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Show Page 8 Utah Independent The Paper That Dares To Take A Stand S November 8 1973 0 He reasoned that At right Is retired Rear Admiral Ira since, like its predeces- sors, the Nixon Administration had not the slightest intention of winning the war, the best thing for America was to end the Fighting and get our P.O.Wj and MJ.Aji home as soon as possible: To fight to win is one thing, the Admiral reasoned;-tfight to lose is madness. Of course, there were millions of Americans who wanted to end the war, but Ira McMillian knew that he might make a unique contribution to that objective. In April of 1951, Admiral McMillian had attended a dinner party in the apartment of Sam Rayburn at the Anchorage Apartments in Washington. Aware of the Admirals concern, McMillian to go to for arranged Teheran as the personal representative of President Harry Truman to assure the Shah and Empress of Iran that the President of the United States supported them against Premier Muhammad Musaddiq and his Communist insurgents. When 1 arrived, recalls the Admiral, they already had their bags packed and a plane was standing by. Though there were intriguers in our many the support of the President government, instrumental in undera after time was Communist-lethe insurgency mining and Communist leader Musaddiq wound up in the Shahs jaQ. During the long crisis in Teheran the Admiral attended a number of official functions as a representative of the U.S. Embassy. At those affairs he became acquainted with his adversary counterparts important revolutionary specialists in Iran to help the Communists dethrone the Shah. One of these was Le Duan, later to be the Communist Party boss of North Vietnam. Today, Le Duan holds the same position in North Vietnam as Leonid Brezhnev occupies in the Soviet g Union and Mao in Red China. In other words, he is the top Communist selected to succeed Ho chi Minh as Ray-bu- m E. McMillian, a val hero much-decorat- IM na- ed the kind of tenacious American who stands up best when the going gets tough, as the photo of his ship, the U.S.S. Newcomb, and this copy of his Navy Cross citation indicate. Admiral McMillian retired from the Navy in 1958, became a highly successful businessman, and in 1970 offered his services to President Nixon as a specialenvoy to help end the Vietnam War. The Admiral knew Le Duan, now the top Communist in North Vietnam, from their encounters as adversaries when Ira McMillian acted as a personal representative of President' Truman. McMillian personally presented his plan to President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and General Haig in an August 1970 meeting at the summer White House. We must bring this war to a close, said the Admiral. Well, said die President, Well do that in October 1972. Ma-grude- no-wi- n SCCKTAIIV OP TMI TH UN NAVY Tha PtmUmk CRCSS la C AFT AIN 1KA d tea Meeting With The President In the last week of August 1970, Admiral McMillian drove to San Ge-- r iente, California, to see President Nixon c? the summer White House. He had e trlier telephoned for General Alexander Haig, been told that he was not there, stated his business, and been put through o Henry Kissinger. He told Kissinger that i".e had a unique plan to end the war, and that he had a personal contact on the Presidential level in North Vietnam. Rear Admiral Ira McMillian was given an appointment for 2:30 p.m. the following afternoon. The Admiral spent Friday night at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base about twenty miles south of San Clemente. The next afternoon he was picked up by a Marine helicopter. The flight took about fifteen minutes, and the copter landed on a helipad inside the compound at the summer White House. A Secret Service agent escorted him past what McMillian describes as a plentiful secretaryto the office of Henry Kissinger. The agent left the Admiral with the Presidents top National Security Advisor. Also present was Alexander Haig, who has since succeeded Robert Haldeman as the Presidents chief of staff. The Admiral began the conversation by noting that he had an eighteen-year-olson whom he did not want to die in a rice paddy. Kissinger replied that he had a son of his own, and that he could d I NAVY ttataa uaaa pmsun la praa anting UNTTFD STATES NAYY a ua knowing CITATION. trawilnary uroUrs m Ccirjumug "fftcar d of u Seraar. 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Wtetre aimunca of two daatroyera ranging axng-su- e Ms vassal Captain kficNTiittaa iad fun crew aatuguubiog ad hras and in effecting emergency repairs, acasu tie NEWCOMB lose lowed to port. Maimnlning niga auedart el fighting efficiency inrougnom tna long ana ternbe atura. Captain McMliuaa, by ms fear lane ioadonnip and enrage in tea face of grave porionai danger, coatrioutea tateo aeainictida rf nrea Jipanaaa pianos aarttnra rraaerwiifm of an savaraj teugoa destroyer Kla heroic conduct aad unwavering I ha 'J For S 5. NtWC-- transportation privileges with Military Airlift Command if I persisted. I told him that I was entitled to that on a space available basis and I didnt think he could do anything about it, but if he wanted to try, he could go ahead. Admiral McMillian is not only tenacious, he is tough. Then I called Alex Butterfield, McMillian continues, Assistant to the President, at the White House. I had known his wife in her childhood in Coronado, California. He indicated there wasnt much he could do but I could give him a ring at any time I wanted assisall Tim For: FIFTY-- F arasa far.! u. son ai j were inspiring aad raf.oettfier.igneMerdtt upas Nava. Service and man riir.arf and tha United Antes For tea Fraateom, J dictator. - Utetad FLLIS MeKlUiAN, ter sanrlca aa sat term Tse-tun- - appreciate the Admirals feelings. McMillian told the President's assistants that he proposed to make personal contact with the Number One man in North Vietnam. He noted that he realized it would be illegal to make such a contact unless he were acting as a personal representative of the President of the United States. Kissinger wanted to know why the Admiral thought he could establish such a contact, and the Admiral related the circumstances under which he became acquainted with Le Duan while both were adversaries in Teheran. Kissinger kept looking at his watch, and finally said we should adjourn to the patio, recalls Admiral McMillian. The three men walked through a corridor into a walled patio and sat down at a wrought iron table with a glass top. A few minutes later, Richard Nixon appeared. As the Admiral relates it: -- The President greeted me and said that he noticed I had been appointed to Annapolis by his "old friendly adversary, Sam Rayburn. Actually, they weren i friendly enemies at all. Rayburn and Nixon sat next to each other in joint sessions as Vice President and Speedier of the House, but the two never spoke to each other. Rayburn had hated Nixon with a passion from the time Mr. Nixon publicly impugned his, and President Truman 's, patriotism. President Nixon had obviously checked my records, because the fact that Rayburn had appointed me to Annapolis had not been discussed when I talked to Kissinger on the phone to arrange the appointment." 1 As the four men sat around the - - d Though deadly enemies in the field, the former Texas farm boy and the Communist operative found themselves personally compatible. Le Duan spoke some English and was a most interesting remembers the Adconversationalist, miral. During the time I was in Teheran, 1 spent long hours in personal discussion with him. After the crisis in Iran, the Admiral McMillian and Communist Le Duan maintained informal contact, exchanging occasional social amenities by mail. Because of this unique personal contact with the supposed mystery man who was now Communist dictator of North Vietnam, Admiral McMillian believed he might be able to convince Le Duan to break the contrived logjam at the Paris Peace Conference. His idea, however naive it sounds in light of subsequent developments, was that he be recalled to active duty and sent as a Presidential envoy from the U.S. Government to North Vietnam, where he pated that he would be cordially received by Le Duan. The Admiral is not a he Ramsey Clark or a Jane Fonda the to circumvent would never attempt law by negotiating illegally with North so he was determined to Vietnam contact the highest officials of the U.S. Government and inform them of his contact among the North Vietnamese. mittee to raise money in Texas. known before, with the idea that they I asked him what kind of money as to what the might give me some inkling For the he was talking about. He said, "Any proper procedure would be. made amounts, preferably large. " I renext three months, Ira McMillian had in plied that I would see what I could use of every contact he had ever do. stalling- the that reasoned He Washington. the game, of political at Paris was part Perhaps if enough money big money and over and over he thought of that End could be raised for the Presidential House: White scene at the summer October in do that campaign, the President would give up his the war? Well, well political ace and the bloodshed could be 1972. McMilThe Admiral continues: ended. Admiral One of the first men Director lian visited was James Rowley, On the twenty-fir- st of Decemof the US. Secret Service. Rowley had over ber, in accordance with a request been a friend of the Admirals for from Hugh Sloan, I went over and twenty-fiv- e years. He had been a bodythen had a talk with Jeb Stuart r, D. Roosevelt, Franklin for guard later the of to become detail House famous White the for director of his part in Watergate. At that time Secret Service, and finally President Kenof he was in charge of the campaign Director him to nedy had promoted I told Admiral the Service. The pending the arrival of John Mitchell reports: detail in and Maurice Stans. On the twenty-nint- h Jim about my situation great White House, at the while we had lunch of December, Hugh Sloan m came over to the Army-Nav- y and he advised me to proceed with Club caution. to see me and asked what I had Ira McMillian went to visit Admiral done about trying to raise campaign told him I had funds in Texas. Tyler Dedman, Administrative Assistant Chief of Naval Operations. McMillian been on the telephone and had remembers: some promising leads that I would My reception from Admiral Dedman was very cool from the beginfollow up on. On the eleventh of January, ning He indicated he would try to stop he fact a of matter As efforts. my Hugh Sloan again came over and threitened me and said he would cut off insisted that I do something about glass-to- p table the President asked the Admiral about his idea. McMillian began rhetorically, asking President Nixon for the name of the man on his level in Hanoi. The President replied, Do you mean Le due Tho? No, I dont, answered the Admiral. I am talking about Le Duan. The President looked startled. Oh, yes, he said, I know of him. Admiral McMillian continues: I told the President that I knew Le Duan from Teheran and that we had kept in touch with each other. I told him that I proposed that he recall me to active duty in the Navy and send me as his personal representative to Hanoi and Moscow. I had another contact very high in Moscow and I thought I could use him in conjunction with Le Duan to bring the war to a close. At this point the President inter- - iKnuff tance. rf it, Miy Next on the Admirals contact list was rupted and said, "Well, well do that in October 1972 It was the most statement I ever cold-blood-ed heard. The Admiral shot back, You mean to say that you are going to do this just before the election? President Nixon grinned and replied: Well, I wouldnt go that far. Abruptly changing the subject, the President asked McMillian what contacts he had in Moscow. The Admiral told him that during Khrushchevs 1959 trip to the United States he had become acquainted with Frol R. Kozlov, who had been Deputy Premier and Secretaiy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Kozlov, who died in 1965, had introduced the Admiral to other important persons in the Khrushchev entourage. Admiral McMillian, though stunned by the Presidents announcement that he planned to drag out the war until October of 1972, repeated his plan and was heartened when the President asked if there was something he could study. The Admiral gave the President a carefully prepared outline, Alexander Haig was assigned the job of monitoring the plan, and the Admiral was told that the proposal would be given serious consideration. Heniy Kissinger now excused himself, pleading that he had to attend a party in Beverly Hills. McMillian quips: He didnt mention who his date was. Then the President thanked the Admiral for his concern, and told him that he would soon be contacted and briefed on the progress of his proposal. But the Admiral had been told by President Nixon, himself, that he didnt plan to end the war until October 1972. Something very ugly was happening something that Rear Admiral Ira McMillian couldnt quite bring himself to believe. Surely the President would recon- - sider. Appealing To Washington Over the subsequent year, Admiral McMillian received several letters from General Haig all full of doubletalk. And the war went on and on and on. In his minds ear, the Admiral heard the President say, over and over: End the war? Well, well do that in October 1972. In December of 1971, with the Paris talks still deadlocked. Admiral McMillian decided to fly to Washington to try to. stimulate interest in his plan. Perhaps others could convince the President to stop playing politics with the lives of American boys. The Admiral explains, I decided my best line of approach would be to make contact with various individuals in Washington, some of whom I had - my producing some money or at least commitments for money. Again, he promised to help me with my plan if I would raise money for the G.O.P. The next day I saw Henry Kissinger at the White House. I told him briefly about the people who had been advising me, and that I intended to go ahead with my idea and asked him to help me. Kissinger was polite, but totally noncommittal All I got from him were the same evasions and doubletalk I had been getting from General Haig's letters. By this time I was completely convinced that the Administration was totally cynical about the war and wanted to drag it out until just before the election. It really made my blood bod to see our government playing politics with the lives of our servicemen. And I began making these views known. I would soon pay the price for doing so. . Roger Shields, Assistant Secretary of Defense in charge of the P.O.W.S. Assistant Secretary Shields let it be known that things were progressing nicely, and no outside help was needed or wanted. And so it went. The Admiral who in August of 1970 had heard the President say that he would wait until October of 1972 to end the war the Admiral who couldnt believe was getting a hard, ugly, it quite Admiral Ira McMillian met with Hugh dose of political reality. Sloan once again on the seventeenth of On December tenth, a very remarkable januaryt 1972. The meeting took place at thing happened. Admiral McMillian, who 1701 - . . - Pennsylvania Avenue, headquarters kept extensive notes concerning the pe- - 0f tj,e Committee to the Presi-rio- d from August 1970 to June 1972, dent. On the floor at that address ground describes it this way: is the First National Bank of Washington. According to the Admiral: A man named Vorontsov from the Russian Embassy called me and The reason I mention that there I went over to their Embassy which was a bank in the same building is is around the comer from the that on one occasion Mr. Sloan Army-NavClub. He was an assisshowed me tremendous amounts of tant counselor at the Embassy. I cash which he had in his office. have no idea how he came to Incredible as it seems, there was so contact me, but he told me that he much currency that he had it in had heard that I was trying to do cardboard cartons and I asked him something to bring the war to a right away, "Why do you carry all close and that he was in favor of this cadi in here when you have a this. He said that he wanted to help bank down on the first floor? He without making that fact public. I replied: There are reasons 'for dowas dumbfounded to say the least. ing business in cash which I will tell you about later, but I dont think The next person to contact the Adwe had better get into that now. miral was a famous lady with a great deal What have you done about raising of courage and a compulsion to tell the some money in Texas? truth as she sees it. Admiral McMillian Admiral McMillian continues his tale recalls: of frustration: Re-Ele- ct y On the fourteenth of December, call from . . . Martha had known her casually Mitchell I a couple of years before. How she pit my name and knew I was at the Army-Nav-y Club, I dont know. But we had a very interesting conversation and I had occasion to talk to her several times later. She was very sympathetic to my plan, but apologized that she had been isolated and could do nothing to help. Admiral McMillian was now spending night and day pleading his case before influential people in Washington. Finally, he approached the very heart of the' Watergate operation. The Admiral recounts: On the seventeenth ofDecember, I went to the headquarters of the Committee to the hesi-denat 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, diagonally across from the White House. The man in charge of the money at that time was Hugh Shan, a very intense, fine young man, it appeared to me. He listened to me for about an hour and told me he thirught he could be some of help if would in turn help the Gm- Re-Ele- ct On the thirty-firof January, 1972, I was called at the Army-Nav- y Oub and asked to a meeting, at the White House, which was attended by Nixon, Butterfield, Haldeman, and Ehriichman. I had never seen Haldeman before, and when I arrived I took a seat in a chair right outside the entrance to the President 's office. A man came in and sat down all slumped over and with his head down on his chin and a very fierce look on his face. Trying to be friendly, I asked him how he was and he just grunted. I then asked him if he was waiting to see the President. He said that he. was. I asked him if he was from out of town. He said, "I'm the st I received a t, of the White House. I asked him what he meant by that. His answer was, "Ifun the dace. My name is Haldeman. That's the only contact I ever had with Haldeman, except at the meeting we had a few minutes later. The meeting was very short and little was said about my plan except to hold out action on it as a carrot for my raising very large sums of 1 money. |