Sunday, May 7, 1972
Not Ruling Out Return Of Marines
WASHINGTON (AP) --The Pentagon Friday opened the possibility that Marine troops might be landed back in South Vietnam to protect American support forces if they were threatened by the North Vietnamese invasion.Spokesman Jerry W. Friedheim said "I would not" consider such an action a resumption of U.S. ground combat responsibility."It is not our intention to resume the ground combat responsibility in South Vietnam," Friedheim said.Friedheim said he would not foreclose the possibility of Marines returning to Vietnam but gave no indication there are any plans at present for them to do so.He indicated that Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, the U.S. commander in Vietnam, could substitute additional combat troops for some noncombat American military men now in Vietnam so long as he keeps within approved manpower levels and ultimately meets President Nixon's promise to reduce the over-all American presence in Vietnam by 20,000 men. There are now fewer than 68,000 American troops there.His remarks came during questioning by newsmen.Friedheim's statement appeared to be a reversal of a position he took last Monday when he was asked about the possible landing of Marines back in Vietnam during the current offensive.At that time, Friedheim said such a Marine landing "would be regarded as a re-introduction of ground forces" and noted that Secretary of State William P. Rogers has said the United States would not do that.There are reported to be about 5,000 Marines afloat in amphibious ships in the South China Sea. The two reinforced Marine battalions have available to them helicopters and landing craft.American troops still in Vietnam include about six battalions of Army infantry whose mission is to safeguard the noncombat American serviceman there, but not to engage in any offensive battlefield action. There was a clash Thursday between a U.S. Army patrol and an enemy force about 15 miles from Da Nang, with two U.S. wounded reported.The Pentagon spokesman said the six battalions of infantry is "not a ceiling" for Abrams and indicated that, if he chose, Abrams could pull out support type troops and replace them with additional U.S. combat men from outside Vietnam, so long as he maintained the over-all withdrawal program.In effect, Friedheim was drawing a distinction between the possible reintroduction of American ground troops as an emergency safety measure and a reintroduction to take up the ground combat responsibility which was officially handed to the South Vietnamese Army last summer.At the White House, deputy press secretary Gerald L. Warren responded "There is no change in our position" when asked whether U.S. ground combat troops would be reintroduced in Vietnam. When a questioner cited the Pentagon comment on Marine combat troops, Warren said, "I am not going to give you a White House view on that."Friedheim, asked whether U.S. Marines or other American troops might be landed north of the Demilitarized Zone in North Vietnam, said, "I do not foresee that within our policy."The Marines now in the waters near South Vietnam are principally two battalions totaling some 3,000 Marine infantry along with supporting elements.The 31st Marine Amphibious Unit, which includes a Marine battalion landing team, is on the helicopter-equipped amphibious assault ship Tripoli. The Tripoli normally has about 25 or so helicopters.Traveling with the Tripoli is the Duluth, an amphibious transport vessel which carries assault boats for over-the-water landings."Not Ruling Out Return of Marines", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Sunday, May 7, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.