Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Letters Does it DIAR MR. BEEBE: How ridiculous is man. He hunts one another with sophisticated and highly developed weapons. He kills as many and as effectively as he can. He establishes rules by which he shall destroy his fellow man, and orders that those who shall not follow the rules of destruction shall be destroyed themselves. Rules, their creation and im plementation, presuppose a thinking and rational being guided by some logic. And yet, can anyone imagine being guided by a set of ales in the business of killing, P'when in the process, by following such rules, the killer might be killed himself'? Clearly, that doesn't make sense. What more sense does it make to kill one who kills, because he doesn't follow the rules of killing'? What difference does it make if one kills a man according to a set of rules or if one kills that same man while not abiding by the same set of rules? Either way, the one who is killed is destroyed. What difference does it make if a human is killed by a bomb dropped from a plane by another human or if he is killed by a human standing in front of him with a gun? Does it make sense to talk about or even create in the first place rules of killing'? Do the gods have clay feet? JOHN GRIER Cany facts I)EAR MR. BEEBE: Thank you for printing the ar ticle in the April 5th edition of the Gamecock concerning the crisis kick ii Lace into a billy 1 great to look - Or dirty buck suede. I At your Plymou Wrights & Johnsoi Jock's Shoes, Col Brody's, Sumter IdealI Shoe Shop, Brock's, Chorlost -PLYMOUTII SHOE COh make intervention service of Saint Patrick's Chapel. I would, however, like to clarify some facts which are inaccurate in the article. Saint Patrick's Chapel operates on a 24 hour answering service providing the University com munity and greater Columbia with a crisis number, 252-7737, which is to be dialed at any time when there is a need for help. Do not call the participating radio stations as suggested in the Gamecock article, but the above number. Any student interested in this pro.ect may contact me so that they might be called upon to help if needed. This intends to be a professional service rather than one operated by untrained per sonnel. ir at all possible we would ap preciate the inclusion of the crisis number, 252-7737 in some prominent place in subsequent issues of the Gamecock. Thanking you again for your assistance, I am, FATIIER DAVIEL . WATKINS, ('11APLAIN SAINT PATRICK'S CRISIS IN T'ItVENTION SERVICE Tasteless issue DEAR MR. BEEBE: During my two years at Carolina I have frequently, from curiosity, read that biased scandal sheet we all know as "The Gamecock." Although my verbal condemnation has been loud and long, I have never had it put into print. After the tasteless insert in Friday's issue concerning "gooks" and oo.Rugged, comfortable, 2t. In brown saddle leather. :ar better than barefoot. th dealer. Or write. ,, Columbia Leon's, CI lumbia America's Smith Sho4 spartanburg Bradford's onUniversity LPAYV lINC. AADLf EB RO,A .N sense. "killing like Calley," I find it necessary to do so now. One can overlook the typographical errors and journalistic inadequacies contained in "The Gamecock" because its staff consists solely of amateurs, but the blatant display of disregard for human dignity found in Friday's issue cannot go unanswered. I am deeply concerned that genuine protest to the Indochina situation has degenerated to such a degree. Everyone should be ap palled by this untimely smear, regardless of their political In clinations. As a Vietnam veteran I am wefl aware of the impact which smear tactics such as this have on returning soldiers. I therefore demand that you, as editor of "The Gamecock," print an immediate apology for this thoughtless degradation of veterans. There are many in the Carolina community who have returned from Vietnam, but I challenge you to find one who enjoyed "killing gooks." C.O. KOON Send The Gamecock Home (Bend your parents out of shape) 9015 (darry biathi 9016 (brown Ioothee) wrieston Shoe Shop, Greenville Shop, Greenville Bootery, Florence Shop, Sumter LAssACHuseTTS -02346 FUANKLY SEKING 't WAtYVU (PVT Mm. 14Vm MR. pwWw, fVUU Hoppe Sentence By ARTHUR HOPPE Columnist The nation is in a furor over the conviction of Lieutenant Calley. Instead of life at hard labor, many patriots seem to feel, what he deserves is a ticker-tape parade. No one, including Lieutenant Calley, denies he shot and killed a large number of unarmed women and children. This is of course, an atrocity under the rules of war. But a good many Americans object heatedly to the verdict on two grounds. First is its effect on the morale of our fighting men ''Atrocities are committed in every war, they say. "To single out and punish one soldier will demoralize every soldier." Or, to put it another way, if our fighting men feel they can't shoot and kil unarmed women and children, it will destroy their fighting spirit. But more widespread is the conviction that Lieutenant Calley is the scapegoat for his superiors. Unfortunately, all his superiors deny ordering him to shoot and kill unarmed women and children or being aware that he was doing so. Fortunately, however, there is a way out that should satisfy everyone: The General Yamashita D)octrine Don't Fight The Establishment Join Them At Shimmy's For a Steak 1111 LADY STREET 254-4492 S Ivyil phuank us all General Yamashita, you may recall, was the Japanese mander in the Phillippines during World War II. Troops under his command were accused of com mitting atrocities. So when the war was over we captured General Yamashita and speedily executed him. 'rue, the General claimed he hadn't ordered any atrocities nor was he aware they had taken place. But, as we righteously pointed out, he should have known what his troops were doing and was therefore responsible for the atrocities they committed. That's the General Yamashita Doctrine to which this Nation subscribed. Obviously, by applying it to the My Lai case, Lieutenant Calley's superiors all the way up to General Westmoreland are equally guilty. Sentencing all these officers to lite at hard labor should satisfy the American Legionnaires and others who are angered by Lieutenant Calley 's Commander-in-Chief at the time? Must we, because of the outcries of patriotic letterwriters, now try formier President Lyndon Johnson under the Yamashita Doctrine? Yet fair is fair. Of course, in our democracy, the Commander-in-Chief is merely our elected representative. We, the people, are his superiors. So, under the Yamashita Doctrine, we are equally responsible. No use denying we didn't order Lieutenant Calley to shoot and kill those unarmed women and children. No use pleading we didn't know what.was going on. Surely those patriots who bravely urged on this bloody war are guilt y. Surely the rest of us who paid our taxes to train Lieutenant Calley to kill and to buy him his gun are guilty. Surely, we are all guilty under the Yamashita D)octrine. Or any other you can name. And it I were the judge, 1 would sentence each of us to a lifetime of hard thinking. Copyright Chrnnicle Publishing