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College Station, Texas
Thursday, September 23, 1971
Friday — Cloudy to partly
cloudy. North* rly winds 5-10
mph. High 73, low 64.
Saturday — Partly cloudy.
Easterly winds 10-15 mph. High
77, low 61.
Saturday — Lincoln, Nebraska,
kickoff time—Partly cloudy to
cloudy. Northerly winds 10-12
mph. 66°. 40% relative humidity.
845-2226
Medina is acquitted
of My Lai charges
ft. McPherson, Ga. up>—
j Capt. Ernest Medina, the career
officer who commanded U. S.
troops at My Lai in 1968, was
acquitted Wednesday of all
charges arising from the opera
tion.
The jury of five Vietnam vet
eran officers deliberated for
about an hour before acquitting
the captain of murder, involun
tary manslaughter and assault.
The verdict was read by the
jury president, Col. William D.
Proctor of Atlanta, as Medina
stood at stiff attention before
AT I the jury wtih his lawyers.
J| I “It is my duty as president of
"this court to advise you that the
court in closed session and upon
secret written ballot, has found
you not guilty of all specifica
tions and charges,” Proctor said.
Medina, 35, a slight smile on
his face, snapped a smart salute
fij/lto the jury, made an about-face,
JJ land resumed his seat at the de-
£“5 ifense table.
At the reading of the verdict,
there were several loud gasps
among the spectators.
Medina’s attractive blonde wife,
dressed in a bright orange dress,
I burst into tears and rested her
head on the shoulder of a man
- M sitting beside her. She raised her
hands to her face and wiped at
the tears.
Col. Kenneth Howard, the mili
tary judge, in an attempt to
restore quiet to the courtroom
[looked toward the spectators and
said, “There will be no outbursts
I in this courtroom.”
!£S!
M
^1
Medina sat without expression
as Howard dismissed the jury
and the spectators filed out of
the cramped, paneled courtroom
where the trial has been in
progress since last month.
When the courtroom was empty,
Medina walked into an adjoining
room, and drank a glass of water,
and with his wife beside him then
moved outside into the bright sun
shine to face a throng of news
men.
The captain, speaking into a
battery of microphones, said, “I
am extremely happy—I just don’t
know what other words can ex
press my feelings at this point.”
The trim Mexican-American
officer’s voice shook as he talked
to the reporters and was asked
whether he thought at any time
he would be convicted.
Taking a deep breath, and then
exhaling, Medina sid:
“No, I never had the actual
feeling that I would be convicted.
I never felt that.
“Men, three years is a long
time—I’m glad it is over,” Me
dina said, referring to the inter
val between the My Lai massacre
and his trial at this grassy, tree-
shaded Army post.
Medina was accused of pre-
meditatedly murdering a woman
by shooting her . as she lay
wounded in a rice paddy outside
My Lai. He also was accused of
involuntary manslaughter in the
death of 100 civilians during the
operation, and was charged with
assauting a Viet Cong suspect by
twice firing a rifle over his head.
After the verdict Medina’s wife
was asked to describe her feel
ings, and she replied, “My hus
band has said it all.”
Medina told newsmen that he
had previously indicated that he
would resign from the Army,
whatever the outcome of the trial
—and he said he would request
an immediate discharge.
Medina’s lawyer, F. Lee Bailey,
then stepped forward.
Bailey, asked if he ever ex
pected conviction said:
“I had some concern about
the assault charge, because they
seemed to be hammering away at
that one. But as to the other
charges, no deep concern.”
“There wasn’t much evidence
against Capt. Medina,” Bailey
said. “In the Galley case, you
couldn’t escape the evidence—
that he had murdered children
and, in my opinion, that’s why
they got him.”
“I’ve never got an acquittal for
a nicer guy,” grinned Bailey.
Medina was the fourth soldier
acquitted of charges arising from
the My Lai operation and was
one of six court-martialed.
Acquitted earlier were Sgt.
Charles Hutto, Sgt. David Mit
chell and Capt. Eugene Kotouc.
Only one soldier, Lt. William
L. Galley Jr., who served under
Medina as a platoon leader at
My Lai, has been convicted of
wrongdoing in the operation.
Galley was convicted earlier this
year of murdering at least 22
civilians and a reviewing author
ity recently cut his life sentence
to 20 years imprisonment.
Medina’s acquittal leaves only
one case undedided—that of Col.
Oran Henderson, who is being
court-martialed at Ft. Meade,
Md., on charges of covering up
the massacre.
Twenty-five men were charged
initially with either wrongdoing
in the operation, or attempting
to cover it up.
In his closing arguments, Maj.
William Eckhardt, the prosecu
tor, charged that Medina was
guilty of criminal negligence at
My Lai because he knew his men
were murdering civilians, but
chose not to restrain them.
Bailey described My Lai as a
“tragedy of connected errors.”
He told the jurors that if they
convicted Medina of homicide, “I
suggest you put every soldier
with a lawyer at his side to ad-
Please see page 5
PARTICIPANTS in the “action” at the first Lincoln Union debate Wednesday night in
cluded, from left, Russ Usnick, Shannon McKinney, Mike Murphy and Emil Pela. (Photo
by Joe Matthews)
Bonfire causes heated oratory
at Lincoln Union debate series
Bombers keep pressure
up on North Viet troops
i
SAIGON (JP)—American bomb
ers and warships pounded the
southern half of the demilitarized
zone Wednesday keeping up pres
sure on North Vietnamese troops
and supplies.
Thailand-based B52 bombers
and smaller tactical bombers
joined planes from a U. S. carrier
in the Tonkin Gulf in striking at
rocket sites and storage depots
in the DMZ and targets along
the Ho Chi Minh supply trail in
Laos.
The U. S. Command said it
| still had no assessment of the
damage inflicted by 200 bombing
strikes Tuesday that ranged 35
miles above the DMZ.
Hanoi called the air strikes a
“serious menace” to the peace
talks carried on weekly in Paris.
The North Vietnamese and Viet
Cong delegations in Paris, as a
way of protesting the attacks,
called off Thursday’s scheduled
session of the talks.
A communique issued by the
U. S. Command said the number
of antiaircraft guns within the
35-mile area north of the DMZ
had increased almost 40 per cent
during the past li/z months.
A threat of increased enemy
sapper attacks appeared to be
developing around Saigon.
About 30 sappers slipped into
the base at Quang Loi, 62 miles
north of Saigon, and hurled
satchel charges into the installa
tion manned by 300 South Viet
namese troops.
Official reports said two sol
diers and two dependents were
killed and one soldier and one
dependent were wounded. One
U. S. adviser was wounded.
Enemy losses were unknown.
The raid was the second in as
many days in the region, guard
ing the north and west ap
proaches to Saigon.
South Vietnamese field com
manders, with strong urging
from U. S. advisers, have stream
lined their intelligence system
and are launching secret opera
tions in an attempt to counter
the sapper campaign.
By BILL GOULD
Staff Writer
Wednesday night’s rain may
have discouraged some people
from attending the first Lincoln
Union debate, but it failed to
dampen the enthusiasm of the
participants or the audience.
Using a style of debate first
introduced at Cambridge Univer
sity in England, the club’s first
topic was the Aggie bonfire issue.
Supporting the bonfire in its
present form were Russ Usnick,
member of the English faculty;
Gary Reger, junior marketing ma
jor and president of the club; and
Harry Schroeder, sophomore
chemistry major.
Presenting the argument
against the bonfire were Mike
Murphy, member of the landscape
architecture faculty; Shannon Mc
Kinney, junior history major; and
Emil Pela, senior marketing ma
jor.
The debaters used an entertain
ing, though inconclusive, mixture
of invective, humor, insult and oc
casional argument while “discuss
ing” the relative merits and
shortcomings of the bonfire.
“There is a conflict of purpose
between the destructive effects of
the bonfire and the constructive
goals of this university,” Murphy
maintained.
“Regardless of its symbolic
purpose, the burning of the bon
fire says to the rest of the world
that Texas A&M is living in the
past, as if our resources were
without end,” he added.
While iSchroeder pointed to the
bonfire as the “focus of an Ag
gie’s pride in his school and a
symbol of unity,” Miss McKinney
insisted that the tradition was “a
negative symbol, bringing about
unity that only lasts about half
an hour.”
Usnick, who admitted that he
had never seen the bonfire, main
tained that “no real ecological
harm was done if the trees used
are taken from land to be cleared
anyway.” He added that the bon
fire could become a divisive issue
within the university community
if something were not done to re
solve the situation in the near fu
ture.
Pela, as the last speaker, found
his opposition’s presentation to be
“largely an apology rather than
a justification for the bonfire.
In suggesting alternate projects
to the bonfire in its present form,
Pela argued that Aggies could
derive more spirit, pride and uni
ty from constructive activities
than from the burning of one of
our most important and valuable
resources.”
Ed Cooper, problem solver,
students’ voice to Williams
CANADIAN HONKERS MAKE USE of the pedestrian
right-of-way in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. From the looks
of campus drivers this year, a crossing like that wouldn’t
be quite as easy here. Motorists and cyclists seem to think
anything on foot is fair game. (AP Wirephoto)
By LARRY MARSHALL
Staff Writer
Sifting through the load of stu
dent problems and solving as
many as he can is the task of
Edwin H. Cooper, assistant to
A&M President Jack K. Williams.
Cooper has become known as
the man to see when you have a
problem. His job is to intercept
and digest all problems concern
ing students and report to Presi
dent Williams. He is a straight
forward man who devotes full
time to this and likes it.
“I enjoy this job because of the
different special activities, I usu
ally don’t know what I’ll be doing
the next day,” said Cooper.
Campus student leaders and
students themselves come to him
with their ideas.
“I have had close contact with
the students since I’ve been at
A&M,” said Cooper, and “I think
it keeps me young.” He thinks
this communication is the way
to solve problems, and it works.
Serious matters receive immedi
ate attention.
“If it’s urgent I can open his
(Dr. Williams’) door and walk
right in,” Cooper noted. “It’s a
way of having an open door pol
icy.”
Cooper is an Aggie of long
standing, and he enjoys working
here with the students.
“We have the best student body
in the United States here,” he
said, “and there are not many
people who get a chance to work
with a group like this. I look
for opportunities to be with the
students and visit informally.”
Cooper works with the Presi
dent’s Advisory Council, which is
proving to be a major communi
cations link between the student
body and the administration. This
: council is made up of the main
I student leaders on campus and it
meets once a month. This is a
.! chance for the leaders to pass
' on their ideas directly to Presi-
’ dent Williams, and to sound him
I out on them.
“This is a unique program on
Banking is a pleasure at First
Bank & Trust.
a university campus at this day
and time, whereby students have
a periodic opportunity to sit down
and pick the president’s brain,”
commented Cooper.
Another major development has
been the addition of student rep
resentatives on many of the 44
standing committees of the uni
versity. The Student Senate
played a major role in this proj
ect.
Recently with the problem of
rent increases on the university
owned apartments, Cooper
worked with the presidents of the
Student Senate and Graduate
Student Council and the chair
man of the Apartment Council to
affect a workable solution.
He is aware of the administra
tion’s side of the coin and ex
plained the reasons for the in
creases. Rising costs, addition of
maintenance men, and the bond
indebtedness of the university are
some of these. Out of the meet
ings grew a plan to establish an
‘interest free’ student loan fund
to help the residents meet the
additional costs. This program is
now in operation.
Other situations in which he
has been involved include cam
pus housing. He has worked to
solve the overcrowding of some
dormitories in the Corps area by
discussing it with the Comman
dant and Cadet Colonel.
Parking problems have been an
issue on campus lately.
“A&M is a pedestrian campus,”
he said, “and I see fewer and
fewer cars on the mid campus
with time.” The trend will be to
perimeter parking lots, which has
already begun.”
Cooper is a Texas A&M grad
uate of the Class of 1953. He
began working at A&M with the
Agricultural Extension Service
and has risen through the ranks.
He has served as assistant to the
late Earl Rudder, as the first di
rector of Civilian Student Activi
ties, served a stint as director of
admissions, and then was ap
pointed to his present post.
German negotiators break off
talks on the Berlin agreement
BERLIN LP>—East and West
German negotiators broke off
Wednesday their talks aimed at
carrying out the four-power
agreement on Berlin.
Egon Bahr, West German state
secretary and chief negotiator,
said the talks were deadlocked
over the issue of translating into
German the text of the agree
ment signed by the United States,
Britain, France and the Soviet
Union.
Bahr told newsmen that the
two Germanys had come to an
understanding on how the Ger
man translation of the Berlin
pact should be stated and implied
the East Germans had gone back
on what was agreed upon.
The two sides are to work out
details of such things as Berlin
access and wall passes agreed
on by the four powers.
The four powers signed their
Berlin pact Sept. 3. The issue, it
appeared, was East German in
sistence on separate pacts with
West Germany and West Berlin
on Berlin access traffic. The West
Germans want the West Berliners
to take up inner Berlin matters
only. These would include visits
past the wall by the West Ber
liners.
Bahr’s sudden return from his
20th meeting with Kohl, the
fourth since Sept. 3, and the post
ponement of the parallel West
Berlin dialogue with East Berlin
this week represented a get-tough
response by the West Germans in
the face of East Germany’s ada
mant stand.
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.