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FD-340 (Rev. 7-16-63) () _—_— — Te . Eyewitness Report from Vieinam. ot, By SrewarT MEAcHam ~ « Stewart Meacham of Central Philadelphia Meeting is Peace Education Secretary of the American Friends ' Service Committee. On a recent visit to South Vietnam for the AFSC he took with him a letter of aceredi- | tation as correspondent for the Frienps Journat. The press card (pictured kere) issued to him in that cepec-i ity by the South Vietnam Press Office he used to attend press briefings im Saigon and os identification when he was observing the September elections in Quang Ngai. UANG NGAI Province has seen considerable mili- tary activity and continues to be one of the more, active areas for the National Liberation Front. Only a few nights before I went to the city of Quang Ngai (site of a prosthetic center and a child-day-care center operated by the American Friends Service Committee), the Front came into the city and executed a midnight raid on the jail holding over nine hundred political prisoners. ‘The coo} daring of this raid is suggested by the fact that United States and South Vietnamese armed forces, as well as substantial contingents of police, are stationed in Quang Ngai. The NLF set fire to two filling stations sin the center of the city and fired small arms into the -air at several other points. While all this was going on -they broke into the jail, spent the better part of an hour “lecturing the prisoners on the merits of the NLF, and then released those who wished to join the struggle against Saigon and U.S. military intervention. Newspa- pers reported that nearly all the prisoners took advan: tage of this opportunity. Jt When J arrived in Quang Ngai, U.S. armed force} were mounting retaliatory attacks against the surround- ing countryside. As I stepped off the plane J saw nine military helicopters landing in formation. Other groups . of helicopters were coming in behind this one, and by the time IJ had collected my luggage about fifty helicopters - had landed and some were taking off again. That after- moon, from the grounds of the Quang Ngai hospical, 1 saw US. military aircraft dive-bombing with fre bombs ‘on the nearby hills, while helicopters were lowering artil- flery pieces and other supplies to troops on the groundi +> “That night there was considerable H and I (harass yment and interdiction) fire, which shook the AFSC house where a number of us had gathered for the evening meal‘ —_— (indicate page, nome of newspaper, city and state.) p.597,598-"The Friends Journal" —. Philadelphia, pete: 11/15/67 Edition: VOl.13, No. Author: Stewart Meac jEdter: Frances Willi Tithe: _ Browin nae