Friday, November 1, 1985/The Battalion/Page 5 former commander leads his men Marching veterans reach capital to Associated Press AUSTIN — They donned faded biforms. Many wore their medals, line carried flags. A few came in leelchairs. All heard their former pnimander, Gen. William West- relancl, tell them to stand loudly. "You men are stouthearted men. fm glad to be among you,” West- jorciand told Texas Vietnam veter- Thursday as their march from Has to San Antonio reached the te Capitol. Westmoreland joined the march- irs Wednesday night and walked Iveral miles in what organizers call, “A Journey to Remember — The jhst Patrol.” mimem al Standing on the Capitol steps with rmer first lady Lady Bird Johnson, icates iheplfestmoreland won cheers from a ' to avoid iM us were six seconi 'the aircral ground d crowd of about 200, some 60 wear ing uniforms, when he said it wasn’t the veterans’ fault the war was lost. “You men did a magnificent job on the battlefield in Vietnam,” he said. “You did what the country asked you to do, and you did it well.” “That’s right,” they replied. “The war was not lost on the bat tlefield by the military,” he said. “It was lost by virtue of public opinion here in the United Stales.” “All right,” they said. “And as you realize — but I must say many Americans do not realize — when the North Vietnamese mili tarily took over South Vietnam, there were no American fighting troops on the battlefield,” he said. “You tell ’em. General,” they shouted. The march, which began Oct. 19, was organized bv Michael Martin of Dallas and Tim Holiday of Hawkins, veterans and songwriters who said they wanted to call attention to both veterans and the plight of the miss ing. They also hope the 300-mile walk will raise money for a Texas Viet nam veterans’ memorial. A total of 3,244 Texans died in the war, and 161 still are listed as missing. Westmoreland noted that the vet erans “were not well-treated” when they returned home from Vietnam. But he said that attitudes toward them started to change after the vet erans organized their own parade in 1982 to mark the dedication of the national Vietnam memorial in Washington. “We Vietnam veterans converged on Washington and we had a wel come home for ourselves,” West moreland said. “We staged a parade in honor of ourselves. Nobody else would do it. “And I led that parade. It was one of the most emotional, proudest mo ments of my life to lead you guys in Washington, D.C., as was the case on the battlefield.” Also honoring the veterans Thursday were Gov. Mark White and Attorney General Jim Mattox, who noted that those who didn’t serve in the war got a head-start in their careers over the veterans who did serve. “Had we gone and had to give two, three or four years out of our lives ... we would not be in the same positions that we are in today,” Mat tox said. “I feel a real responsibility to raise my voice . . . to say thank you. We appreciate you.” loard approves auto insurance decrease # MSC LOST & FOUND AUCTION CALCULATORS. SPORTS EQUIPMENT, UMBRELLAS. JEWELRY 4 MORE cash onl Associated Press the firjl AUSTIN — The State Board of 'Insurance agreed Thursday to give ed whenikflexas motorists a $ 137.7 million bo- :■! above ilitius in hopes they will “buckle up” in |86. I Navv pilal ^ ov - M ar k White was an approv- through Jg front-row spectator Thursday tec him " cn t h e board voted 3-0 to cut auto d havebea surance rates 5.1 percent in expec- tion of 65 percent compliance with enew seatbelt law. “This is exactly what we planned,” | jrfhite told reporters. “If we gain a 00n d uct ‘ ()n * n tra ffic deaths and in- ry due to buckling up we intend to issthe savings on to consumers.” White said he really wanted a reer reduction in rates and “if the /-n\ / H Mi reduction proves successf ul we UV III consider further reductions *om the impact of this legislation.” Insurance Board Chairman Lyn- “This is exactly what we planned. If we gain a reduction in traffic deaths and injury due to buckling up we in tend to pass the savings on to consumers. If the 1986 re duction proves successful we will consider further re ductions from the impact of this legislation. ” — Gov. Mark White. )be ny for tht rs’ Contest 2 p.m. in ft wary at ?r. profes- A&M will 10 Burned nony. Student st winners the cere- speech, socialist in rmany, is ■ntlv-pub- tsi Soldier 11 be pre- ts whose jed as the g the en- terling C. the con- in the li- , faculty don Olson made the motion for a 5.1 percent reduction, saying it was ob vious to the three-member board that the estimate of 50 percent com pliance with the seat belt law by the board’s staf f and 40 percent by the industry were too low. The staff had recommended on Sept. 19 a 1.3 percent premium de crease while the industry wanted a lO.bpercent increase. “Tnis decrease in premiums will be a real incentive for compliance with the law,” Olson said. Board members David Thornton and Carole Rylander voted with Ol son. Earlier, a motion by Rylander for an 8.4 percent decrease was de feated 2-1. She said testimony at pre vious hearings convinced her tnere would be at least 70 percent compli ance. “We will sell Texans short if we adopt anything less than an 8.4 per cent decrease, ,v she said. Attorney General Jim Mattox, who earlier recommended a 5.6 per cent decrease, said the adopted de crease was a “good common-sense approach to the anticipated effects of Texas’ new seat belt law.” Mattox said if 60 percent of Texas motorists use their seat belts it likely will reduce the number of yearly deaths by 460, injuries by 13,900 and insurance company costs by $282 million a year. Carol Barger, regional director for the Sonsumers Union said, “I think they sent a real strong signal to consumers that safety really does save, not just lives and injuries but it actually saves dollars.” “We respectfully disagree,” said Rick Gentry, a spokesman for the in surance industry. fexas city home to 3 killed in Navy helicopter crash Associated Press I CORPUS CHRIST! — The three iavy men killed when their heli copter crashed into a marsh are fiom Corpus Christi, a Navy spokeswoman said Thursday, r Lt. Cmdr. David Lee Wright, 44, It. Sam Michael Savas III, 27, and aviation machinist David Selton. 32, ied when their UH-1N helicopter lashed Wednesday, said Stella Ji- pienez, a spokeswoman for the Cor nu s Christi Naval Air Station. Three other Navy men from Cor pus Christi were injured in the crash, she said. They are: mechanic William Daniel Sweeney, 21, electri cian Leo Richard Kovaleski, 29, and hospital corpsman Edward Francis Starceski, 26. Kovaleski was in serious but stable condition, Starceski was in critical but stable condition and Sweenev was in good condition, she said. All were at a base hospital. Jimenez said an investigation is continuing and that no cause for the incident had been determined. The helicopter, which is used for search and rescue missiions, crashed on a routine training mission on Mustang Island and appeared to be making practice dives along with another chopper when it hit a marsh, wit nesses said. Rick Andrews and his wife, Linda, were on their way home about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when they saw two helicopters practicing diving maneu vers about one-half mile off Texas Highway 53. Moments later, Andrews said, his wife yelled, “Oh my God. He crashed!” Mrs. Andrews said it appeared that, just before the crash, the rotor of one of the helicopters had stopped. The other helicopter circled the fallen one briefly, then landed and two crew members be gan helping the survivors, Andrews said. 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