00100						846 Lathrop Drive
00200						Stanford, California 94305
00300						December 3, 1969
00400	
00500	To the Editor of the Times:
00600	
00700		In 1963, I  sent  a  letter  to  the  Times  (copy  enclosed)
00800	protesting  attacks  on  villages  with  "rockets,  napalm bombs, and
00900	machine gun fire".    The  letter  was  printed,  but  the  following
01000	sentence  was  cut:   "I would appreciate an editorial from the Times
01100	either  justifying  or  criticizing  or  denying  or   proposing   to
01200	investigate  American sponsorship and participation in this method of
01300	warfare."
01400	
01500		The continued refusal of  the  American  press  to  face  its
01600	responsibility  to  tell the people what we are doing in Viet Nam and
01700	to pass editorial judgment on it contributed to  the  attitudes  that
01800	led  to  the  Song  My massacre.  Namely, it tells the soldiers quite
01900	clearly that all they have learned in school and read in  the  papers
02000	about  American  ideals and goals and morals has no relation to their
02100	actual situation in Viet Nam.
02300	
02400						Sincerely yours,
02500	
02600	
02700						John McCarthy