New Guns & Old Problems

A new element of firepower joined the growing weight of U.S. arms in Viet Nam. Into the shoaling waters of South Viet Nam's east coast swept the slim destroyers of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, searching out Viet Cong concentrations with their hard-hitting 5-in. guns. In half a dozen operations, naval artillery socked more than 370 rounds onto targets as deep as four miles inland. The big rifles proved effective: sharpshooting by the U.S.S. Somers broke the back of a Communist assault on a district headquarters in Binh Thuan province, killing twelve and wounding 20.

Tragic Crash. On the ground and in the air, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces also kept up their pressure on the Reds in a grim race against the arrival of the monsoon season. Fighter-bombers swarmed daily over North Viet Nam, blasting bridges, shooting up road and rail traffic, igniting petroleum storage tanks and striking within 55 miles of Hanoi. For the Americans, there were moments of tragedy: a pair of U.S. helicopters collided over Bienhoa airbase--the scene last month of an accidental chain explosion that killed 27 men and wrecked ten bombers. This time, nine Americans died.

There were troubles, too, in Saigon. As usual, they were regional and religious. Premier Phan Huy Quat precipitated a squabble with South Viet Nam's wispy Chief of State, Phan Khac Suu, by announcing his long-delayed Cabinet reshuffle. Quat replaced the Ministers of Interior and Economy with "northerners," and Suu, who was born in the southern Mekong Delta region, refused to accept the switch.

Trip Postponed. As if that weren't enough, the Premier was next challenged by an angry delegation of Catholics headed by fiery Father Hoang Quynh. Quynh was burning over Quat's arrests of Catholics following last month's "coup attempt" (TIME, May 28). He was particularly incensed at Quat's contention that the Catholics had been in league with the Viet Cong in the plot. "Such a claim is ridiculous," Quynh snapped, "since Catholics would never work with Communists."

Quynh's militants demanded that Quat be dismissed, but since the Premier retains the support of the military and the nation's Buddhists, it was clearly the most serious crisis the government had faced since the abortive Feb. 19 coup. Indeed, it was serious enough for U.S. Ambassador Maxwell Taylor to postpone a trip to Washington until the situation settled down.

Despite the symptoms of instability, the U.S. remained as firm in its commitment as ever. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, questioned about the possibility of Russia and China joining forces in Viet Nam, issued a sober warning. "It would be a great mistake," said Rusk, "if the other side should think that they can have a larger war with impunity, and that a larger war on their side would remove us from Southeast Asia."

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