ustxtxb_obs_1970_02_20_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

Sergeant Mitchell I am writing in regard to Staff Sergeant Mitchell who is accused in the alleged killings in My Lai. Sergeant Mitchell was formerly charged of assault with intent to commit murder. These charges were directed against him by Maj. Gen. John K. Boles, commanding general of the 1st Armored Division, Fort Hood. No date for the court martial at Fort Hood has been set. I believe that Sergeant Mitchell cannot get a fair trial here at Fort Hood because of certain statements made by General Boles in a speech at Fort Hood, 29 November 1969 at a ceremony honoring Staff Sergeant Nicky Bacon, a medal of honor winner. I quote excerpts from that speech: “You [Sergeant Bacon] have brought special and well-deserved honor upon those fine soldiers of the Americal Division with whom you served in Vietnam. This is especially meaningful at this time because of the unfortunate publicity which has recently been focused on the alleged acts of certain former members of the Americal Division. “. . . Your [Bacon’s] acts contribute a great deal in our attempt to erase this stain. “A noisy minority is giving your generation a bad name just like the few individuals who are accused of atrocities in Vietnam have given the Army and the United States a bad name.” Sergeant Mitchell’s case, then, becomes a question of adverse publicity and not a quest for justice. What the army considers adverse publicity seems to be the governing factor for its actions in this case. Mitchell becomes a “stain” to be erased. The only stain is the prejudicial atmosphere here at Fort Hood. A general’s statements cannot be easily dismissed; he has influence. The reason I write is that your publication seems, unlike much of the news media in this area, to be concerned with injustice. Since I work in the . . . here on post, please do not use my name in connection with this. Anonymity is the price for telling the truth in the Army. \(The name of the writer is known to the Observer. He is an enlisted man stationed A Word from Tolbert You peckerwoods are wrong in your Feb. 3 iSsue. “surmise” that I “helped Write” the ” General Land Office publication, Treasure Tempest in Texas. The first thing I knew about this was when I received a copy in the mail. It happened that I wrote the first story, in the Dallas News of Oct. 13, 1968, on the Gary, Indiana, people’s salvaging operations. I’ve also written that, as far as I know, Jerry Sadler is the only Texas public official ever to try to recover one of these harvests. And you only have to read so-called treasure hunting books to know that salvagers have been working on wrecked ships in the tidelands from the days of Spanish Texas to recent times. Once Mr. Sadler started trying to get the artifacts from the Indiana people he was beset by kibitzers, most of the grandstanding legislators. As you said, Sadler is a friend of mine. Yet we seldom communicate. I’ve not seen him since about the time Platoro story broke. The last conversation we had over the phone was not about Spanish treasure but about the history of Broom City, Anderson County. Last October I put in calls for both Sadler and his adverse critic, the Hon. Jake Johnson of San Antonio. I wanted to enlist both Jake and Jerry as judges for the third annual World’s Chili con Came Cookoff in Terlingua, Texas. With these belligerents on the judging panel no one could accuse Referee Tolbert of having a fixed chili war. Only I couldn’t get in touch with Jake and Jerry at the time. \(As a historical note, Tom Tierney and I are the founders of the annual World’s Chili con Came Cookoff at Terlingua. The first one was held in 1967 for the crass purpose of publicizing my book, A Bowl of Red: The Natural History of Texas, and it has become an annual national festival, with the chili champions of four states represented last November and perhaps 20 state winners due to Anyway, I didn’t write or help write “Treasure Tempest in Texas.” Why don’t you mention books I did write, such as The Day of San Jacinto, which won the Western Writers of America award and is now out in a new edition with a foreword by Dr. Joe Frantz, material originally published as a review of the book in the Observer. Frank Tolbert, Dallas News, Dallas, Tex. The NEP in Action Dudley Lynch’s article, “America’s Right-Wing Propaganda Center,” [Obs., Jan. 23] made me recall my experience with one of the activities of the National Education Program. Every summer in the middle of August, the Texas Farm Bureau sponsors a Texas Farm Bureau Citizenship Seminar. About 400 high school students from across Texas ATHENA MONTESSORI SCHOOL Leo Nitch, Director NEW NORTHWEST LOCATION 7500 Woodrow Phone 454-4239 attend a four-day convention at the Baylor University campus in Waco. The Farm Bureau and civic groups pay the expenses of individual participants. The NEP from Harding College in Arkansas conducts the program. At $100 per person, the supposedly non-profit NEP foundation makes a lot of money. I wonder how much Baylor gets compensated for the use of its dorms, auditoriums, and cafeterias? .. . Mr. Lynch adequately described the Bircher-like inclinations of the NEP. I saw the same movies and heard some of the same speakers that he described in his article. I was surprised at the naivete of some of my fellow conventioneers. Many appeared to leave this seminar believing in the communist infiltration of the civil rights movement, U.S. State Department, and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Don’t get the impression that we were a bunch of ignorant hicks. We were all supposed to be leading students of our respective high schools. Many were student leaders of large high schools in Dallas and Houston. The purpose of the seminar was to train young people to go forth and carry the “message” to our schools and February 20, 1970 15 CLASSIFIED BOOKPLATES. Free catalog. Many beautiful designs. Special designing too. Address: BOOK PLATES, Yellow Springs 8, Ohio. YAMAHA: For the best soundpianosorgansguitars available at Amster Music & Art Center 17th & Lavaca, Austin. 478-7331. ANNE’S TYPING SERVICE \(Marjorie Anne Binding, Mailing, Public Notary. Twenty years experience. Call 442-7008 or 442-0170, Austin. OKLAHOMA LIMITED. A Journal of Political Opinion. Published Monthly $5 Per Year. Box 2777-TO, Norman, Okla. 73069. EGGROLL, a new bi-monthly magazine of satire for hip and crusty old liberal alike. Subscriptions $3.00 for twelve issues; 100 W. 32nd St., Austin, Texas 78705. JIM GARRISON’S EVIDENCE CATALOG Photocopy of Suppressed Files Just Released. Send $2.00, Jim Brown, Box 651, Waltham, Massachusetts 02154. Free Thinker wanting copy of Truth Seeker may send stamp to Box 2832 San Deigo California 92112. MARCH ON WASHINGTONphoto essay, over 100 pictures, speeches, etc. 10″x12″ Absolute. Send $2.50 Relevance Press, Box 366X Newcomb Hall Station, Charlottesville, Va. 22901. ASTROLOGY in Houston: Full chart service available. Special consultations by arrangement. Edward F. Lacy III 4026 668-3107. THE TRUMPETDigest of Independent Liberal Goleta, Calif. 93017. Dialogue