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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1982)
Fate of ‘58 U-2 remains unknown United Press International WASHINGTON — In 1958, a CIA spy plane with at least eight persons aboard went down in Soviet territory. The passen gers’ fate remains a U.S. govern ment secret. Secret congressional trans cripts reveal that the incident occurred three years before American Francis Gary Powers was shot down in his U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union. Senate historian Don Ritchie said Sunday that if Powers’ plane had not been shot down it is unlikely Congress would have ever been told about the first plane. He said the Powers’ incident prompted the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to ques tion CIA Director Allen Dulles in May, 1960 — 30 days after Powers was captured — about intelligence-gathering efforts in the Soviet Union. The previously classified transcript was released Satur day. The State Department and the CIA declined comment. The transcript shows that Dulles told the senators the first plane went down with eight or nine crew members. A commit tee spokesman said what the government knows about the fate of the crew remains classi fied. Ritchie, who edited the trans cript, said committee members learned of the incident when pressing Dulles about the Pow ers’ case, asking whether it was the first such incident. “He said, ‘No, a couple of years ago we had a plane go down with eight or nine civilians and we don’t know what hap pened to them. We’re still nego tiating about it,”’ Ritchie said, paraphrasing Dulles. “He was vague about it, so it sounded like he had no idea whether they were alive or dead,” Ritchie said. “Dulles didn’t profess to know how the plane went down, whether it had mechanical malfunctions or whatever.” Former Arkansas Sen. J. Wil liam Fulbright, who was chair man of the committee in 1960, said he could not recall the inci dent. “They (CIA) didn’t like to tell Congress anything they didn’t have to,” Fulbright said. “I was too naive. I believed anything they told me. It took me a while to get over that.” Dulles also revealed the CIA flew several hundred spy mis sions over the Soviet Union, and that American military planes also were flying over Soviet ter ritory before the U-2 flights be gan in 1956. After Powers was shot down, touching off an international in cident that cooled relations be tween the two superpowers, De fense Secretary Thomas Gates told the committee the military flights were “more of a border, a periphery nature than a com plete deep penetration type of flight.” Dulles, pressed by senators on the purpose of the ill-fated U-2 flight, said the flights were aimed at collecting information on Soviet bombers, missiles, sub marines, atomic energy prog rams, and the Soviet air defense system. Later, in a letter to Fulbright, Dulles said only that, “Each and every flight had certain precise intelligence objectives, generally based on collateral information as to vitally important targets.” In response to questions ab out the timing of the Powers flight, Dulles said weather con ditions — not political consider ations — were the primary de termining factor in scheduling flights. When Powers’ U-2 was downed, U.S. officials first assumed he had been killed. As part of a pre-arranged cover story, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the aircraft had strayed off course while on a weather flight. Powers eventually was re leased in an exchange of pris- Priest, pets give kids God’s word together United Press International BALTIMORE — A skunk in the sanctuary, a pony near the pulpit and a piglet in the priest’s arms. It’s all part of the Rev. Rick Frechette’s attempts to in terest children in the church. “Animals have a very human appeal, especially to children. After you have the kids’ atten tion, then you can try to get the spiritual message across,” said Frechette, 29, who has brought sheep, doves, dogs, rabbits, ra coons and even a hermit crab into St. Joseph’s Monastery Church for his weekly children’s mass. “For children, it’s what is in front of them that’s real,” Frechette said. “We’ve been very careful not to turn it into a cir cus. We know the animals are a gimmick and it’s not blown out of proportion to other parts of the mass, which are done with due honor and respect.” The Roman Catholic priest, who keeps a white dove on a perch near the altar, said he does not use animals that would make a distraction or disrupt the mass. “I use animals at mass for the same reason that Walt Disney uses them — they are part of a child’s world.” Even a piglet that Frechette helped deliver on his cousin’s farm in New England was brought in to serve as an illustra tion for the Sunday children’s message. “The pig and the story of its birth appealed to the littlest chil dren as well as their parents. Af ter showing them Emily (the pig), I told them how priests also act as “midwives” to bring parishioners into deeper faith — we are not essential, but we can help a lot,” he said. Frechette estimates that about 300 of the 1,100 people who come to the four services held at St. Joseph’s each Sunday attend the children’s mass. “I’d say only about a third of the people there are children. A lot of people without youngsters just come because they enjoy that type of worship.” The priest, who is leaving the parish soon to study Spanish in Mexico and then assume re sponsibilities in a parish in New York, has kept a menagerie of animals during his three and one-half year tenure at St. Joseph’s. His pets included a Dalmatian that he taught to bow at the altar, a Labrador retriever that would bark along with the Sunday hymns and a pink dove, chosen because it bore the traditional color of Lent. Once a youngster presented Frechette with a hermit crab captured on a trip to the beach. He promptly christened the crab Anthony after the father of monasticism, who went off and lived in the desert for 25 years. Today’s Almanac United Press International Today is Tuesday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 1982 with 24 to follow. This is Pearl Harbor Day. The moon is in its last quarter. The morning stars are Saturn and Jupiter. The evening stars are Mer cury, Venus and Mars. Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. On this date in history: In 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover refused to see a group of so-called “hunger marchers” at the White House. In 1941, Japan launched a sneak attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing 2,400 people and sinking America’s most powerful bat tleships, catapulting the United States into World War II. A thought for the day: Com menting on U.S. entry into World War II, President Frank lin D. Roosevelt said: “Never be fore have we had so little time in which to do so much.” Did You Rent a Refrigerator From Student Government This Semester? Iff you did, then your rental contract ends on Dec. 9. You Dec. can renew your rental contract or let S.G. pick up your refrigerator 9 from 5-7 p.m. * Oh Yea!! Did you know that proceeds from refrigerator * * rentals go towards promoting activities for you? * For more details come by the Student Government Office 216-C MSC or call 845-3051 /ashingtc Pltsident Rt tajdateon hi: when it vote: bf both sick is rot yet de ■They also noo try to < ■t prodtu He to delet H)duction 1 raap:: COM IN’AT YA I Pizza Delivery IN«w M 1 findy Bov last line of NORTHGATE Introducing Speedy 30 Minute Delivery FAST and FREE from your Northgate Pizza Hut® restaurant TRY US! , and |uston, U and a frier Call 260-9060 I A list of ■ e ared for d W front of ] Sunday-Thursday 5:30 pm-12 midnight Friday and Saturday 5:30 pm -1 am Limited Delivery Area Northgate and A&M Campus’ Passified focal.... National. 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