The Nome Nugget

1,800 U.S. Leathernecks Begin
Landing on Thailand's Shores

BANGKOK, Thailand (A)--About 1,800 American Leathernecks began landing four miles from the heart of Bangkok today to put teeth into President Kennedy's pledge to defend Thailand from the Communist threat in Laos.

The first wave of Marines was to come ashore at Klong Toey and board Thai army trucks for Don Muang Airport at once. They will be flown by U.S. C-130 Hercules transports to bases in northern Thailand near the sensitive northeast border with Communist-menaced Laos.

Three warships from the U.S. 7th Fleet steamed into the gulf of Siam last night.

While the Valley Forge anchored off shore, the LSD (Landing Ship Dock) Point Defiance and the attack transport Navarro steamed up Chao Phya River to dock at Klong Toey and discharge Marines and equipment.

U.S. Super-Sabre jets already were deployed to Takhli Airbase 60 miles north of Bangkok.

As the swift Super Sabres landed, U.S. military sources reported that Laotian troops had moved back into Houei Sai, the Laotian border village they abandoned last Friday before a Communist offensive.

American sources said the main body of the pro-Communist Pathet Lao and its North Vietnamese supporters apparently had faded back 50 miles from Houei Sai.

About 300 Laotian troops who fled across the Mekong River into Thailand, moved back into Houei Sai and set up a defense perimeter 10 miles outside the town, authoritative sources said.

Reds Issue Warning

Red China's official newspaper, the Peiping People's Daily, warned that preparations to land U.S. Marines in Thailand "constitutes military interference that absolutely cannot be overlooked."

The warning in some ways resembled that issued before Red China intervened openly by means of "volunteers" in the Korean War.

Peiping, however, has voiced warnings previously in connection with South Viet Nam and Southeast Asia without taking action.

American officials said there were no plans so far to send U.S. troops into Red-infested Laos. But the Kennedy administration clearly hoped the military buildup here would dissuade the pro-Communists Pathet Lao from overrunning the rest of the kingdom.

The first U.S. Super Sabres which arrived were from the 13th Air Force Squadron in the Philippines. They can fly 1,000 miles an hour and pack a lethal load of explosives.

Expected later were eight more F-100s and squadron of A-4D Skyhawks, slower but able to hit hard with a load of 6,000 pounds of bombs.

The Pentagon announced in Washington that 1,200 other Army troops would be sent to Thailand from the Pacific area. With 1,000 Army combat men already here after recent SEATO maneuvers, they will bring the total American force bolstering Thailand's defenses to about 5,000 men.

There was hope in Washington that the Soviet Union would bring pressure on the Pathet Lao chieftain, Prince Souphanouvong, to abandon his military drive and return to negotiations for a political settlement setting up a neutral coalition government for Laos.

The United States and the Soviet Union announced agreement in Washington for the need of an effective cease-fire and a peaceful political settlement in Laos. The announcement, following a meeting of Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, did not specify whether Laotian pro-Red forces would return to the old cease-fire line in effect before the recent Chinese Communist sweep.