Monday, May 29, 1972
Viet Kills Self As Peace Plea
HUE, Vietnam (UPI) --A young South Vietnamese Army medic committed suicide with a hand grenade at a military base near Hue Saturday, reportedly as a plea for peace.Military sources said the soldier picked the 2,516th anniversary of the birth of Buddha for his suicide to emphasize his plea for peace.Spokesmen at Camp Eagle, headquarters of the 1st Inf. Div., refused to discuss the incident.Witnesses said the young man sat in the middle of a deserted helicopter landing pad, calmly stacked his papers, wallet and other belongings in a tiny pile, hugged the American--made hand grenade to his stomach and pulled the pin.Some Vietnamese soldiers left his body lying on the chopper pad four hours before taking it away for burial.High-ranking officers seized the dead medic's personal effects. They refused to say whether or not he had left a suicide note."Viet Kills Self as Peace Plea", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Monday, May 29, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.