SOUTH VIET NAM BACK TO SAIGON THIS WEEK, FOR THE SECOND TIME 
IN THREE MONTHS, GOES U.S . DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT S . 
MCNAMARA . HIS AIM : TO SIZE UP SOUTH VIET NAM'S 
NEW REGIME, WHICH WAS HELPED TO POWER BY THE U.S . 
ON THE THEORY THAT IT WOULD FIGHT THE WAR MORE EFFECTIVELY 
THAN THE MURDERED PRESIDENT DIEM, BUT WHICH, SO FAR AT LEAST, 
HAS PROVIDED DISAPPOINTING LEEDERSHIP . THE WAR IS STILL SHOWING ALARMING 
DRIFT, AND THE COMMUNIST GUERRILLAS HAVE SHOWN SIGNS OF GETTING BOLDER 
. LAST WEEK TIME CORRESPONDENT MURRAY GART, TO GET HIS OWN 
LOOK AT THE WAR, FLEW ON 26 HELICOPTER MISSIONS IN FIVE 
DAYS (THREE OF HIS CHOPPERS WERE HIT BY GUNFIRE), CAME AWAY 
WITH THE STORY OF A PLAN FOR STEPPED-UP AERIAL STRIKES AGAINST 
THE REDS AND SOME GRIM IMPRESSIONS OF THE FIGHTING IN GENERAL 
. GART'S REPORT : AT SAIGON AIRPORT BEFORE DAWN, A SWARM 
OF HELICOPTERS SPUTTERED TO LIFE, THEIR WHIRLING BLADES CHURNING UP MISTY 
CONTRAILS IN THE COOL, DAMP AIR . SOON A FORMATION OF 
13 " HUEYS " (UH-1BS) WAS AIRBORNE AND DRONING AWAY AT 
2,000 FT . BELOW, THE LIGHT OF DAY BROKE OVER THE 
MEKONG DELTA, TURNING RIVERS AND CANALS INTO SILVERY RIBBONS AMONG THE 
GREEN PADDYFIELDS . INSIDE THE CHOPPERS, MEN LONG HARDENED TO POSSIBLE 
DEATH CAREFULLY CRUSHED OUT THEIR AFTER-BREAKFAST CIGARETTES . A MERE FIFTEEN 
MINUTES OUT OF SAIGON AND DIRECTLY SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL, THE 
THREE LEAD HUEYS, BRISTLING WITH ROCKETS AND MACHINE GUNS, BUZZED THE 
TARGET AREA ; THEY HEDGE-HOPPED LINES OF FOLIAGE, HOVERED OVER HUTS, 
SCRUTINIZED THE PADDY FIELDS . " NEGATIVE CONTACT, " U.S . 
PILOT CAPTAIN DENNIS BOYLE RADIOED TO THE MAIN FORCE, MEANING NO 
GROUND FIRE . THE REST OF THE FLEET FLUTTERED INTO THE 
ZONE, AND WHILE ARMED CRAFT CIRCLED PROTECTIVELY, FIVE " SKINNED " 
(UNARMED) HUEYS ALIGHTED IN A CLEARING AND DISGORGED 70 VIETNAMESE TROOPS 
. THE SOLDIERS SWEPT THROUGH A VILLAGE, ROUNDING UP PEASANTS SUSPECTED 
OF BEING GUERRILLAS ; SOME OF THE MEN HAD BEEN FOUND 
CROUCHING TOGETHER, UNABLE TO EXPLAIN WHY THEY WERE NOT OUT IN 
THE FIELDS WORKING . ONE OFFERED A SOLDIER 1,000 PIASTERS ($13.60) 
TO SET HIM FREE ; THE SOLDIER GLADLY ACCEPTED THE PAYOFF, 
THEN TAGGED THE CAPTIVE WITH A WHITE SCARF IDENTIFYING HIM AS 
A PROBABLE VIET CONG . SHIRTS WERE STRIPPED FROM BACKS TO 
CHECK FOR THE GUERRILLA'S TELLTALE MARKS OF PACK STRAPS . FORTY-FIVE 
MINUTES LATER, THE HELICOPTERS WERE HEADED BACK TO SAIGON WITH A 
HAUL OF 14 PRISONERS . REPLACING TERROR . THE OPERATION, CALLED 
AN " EAGLE STRIKE, / IS A TACTIC BY WHICH THE 
NEW GOVERNMENT AND ITS U.S . ADVISERS HOPE TO ADD SPEED 
AND INITIATIVE TO ANTI-GUERRILLA OPERATIONS . THOUGH SUCH STRIKES HAVE LONG 
BEEN USED IN VIET NAM FOR MISSIONS BIG AND SMALL, THE 
PROGRAM NOW BEING LAUNCHED AIMS TO CARRY OUT SMALLSCALE, SEARCH-AND-SEIZE MISSIONS 
AS NEVER BEFORE, ESPECIALLY IN THE HEAVILY INFILTRATED DELTA . FOR 
THE FIRST TIME THE U.S . UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT COMPANY BASED 
AT SAIGON AIRPORT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED " EAGLE STRIKES " AS 
A PERMANENT DUTY . A U.S . MAJOR DESCRIBES THE OPERATION 
AS " A RECONNAISSANCE FORCE ALWAYS SEEKING OUT THE ENEMY, STRIKING 
ONLY WHEN CONTACT IS MADE OR INTELLIGENCE IS GOOD ENOUGH TO 
MAKE A LANDING WORTHWHILE . ALSO, IT IS CARRIED OUT BY 
A SMALL FORCE, NOT ONE THAT REQUIRES THE MOVEMENT OF DOZENS 
OF CRAFT AND BATTALIONS OF MEN . " BRIGADIER GENERAL JOSEPH 
W . STILWELL JR., " VINEGAR JOE'S " SON, WHO " 
FLIES " A DESK IN SAIGON BUT WHO IS ALWAYS SLIPPING 
OUT ON CHOPPER MISSIONS, PUTS THE TACTICAL CHALLENGE IN SOUTH VIET 
NAM IN BRUTALLY FRANK TERMS . " THE PROBLEM, " SAYS 
HE, " IS TO REPLACE VIET CONG CONTROL OF THE COUNTRYSIDE, 
WHICH THEY MAINTAIN THROUGH MURDER, RAPE, TORTURE AND TERROR, WITH SOMETHING 
ELSE . WE DON'T USE TERROR TACTICS . THE EAGLE STRIKE 
IS THE BEST WAY TO GO AFTER THEM, USING THE ELEMENT 
OF COMPLETE SURPRISE . BUT IT IS ONLY ONE WAY, AND 
WE NEED OTHERS . " AFTER COMPLETING THEIR CRACK-OF-DAWN MISSION LAST 
WEEK THE CREWS OF THE 13 HUEYS AND THE 70 VIETNAMESE 
SOLDIERS RESTED WHILE THEIR CHOPPERS WERE BEING REFUELED, THEN WERE AIRBORNE 
AGAIN, HEADING FOR A VILLAGE JUST TWELVE MILES SOUTH OF SAIGON 
. THIS TIME ONE HELICOPTER IN THE FIRST WAVE TOOK A 
BULLET IN THE FUSELAGE, BUT THE TROOP CARRIERS SET DOWN ANYWAY 
. THE SOLDIERS FOUND THE VILLAGE FLYING A VIET CONG FLAG, 
ROUNDED UP 43 PRISONERS . BACK AT THE BASE (BY NOW 
IT WAS NOON), THE EAGLES RECEIVED A REPORT THAT A VIET 
CONG COMPANY HAD BEEN SPOTTED MOVING TEN MILES SOUTH OF SAIGON 
AND SCRAMBLED ONCE MORE . OVER THE THEY RAN INTO MACHINE-GUN 
FIRE, BUT SILENCED IT WITH A FUSILLADE OF ROCKETS AND BULLETS 
THE VIETNAMESE LANDED AND ROUNDED UP WHATEVER REDS HAD NOT MANAGED 
TO ESCAPE . PRIVATE YALU . THE HELICOPTER WORK REQUIRES STEADY 
NERVES . ONE ARMED HUEY ESCORTING A SUPPLY CHOPPER AT AN 
OUTPOST ON THE PLAIN OF REEDS WEST OF SAIGON ATTACKED A 
MACHINEGUN NEST THAT HAD OPENED FIRE . JUST BEFORE ONE ROCKET 
WAS DROPPED, IT WAS APPARENTLY STRUCK BY A SNIPER'S BULLET AND 
BLEW UP, SHATTERING THE PLANE'S PLEXIGLAS WINDOWS ; THE GUNNER AND 
THE CREW CHIEF SUFFERED SUPERFICIAL BUT BLOODY FACE WOUNDS . THE 
DIALOGUE OVER THE INTERCOM BETRAYED NO PANIC : " WAS A 
ROCKET BLEW UP, WASN'T IT ? / IT WAS SOMETHIN' . 
" / YOU O.K., O'SHEA .Q? " / ROGER . " 
/ ANYBODY ELSE GET HIT ? " / YOU GOT A 
FAT LIP THERE, BOY . " DURING ANOTHER MISSION, AN AERIAL 
ATTACK ON TWO COMPANIES OF VIET CONG DUG INTO FOXHOLES HEAR 
THE DIFFICULT-TO-PATROL CAMBODIAN BORDER, SOME OF THE GROUND FIRE CAME FROM 
ACROSS A RIVER THAT SEPARATES VIET NAM FROM " NEUTRAL " 
CAMBODIA A RIVER THAT ONE AMERICAN ADVISER BITTERLY CALLS " OUR 
OWN PRIVATE YALU . " DISMAL SCENE . DESPITE THE ATTEMPT 
AT IMPROVED MOBILITY, SOUTH VIET NAM'S GENERALS HAVE YET TO STAGE 
ANY SPECTACULAR FEATS AGAINST THE VIET CONG ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE PLANS 
ON THE DRAWING BOARDS, AND GOVERNMENT FORCES LAST WEEK CAPTURED MORE 
WEAPONS THAN THEY LOST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS . 
EVERYWHERE ONE TRAVELS, AND THE ONLY SAFE MODE OF TRAVEL IS 
BY HELICOPTER, THE COUNTRYSIDE IS A DISMAL SIGHT OF ACTUAL OR 
THREATENED VIET CONG CONTROL . IN THE DELTA TO THE SOUTH, 
AND IN TWO OR THREE PROVINCES AROUND SAIGON, THERE IS NO 
DOUBT OF WHO CONTROLS THE BOONDOCKS . OF MOUNTING CONCERN IS 
THE COMMUNISTS' INCREASED HOLD ON VITAL LONG AN PROVINCE ON SAIGON'S 
SOUTHERN FLANK, WHERE CONDITIONS HAVE BECOME PRECARIOUS . A U.S . 
ADVISER SAYS WRYLY THAT THERE IS NO NEED IN LONG AN 
FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S PLAN TO ABOLISH SOME OF THE OVEREXTENDED OUTPOSTS 
. " THE VIET CONG, " HE SAYS, " ARE DOING 
THAT FOR US . " IN A GUERRILLA WAR, IT IS 
OFTEN IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHO IS WINNING . BUT IN VIET 
NAM SOME THINGS DO SEEM CERTAIN : MANY MORE LIVES WILL 
BE TRAGICALLY LOST, THE WAR CANNOT POSSIBLY BE WON BY 1965, 
AND A RICH JEWEL OF A COUNTRY CARVED OUT OF ANCIENT 
INDOCHINA SEES NO END IN SIGHT TO A DECADE OF RED-INSTIGATED 
FIGHTING . ABOUT THE BEST THAT CAN BE EXPECTED IS TO 
MAINTAIN HOPE, APPLY MUSCLE IN THE RIGHT PLACES, MAKE LONG-RANGE COMMITMENTS, 
AND RETAIN A DOGGED DETERMINATION TO KEEP FIGHTING . THEN MAYBE, 
JUST MAYBE, EVENTS AND THE TIDE OF BATTLE WILL MERGE TO 
KEEP THIS PIECE OF REAL ESTATE FROM COMMUNIST CONTROL . 