A North Korean military spokesman said that American and North Korean troops exchanged gunfire this morning. One North Korean communist soldier was killed. The North Korean military forces said another North Korean was captured by United Nations command personnel after the shooting in the western sector of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The United Nations command declined immediately to confirm the North Korean report. According to South Korean sources, the Communists made a surprise attack on American troops and the Americans returned fire. But no casualties were reported among the American and South Korean troops.
The clash was reported to have occurred in the sector which is manned by the 1st United States cavalry division. In fighting which broke out in the same zone late last July and early August three American soldiers, one North Korean policeman, and four other North Koreans were killed. As recently as November 15, North Korean Communists attacked an unarmed United Nations observer team.in the central sector of the truce zone killing an American enlisted man and a South Korean army captain who were accompanying the observers.
Vietnamese rangers clashed in two fierce battles with Communist guerrillas as South Vietnam’s junta stepped up its campaign against the Viet Cong. A U.S. military source said 40 Red guerrillas were killed in the two encounters Sunday in the Seven Mountains area near the Cambodian frontier, 120 miles west of Saigon. Government sources reportedly suffered six killed and a number of weapons lost, including a 60mm mortar.
The South Vietnamese revolutionary government announced that 13 high officials, six ambassadors and the consul general in Hong Kong of the deposed Ngô Đình Diệm regime have been fired on charges of corruption and misuse of power. They included a brother of Diệm, Ngô Đình Luyện, who was ambassador to Britain, and Dr. Bửu Hội, the head of South Vietnam’s atomic research program who was ambassador to a number of African states.
The United States expressed shock and outraged disbelief Monday at reports the Cambodian government had said the death of Thailand’s premier and the U.S. President called for a celebration. A high State Department spokesman said a Cambodian government broadcast had been heard which apparently rejoiced at the death of state “enemies” in Thailand and South Vietnam, along with “the great boss of these aggressors.” The term “great boss” was taken here to be a slurring reference to the late President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated on November 22.
[Ed: Sihanouk was an asshole. Period.]
Tin miners holding four Americans and 17 other persons demand the Bolivian government release two jailed communist leaders today or “suffer the consequences.” The ultimatum arouses fears for the safety of the hostages in a crisis that threatens armed conflict between government troops and the followers of Vice President Juan Lechin. Five of Bolivia’s 25 nationalized tin mines are reported in the hands of anti-government miners.
Nikita Khrushchev promises to fulfill Russia’s dream of more food and consumer goods by pouring enormous investments into the chemical industry. He tells the hard-pressed Russians that the decades of deprivation necessary for building the nation’s heavy industry are at an end, and the time has come to satisfy the needs of the people. He announces plans for spending more than 46 billion dollars in developing the chemical industry under a new 7-year plan.
American grain dealers are increasingly gloomy over prospects of any big sale of American wheat to Russia. The entire deal may collapse because of shipping costs.
Major policy differences, including disagreement on the proposed NATO multilateral force, have emerged following a conference of British and West German officials.
The Ministry of Defense in London confirmed Monday that a flight of British V-bombers has gone out to Singapore. The planes are the delivery vehicles for Britain’s atomic deterrent, but they can also carry conventional bombs. The number of planes was not disclosed. The general assumption here is that the bombers are to serve as a demonstrative reinforcement of Britain’s key Asian base. British correspondents who made a recent tour of Malaysia wrote with some heat of Singapore’s exposure to a possible surprise attack by Indonesia.
Captain Henrique Galvao, an avowed foe of the Portuguese government, defied a threat of arrest and came to New York to give his views to the United Nations.
The lower house of the Japanese parliament reelected the liberal Democratic party leader, Hayato Ikeda, premier today as expected. Later he reappointed his entire cabinet. Ikeda received 280 votes in a roll call of the 467-member house. The vote was a formality since Ikeda’s party had won 294 seats in the November 21 elections, assuring him another four years in office.
For the first time, democratic elections were held in the union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, which had been Portuguese colonies on the Indian subcontinent until its invasion and annexation by India on December 18, 1961. Nearly 80 percent of the newly enfranchised residents turned out to choose 30 representatives in the local legislature, and two for the Lok Sabha, the lower House of the Parliament of India.
Sheriff’s deputies today arrested six men, including two wanted for questioning about the abduction of Frank Sinatra Jr., in the Strawberry Lodge, California, area, 20 miles from where the young singer was kidnaped, at gunpoint, last night. El Dorado County (California) Sheriff Ernest Carison expressed hope that the 19-year-old son of singer-actor Frank Sinatra, might be found soon. But other than that, the hundreds of Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, California and Nevada highway patrolmen and sheriff’s deputies assigned to the mystery were keeping whatever clues they had to themselves. The six men arrested were taken to Placerville, California, 50 miles west of Stateline. There they were confronted with the only eyewitness to the abduction, John Foss, Sinatra’s roommate. But Foss was kept away from newsmen and a spokesman for the FBI refused to comment on the outcome of the lineup.
President Johnson divested himself of responsibility for basic policy decisions on oil and transferred that authority to the Interior Department. The President’s home state of Texas is the nation’s leading oil producer. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall said the President instructed him to pattern the department’s responsibility after the arrangement of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his secretary of the interior, Harold Ickes.
The discharge petition to bring the Black civil rights bill to the House floor gets 131 of the necessary 218 signatures. The move is an attempt to bypass the rules committee. Most of the signers are Democrats: only a dozen or so Republicans sign the petition. The additional 87 names must be obtained within four days to clear the bill for December 23 debate.
President Johnson has decreed a halt to two prize Air Force projects, the XB-70 supersonic bomber and the DynaSoar space glider.
The House has approved a compromise $3.6 billion foreign aid authorizations measure.
A Senate-House conference committee reached a compromise which will pave the way for passage of two important federal aid-to-education bills before Christmas. A House-Senate agreement is expected today which will guarantee approval of limited federal aid to education, which will benefit vocational schools, the college student loan program, and areas overcrowded by children of federal workers and servicemen.
“Out of control… Down we go… Clipper 214 going down in flames.” These last words, spoken by a pilot as calmly as if he were requesting a routine landing clearance, gave investigators their first clues today to the cause of a Pan-American World Airways jet crash in Elkton, Maryland, Sunday night, killing all 81 persons aboard. The crew’s final message was contained in a tape recording full of static played for reporters here while a swarm of crash experts began the task of examining wreckage, interviewing eyewitnesses, and sifting all available evidence that may help find the reason for the crash of the 7-million-dollar Boeing 707 jet. The plane, flight 214, went down in a thunderstorm while on the last leg of a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Philadelphia, with a stop in Baltimore. Several eyewitnesses told of seeing lightning strike the giant jet and said the plane exploded. But the pilot’s last radio contact made no mention of lightning.
Seconds before the jet plunged to earth in flames, either the captain or co-pilot told the Federal Aviation Agency approach control center in Philadelphia: “Clipper 214, Mayday. Mayday… Out of control… Down we go.”
The stunned control center asked the flight: “Clipper 214, did you call Philadelphia?”
Back came the calm answer: “Clipper 214 going down in flames.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation had given the secret service a risk list of Dallas individuals in advance of President Kennedy’s fatal trip but it did not include the name of Lee Harvey Oswald. An official source explained today that Oswald’s name, such as many others in the Dallas file, was omitted because the FBI saw nothing in Oswald’s background to mark him as a potential assassin. Oswald was not under surveillance by the FBI at the time because months of checking had indicated he was not a spy or saboteur. That covered the statutory area of FBI responsibility.
To keep Oswald under FBI surveillance, said this source, “there would have to be some reason, and the only reason in his case, was he a spy or saboteur? In Oswald’s case there was absolutely no indication whatsoever he was an agent.” The source said that keeping people with Oswald’s record under surveillance “would have been a terrifying waste of manpower.” Oswald’s employment on the route of the President’s motorcade apparently was not regarded as significant at the time. “The FBI does not study protective measures,” the source said.
A more significant fact apparently was not known to the FBI. Oswald had purchased a mail order rifle under an alias. There had been no suspicion of a link between Oswald and the rifle shot into the Dallas home of former General Edwin A. Walker on April 10. In fact, one well-placed source said he understood that Oswald’s name was not in the Dallas police files at all.
Two observers at a Texas target range discuss the expert marksmanship of Lee Harvey Oswald, President Kennedy’s assassin. One classifies him as “a sniper from way back” — one who could shoot rapid fire and “hit those targets.” Both tell of seeing Oswald at the gun range, and tell of his concentrated practice with at least three different guns.
States, cities, and hamlets across the nation look about for libraries, funds, schools, parks, geographical locations — any vehicle for honoring the memory of President Kennedy.
The Dallas school system reinstated a teacher, Mrs. Eleanor Cowan, who wrote a letter critical of the city in the death of President Kennedy.
An Indiana grand jury indicts the state fire marshal, the Indianapolis fire chief, and five others in the Coliseum blast and fire which killed 72 persons. The two officials are charged with inspection failures. The Coliseum’s manager and the concessions manager are arrested on involuntary manslaughter charges. Bonds are set at $1,000 to $3,500.
Studebaker corporation decides to quit assembling cars in South Bend and transfer its Indiana operations to a smaller plant in Hamilton, Ontario. The 50-year-old South Bend plant has about 6,000 employees, 5,000 of them being hourly workers. The Indiana plant has long been unprofitable while the Canadian plant consistently has shown a profit. Besides supplying the Canadian market, the Hamilton plant is an important base for Studebaker’s export business.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 759.08 (-1.17).
Born:
Empress Masako, Empress of Japan (2019-) as wife and consort of Naruhito, in Tokyo, Japan.
Barry Wilburn, NFL cornerback (NFL Champions, Super Bowl XXII-Redskins, 1987 [did not play / injured]; Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles), in Memphis, Tennessee.
Alec Gibson, NFL defensive end (Washington Redskins), in Columbus, Ohio.
Tom Magrann, MLB catcher (Cleveland Indians), in Hollywood, Florida.
Bárbara Palacios, Venezuelan TV host and Miss Universe (1986), in Madrid, Spain.
Died:
Daniel O. Fagunwa, 60, Nigerian Yoruba language novelist.
History Diaries 