Friday, May 5, 1972
Rush DoD Arms Team To Vietnam
WASHINGTON (UPI) --Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird ordered a team of supply experts to fly to South Vietnam Wednesday to see if the U.S. or South Vietnamese forces need more equipment to meet the threat of "new and sophisticated Soviet weapons" being used by Hanoi, the Pentagon said.Pentagon spokesman Jerry W. Friedheim indicated the "sophisticated" weapons included 130mm artillery with a 17-mile range, T54 tanks and SA2 antiaircraft missiles. He said there were reports, unconfirmed so far, that Hanoi's troops also were equipped with new hand-held heat-seeking missile for use against planes and new wire-guided antitank missiles.Friedheim said Laird decided only Tuesday afternoon to send the team, headed by Barry J. Shillito, the assistant secretary of defense for installations and logistics. Shillito was to be accompanied by five two-and-three-star generals and admirals.Friedheim said, "the enemy's flagrant violation of the demilitarized zone, coupled with the introduction of new sophisticated Soviet equipment, has added a new dimension to the battle.""Rush DoD Arms Team to Vietnam", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Friday, May 5, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.