Friday, May 19, 1972
S. Viets Can Turn Back Reds - Cushman
ATLANTA (UPI) --Gen. Robert E. Cushman Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps, predicted Tuesday that there is "a lot of hard fighting ahead" in Vietnam, but said he believed the South Vietnamese will repel the invaders.Cushman said he did not expect Marines, now being held offshore, will be sent back into the action, and that he expected President Nixon's blockade eventually to be effective in cutting off supplies to the North Vietnamese armies.He said the move would "strangle supply lines," particularly affecting petroleum products, which he called an integral part of the "sinews of modern warfare."Cushman said he believed the North Vietnamese forces would not realize their objectives in the South. He said they will discover "putting all divisions but one in their neighbor's backyard ... is not the way to do it."I think the South Vietnamese have done very well," he said. "They were invaded by modern army with hundreds of tanks, hundreds and hundreds of artillery pieces, missiles, radars. I won't speculate as to whether South Vietnam could survive after we leave, but judging from the way the North Vietnamese are throwing away their manpower, they won't be in a position to do much."Cushman, who became the top Marine in January, also told a news conference steps were being taken to eliminate racial discrimination in the corps. He said he personally was "passing the word."The General said the pressing need was for black officers, particularly in the law branch where at latest count there was only one black lawyer officer."It is of primary importance that we convince the black man that when he is in trouble he won't have to face white justice. In my opinion, he gets a fair shake now, but if he thinks he doesn't get it, it's as bad as not getting it.""S. Viets Can Turn Back Reds-Cushman", (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Friday, May 19, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.