Wednesday, May 3, 1972
Troop Cuts Top Nixon Goal
SAIGON (AP) --U.S. troop withdrawals have exceeded President Nixon's May 1 target by 2,700 men, the U.S. Command announced Monday. But U.S. Naval strength off Vietnam continued to grow.The command's weekly summary put U.S. military strength in Vietnam at 68,100 men as of last Thursday -a cut of 8,400 -and spokesmen said the level as of midnight April 30 was 66,300. President Nixon's May 1 goal was 69,000.Nixon has set 49,000 as his July 1 troop strength target. At the peak three years ago there were 543,000 American troops in Vietnam.Three thousand U.S. sailors were added to the reported total aboard some 55 warships in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea off Vietnam.The total has risen steadily since North Vietnam began its offensive and last week reached 41,000 men. It includes at least 1,500 U.S. Marines standing by for any emergency in getting out American personnel, according to sources in Washington.Not included in the U.S. Command's figures are about 34,000 American servicemen operating with the Air Force in Thailand. Additionally 5,000 to 10,000 Air Force men are based on Guam to support B52 bomber strikes over Vietnam.The latest summary gave this in-country breakdown:U.S. Army -45,100 men, down 6,900: Navy -3,000 down 600; Air Force -18,400, down 900; Marines 1,500 and Coast Guard 100, both unchanged.There are now more Americans involved in the war effort stationed outside Vietnam than on Vietnamese soil."Troop Cuts Top Nixon Goal", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Wednesday, May 3, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.