The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, January 22, 1970, Image 10
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2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., Jan. 22, 1970
In the pieture above, the three
chimneys stand in mute testimony to
a serious need in Laurens County—
rural fire protection.
Ihose three columns are all that is
left of a 67-year-old iO-room house in
Renno. The house was occupied by a
family which included eight children.
'I he family was renting the house
from Mrs. ,J. David (Alice) ( opeland
but they had fallen in love with the
beautiful old home.
When the fire was reported on a
Saturday aiternoon, municipal fire de
partments were unable to answer the
alarm because it was out of iheir ju
risdiction. Municipal fire departments
have a responsioility to the municipal
residents who s u p p o r t the depart
ments through their tax money. They
have to draw a fine line of lire protec
tion and adhere to it.
'1 he Sheriff’s Department sent
deputies to the scene and forest rang
ers also were there to assist but neith
er could extinguish the blaze. Neither
department is equipped to battle house
fires. '1 he forest ranger’s primal y
responsibility in a rural fire is to keep
the fire from spreading to woodlands
and that’s all they are equipjted to do.
As we have said before, we hope
tile legislative delegation will make
rural fire protection a priority item
this year. Of course, they can’t do it
all by themselves. Rural communi
ties must band together, set up lire
ditricts and oe willing to pay for the
protection.
Studies on rural lire protection
needs were completed in 1968. The
time has come for action — rural citi
zens working in cooperation w ith I he
legislators and vice versa.
In addition to the loss oi rural
homes, the au.sence of lire protection
hampers the development of the rural
areas of the county. Industries aren't
going to locate in a rural area where
they cannot be assured of lire protei-
tion.
There are too many smoke-staine !
chimneys giving their silent testimony
in Laurens founty
STRATEGIC SUPPLY SOURCE
In November, 1965, Rhodesian
Prime Minister Ian Smith announced
his nation’s declaration of independ
ence, thus severing the bonds between
that African country and the British
government. Since that day the Brit
ish have imposed economic sanctions
against Rhodesia with support from
our own government. In May, 1968,
the United Nations Security Council
voted a total trade and travel blockade
against Rhodesia. The United States
again supported the sanctions.
• Before the boycott, the United
States imported one-third of its
chrome from Rhodesia and one-third
from the Soviet Union. Today the
slack caused by the loss of our Rho
desian supply has been taken up by
imports of the vital metal from the
^Soviet Union. Domestic chromite min
ing has been inactive since 1961.
Economist Anthony C. Sutton of
Stanford University’s Hoover Institu
tion raises a significant question. Why,
he asks, does the Soviet Union—while
suppdying most of the arms and am
munition against us in the Vietnam
war — continue to furnish us with
vital Chromium? Chrome is essential
for the manufacture of jet engines.
gas turbines, guns and armor-piercing
projectiles, aircraft, motor vehicles,
and much more.
Mr. Sutton cites two possible mo
tives for the strange willingness of
the USSR to continue to export this
war material to the U.S.A.: ID’a
strategy of interdependence leading to
peace; or 2) the conscious exploitation
of a ‘weak link’ leading to miscalcula
tion and war.”
Mr. Sutton points out that the So
viets have managed to avoid any stra
tegic dependence on their part. With
the sole exception of synthetic rubber
the Reds import no vital mineral prod
ucts from us. But Commerce Depart
ment figures show that of $35 million
worth of goods imported by the U.S.A.
in the first half of 1968, $29 million
were “so-called weak-link items such
as munitions minerals.” Sutton con
cludes that “t h e evidence suggests
that the Soviets adopted the weak-link
theory and have endeavored to put it
into practice.” If true, he warns, it
makes little s e n s e “to defend v)ur-
selves at a cost of billions against So
viet missiles, without accompanying
this move by the logical action—tak
en at tne almost negligible cost of
shifting supply sources
NO SUMMER SOLDIER'
On a cold December day in 1958,
an Italian born Alfio Leone, age 13,
came Jto the shores of the United
States. On another cold December day
in 1969, at a special court hearing held
in Ward 5-A at the Valley Forge Hos
pital, Sergeant Alfio Leone, United
States Army, becaane a U.S. citizen.
Throughout the ceremony presiding
Judge John M. Kurtz, Sr., interrupted
to ask the young man if he would pre
fer to sit. The reply was “1 will stand.”
And he stood tall.
Seventy patients and hospital
staffers, some with tears in their eyes,
witnessed the special session. Great,
agenizing beads of sweat ran down the
face of the young soldier, but he stood
tall
In May of 1968, Leone had enlisted
in hia adopted nation’s army. He vol
unteered for duty in Vietnam in June
of the following year—1969. He filed
foi? naturalization while on leave, but
wm thinned to the combat zone before
a second hearing could be given. In
August, 1969, he suffered a wound in
one eye and was hopitalized in Phan
Het In short order he returned to
: the field.
■ ' On October 19 he was called for
another hearing in Honolulu, but he
didn’t receive the notice until the 21st.
On the 20th he had been promoted to
the rank of sergeant. Two days later
while walking point for his patrol,
Sgt. Leone triggered a communist
booby trap, and sustained severe
wounds to both legs, his left arm and
left side of his body.
And so it was that the naturaliza
tion hearing was held in Valley Forge
Army Hospital. Alfio Leone is now
a citizen of the United States. He
earned that distinction after a long
wait. Twice he was wounded fighting
for his new homeland. And he had
sacrificed much. Those who were there
will long remember the official mo
ment when he became a full-fledged
citizen. For Sgt. Alfio Leone stood
proud and tall—notwithstanding that
two months before, at a field hospital
in Quinhon, Vietnam both of his legs
had been amputated.
Perhaps Thomaf Paine said it as
well as any: “The .summer soldier and
the sunshine patrir t will, in this crisis,
shrink from the tervice of his coun
try; but he that stands it now, de
serves the love and thanks of man and
woman.”
Military Rights
(Editor’s Note: Spec.4Johnson
left this week for a tour of duty
in Vietnam.)
peaceful dissent in the form of
letters, ads, and even peaceful
marches.
Dear Editor.
I have just read with extreme
dismay your blanket condemna
tion of all military rights to speak
out on moral and political issues
in your editorial of January 15,
1970. I feel that I must comment
on this diatribe against all mem
bers of the military who would
act as responsible, concerned
citizens and voice their opinions
on certain of these issues. Be
fore doing so, however, some
statements about my background
might be helpful in evaluating my
comments.
1. I graduated from USC in
1965, B.S. in Chemistry.
2. I volunteered for and served
in the U. S. Peace Corps from
September, 1965, until July, 1968,
working in the Republic of the
Philippines for peace and under
standing among all peoples of the
world. While serving inS.E. Asia
I traveled extensively, talking to
people of all classes and races -
all of whom voiced their concern
for world peace.
3. Upon my return to the U.S.
while teaching high school, I was
drafted in January, 1969, and after
nine months of intensive training
in written and spoken Viet Na-
mese by Viet Namese nationals
I am presently enroute to Viet
Nam as an interpreter/trans
lator.
I feel that the above are slight
qualifications to speak on issues
concerning our great nation. The
most important of which is the
fact that I am now a member of
the U. S. Army about to risk my
life defending this nation. But
even without these I would feel
it my patriotic duty to speak out
on questions and issues involving
our national security and desires
for universal peace regardless of
my present state.
You say that it is our duty
to defend the national security:
i.e. you. I wholeheartedly agree,
for the defense of our ideals of
government is now, and has al
ways been, the responsibility of
the young who are able to de
fend it. You condemn all dissent
in the military saying, ” this is not
a valid place for dissent”. You
even condemn participation by
G.I.s in off-base demonstrations
and their expressions of their
concern for the nation in any
form. And here I must disagree.
If we are asked to give our lives
to protect these very rights for
you and then are denied all of
them ourselves, then our very
reason for fighting is being pro
stituted. For only in the coun
tries of our “enemies” are these
rights denied, and when we begin
to deny them to some, regardless
of the reason, the time will soon
come when these rights will be
denied to all. You stress the need
for discipline and obedience to
authority in the military, es
pecially to our Commander-in-
Chief. Here again I agree with
you, but only up to a point. Our
own Commander-in-Chief said,
“You are citizens first, and sold
iers second.” And yet, as citizens
by his own admission, we are
denied our fundamental rights.
Here I am not speaking of vio
lent demonstrations, but of
You warn us of radical take
over of the government by the
military and cite our Latin
American neighbors as ex
amples. I would like for you to
cite an example of this take
over by the ordinary, every-day
privates of the army. Yes, his
tory gives us these examples of
Army overthrows of govern
ments, but seldom, if ever, by
us poor order-following “gunts”.
Perhaps, instead, we should be
worried about our generals. And
with the recent scandals of fraud
and financial swindles by some of
these very generals, perhaps,
this worry is genuine. Some of
them, it would seem, are too busy
lining their pockets to think of
taking over the government. (And
people sometimes wonder why we
lack confioence in some of our
leaders.) But do not misconstrue
me, I do not condemn all of our
leaders, as you seem to condemn
all military dissenters. Most of
them are capable, concerned
leaders. I merely ask that some
of your concern about us poor
“left-learning demonstrators”b§
shared with some of our leaders
who are not without blame. Will
they, “while voicing concern for
their rights” especially that of
the 5th amendment, also have the
right to be “held accountable for
their acts". Right now it seems
as if they will not.
You say there are “few in the
military who dislike what the
military must do, as part of its
duty”. I pray there are many.
For if this nation ever reaches
the point of liking the wholesale
slaughter of people, regardless
of the reason, then this nation
has lost sight of its founding
principles. I trust there are very
few who like war and what it
stands for, but I am sure there
are many of us who, though dis
liking it, still feel it our duty
to defend you and the concerned
citizens of this great country,
whether or not we agree with your
views.
Finally, if this editorial does,
in fact, represent the views of
the majority of people in this
town and nation, then WE the mili
tary are dying in vain. Then we
are losing our lives to uphold an
ideal which is dying even as we
do. And if so, then perhaps there
are many of us who would rather
have a “dishonorable discharge”
and leave this once-great nation;
as I, for one, have no desire to
participate in denying these free
doms to anyone for any reason,
whether for race, color, or for
being a patriotic soldier fight
ing in a war not of my own choos
ing and even dying for a country
which exists only in the imagi
nation of a “few”. At least you
and other “concerned” citizens
have not denied us the right to
vote. NOT YET.
May God grant that this'na
tion may continue as it was
founded--with freedom for ALL.
Freedom to agree and to dis
agree. Freedom to die for what we
believe (or for what the majority
believes), and freedom to be
heard while expressing our own
views. Freedom to enjoy peace
ourselves and perhaps, someday,
peace for all people of all nations.
PEACE,
Spec. 4 James T. Johnson
U.S.A.R.V.N.
Unanswered Question
The Editor:
I have read in the past few
weeks of the program which en
abled the citizens of Clinton to
recommend ways to improve our
town. I am sure that many mater
ial items were recommended and,
all in all, they will help make
Clinton a better place to live.
I am sure that everyone knows
that it takes not only material
things to make anything better.
I would like to suggest that our
public servants, namely the
members of the police depart
ment - and they are public ser
vants - change their attitude tow
ard some of the people in our
town.
While shopping in one of the
local department stores on Mus-
grove Street last week I noticed
that a State Police car was park
ed in a parking space and the red
flag was showing. A city police
man had just placed tickets on
cars on either side of the State
car plus many more, all ofwhich
had the red flag showing. Just
out of pure curosity, I asked the
policeman if police cars could
park anywhere and at anytime
without getting a ticket. He was
surprised that I even asked but
be finally calmed down and told
me that they could - if they were
on police business. This seemed
fair enough until I saw the High
way Patrolman in one of the down
town dime stores. I returned to
the policeman writing the tickets
and told him this. I have never
seen anyone get so “bent out of
shape” over a question. I was
told very rudely that if I wanted
to talk about it I would have to
go to the police station. This
attitude did not set well with me
at all, so I went to the police
station.
I asked the same question to
the dispatcher and explained what
I wanted to know. He looked very
schocked and told me, and I
quote, “I will tell you what the
problem is. You are one of those
smart-aleck teenagers that are
trying to start trouble. There are
a lot of your kind around here.
That’s what the problem is.” This
is far from being the respectable
police officer I heard of as a
child. I am no longer a child or
a teen-ager so I guess I now
find that there are some people
around who are disrespectful no
matter who they represent. I don’t
see what I did wrong! All I did
was ask a simple question - and
as of yet I have not received
an answer.
Yes, material items will im
prove our town but what will an
out-of-state or out-of-town
visitor think when our police tell
them theyare smart-aleck’s. Un
less our public servants can
L
%.•*»
{
"I'll give ya 5-to2 there ain't any football
pros mixed up with gambling..."
Nixon's Record
After One Year
the iini"ii Lisses no longer have a
BY THURMAN SENSING
Executive Vice President
Southern States Industrial
C'uncil
Now that President Richard M.
Nixon has just atvut rounded -ut
his first year m ffice, it is
possible to make a tentative ap
praisal ' 1 his character as Chief
Executive.
Certainly, the .style f the Nix n
administratcn is very different
from the style of the tve pre
ceding administrations headed by
Presidents Kennedy andJohnson.
Wnereas his immediate prede
cessors conducted high-pressure
presidential operations, Mr.
Nixon has preferred to run the
Executive Branch in a m re quiet
and restrained manner. Absent
from the White House has been
the train of retainers and family
mern’ers that gave the White
House in much of the 1960s the
air of a court or dynastic gath
ering.
Mr. Nixon doesn't have much of
a flair for the dramatic, and
this is to the good. The Ameri
can people have had too much f
“the Beautiful People” and tlie
Wheeler-Dealers in the White
House. It seems that they are
quite content to have a presiden
tial mansion where solid middle
class tastes are well exempli
fied. This shift in tone is a heal
thy thing for the nation. America,
after all, isn't a monarchy, and
the White House should not take
on the manners or appearance of
a royal mansion.
America’s diplomacy also has
been quieted a good bit since Mr.
Nixon took office. While theState
Department still needs a thor
ough house-cleaning, there is
less of an ideological crusade in
U. S. policy-making. The ideolo
gues in the Department who want
to crusade against friendly, Wes-
tern-prientated governments in
Africa, for instance -- who
enjoyed a field day especially in
the Kennedy administration --
have been hushed, if not elimina
ted. Happily, there are no “Soapy ’
Williams in high places, though
they may survive at the lower
echelons.
Another cheering change is that
lower themselves to give infor
mation then Clinton will never
move an inch in the memories
of the town’s visitors. They will
remember Clinton very well.
Could you forget being called a
smart-aleck for just asking a
simple question?
It is just a small thing but
small things are causing this
nation to lose respect throughout
the world. Why should a man in a
public office or a man in a po
sition of law enforcement be
allowed to disobey the very same
laws they are paid to enforce?
Paid by the citizens!
I hope that the next time I
come home to Clinton I will have
encouraged our public officials
to be more respectful to the hand
that feeds.
Sincerely,
Walter J. Rice, Jr.
3rd Division
USS Wainwright (DLG-28)
FPO New York, N. Y. o9501
veto p .wer over the federal gov
ernment.
The uni' n chieftains still have
plenty of political muscle >nCap-
ital Hill, but free enterprise also
lias a chance to be heard :n the
councils of government. During
the Kennedy years, businessmen
were treated t ■ sone pretty ugly
language by the Chief Executive.
That's unlikeh to happen under
tht- Nix-n adnnmstrati n.
The South s situati on als ' has
improved :n some respects.Sen-
ab r Strom Thurmond f South
Car lina, a longtime Southern
conservative k-ader, recently
said that there is a new tone
f evenhandedness in the federal
government's treatment f the
various regi -ns f the c >untry."
Certainly, the administration's
successful fight against renewal
f the anti-S uth 1965 V ding
Rights Act, which discriminat
ed against six Southern States,
reflected a new attitude n the
part f the administration.
T be sure, ttie Nixon admin
istration still has a long way to
go. Its failure to live up to Mr.
Nixon's campaign promise to
support ‘freed itn of choice"
school plans is a serious de
ficiency, which must t>e reme
died. The Department of Health,
Educati >n and Welfare, under
Secretary Robert H. Finch, still
regards the S uth as a target.
President Nixon has done a
fine job in citing the "silent ma
jority" and in rallying support for
opposition to immediate with
drawal from Vietnam -- an act
ion that would betray the anti
communist struggle in Asia. Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew has
done even better than the Presi-
Dear Mr. Publisher:
I noticed in the paper the
other day where scientists are
afraid that DDT is gonna kill a
little bit more than it was in
vented for. It’s affecting ani
mals, plants, and people.
Sorta funny in a sad way, but
it looks like our inventions to
better human life may destroy
it. Maybe someday we’ll see that
the god of science has clay feet.
Folks used to worry about bugs
and worms. My mama used to
get awful upset when I ate a
half a worm. (She never knew
it when I ate the hole thing.)
On top of that I swallowed more
than one fly in my life time.
The way mama cut up sometimes
when this happened, I thought
maybe I was gonna die from tak
ing in these homeless creatures.
After reading about DDT, I
believe I’d rather eat worms and
bugs. Maybe the good ole days
all the younguns are laughing at,
wasn’t so bad after all.
Another ego puncturing thing
dent in “telling it like it is,”
calling the public's attentii»n
tn the way in which liberal news
casters distort the news in order
to advance their brand of poli
tics.
A tty. Gen. J"hn Mitchell also
has done a good job in pressing
for a tougher attitude towards
lawbreakers of all types. He has
shown that he wants to deal firm
ly with the subversive New Left
and the rev-lutionary Black Pan
thers.
But the Nixon administration
still lias its work cut out for it
self in tiit- next three years. It
must disentangle itself from ttie
liberal l Lc inside the Republi
can Party and d" m re to build
strong supp ort among cwser-
vative Americans, not forgetting
ttie millions who supported the
Wallace candidacy in 1968.
C<»nservatives will be closely
bserving the administration in
ttie new year. They will be call
ing on the President to nomi
nate a sound law and Tder judge
t" fill the seat that is vacant on
the Supreme Court.
In short, the final sc. re on
the Nixon administration won't be
known until 1972.
* * *
My Neighbors
i
^ '.f i L t-v>. i
v
-L
"He’ll think of you every
time he triumphs over a
clogged drain!”
happened not long ago when they
found out artificial sweetner can
cause cancer. I reckon it at
least give a fella a choice as
to whether he wants to die from
a heart attack or cancer. Maybe
we need to exercise a little will
power instead of inventing non
fattening foods. We always gotta
invent something to do it the easy
way.
Now don’t get me wrong, Mr.
Publisher, I ain’t against science
or progress. We just gotta be
more careful in plotting our pro
gress, or we may progress our
selves out of existance.
I’m running out of space so I
gotta be signing off and go read
that Bible story about the tower
of Babel again. That’s where man
was trying to make a name for
himself by building a tower to
heaven. According to the story the
folks wound up in utter confu
sion. That was before DDT, arti
ficial food sweetners - and moon
travel. Like Charlie Brown’s
friend Lucy says, “Good Grief”.
PARSON JONES SAYS
We Invent
New Problems
Parson Jones