shall Ky is the best man Viet
Nam has ever had.
If we can educate the people,
RETELLING “TIGER” STORIES
Harris gives Larry Jerden an insight into the problems
and experiences he encountered “over there.”
we can win them. The VC tell
villagers that have never seen
Americans that when Americans
come, they will kill them, rape
their women and stick them with
needles filled with poison. But
when the Americans do come,
they learn this is not the case.
The medics are doing more
good in winning this war than
anyone else. The Vietnamese
look on them as little gods. They
have saved a lot of lives.
We have completely pacified a
considerable area in the Delta,
and are progressively improving,
defeating the psychological war
effort of the Viet Cong. The
Vietnamese are coming out of
VC-controlled areas by the hun
dreds, in spite of the propaganda
put out by the Communists.
When they come, the govern
ment gives them land, rice and
supplies to get started in a new
life, free from VC terror. The
government gives them what the
VC promise, but never deliver.
VC defectors are coming over at
an increasing rate. They have
seen the Communists never pro
duce on their promises, and have
come to the government side un
der the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms)
policy.
ANY TIME a Viet Cong wishes
to give up, he can walk into a
government camp, with his wea
pon, and surrender. He will go
through a “reorientation” course,
but definitely will not be beaten,
roughed up or hurt. Afterwards
he can go his way to farm or
whatever he wishes. A few of
these defectors have formed
Chieu Hoi Companies in the
Army and have proven them
selves excellent fighters against
the VC.
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Morale of the
gional Forces is
Vietnamese Re-
high, especially
considering this war has beer
going on since most of the younj
men were children. Morale of th
advisors is also high, and there
are extensions beyond the one-
year tour, especially among the
single men.
The advisor’s job is often frus
trating. The keys to being a
good advisor are patience ani
tolerance. Learn these and you
you can go a long way. What
you have to remember is that you
are occidental, they are oriental
Use your occidental ways ani
ideas only to complement their
oriental ones, not replace them,
YOU NEVER know who your
enemy is in the Delta. The mai
you are talking to at the moment
may fight for the VC when the
sun goes down. In the Delta
there are people who are a mix
ture of Cambodian, Laotian-Viet-
namese, but they are all Vietna
mese in nationality. There are
no North Vietnamese fighting
there.
In the well-protected areas
everyone pretty well knows
everyone else, and if they see
someone who doesn’t look quite
right, well, they handle the situ
ation. Their security and police
force improve daily.
The last six months I was a
senior advisor at a Regional
Forces training center where we
taught these volunteer forces
tactics to employ against the VC
THE VC will only fight when
they know they have the advant
age. The majority of our casual
ties were from booby traps, hut
the Vietnamese were very good at
spotting these, and would do
everything possible to protect
their American advisors.
The Vietnamese respected the
advisors for the job they could
do, but the first thing you had to
prove to them was that you were
a soldier. Most of the captains
and above in their army fought ,
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AGGIE IN VIET NAM
Lt. Don Harris pauses in the rewarding- task children in his district during his year tour
of giving school supplies to Vietnamese of duty as an advisor to the Regional Forces.
either for or against the French,
and have been fighting this kind
of war for years. You have to
prove your worth, then they will
listen to your advice.
I think any man that wishes a
military career is making a bad
mistake if he doesn’t get the ex
perience of Viet Nam. This is
the kind of war against Commun
ism we will be fighting for years
to come. We are learning over
there, and I think that now I can
go anywhere and do a lot better
job.
I also think the advisors know
why we are there better than any
other group in Viet Nam because
they work with the people. They
understand their position and the
job to be done. Fighting is only
a small part of it.
This war will not be won over
night, because it is a war to win
peev’e, and that takes time. Pres
ident Johnson has said it could
last many years, and it well
might.
Winning people takes a long
time and our advisors are doing
a lot to win them.
PEANUTS
By Charles M. Sehrii
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