33,000 More To Fight In Vietnam; Election Moves

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31158, 7 September 1966, Page 17

33,000 More To Fight In Vietnam; Election Moves

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) SAIGON, September 6. A fresh surge in the troop build-up in South Vietnam scheduled this month will bring at least 33,000 more fighting men to the side of the South Vietnamese, the Associated Press reported.

The arrival of large contingents of American, South Korean and Filipino soldiers will swell to more than 365,000 the total sent here by the six nations giving military help to South Vietnam.

Australia, New Zealand and Thailand also have forces in the country. South Korea is sending the biggest contingent this month —the combat-trained White Horse (Ninth) Division of 18,000 men. 46,000 Koreans

An advance party arrived in August to prepare for deployment of the division along the central coastal lowlands around Qui Nhon. The division’s arrival will raise to 46,000 the number of Korean troops in Vietnam.

Also due in September is the bulk of the United States 4th Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Washington. One brigade of the division, about 4000 men, arrived in August and set up headquarters near Pleiku in the Central Highlands.

In late August, the over-all United States commitment in Vietnam reached slightly more than 300,000 troops, excluding 60,000 men in the Seventh Fleet off-shore. It is expected to reach close to 400,000 by the end of the year.

of election day, the announcement said.

The Viet Cong have asked people to hand over their cards to them and have threatened to seize them by force if necessary.

Scheduled to arrive in midSeptember is the first large detachment of the 2000-man Filipino force. An advance party arrived in August. Election Move

The elections in the country being scheduled for next Sunday, the South Vietnamese Government today announced a new move to counter Viet Cong attempts to sabotage them. It said police would issue voting cards at the last possible moment to those who have not yet dared to collect them because of Viet Cong intimidation.

People living near Viet Cong-controlled areas in the provinces will be permitted to pick up their cards immediately before balloting on September 11, the announcement said.

In the Saigon area, 80 per cent of those eligible to vote have already registered and collected their cards. To ensure a maximum turnout, the police will give the remaining 20 per cent, who live in suburban -districts infiltrated by the Viet Cong, their ballot slips on the eve