Army Ahead

NEW YORK (LNS)—The Army is beginning to worry that too many “heads” are fighting the war in Vietnam.

The Pentagon released figures recently on the suspected use of “drugs” in the armed forces. Drug use in the military is on the rise, especially in Vietnam. There were 14,041 worldwide investigations in 1968 compared with 7,641 in 1967.

Frank A. Bartimo, Chairman of the Defense Department’s Drug Abuse Control Committee stated that the increase in drug use is probably due to “greater focus on the subject.”

Investigations in Vietnam included 3,225 cases of suspected marijuana use. However, there are no statistics available on the number of military drug-use convictions.

Bartimo reported that statistically, there are still more civilian drug users than military users.

Sidebar:

3 flee

SAN FRANCISCO—The Presidio 27 is down to 24.

The Army has confirmed that Lidon Blake escaped from the prison wing of a hospital on February 28 where he was recovering from hepatitis. He used a smuggled hacksaw blade to saw through the bars to freedom.

A few weeks before that two other Presidio defendants walked out of the stockade gates after telling guards that they had to report for a work detail.

Related

See Fifth Estate’s Vietnam Resource Page.