The CIA sends a memo to the secretaries of defense, state, and other top officials and concludes that, based on information from its Saigon office, South Vietnam is making little progress in its war against the Communists.
The Viet Cong shoot down two Vietnamese planes and one U.S. pilot is killed. Two Vietnamese Air Force fighter‐bombers have been shot down by Communist ground fire in the last 24 hours, authorities reported today. A United States Air Force pilot in one craft was killed. Both planes downed where T‐28’s, which normally carry a crew of two, an American pilot and a Vietnamese co‐pilot. The first crash occurred near mountains of An Giang Province, near the Cambodian frontier, 120 miles west of Saigon. A single‐engine craft crash‐landed and burst into flame with the crew aboard, but both the American and the Vietnamese were unhurt. They were picked up by a helicopter. The second crash occurred this morning while the plane was supporting a helicopter operation 90 miles southwest of Saigon in the Mekong Delta. The plane exploded when it crashed, and observation planes reported no signs of its crew.
United States authorities reported that another American officer was killed Monday in a jeep accident along a mountainous coastal road 250 miles northeast of Saigon near Quy Nhơn. The driver of the jeep, a United States Army sergeant, was reported to have lost control of the jeep, and an army officer with him was thrown out and killed.
Cambodian Prince Sihanouk proposes that the United States, Thailand, South Vietnam and Cambodia sign an agreement to ‘recognize’ Cambodia’s neutrality and territorial integrity. He said a conference on Cambodian neutrality must be held in Cambodia by the end of March. The Prince, Cambodia’s chief of state, made his statement unexpectedly four days after threatening to form military alliances with Communist China and North Vietnam if a Geneva conference to guarantee Cambodia’s neutrality was not convened by May 31. If agreement can be reached, Prince Sihanouk promised to resume relations with Thailand and South Vietnam and to restore full diplomatic relations with Washington. Prince Sihanouk said that if his new plan was accepted, the United States, Thailand and South Vietnam “will be able to maintain Cambodia in neutrality, without having to go to Geneva.”
The United States urged today that the four parties directly interested in the Cyprus crisis speed an agreement on an international peacekeeping force. Adlai E. Stevenson, the United States representative, told the Security Council that it was essential to establish the force and to appoint a mediator before the peace of the eastern Mediterranean was endangered. “Time is wasting,” he said. The United States representative suggested that Britain, Greece and Turkey, the signers of the 1960 treaty guaranteeing the Cypriote Constitution, start negotiations with Cyprus in consultation with the Secretary General, U Thant. Mr. Thant, who submitted a plan for a force to the four parties two days ago, was described by Mr. Stevenson as a recognized peace‐keeping expert. The gravity of the situation, Mr. Stevenson added, was emphasized by Britain’s decision today to send more troops to Cyprus. London announced that it was sending to Cyprus 1,500 reinforcements, including an additional squadron with armored cars.
Mr. Stevenson praised Greece and Turkey for the “restraint they have showed” since serious fighting began last December between the Greek and Turkish Cypriotes. In addition, Mr. Stevenson struck back sharply at a charge today by Nikolai T. Fedorenko, the Soviet representative, that the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were trying to convert Cyprus into a “military bridgehead.” Denying that the plan to establish a peace‐keeping force was “some sort of NATO plot,” Mr. Stevenson said no country would participate without the consent of Cyprus. He added that the United States, while prepared to participate if invited by all four interested parties, would be “delighted” not to. Sir Patrick Dean, the British representative, also clashed with Mr. Fedorenko over the charge that Sir Patrick failed to deny yesterday that Britain intended to commit “aggression” against Cyprus.
France announced tonight that insurgents who on Monday toppled the Government of Gabon had surrendered to French forces. The collapse of the coup d’état came at 6 P.M. after French troops were rushed into the West African republic from Senegal and the former French Congo in support of President Leon Mba, a close ally of France. Further French troops were airlifted to Gabon to put down the recent army coup. French Air Force planes strafed the rebels at Baraka, while the French Army attacked the insurgents with machine gun fire and mortars. The rebels at the military base surrendered once their ammunition supply ran out, and their commander, Lieutenant Ndo Edou, was executed. Recently deposed President Leon M’ba was rescued unharmed. The French Foreign Ministry said that Mr. Mba had been taken into the Gabonese interior and that as soon as he returned to Libreville, the capital, “the mission of French forces will have been fulfilled.”
President de Gaulle and President Antonio Segni discussed general European problems today as the Italian head of state began a four‐day visit to France. Mr. Segni was accompanied by Giuseppe Saragat, Italian Foreign Minister. It is expected that in talks tomorrow with French ministers, Mr. Saragat will discuss a further tightening of political and economic links between France and Italy within the European Economic Community. The French Government, reliable sources said, also is interested in enlisting Italy’s cooperation in planning economic assistance to underdeveloped countries. Last week President de Gaulle and Chancellor Ludwig Erhard of West Germany agreed to coordinate such aid to Latin America.
Rashid Karami resigned as Prime Minister of Lebanon and was succeeded by Hussein Al Oweini. Premier Rashid Karame and his 14‐member Cabinet resigned today. President Fuad Chehab later dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and set April 5 and May 6 as dates for general elections. The new chamber will decide whether to renew President Chehab’s term in office for six years or to elect a new President when his term expires in September.
Zanzibar’s revolutionary Government ordered the expulsion today of British diplomatic personnel and the one American still remaining on the island, the third secretary of the United States Embassy. The order was said to be in retaliation against the United States and Britain for their failure to recognize the revolutionary regime, which came to power in a coup d’état Jan. 12. Zanzibar’s propaganda campaign against the two Western countries, meanwhile, was increasing in virulence. The United States has been singled out repeatedly by the island’s leftist Government in recent weeks as the “leader of world imperialism and colonialism.”
Indirect negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic on the dispute over Yemen are deadlocked. Yemeni royalist tribesmen are stepping up military pressure to cut roads to Sana, the capital. An attempt to break the deadlock will be made by Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer and Anwar Sadat, members of the Presidential Council of the United Arab Republic, who will fly to Riyadh on March 1 to see Crown Prince Faisal. The deadlock centers on an Egyptian demand that the Saudis recognize the republican regime in Yemen. The Saudis insist that the Egyptians deal with royal Yemen government of Imam Mohamad al-Badr. A royalist spokesman in Jedda, meanwhile, reported that tribal forces had mounted an offensive in the last four weeks. Roads between Sana, Hodeida and Sada were cut for varying periods, it was reported.
A court in Bonn, West Germany found a former Nazi captain, Wilhelm Döring, guilty of taking part in mass murders in the Soviet Union during World War II and sentenced him today to four years in prison. Döring, who is 46 years old, denied having ordered executions on his own authority or having taken part in shootings. He was charged with having helped to kill 669 Russian Jews and 16 retarded children while commanding a unit of the SS.
A Senate‐House conference committee agreed today on an $11.5 billion tax reduction bill. The agreement cleared the way for final Congressional action, probably next week, on the high‐priority Administration measure. In one of several major decisions announced on completion of their work, the conferees turned down a House-approved provision for a $230 million cut in capital‐gains taxes. Quick House and Senate ratification of the compromise text is regarded as a virtual certainty. President Johnson is expected to sign the bill in time for a cut of $800 million a month in income tax withholding rates to go into effect by mid‐March.
The final text of the bill, like versions passed by the House September 25 and by the Senate February 7, calls for the biggest tax reduction in the country’s history. It provides cuts in all income tax rates for individuals and corporations, coupled with various structural revisions, or reforms, in the Revenue Code. About two‐thirds of the overall reduction would apply to income received this year, with the cut fully effective on 1965 income. The bill does not affect income received last year, on which final tax returns are due April 15. On the average, individuals will get a tax reduction of about 19 percent when the bill becomes fully effective in 1965. For those in the lowest brackets — up to $2,000 after personal exemptions and other deductions for single taxpayers and up to $4,000 for married couples filing joint returns — the prospective average cut is about 22½ percent.
Senator Richard B. Russell said today that he and his Southern colleagues were prepared to fight early and late and use every parliamentary weapon available to prevent Senate passage of the civil rights bill, sending it to the Judiciary Committee, headed by Senator James O. Eastland of Mississippi, a foe of civil rights legislation. The Georgia Democrat, who will captain the Southern forces as he has in past civil rights battles, told reporters after a strategy meeting with his followers: “We don’t mind around-the-clock sessions. We will be glad to be there 24 hours a day.” As a matter of fact, the Southerners will probably not soon have to resort to their three‐platoon system, which they devised to combat the around‐the‐clock session. Administration leaders will be reluctant to adopt this tactic. Experience has shown that the civil rights forces, which have to keep a majority of 51 on hand at all times to prevent adjournment for lack of a quorum, tend to wear out more quickly than the Southerners, who need to keep only two or three on the floor.
Dr. Martin Luther King warned the Johnson Administration yesterday that any compromise on the civil rights bill “would be a tragic error on the part of the Administration — both morally and politically.” Dr. King, here for speeches, announced he would call civil rights leaders across the nation to a meeting within six months to plan a boycott by Blacks of businesses that practice segregation in hiring.
Robert G. “Bobby” Baker refused on constitutional grounds today to help the Senate Rules Committee learn whether he had misused his influence in amassing a $2 million fortune while he was on the payroll of the Senate as secretary to the Democratic majority. In an appearance before the committee this morning, Mr. Baker invoked the First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution as the basis of his refusal to honor a subpoena to submit certain of his business records to the committee. His attorney, Edward Bennett Williams, said that Mr. Baker would also refuse to give oral testimony when he appears before the committee in open session next Tuesday. He described the investigation as a “legislative trial” and said that he had advised his client to refuse to cooperate.
This immediately raised the question of whether Mr. Baker, an expert on Senate rules and procedures, might be cited for contempt of the Senate. The committee counsel, Lennox P. McClendon, said, however, that a decision on this point would be reserved until next week. Mr. Baker appeared before the committee in executive session this morning. A subpoena was issued last Friday requiring him to produce certain of his business records and documents. His arrival at the rules committee chamber was accompanied by confusion and excitement, since there had been conflicting reports for the last two days over what his intentions were. Mr. Baker has kept almost completely out of sight since he resigned his Senate job last October 7.
Senator Barry Goldwater asked the voters of New Hampshire today to give him a victory in the Republican Presidential primary election so that he could “sew up some other states” that are awaiting the outcome here. Mr. Goldwater was on the second day of a three‐day campaign trip. New Hampshire skies turned from yesterday’s brilliant blue to a slate gray with intermittent snow. The mood of Mr. Goldwater’s campaign entourage also seemed grayer. Crowds were not large most of the day, and national opinion polls showed that the Senator had slipped in popularity since January.
Assistant Secretary of Labor James J. Reynolds expressed hope today that the dispute over Russian wheat shipments would be settled in 24 hours. Leaders of the International Longshoremen’s Association were not satisfied, however, and announced that their members had refused to load a fifth ship, the Sister Katingo in Boston today. Earlier this week, longshoremen balked at loading wheat bound for Russia at three Gulf ports. They took this action in an effort to obtain Government enforcement of the original stipulation on the wheat deal: that 50 percent of the grain would be carried in American ships. Last week the Maritime Administration granted the Continental Grain Company, involved in the initial sale of wheat to Russia a partial waiver that would have meant that about 38 percent of the wheat would be carried in American vessels. The basis for the waiver, the government said was insufficient availability of American ships.
Four Cuban fishing boat captains were convicted at Key West, Florida today of having violated Florida waters. They were given $500 fines and six-month jail terms, and their fish catches were ordered confiscated. Judge Thomas Caro of the Criminal Court said he would suspend the jail terms upon the payment of the fines in United States dollars, but warned the captains that if they ever ventured too close to Florida shores again, they might lose their boats. The captains’ fines were paid within two hours by an official of the Czechoslovak Embassy, which represents Cuban interests in the United States and which arranged for defense counsel for the Cubans. The captains and crewmen remained in jail, however, and there was no indication when they would be released to sail their ships back to Cuba. The Cubans would not be allowed to go free in Key West, authorities explained, because they are aliens without proper papers.
Frank Sinatra Sr. testified today that he received eight telephone calls from an alleged abductor during the three days his son was held captive last December. All the phone conversations were recorded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The tapes will be played to the federal court jury trying three men on charges of kidnapping and conspiring to kidnap 20-year-old Frank Sinatra Jr. Mr. Sinatra said “the voice,” as he labeled the caller, had sounded worried and had apologized for the episode. The government contends that John W. Irwin, 42, a house painter, made the calls. Irwin’s co‐defendants, Barry W. Keenan and Joseph C. Amsler, both 23. are accused of taking young Sinatra from a motel at Lake Tahoe, California, at gunpoint last December 8. He was released unharmed three days later in West Los Angeles after having been held in a hideout in suburban Canoga Park. Mr. Sinatra obtained his son’s release by paying $240,000 ransom. Virtually all the money has been recovered.
Attorneys for Jack L. Ruby attempted today to subpoena a prospective juror, who saw the shooting of Lee H. Oswald on television, as a witness at Ruby’s trial. The maneuver threw the courtroom into an uproar. Judge Joe B. Brown ordered the subpoena quashed. The defense was then obliged to use the third of its quota of 15 peremptory challenges to dismiss the prospective juror. The chief defense counsel, Melvin M. Belli, threatened to subpoena all veniremen who “witnessed” on television Ruby’s shooting of Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy. Mr. Belli is fighting to have the trial moved from Dallas. He contends that Ruby cannot obtain a fair trial here. If the defense succeeded in subpoenaing potential jurors, to be witnesses at the trial, those subpoenaed would have to be removed from the list of veniremen because a prospective witness cannot serve as a juror.
Actor Peter Sellers (38) weds actress Britt Ekland in London, England.
The UK flies a half-ton of Beatles wigs to the United States.
Singer-songwriter Paul Simon wrote “The Sound of Silence”, which would become the first of three #1 bestselling singles for the duo Simon & Garfunkel.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 794.91 (-0.49).
Born:
Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist (2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for CRISPR Gene Editing), in Washington, District of Columbia.
Brett Kebble, South African gold mining magnate, in Springs, Gauteng, Republic of South Africa (murdered 2005).
Gary Leeman, Canadian NHL right wing (NHL Champions, Stanley Cup-Canadiens, 1993; NHL All-Star, 1989; Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues), in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mike Cofer, NFL kicker (NFL Champions, Super Bowl 23 and 24, 1988, 1989; San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts), in Columbia, South Carolina.
Rickey Parks, NFL wide receiver (Minnesota Vikings), in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Jim Crocicchia, NFL quarterback (New York Giants), in Waterbury, Connecticut.
History Diaries 