Johnson Administration responds to Harrison Salisbury’s charges
Assistant Secretary of Defense Arthur Sylvester admits that the North Vietnamese city of Nam Dinh has been hit by U.S.planes 64 times since mid-1965 and that the air strikes were directed only against military targets railroad yards a warehouse petroleum storage depots and a thermal power plant.He denounced New York Times correspondent Harrison Salisburys reports on the results of the air raids in North Vietnam as misstatements of fact.Salisbury an assistant managing editor of the Times filed a report on December 25 from Hanoi describing U.S.
bombing destruction in several North Vietnamese cities.Salisbury stated that Nam Dinh about 50 miles southeast of Hanoi had been bombed repeatedly by U.S.planes since June 28 1965.
Salisburys report caused a stir in Washington where it was reported Pentagon officials expressed irritation and contended that he was exaggerating the damage to civilian areas.Also on this day Student-body presidents from 100 U.S.colleges and universities sign an open letter to President Lyndon B.Johnson expressing anxiety and doubt over U.S.
involvement in Vietnam.They warned in the letter that many youths might prefer prison to participation in the war.Johnson did not respond to the letter.
