Evening star., 1953-11-22


largest church in Indo-Ch and
looks it.
Barbed wire surrounded the VIII
lage. Eastern revetments with holes
for guns protected the only road
inside. Somebody shouted, "Boo!"
again and the inevitable honor
guard of six soldiers snapped to
attention as we approached the
barbed-wire gate. We proceeded
through an S-turn and along a
narrow road to the cathedral.
In the cathedral square was as
sembled what Col. Dong described
as the village defense force. It
consisted of two companies of local
troops, all armed with light weapons
from carbines and rifles to Browning
automatic rifles and machine guns.
The village commander called them
to attention as we approached.
A large crowd had assembled at
the square. On the speakers plat
form. specially built on the cathe-
dral steps, waited four priests, one
monseigneur, the chief of the viii
lage home guard and few other
prominent local officials.
After the speeches and after the
colonel had inspected the guard,
the priests poured tea in the rear
OF the cathedral.
Active Defense
Our next visit was to a village
which was in the midst of cam
paign to rid the countryside of Wet
Mimi. AS we approached the village,
its location marked in the distance
by another church, armed and ready
Wet NameSe regulars and home
guard troops crouched along the
roadside. They were half expectant
OF an attack on the road and har-
vested rice in granary nearby.
The little jeep caravan, with
armed guards now roosting on the
rear OF each vehicle. stopped about
two miles from the village. The rest
OF the way we travelled on foot, be-
cause the road ahead was under in
termittent attack by snipers. Rifles
and automatic weapons cracked in
the distance.
We wound between rice paddles
to the village and made our way
past mud-villageS to the square, in
front of the cathedral. "Accordions"
OF barbed wire on top of a 5-foot
brick wall protected the square. I
was told that when the Wet Mini
attacked, as they often did, the peo-
pie of the village took refuge inside
the cathedral compound.
In the square another kind of
village defense force had been as
sembled. Little girls and boys from
years up, children in their teens,
young men and old men, all stood
in formation facing the cathedral.
The youngsters and old men were
carrying spears, bolo knives, gre
nades on their belts, bayonets,
homemade Molotov cocktails. Later
Col. Dong admitted the weapons
were for psychological effect more
than for practical war-making value
in such feeble hands.
The young men of military age
were armed with the usual light
arms.
Unplonned interruption
Afterward, the colonel inspected
the guard. Halfway through this
ceremony an unscheduled appear
'ance of a BIS bomber, which
dropped stick of bombs on a
pocket of Wet Mimi nearby, just
about stole the show. The cathedral
and this correspondent trembled
with the crunch of each bombs ex-
plosion. The village guard gasped
in unison. Col. Dong smiled and
went on inspecting. Nobody hit the
ground.
A few minutes later. when the
village guard dispersed, the armed
young men in the assembly rushed
off in the direction of the bombing
Small-arms fire. which had been
audible sporadically through the
program" intensified.
1t was learned later that the
bombing had been Intellectual. That
night, an element of Col. Dongs
forces pressed the fight against the
Wet Mini. The Reds suffered a
few casualties, but the bulk of the
Wet Mini forces eluded the Wet
Namese.
They probably would be back in
a few days for another attack on
this village, where the Catholic
cathedral square is the only symbol
of safety they know.