‘Downed pirates realize
Vietnam well defended

By GENRIKH BOROVIK
HANOI Photographs of
many of them are glued on post-
ers. The posters say that 23
B-52 bombers were shot down

over Hanoi during the 12-day .

bombing of the DRV capital.
This is a great victory for the
Hanoi air-defense force, for
which it has been awarded the
highest order of the DRV “For
Battle Exploits.” And below
these communications are the
faces of those pilots who bomb-
ed Hanoi, dropped bombs on.
the ancient street of Kham
Thien and destroyed a school
and a kindergarten in the settle-
ment of Na Duong.

Now they wear striped prison
pajamas. And what they took
along going to bomb can be
seen at a_ special exhibition:
overalls, a helmet, a mosquito
net which looks more like a net
for catching crayfish, high boots,
a holster and flags with inscrip-
tions in Vietnamese: “Give me

‘ please something to eat,” “Spare
my life please,” and so on.

The remnants of their aircraft
may be seen in city streets.
The Vietnamese -handicraftsmen
have long found a use for the
bits of the aircraft metal. They
are making cigarette lighters,
combs, and ash trays. Each such
article bears an honest inscrip-
tion: “Made of an American
B-52 Aircraft.” The pieces look
fine, much finer than when all
that is flying.

Catching Pirates

The faces of many pilots in
the photographs are recognized
by ‘the people of Hanoi. Those
who were taken prisoner in the
city itself or on the outskirts.
Local inhabitants, when the situ-
ation allowed, and even under
the bombs, were always active
in catching the pirates.

Never before have so many
American fliers been captured in
so short a period of time—12
days, in fact. Judging by Ame-
rican sources, in these 12 days
alone the number of all airmen
taken prisoner in the DRV since
1964 has increased by 16%.

A great -deal indeed has

changed since 1964. The chang-
es have affected both the air-
defense services and the com-—

bat skills of Vietnamese missile-
men and ack-ack personnel,
that have grown considerably.
There have been changes, too,

incidentally in the “downed”
behavior of the American
pirates.

At half past ten in the eve-
ning of December 26, when the
bombing of Hanoi was particu-
larly intensive, continual and
barbarous, a B-52 pilot came
down tumbling into one of the
ponds in the southern part of
the capital. The pirate offered
no resistance to the local inha-
bitants, obeyed all orders and
surrendered his arms at once.
(By the way, none of the fliers
who were shot down over
Hanoi, I was told, put up any
resistance when taken prisoner.)

Two Days in Guam

The first words of this pilot
as people came running up to
him (there was one who had
some knowledge of English)
were: “I beg you to spare me
my life.”

Then he said immediately
that it was only two days be-
fore that he had arrived at the
war base of Guam, that it was

‘his first mission over Vietnam

and that he learned that he was
‘flying to Hanoi only 30 minutes
before the sorties, that he was
brought down very soon and
had no time to press the bomb
release button and that he was
prepared to fulfil any commands
from whoever they may come.

Earlier, several years ago, the
Vietnamese knew other pilots.
Some of them were impudent
and haughty and did not answer
the questions when addressed
by servicemen of junior rank.
Those did not consider that they
had been beaten and said that
they were simply unlucky —
were hit by a shell and now
found themselves on_ earth.
That, for example, was the con-
duct of an American ace, Alva-
rez, who was brought down on
Aug. 5, 1964 over Hanoi.

No More Leaflets

There was a time when the
pilots handed to the people who
captured them leaflets in which
it was printed in Vietnamese: “I
am a fighter against commu-
nism. My aircraft has met with

-None of the American pilots is

an accident by chance. My re-
quest to local people is to pro-
tect me, to hide me in time, to
feed and then immediately to
transport me to a safe place,
preferably where American
troops are stationed. For this
the U.S., government will pay
the person who renders these
services 80,000 dongs.”

But those days are long past.

now interested in the military
rank of a person who takes him
prisoner, none seeks sympathy
for a “fighter against commu-
nism.” All of them to a man
now readily reply to any ques-
tions of any person, look con-
fused and frightened and keep
saying one and the same thing:
“TI had no time to press the but-
ton, I am not from a B-52...1
have never before bombed Viet-
nam ... I have never before
been in combat operations. I am
against the war in Vietnam. I
have just been sent here... I
beg you to spare me my
life se!
Bodies in Pond
By the way, there is no need
to ask for this. Because when a
pilot parachutes down to earth
in the DRV alive, he is sure to
remain alive although his life is
often subjected to danger due to
the hatred felt for him by local
people on whom he was just
dropping the bombs. <
The flier fished out on Dec. 26
—out of the mud of the pond—
did not of course know that two
days before a bomb had fallen
not far from that place. Its ex-
plosion killed the family of a
postman who lived there—his
wife and’ six children. Three
children were hurled away by
the explosion wave. Their bodies
were sought and found only on
the third day—in that same
pond. That tragic event was still
before the eyes of everyone who
lived there. One can therefore
imagine the degree of hatred of
the people for the air pirate who
fell precisely into that pond.
Whether he was telling the
truth that he had no time to
press the button, or was lying,
no one knew. It was possible of
course to suppose that every-
thing told by him was a lie. If
only because all American pilots
now declare exactly this or
something like it. But he was
not even beaten.
Two armed workers who cap-
tured him were from a self-
defense detachment, and they
did everything to keep back the
anger of the crowd until Peo-
ple’s Army soldiers drove up.
Two or three days before that
people captured another pilot in
a suburb of Hanoi. He began
repeating that he was not from
a B-52, but from an A-6 (which
the Vietnamese call the “sea
plunderer”). But just nearby the
place where the parachutist
came down, a B-52 fell. And
everyone realized that the flier
was lying. The self-defense ser-
vicemen had to lock him in a
cooperative’s shed in order to
save him from the angered peo-

100,000 in Holland demo

UTRECHT — About 100,000

of Dutch lawyers gavé
people participated in a demon-

support to this action.

ple and to keep him there until
the arrival of soldiers.

Indeed, the behavior of Ame-
rican airmen that are taken pri-
soner has greatly changed. And
the point is not that even the
most thick-skulled of them have
possibly begun to suspect that
their barbarous actions have no
justification, but also that the
pirates have seen that their ac-
tions do not remain unpunished.

stration here Jan. 6 condemning
the renewed U.S. bombing of
the DRV. This was the largest
demonstration in Holland since
the end of World War II.

The demonstration had the

support of all Dutch political
parties with the exception of the
Liberals and Democratic ’70.
Several important personalities,
among them Cardinal Alfrink,
leader of the Dutch Catholic
church, and J. de Brauw, dean

Coming from all acro:
land, many by specially ‘
ed trains, the demon:
marched under slogans 0
nam for the Vietnamese,
the bombing throughout ¢
nam,” and “Nixon, Ss!
treaty now.”

After the main demons
30,000. marchers gathere¢
Irene Hal Fair Palace ©
a number of speakers
war.