Page 4 - TheGoldBug1968-69

PAGE 4 THE GOLD BUG SEPTEMBER 27, 1968 Somebody Up There ?~ What Nam Is Like: The La~RAa:.dz~:~~:.Rhetoric rff1 'Our Job Is A Necessary One' by Linda Sullivan We have gone to Qu~n Lol, Lac should Ninch (we've been there twice but and rest stop what they're doing or the earth should open I am stationed here at Lat Khe each time we leave they've had a up or it should rain for 40 days The more you think about It, the more ludicrous it becomes, But "law nothing like and order" Is thepoUtical shibboleth of 1968. The phrase is never clearly base 27 miles or so from Saigon ground attack that night Iosmg 15 or sometntng-o--but 'rner-s a rhythm to men or so---whUe with thel50 Infantry Division "The killing upward that happens. defined--you just keep repeating those magic words, very much like au Big Red One." Things here were of 130 V.C, Hence they are care- like here, and it goes on, people Incantation. We seem as determined te have law and order 1966 as we fine until 13 September, when 4 of rut about where we go and main- pick up and "are strong at the were to "like Ike" in 1956. The Irony or hypocrisy 01 the whole matter is beautifully Illustrated my real good friends here----one talning security as much as poss- broken places" and it's like noth- by a recent incident tn Cockeysville, a suburb ol Batttmora, In three out of them Major General Kent Ware tble. Au Lac Lang Blnh Phone ing ever happened. of rive-test cases, Negroes were turned away from new housing facilities ( C. J. of 1st Infantry Division) Vlnh, are so~e of The big'names. You go to the hospital here and were all hurled in a chopper crash there. Minutes later, white applicants immediatelyobtalneaapartments. not far from here. That kind of Most of the time we're in the mid- YO.usee the, gUYs.and you know This Is in direct violaUonofthe new federal law regarding housing pass- brought this very unreal situation dle of several or c on the edge uus war can t be right-v-and then ed Iast April. One gets the impression, however, that we are not talking of a swamp or in the middle 01" you turn around and talk to the about this aspect of law and order. Into focus fo: ~s h~r:".:._Myjob is nowhere. Tay Nlnh (about 10 miles men, you hear th.em laugh and Nor do candidates make a special reference to organized crime which outstanding. Our automobile can't drains our economy at biltons oI dollars annually. travel almost (2000 miles a week) fr~~ed~S) :~s w:;:: ~te~n~: ~~~ i~~~;~~~r~::, ~~~rw:!~:;::h e~~~ you want to call it and their de- y, It Is never mentioned that our President is not our snertrr-ca Matt We travel mostly by chopper pe f Dillon patrolling the streets of Dodge Cjty. (either sucks huey cobras or cay- off alert pre~t:l:n~:n'a ' k Red Cross sire tOflghtandth~irwhateverelse . t One of my you want to call It, and then you into 1 Where were the "tew and order" people during tbe long travail of uses) chtnooks (resupply helicop- black suppression in America, the lynchings, and the lack of convictions ters) and or caribou's (only when ~::I w~~i.ShO~e~Sc~~~e;ol~;ok 8 ~~ehe~:e It:beCt::~t~d:~;eo:~: In recent ctvn rights' murders? Medgar Evers' widow might detect a desperate) We have 4 girls in rounds. She was the only one 1 do feel that the war can't be hollow quality in our magic words. our unit and every day 2 of us hurt and it wasn't bad----a super- presented as accurately as poss- And there appears precious ntne mention of alleviating the cause of stay behind and work the base violence and disorder and, apparently, for this particular election any camp runs (we program in men ~:\~l :~~:d~~eB~~~~S ::n.S!~:n~:; ~~I:er~ :~~ ;:;~:~t~'ju~'tV~n:::~ around here) we have halls emphasis on "freedom and justice for au» is-out. nos- before. pO nmas-v-nonung ever per-fence but you can have them thewaythewas "Law and order" is, tntact, a meaningless phrase. Each person (from pttal runs, also, hold up runs, and~· happened----that's ok one day andz: all. Daley to Lindsey, from Maddox to Muskle)cangive it his own interpreta- a weekly rodeo'show (2 times a goes. You're I am convinced of one thing and week) tion. the next. You see guys one ay that is our job is a necessar; one Hitler and Robert KelUledy believed in law and order. It is a necessary and suddenly t~eY're ~ot there and it has a purpose here,andlam Ingredient for a stahle society and a worthy goal. Happy the next day. It s not fight some- , strange as it seems, glad to be The question is "How are you going to maintain order and enforce how, It's like something catalys- here: I will also, needless.tosay, law?" "What kind of stability will you have?" The means are important. mic should haopen----everyone be glad to get home next year. wlli they arise out of increased repression or increased senstivity to New Yearl human need? So in a sense it is a non-issue. But considering the sentiment for Geo;ge and Dick '(via Spiro) and Huber~ getting on the bandwagon with a by Ellen Von Oehsen pinch of justice thrown in, "law and order" is the key issue of the cam- pa~;haps the insight of Israel's prophets was accurate. An ordered ed~l~:'~~~~'~:;'o::~\;~:r!l~:I~~;~ society Is a by-product ot a just society and so their constant plea was past presidents. We saw alumm 11ft for justice, fairness, and mercy. Therewlll never be an ordered society up tired heads and give a sUenthoot as long as the Cockeysville incidents are repe.ated. over tea cups and name tag.s and It Is sad that in the latterthirdof this century an American preslden- brass bands and they told us ltwas tial campaign should be run, and possibly won, on the slogan of "law and a centennial. order". The fears of the middle class maybe temporarily placated, but This .year nobody declared a the real answer lies somewhere in the directiono! another magical phrase celebratIOn. But new faces instead words with which our pledge of allegiance concludes. of cobwebs came out of bUIldings "Dad, can you answer a question for me?" and we saw how bright a dorm can be. The air-pie and mystery meat ::~:~~I-~~lt' It~~n't~~~~:'a~~~t ::::;~~ei:~:~~.o~t ~~::~i:~~h.:~i~~; still come across counters but the rights .. and didn't explain it. I still don't understand the signilicance ot space and the pace make it taste a It." little better. The windOWSthe glass "Civilrlghts oh yeh! That was way back in the, uh,.1 think, the the open ends have overcome the 20th century, but it's not very important in Itselt. It is Interesting, though. corners. It occurred when our, ub, species sUll had a vestige of body hair, even In Ollr celebration of the new on their heads ... " Ihere is no room for stale ideas. "Like that thing on the wheat box-----the bobrichards?" For those of us inourlaslyear,we "Yes, that's it, like the Bobrlchards. It,.er,HE was an ancient human The Green Berets are seeing ideas on which we have being, I believe of the group, Homo Sapiens, who livt!d In the pate-hair age. Like J said, they also had hall' on their bodies, but they covered so long theorized brought to life by Alan Win*" in the freshmen class. They are themselves with skins and garments in shame. Later, the pate-hair and From the standpoint of w.hat a Wayne takes him immediately ana acting out the figments ofourima- garments were ornamentations. They always wore this "clothing." film Should be, the Green Berets dangerous assignment, straining glnation and we must move iolothe "Even In the warm season?" Is rathereasytocritlcize.lnspots, my believability just a bit. But the light olthis open end. "It was different then, son, they couldn't control the climate; but let the directing was bad enough to Viet Nam, the old "fugitive'· sees Along with the new exists acer- me finish. These being mistrusted people who didn't look like them, and, make one wonder if John Wayne would probably makeGene McCar- tain amount of sterility. Walk down naturally, this species consisted of subdivisions called "races" differ- hasn't secretly been doing ROTC thy turn into a hawk. The only way a corridor in the new dorm and you entiated, primarily, byepidermal hue. No kidding, there were reds, pinks, training -films all these years. the opposite side is viewed is almost expect to see a patient purples, yellows, browns, and even blacks and whites. The blacks and David Jansen's liberal reporter through the yes of those who lace wheeled down the hall. It is very whites Invented this thing called civil rights, which led to the near catas- came off about as well as could be their ruthlessness every da"y in clean and compact. But we must trophe of racial war. War is .••" expected to such unreal surround- ·combat. grow and expand from this fresh- "I remember that." Ings, but the rest of the actlngwas If the film has a saving tactor, ness ..• its preservationwouldmean "Okay ... well, anyway, it all started in District 14, which was then, nothing to get excited about. Need- it is that one gets a better pic- its death. If we are able to touch called America. The population was mainly white with a heavy sprink·- less tosaY,JohnWayneplayedhim_ ture of the thankless job that the what is alive and not be awed by the ing of black people. The white portion denied or at best were indiffer- self. special forces are doing in Viet youth of new Ideas, we may grow. ence toward the blacks. AIterthree hundred years, with the society near- The plot--what there was of it- Nam. But I don't think anyone has If we are able to accept the conse- ing a white maturity, the blacks demandedequalopportuntties. This was conSisted of various exploits of been critical of these menassold- quences of youthful idealism and Civil rights." Green Berets in action during a iers. Mr. Wayne and the movie commitment, we may learn. If we "That doesn't sound so important, exceptforthe fact that those beings battle for a base camp in VietNam. missed the point, and it is unfort- are able to break open the cellop- must have had less intelligence than common fowl." Add one small Vietnamese child unate to use such a fine military hane to use what's inside, we may "You're almost right on the latter point, but your first observation 15 with an American buddy, an espio- organization to prove an InvaIid produce. completely wrong. This group functioned as a result of a simple process nage intrigue that involvesafamlly agreement. It is no longer time to announce known as "thought." This worked well for them. In tact, they were ad- struggle complete with anadulter- The film ends with an attempt at the New Year, but to celebrate It. vancing towards pure thought, which might have been superior to our ous but honorable woman, andJohn sensitivity that pretty well sums The possibilities for change this system. I won't explain thought; you'll learn the rudiments in a few Wayne's sensitiVity In deaUngwUh up why the film didn't work. Mr. year are very great. Having aired months. Now, as to the Importance of civil rights, it led to the pheno- people of all races, etc. Wayne returns, in the morning, out the old, and having been given a menon called war. Racial war. You see, frustration led to feelings of Whatislert,orshallwesayright, from a mission to find the Viet- face 11ft, our continuity must in separatism and superiority among the blacks, and friction between the is an attempt at justifying the U.S. namese child look1ngfor his Amer- many areas be arrested by change. two races erupted intowar. Asqulcklyas the war began, and sociolqglcal position in Viet Nam. I guess that ican buddy. We saw Peterson, the The new dorms, the cafeteria. and barriers were crossed, the warring factions realized that their problem Wayne thinks that,peace demon- latherly soldier, impaled on ater- the increase in our student body was (he result of repression of extraracial sex drIves (sex was their strators care only lor the lives of rifying Viet Cong bobby trap and have beenexceUentairfresheners, means of maintaining and proliferating their kind) and what started as a enemy soldIers. This not being the we are waiting to see how the great but it is a superficial atmosphere war, ended as an orgy, called The GreatSpawning. This marked the be- case, the movie's plea only makes white father will handle the only until we inflate the air with com- dnning of the species, Home Artomatus." the intelligent viewer wonder what sincere character in the film. mitment as well. Curfews, extra- "It sounds as it they were ashamed or afraid at their, uh, their indiVi- happened to the other side of the Walking along the beach with the curricular activities, communica- duality. A separate race would be IdOlized toda)'." story. sun suddenly setting (though it was tions, and current events could aU "Maybe, at least we are better equipped to deal with the problem, but In his dealings with Mr. Jansen, still very, very early) Wayne as- stand attention In our resolutions we don't have to contend with Individuality. Tbose poor HomoSaptens Wayne points out that one shouldn't sures the child thathewill be look- for the New year. These things stumbled into the problem and didn't have the mental capabilities to cope make judgements onasltuationone ed after and that he should be brace. should be taken down from their with It; or an authority to direct their efforts .... I don't know why I'm tell- has never seen. When the reporter "After all" siJ.ysJohn," that'swhat pedastals of indifference and touch- Ing you this son, it's all history and you'll encounter it sooner or later. shows up in the war-torn country, this is all about." .d.