In Long An province, 25 miles southwest of Saigon, a 500-man Viet Cong battalion escapes from an ARVN encircling movement; ground fire hits 15 U.S. helicopters supporting the action, and five Americans are wounded; nine ARVN are killed, and Viet Cong casualties are estimated at 60-70. Initial reports in the American media talk about heavy VC casualties and a big victory, but this is highly exaggerated.
In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the 15th century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople greeted each other in Jerusalem at 8:30 in the evening. The last meeting between the Rome and Constantinople churches had taken place in 1538, when Pope Eugene IV and Patriarch Joseph II had conferred at Ferrara starting on March 8. Pope Paul traveled the next day to Bethlehem and visited the Church of the Nativity, followed by a second meeting with the Patriarch. The pope appealed for Christians to unite and prayed for peace and the well-being of all people on earth.
President Johnson told Pope Paul VI in a letter delivered today that he hopes to meet with him. The pope responded warmly to the suggestion. The letter to the pontiff was delivered at Nazareth by Sargent Shriver, head of the United States Peace Corps, and brother-in-law of the late President Kennedy. The President’s interest in a personal meeting with the pope was expressed in a handwritten postscript to a letter asking the pope’s blessing on the United States’ work for peace around the world. Shriver is touring the middle east delivering personal messages from Johnson to heads of state.
Senator Barry Goldwater said today that if he were elected President and decided it was “to our advantage,” he would be ready to order the resumption of atmospheric nuclear tests now banned by treaty. Goldwater, the Arizona Republican who voted against the treaty in the Senate after it was negotiated with Russia last summer by the Kennedy administration, said he still believes it is of “no advantage to us.” But he avoided a firm commitment as to whether he would adhere to the treaty if elected President. The comments came during a brisk half-hour television interview (Meet the Press NBC), Goldwater’s first since he announced Friday that he is running for the Republican Presidential nomination.
Throngs of West Berliners return from the eastern sector as a holiday visiting agreement expires. The jam in the eastern sector is so heavy it takes hours before officials can get lines of pedestrians moving. At the Oberbaum Brucke crossing, 300 pedestrians have to be helped across the bridge, and 50 persons are given first aid, indicative of the strain of waiting and long marches due to a lack of transportation facilities.
Ivan Asen Christof Georgiev, former Bulgarian envoy to the United Nations, is executed after pleading guilty to charges of spying for the United States. The death sentence is carried out after the presidium of Bulgaria’s national assembly rejects a plea for a pardon. The State Department in Washington denies knowledge of activities confessed by Georgiev, or the $200,000 he said he received for military and economic secrets.
Cyprus Vice President Dr. Fazil Kuchuk, leader of the island’s Turkish minority, charged that the Greek majority was preparing for a general massacre.
France, America’s NATO ally, pledges military and economic aid to Cambodia, whose ruling prince, Norodom Sihanouk, has ordered all United States assistance agencies out of the country by January 15. Pierre Messmer, French defense minister, speaking at a dinner in his honor in Phnom Penh, couples the pledge of aid with an official endorsement of Cambodia’s bid for a guaranteed neutral status.
Russian agriculture is having trouble meeting demands for improved diets and consumer goods, a report by the United States Agriculture Department shows. The report is based on the recent visit of Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman and a group of specialists to the Soviet Union. The report says the future of Russian agriculture is clouded because its objectives are tied to political considerations.
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, commonly known as “The Little Red Book”, was first published in the People’s Republic of China, initially for review by participants at a conference of China’s Political Department, which approved it for distribution within the People’s Liberation Army starting on May 16. The first edition had 200 quotes selected by editor Tang Pinzhu. By 1966, an update with 366 quotes would be distributed nationwide to all of China’s citizens.
Konrad Adenauer, who retired last October as West Germany’s chancellor after 14 years in office, marked his 88th birthday today with an all-day celebration. He said an 88th birthday is a serious day in a man’s life. Standing erect and sipping champagne, Adenauer received congratulations from hundreds at a building in nearby Bad Godesberg used for formal government affairs.
In the early days of his administration, President Johnson has made it increasingly clear that Latin American affairs will get top priority.
The United States and Brazil appeared to be heading for a political-economic showdown.
The first presidential election in the Central African Republic was held. President David Dacko, who had banned all political parties except for his own MESAN (Mouvement pour l’évolution sociale de l’Afrique noire or “Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa”) was the only candidate on the ballot.
French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan began the first of his popular seminars at the École pratique des hautes études in Paris. “Lacan’s seminars or ‘shows’… were also part of the Parisian society calendar,” an author would note later, “thereby integrating a part of the bourgeois public.”
The Rev. Ernest Streete of Bramber, England, pronounced a solemn curse on desecrators who vandalized his churchyard and left signs that devil worship rites had been performed on the porch.
Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) said tonight that if he were President the nation could achieve full employment and prosperity by liberating the free enterprise system from the burden of government intervention. Goldwater, the front running contender for the Republican Presidential nomination, outlined an economic battle plan against poverty and increasing debt. He pledged himself to “cut government expenditures, cut taxes, and let this system of ours work.”
Ridiculing President Johnson’s campaign for economy while asking for a record national budget, Goldwater said the President has “knocked off a few limousines” and cut about a half billion dollars from government annual costs of about 100 billion dollars. “He’s not an economizer,” Goldwater charged. “He’s putting up a good front.” Goldwater, appearing on a television panel interview program, asserted that American history has demonstrated that huge government spending programs have not been effective in beating unemployment and poverty, but that the free enterprise system, when it has been allowed to operate without interference, has conquered these economic evils. Goldwater said Americans are beginning to understand conservatism better and respond to it.
The position of Arizona’s Senator Goldwater seems almost ideal as the political heir to the late Senator Robert A. Taft’s mantle.
Auburn University suspended four white students for removing restriction signs that had been placed on the campus when a Black student integrated the school.
President Johnson returned to the White House tonight, ending a 12-day sojourn at his ranch near Johnson City, Texas. Earlier plans to meet tonight with Senator Mike Mansfield (D-Montana), Senate majority leader, were postponed until tomorrow morning. The President is scheduled to confer also with Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, tomorrow in the course of working out final details of his first state of the Union message to Congress on Wednesday.
The Harris Survey reports that by a vote of 2 to 1, the public believes that Congress has been dragging its feet at a time when action was required.
The Pentagon officials are studying military draft laws, with major revisions in mind. But abandonment of conscription is not likely without a more drastic reduction of forces than is foreseen. Defense experts say the nation’s military forces would be reduced by a third or more under an entirely voluntary program.
Greyhound bus drivers in Indianapolis agree to return to work, ending a wildcat strike stranding 1,500 passengers as much as 22 hours. Many passengers are transferred to other bus lines, and Greyhound officials estimate that less than 100 remained stranded when the drivers return to work. Maurice T. Horton, head of the union local involved, says nothing actually was resolved in a day-long union meeting, but says about 100 drivers decided to end the walkout in fairness to the public.
William A. Bartholomae, 70, multimillionaire yachtsman, is found stabbed fatally in the kitchen of his palatial home in Newport Beach, California. His sister-in-law, a Spanish dancer, is booked on suspicion of murder after she is found lying in a faint beside the body. Her sister is hospitalized for cuts on the right hand, incurred when she picked up the murder weapon, a butcher knife. Bartholomae’s wife divorced him a year ago, winning a $4,250,000 settlement in the proceedings.
Actress Eva Gabor left the hospital after being treated for lumps and bruises swearing she’ll never wear jewelry again. She was tied, gagged and pistol-whipped in a gem robbery in her hotel room in Miami Saturday.
18th Hula Bowl: North 20, South 13. Penn State quarterback Pete Liske was the game’s outstanding back; he led three scoring drives and carried for one touchdown. Dave Wilcox of Oregon was named the outstanding lineman.
NFL Playoff Bowl, Miami, Florida:
The Packers drove down the field after the opening kickoff and scored on a Bart Starr pass to Ron Kramer. The Browns responded by driving to the Green Bay one, but four successive thrusts by Ernie Green and Jim Brown failed, and the Packers took over on downs. On the next play, Starr hit halfback Tom Moore at the 25, and Moore ran 75 yards untouched for a 99-yard touchdown to make the score 14—0 with 1:36 to go in the first quarter. Starr said afterwards, “I faked a handoff to Taylor into the line and threw to Moore running to the left.” It was the second of Starr’s three touchdown passes on the day, and the Pack also would roll up 231 yards rushing. The Browns never got closer than a 21—10 score in the second quarter. Lionel Aldridge and Urban Henry closed the scoring in the fourth quarter by tackling Frank Ryan, who threw for 310 yards on the day, for a safety to make the final tally 40—23.
Green Bay Packers 40, Cleveland Browns 23.
AFL Championship Game:
The San Diego Chargers beat the visiting Boston Patriots 51—10, to win the American Football League championship. Idle during the week of Eastern Division playoff, well-rested San Diego was a touchdown favorite at home to win the AFL. Fullback Keith Lincoln performed tremendously and led the Chargers to a 51–10 rout of Boston. Named the game’s MVP, he rushed for 206 yards on 13 carries, led the team with 123 yards in receiving, scored two touchdowns, and completed a pass for 20 yards. The Chargers rolled up 610 yards of total offense. The game was not a sellout; the attendance of 30,127 was several thousand under Balboa Stadium’s capacity. The Chargers’ championship win 60 years ago is noted for being the only major sports title for the city of San Diego, the longest drought for a major American city.
Boston Patriots 10, San Diego Chargers 51
Born:
Tracy Ham, American College and Canadian Football HOF quarterback (Georgia Southern U.; Grey Cup 1987, 1995 [MVP]; CFL All-Star 1989; Montreal Alouettes, Edmonton Eskimos, Baltimore Stallions, Toronto Argonauts), in Gainesville, Florida.
James Camazzola, Canadian NHL left wing (Chicago Black Hawks), in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Grant Young, American drummer (Soul Asylum, 1984-95), in Iowa City, Iowa.
Died:
William A. Bartholomae, 70, American multimillionaire and yachtsman, as well as an oil, mining and ranching executive, was stabbed to death in his kitchen in Newport Beach, California, the victim of his brother’s wife, Carmen Gallardo.
History Diaries 