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Aug 19, 2021

U.S. Battle Group Crosses Into Communist Territory on Way to West Berlin

Aug. 19, 1961 - The United States Army battle group ordered to reinforce Allied forces in West Berlin crossed into Communist territory at dawn today for the 110-mile trip to that isolated Allied outpost. The 1,500 combat-ready men were ordered to move into Berlin from West Germany by President Kennedy on Friday. The leading vehicle crossed the 200 yards of No Man's Land between the Western and Eastern checkpoints and halted at a Soviet sentry post. Clearance went fast and wit

Aug 19, 2021

Johnson Pledges Loyalty to People of West Berlin

🚨Aug. 19, 1961 - Vice President Johnson pledged to the people of West Berlin today that the U.S. would never forget its obligations to them. In an address at a special meeting of the West Berlin Parliament, the Vice President said: "To the survival and the creative future of this city we Americans have pledged, in effect, what our ancestors pledged in forming the United States: 'Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.'" These are the final words of the Declaration of

Aug 18, 2021

Johnson Flies to West Berlin to Reassure Germans Amidst Crisis

Aug. 18, 1961 - Vice President Johnson flew to West Berlin today as President Kennedy's special envoy with assurances for the German people on the crisis over Berlin. With the Vice President is Gen. Lucius D. Clay (left), retired, who was military governor of Germany during the 1948-49 airlift that broke a Communist blockade of Berlin. Mr. Johnson will confer in Bonn tomorrow morning with West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In the afternoon, he will fly 110 miles across C

Aug 18, 2021

Kennedy Orders Battle Group of 1,500 to West Berlin

Aug. 18, 1961 - President Kennedy (pictured with West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt in March) today ordered a battle group of 1,500 men to West Berlin to reinforce the U.S. garrison there. They are to move overland from Helmstedt along the Autobahn used to supply the Western garrisons in West Berlin. The move will emphasize the Allies' determination to defend those routes of access. Once the troops arrive, the U.S. will have increased its Berlin garrison to 6,500 men. Britain, wi

Aug 17, 2021

South Vietnamese Army Kills over 100 Viet Cong near Saigon

Aug. 17, 1961 - For the second time in a month, the South Vietnamese army (pictured) registered a victory over the Communist guerrillas known as the Viet Cong. The South Vietnamese leader in each battle was Col. Huynh Van Cao, commander of the Seventh Division. Lieut. Col. Frank Clay, United States military advisor, praised Col. Cao's deployment of his forces for the second victory. "Colonel Cao's plan was like a hammer and anvil," he said, "and the Viet Cong were caught on t

Aug 16, 2021

West Berlin Mayor Wants "Words Not Action" from Kennedy

Aug. 16, 1961 - Mayor Willy Brandt (pictured) told President Kennedy in a letter today that West Berlin expected "not merely words but political action" against the Communists' closing of the city's border with East Berlin. Mayor Brandt warned that the existence of the entire non-Communist alliance was at stake in the Berlin crisis. Mayor Brandt compared the sealing off of East Berlin and East Germany to Hitler's occupation of the Rhineland in 1936. "The question at issue," h

Aug 15, 2021

Western Allies Send Formal Protest of Berlin Border Closure to Soviets

Aug. 15, 1961 - The United States, Britain and France formally protested to the Soviet Union today against Communist East Germany's closing of the border between East and West Berlin. The Allied protest was made in a letter from the three Western commandants in Berlin to the Soviet commandant. It described the Communist action as "illegal" and the most "flagrant violation" of the four-power agreements on Berlin since the Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948. But none of th

Aug 13, 2021

East Germany Accuses West of "Perfidious Agitation"

Aug. 13, 1961 - The quietness of East Berlin's deserted streets was shattered in the early hours of the morning by the screaming of sirens as police cars, motorcycles and truckloads of police sped through the city. The action came shortly after a declaration by the East German Communists that effective controls must be put into force on the borders of West Berlin because of a "perfidious agitation campaign" by the West. The declaration made it clear these measures were direct

Aug 13, 2021

🚨East Germany Closes Border Between East and West Berlin

Aug. 13, 1961 - East Germany closed the border early this morning between East and West Berlin. East German troops stood guard at the Brandenburg Gate, the main crossing point between the Eastern and Western sectors. The East Berlin City Government banned its citizens from holding jobs in the Western part of the divided city. This will affect tomorrow the thousands of East Berliners who daily commute to work in the Western sector. The Communists' orders do not affect the West

Aug 12, 2021

South Vietnamese Troops Disrupt "Ho Chi Minh Trail" in Laos

Aug. 12, 1961 - South Vietnamese troop units are reported to be operating in southern Laos to cut the flow of Communist supplies and guerrilla reinforcements moving down from Communist North Vietnam. They have taken up strategic positions and are patrolling the route the Communists use through southwest Laos known in Saigon as "the Ho Chi Minh" trail. There are also strong indications that small U.S.-trained special units of South Vietnamese troops are operating inside North

Aug 12, 2021

U.S Commander in Berlin not Worried about Defending Allied Sector

Aug. 12, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev said today that it was "a fairy tale" that the West would fight for West Berlin. But the 5,000-man force of the U.S. Army in Berlin has a different idea. Brig. Gen. Frederick O. Hartel (pictured right), its commander, says the basic mission of the unit is simply this: "To defend the Western Allied sectors of Berlin if the necessity arises." This might seem a hopeless assignment for a unit stationed amid the 20 or more Soviet divisions deploy

Aug 10, 2021

Soviets Tap Marshal Ivan S. Konev as Commander of Soviet Troops in East Germany

Aug. 10, 1961 - Marshal Ivan S. Konev, former supreme commander of East European forces and one of the leading longtime Communists in the armed forces, was announced today as the new commander of Soviet troops in East Germany. Marshal Konev led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II and was responsible for taking much of Axis-occupied Eastern Europe. In 1956, he was appointed commander of the Warsaw Pact armed forces and led the violent suppression of the Hu

Aug 9, 2021

Herbert Hoover 87 Today, Confident in America's Future

Aug. 9, 1961 - Herbert Hoover (center), 31st President of the United States, turned 87 today, and he faces the coming years unafraid, proud of his country, and confident in its strength and future. Interviewed in his apartment in New York's Waldorf Towers, Mr. Hoover said war was not imminent because "the Russians most likely do not want a nuclear war any more than we do." He did not, however, place much credence in Premier Khrushchev's protestations of new programs or polici

Aug 9, 2021

Khrushchev Warns of "Mega-Bomb"

Aug. 9, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev warned today that the Soviet Union was capable of constructing a rocket with an explosive warhead equivalent to 100 million tons of TNT. He asserted that the Soviet Union wanted peace and disarmament and preferred to sink all weapons into the sea. But, he added, if war breaks out, the Soviet Union will utilize all armaments at its disposal. U.S. officials said that the warhead Mr. Khrushchev described was indeed possible and that it would be

Aug 8, 2021

Sharp Increase in Refugees from East Germany into West Berlin

Aug. 8, 1961 - The influx of refugees to West Berlin from East Germany increased sharply today, a rise attributed to reaction to Premier Khrushchev's speech last night. Many of the 1,741 East Germans who reached West Berlin said they had fled because of fear that East Berlin and East Germany would soon be cut off from the West. The stream of refugees, which since noon Saturday has totaled 5,009 persons, flooded the accommodations of the West Berlin reception center. Long line

Aug 7, 2021

Dying of Leukemia, Robert Soblen, Gets Life for Wartime Espionage

Aug. 7, 1961 - Dr. Robert A. Soblen was sentenced today to life in prison for wartime espionage for the Soviet Union. The 61-year-old defendant, who is suffering from lymphatic leukemia and has a life expectancy of less than a year, collapsed in the arms of two deputy marshals as Federal Judge William B. Herlands pronounced the sentence. Before imposing sentence, Judge Herlands said he had considered the defendant's health carefully. He added, however: "A spy is a spy, no mat

Aug 7, 2021

Khrushchev Reaffirms Intention to End Allied Occupation Rights in West Berlin

Aug. 7, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev combined today a proposal for a conference on Berlin with a warning that Soviet divisions might mass on the West European frontiers as a precautionary defense measure. In a television speech keyed to the triumphal return of Maj. Gherman S. Titov from his spaceflight, the Soviet leader reaffirmed his intention to terminate Allied occupation rights in West Berlin through a German peace treaty. Mr. Khrushchev offered no compromise that could ser

Aug 6, 2021

Tulsa Evangelist's Anti-Communist Radio Show to Air on Mutual Broadcasting System

Aug. 6, 1961 - The Rev. Billy James Hargis (pictured) announced today that his anti-Communist radio program would go on the Mutual Broadcasting System this fall. The theme of the Tulsa evangelist's message is that the threat from Communism is almost entirely internal. He declares that if Communists and liberals, who, he says, promote Communist objectives, could be rooted out of the Government, there would be no Berlin crisis or similar troubles with international communism. #

Aug 5, 2021

Soviets Put Second Man Into Space

Aug. 5, 1961 - The Soviet Union put its second manned spaceship into round-the-earth orbit today, Tass press agency said. Tass said the spaceship was manned by Maj. Gherman Stepanovich Titov. Named "Vostok 2," it weighs about 10,000 pounds. The latest Soviet space feat came less than four months after Maj. Yuri Gagarin made his epochal flight April 12. Gagarin orbited the earth for 108 minutes at a peak altitude of 187 miles. Pilot Titov is maintaining two-way radio communica

Aug 5, 2021

Communist Bloc Says It Will Sign German Peace Treaty before New Year

Aug. 5, 1961 - The Communist bloc declared today that it would sign a German peace treaty before the end of 1961 that would turn over to East Germany control of the air, land and water access routes to isolated West Berlin. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Warsaw Pact countries in Moscow. The Warsaw Pact is the East European counterpart of NATO. Representatives of Communist China and other Asian Communist countries participated in the conference and adhered to the d