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William Satterfield: Open Mike program for Saturday the 29th of December. In three-two-one. The British return to Rhodesia, and

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the United States Air Force is there. Hi, everybody. I'm Bill Satterfield, and on this morning's Open Mike program we're going to tell you about the

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Rhodesia peace settlement and the role of the United States Air Force and Dover Air Force Base played in that effort. After more than a decade

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of a terrorist war in the former British colony of Rhodesia in Southern Africa, it appears peace may be at hand.

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Following a fifteen-week negotiating session in London, the British, the Rhodesian, and the Patriotic Front leaders

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have agreed to a settlement that calls for a cease fire, December 28th, elections for a Rhodesian Parliament in

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two months, and the withdrawal of the Commonwealth Peacekeeping Force shortly thereafter. Once these things have taken place,

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Rhodesia will be an independent nation controlled by the majority black. It will be known as Zimbabwe. Unlike the white-controlled

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independent government declared by Rhodesia in 1965, the new independence will be officially recognized by the British and the world.

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The 1965 unilateral declaration of independence led to a United Nations economic boycott against the Southern African nation.

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During the lengthy negotiating sessions in London, which recently concluded, the United States government was represented by

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Gibson Lambert of the State Department. In Salisbury, Rhodesia last week, I talked with Lambert about his role in the peacekeeping talks.

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[Plane sounds and sirens in background] Gibson Lambert: Well, I guess I was working on the problem in London that led to this airlift of equipment for the British to Rhodesia.

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That is, I was following for the American Embassy in London the course of the Lancaster House Conference negotiations between the British,

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the Patriotic Front, and the Muzorewa government. WS: What role did you play on behalf of the American government?

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GL: I kept the State Department, Washington informed as to what was going on at the conference and made known that the various

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parties at the conference. Our views on issues as they arose. WS: Was it an American offer? Or what were the Americans asked

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to provide this airlift capability? GL: The British asked us, once agreement was in sight, if we could make

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airlift capability available to haul in their outsized equipment that will be necessary for the conduct of the cease-fire period.

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WS: Once that request was made, what did you do? GL: When the request was made, I immediately transmitted it to Washington where it was

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reviewed at the highest levels of the government. And we told the British, "yes." WS: This C-5 which we are on is

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the first C-5 in Rhodesia. Is that correct? GL: To the best of my knowledge, it is. The U.S. has adhered to the United Nations

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sanctions against Rhodesia, and there have been no American aircraft, with maybe one or two exceptions, that have visited this country in the last fourteen years.

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Sanctions have now been removed, and we're here. WS: State Department employee, Lambert, assigned to the American Embassy in London,

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remained in Salisbury several days after his arrival to work with the resident American diplomat in the Rhodesian capitol.

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The C-5 Galaxy from Dover Air Force Base in which we arrived was not the first American military plane to reach

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Rhodesia as part of the British peacekeeping force. Advanced teams arrived earlier in the day to handle

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the unloading of British cargo and troops. In all, some twenty-seven American airlift planes were expected to transport the British

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from England to Salisbury. They will have carried ninety-five trucks and trailers and twelve helicopters plus troops. Two of the planes

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C-5s from Dover Air Force Base, and the remainder were C-141s. The number of American troops involved in the exercise was

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about one-hundred-ninety air crew members and about one-hundred-seventy ground support men and women, according to Captain Brian Voorhees of McGuire Air Force Base.

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The first C-5 from Dover Air Force Base left Dover the morning of December 20th and arrived that evening in Brize Norton

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Air Force Base, England. That crew consisted of aircraft commander Major Francis Tax, co-pilot Captain

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Jordan Mowen, co-pilot Captain Lloyd Morais, navigators, Lieutenant Colonel James Curring, and Captain Darrell Cron.

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The engineers were Senior Master Sergeant Walter Johnson, staff Sergeant Lindell Barkley. The load masters were tech Sergeant

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Timothy Kern, Airman First-Class Mark Hill, and Sergeant Jose Lagnetan, the crew chief of Staff Sergeant Roger Lee. The security policemen were

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Senior Airman Jim Foster and Airman First-Class Kevin Kulik. In England, the British and Americans loaded the C-5 with six helicopters,

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equipment, and British troops. The cargo weight was about eighty-two-thousand pounds, nearly the maximum allowable flying weight. After the loading process,

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which took about five hours, the Dover jet flew to Cairo, Egypt for refueling and a change of crew. Lieutenant Colonel Jack Ritter,

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formerly Deputy Operations Commander at Dover Air Force Base was in charge of the missions in Cairo. Language difficulties

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between the Americans and the Egyptians presented several problems for the Americans. While on the ground in Cairo,

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I spoke with the troop commander of the British soldiers on board our plane, Captain Peter Bolton of the Army Air Corps. Captain Peter Bolton: We're taking three Gazelle

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helicopters and three Scouts with us and the Royal Air Force are also taking six Pumas. And as far as we know,

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we're going to be based in Salisbury, three Gazelles in Salisbury and three Scouts down in Gweru. And we will operate out of there,

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as far as we know. That's all we know at the moment. WS: What will be your job once you arrive in Salisbury? PB: As we understand it, at the moment, it will be purely one of

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taking equipment, mail, to the monitoring groups out in the field, and also taking the liaison teams around

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the various assembly points to visit the various assembly areas. WS: How many men are flying down in this plane

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and altogether that you know of? PB: On this plane, I can only say that there's sixty-five of us. And I really don't know what's on the other planes at all. I don't know.

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WS: What is the reaction of the men to going down to Rhodesia? PB: Mixed reaction really, mainly I think, because of Christmas coming up.

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Everyone's going to miss being at home for Christmas. And on the other hand, is two months away, in an interesting job, and I think

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people get a lot of benefit out of it. [Someone whistling in the background] WS: Two months? That's what you think you'll be down there? PB: Well, we don't know. Two, three, four months at the moment. That's what we've been told anyway.

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WS: Is this your first mission on a C-5? PB: Yes, it is. First time I've ever been on a C-5. WS: What is your impression of the plane? PB: Very big, too big.

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It's very, very big. Very comfortable. And a little noisy, but overall very comfortable. WS: What are your personal thoughts on Britain assuming control of Rhodesia again? Can you tell me that?

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PB: I can't really because of the official line is really as soon as the elections are held, there will be an elected government.

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And hopefully we would be no longer required to monitor the cease-fire. And so, we will then come home. WS: Captain Bolton's

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impressions of the C-5 were shared by all the Britons and Rhodesians we spoke with. Most were awed by the size of

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the plane and its carrying capacity. The twelve-hundred-man British Commonwealth peacekeeping force made up of soldiers

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from England, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, and Fiji will be assigned to the fifty-six bases and assembly points in Rhodesia.

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The terrorist Patriotic Front soldiers are expected to start gathering at the designated points for transportation to the assembly areas.

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At the assembly areas, the Russian and Soviet trained terrorists will lay down their weapons and return to Rhodesia.

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White crosses will be placed on the equipment at the test to designate those areas as the assembly points.

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Upon leaving Cairo, Dover's C-5 headed nonstop to Salisbury, arriving in the Rhodesian capital about midnight Salisbury time.

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Nevertheless, several hundred Rhodesians, black and white, crowded the terrace of the airport to watch

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our plane arrive and unload. The British troops cleared customs and headed to the barracks for a good night's sleep.

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The crew on this historic mission, the first C-5 to fly to Salisbury, consisted of aircraft commander Major James Blankenship,

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co-pilot Captain Reggie Jordan, co-pilot Major Patrick Ford, navigators Captain John Serrafiji and Major Kent Freshwater.

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The flight engineers were Master Sergeant Charles Lawrence and Staff Sergeant Mickey Bossio. The crew chief was Sergeant Stephen Chapel.

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The load masters were Airman First-Class Todd Shepherd and Sergeants Delmar Cottwitz and Dale Bulima.

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The security police on the flight were Staff Sergeant Steve Gillzinger and Airman First-Class James Taylor.

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The unloading of the plane at Salisbury took several hours with the help of some of the forty-six United States Air Force personnel

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assigned to temporary duty in Rhodesia. During that time, WKEN News spoke with several Rhodesians and got their reactions to what was happening.

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The settlement with the terrorists, the use of the British Commonwealth forces to enforce the agreement, and the role of the Americans.

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I first spoke with Rhodesian, John Smith. John Smith: Well, I only hope they achieve what they set out to do, and that's gain a peaceful settlement for this country,

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this great prospect and future for this land, you know. And millions of people want to get stuck in and do their thing for this land of ours.

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And I just hope they make it. WS: So you're confident about what's going on? JS: Oh yes. Too true. WS: Mr. Smith, without this settlement, what was your prediction

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of the future for your country? JS: Well, I think it looks quite bright from where I stand at the moment. Providing these different parties can get together

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and form one, united nation. That's all they need to do. WS: What about without the settlement, if things had continued as they are? How would, what would you

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think would happen to Rhodesia? JS: Well, the only thing that sort of put us on the floor, I think, were the sanctions.

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They hit us pretty hard, I believe. WS: In what way did the sanction hurt you? JS: You know, the foreign currency and stuff like that. We couldn't get the

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equipment we required. It was difficult getting equipment for the agricultural side of the country. The farming community suffered

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a heck of a lot. And I think this is probably the biggest thing that hurt us, because our exports

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were mostly agricultural stuff. Tobacco, maize, cattle, and so on. And, of course, the tariffs also put a screw on the farmer. They couldn't get the cattle,

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killing them off by the day, by the dozens. WS: In the United States, what's happening in Iran is, more or less, unifying

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our people. Have you noticed a unifying attitude since the settlement was announced? JS: I think, yeah. I think so.

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Yes. People get together more, and they become more friendly and so on. WS: I next spoke with computer technician, Ian Turbid.

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What do you think about the whole mission that is going on with the American planes and the British troops, and equipment?

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Any thoughts on what's happening here this week? IT: Well, everybody in Rhodesia, I'm sure, is skeptical about the cease-fire.

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We have seen lots of other so-called agreements failing. And we are not really entrusting our country to other forces

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from other countries who are not really interested in our welfare either. WS: So you don't think the United States is interested in your welfare?

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Is that what you said? IT: Well, the individuals may be concerned, but I certainly don't think the world powers are really

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interested in the welfare of the individual in Rhodesia. WS: Are you a native of Rhodesia? IT: That's right, yeah. WS: How have things changed since you've

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been growing up? Any big changes? IT: Not really. I think Rhodesians have hardened themselves to whatever is thrown at them

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from outside of Rhodesia. Because we have had some quite nasty things done to our country. This Patriotic Front or communist alliance

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that's fighting a war against us has been going on long before the so-called war started. It's... When I joined the Air Force in 1962,

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we were still fighting, not terrorists as such in those days, but they were infiltrators from as far away as the Congo.

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And there had been... there was reports of them being dropped by a Russian submarine from all around the coast of Africa. So it's nothing new to us.

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It just intensified a bit more and I think that it's got more to the civilian population now, and there's been obviously a lot more deaths.

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Our war is still on a very, very small scale to anything like Vietnam. WS: Do you think that the situation in your country is so much more

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different than the situation in America in the treatment of blacks, and many people condemning Rhodesia for the white minority government?

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IT: Well, I think Americans generally have a guilt complex about their own sort of works. Rather, we have treated our blacks, which they were at a much more backward state,

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than your fellow black Americans. And they literally were children. And they had to be taught how to use a knife and fork in a lot of cases.

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And it's just got to progress slowly. You can't teach a kid to fly an airplane. I mean, imagine a five-year-old kid flying

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a C-5 Air Galaxy. You just can't do it. And things have to work up slowly, and they are going that way.

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But things do tend to move a bit faster in America. And things in Spain moves slower, and things in Africa move slower still.

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And we've just got to go at our own pace. Otherwise you're going to get a situation where people think, and this is

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happening right now in Rhodesia, where they are told they are free now, and they are doing this and they have got equal rights.

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You have so-called technicians who have fast-level of education, which take to try and compare it with America.

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It's a very low grade, sort of the junior school standard. And they are now claiming that they are technicians.

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And you're now getting people trying to do jobs and demanding literally this job and pay to go with it. You know? WS: Yes

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IT: And this sort of thing is happening because of outside pressure on us. WS: So you would say that the white treatment of the black in

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your country is not repression, but a way of development? Is that what you're saying? IT: Yes, definitely.

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And I think in America there's still a lot of backward Indians that are treated far worse than our blacks, I can assure you. And I've got many American friends,

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and they seem to tell me that I'm talking with truth. I would like to go to America some time and see for myself.

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I've been to communist countries, and I've been to most of Europe, and a lot of African countries. So I have been around a little bit. Not to America though.

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WS: Mr. Turbid told me the terrorist war in recent years has been directed not so much a white civilians in Rhodesia,

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but rather at the blacks. Of the twenty-thousand or so civilian casualties, only five-hundred were white, according to Mr. Turbid,

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while the remainder were blacks. Quite a bit of the security work in Rhodesia is done on a volunteer basis. And one volunteer was

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Dorothy Thompson of the British South African Police Reserve Force. We got her thoughts on the peace settlement.

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Dorothy Thompson: Well, as you know, earlier this year we had an election and it went off all very well without all the equipment.

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So it seems to me an awful lot of money and expense in order to achieve what we did quite satisfactorily in April this year. WS: You think things went satisfactorily and

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this really is not needed then? DT: I believe the April election was entirely satisfactorily arranged. Yes. WS: Why then is this being done?

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Can you explain that? DT: Well, you've got the terrorist force being included now as a legitimate political party.

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This puts a very different picture on things that we've been black sheep for so many years now that nobody would believe us even if we did

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say that this was a fair election. WS: So you think that if left as things were Rhodesia would come about in the development, and the sanctions,

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and all. You don't think all this is necessary? DT: I believe that Rhodesia's always had the potential to develop if only it had been left alone

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by outside influences, yes. WS: What have these outside influences done that you don't particularly agree with? DT: I think they've pushed issues

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that would have been better left alone. The Africans are at where they've been slow in coming forward.

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It's taken a long time, possibly longer than it should have done. I don't know. I'm no judge of this. But look at the progress that's being made in

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this country over the last fourteen years. It's quite unbelievable. WS: You think there's been more progress in the last fourteen years than in all

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the history since then? Or at least a good portion of it in modern times? DT: In the last fourteen years, yeah, there's been more progress made than in the last sixty before that.

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Very much so, yes. The commerce industry. You'd have to have lived here to realize the enormous changes that

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have taken place over these years. WS: What accounts for all this progress? DT: Force of circumstance. We jolly well had to get on,

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and make things for ourselves when we couldn't get them from outside. Clothing, food and food products, all these sort of things had to be made here.

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WS: So the boycott, or what there was of it, really helped the country, you're saying? DT: I believe in many ways it did.

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I look back to fourteen years ago when my daughter was a baby, it was unbelievably difficult to get the most simple things then,

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like clothing, baby foods, and things like that. And now it's no trouble. WS: Are you fearful? Or what are your thoughts on having

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the blacks run the country? DT: Well, they've been running the country for the last eight or nine months, and so far, so good. But examples to the north of us don't give one

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a great deal of confidence in the future at the present moment. I believe it could be very good, or it could be perfectly frightful

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and we might have to move out. WS: What examples are you referring to? DT: When I look at Zambia, which is not a happy country.

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Malawi is okay. Kenya, I don't know. I've been away for too long, But I do know there's somebody who works in my office who was

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born and bred there, cannot get a job there because they will not issue him with a work permit. Apparently, being born in the country is not sufficient.

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WS: I was talking with one gentleman and he said that if you check the statistics, you'll see that most of

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the civilian casualties have been black, and not white. And that really the war, the Patriotic Front, is blacks fighting blacks,

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not blacks fighting whites. Is that your impression? DT: Very much so. It's a fact that the Africans have been the damn side harder hit than the Europeans.

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WS: Does that give you hope or fear that maybe that the whites will be left alone? DT: That's a hell of a question to ask. (Laughs) Go into that one in a bit.

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But you've got to take into account that the African is a different person to the European. Their whole outlook,

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their cultural background and everything, they don't think like we do. They never will. They are still a primitive people.

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There's no two ways about it. You see them in town. You see them dressed in their suits and then they'll come out here, like when the politicians come

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back and they're dancing just like native dances as you, well as I remember them as a child living in the bush in Kenya.

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And they're still all in their highly fashionable clothing. They're just different people to us. We would never behave like that. WS: That's Rhodesian civilian

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Dorothy Thompson interviewed by WKEN News in Salisbury, Rhodesia. I talked also with several black Rhodesians, including a customs agent and a fireman

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because of their broken English and the difficulty in understanding them, I did not interview them on tape. But both men said they were

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hopeful what was going on with the Commonwealth Peacekeeping Force would eventually lead to peace in their nation.

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Both men said the terrorist war was bad and they were looking for an end to it. Once the British troops and equipment were offloaded from the C-5 in Salisbury,

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Dover C-5 took to the air and flew to Mombasa, Kenya, a city on the East Coast of Kenya, a city bordering the Indian Ocean.

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The stop at Mombasa was to fuel the aircraft and change crews. Less than a day before we arrived, the first American Ground Support

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Units set up its operations. Twenty-seven American planes from Rhodesia were scheduled to stop at Kenya on their way to

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Cairo and a return to the States. Twenty-one Americans were assigned to the airlift control element, the ground support team.

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The new crew assigned to our C-5, which had spent the night in Mombasa, was aircraft commander, Captain Timothy Shaffer,

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co-pilot, Captain Daniel Delsabraugh, co-pilot, Captain Joseph Wolozen, flight engineers, Sergeants Michael Miller and Sherman Cavege.

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The load masters were Sergeants John Bovenreeve and Michael Drooding. The navigators were Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Geist

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and Major Rocky Gaston. The crew chief was Senior Airman Scott Simon. This crew flew the plane to Cairo for refueling.

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After the refueling, which took several hours, the C-5 lifted off for a nonstop flight to Dover.

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A new crew took over in Cairo. It consisted of aircraft commander, Lieutenant Colonel Roland Wolfe, co-pilot Captain Jerry Yellen,

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co-pilot Captain John Webber, navigators Captain Howard Reed, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Massino. Tthe flight engineers were

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Master Sergeant Frank Rushiers and Staff Sergeant Horace Schidzik. The load masters were Tech Sergeant Craig Marlow, and

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Airman First-class Timothy Benedict and Stephen Moss. Sergeant Ronald Macumbre was the crew chief. Why was the Air Force involved?

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The British ask the State Department for assistance because of the large cargo planes the Americans have, and the large cargo being

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transported to Rhodesia. The British were in charge of the barrack admissions and paid the bill. While this was a history making

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trip for C-5 number 000466, for many of the crew it seemed just another mission, another job in the role of the 436th Military Airlift Wing

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at Dover Air Force Base. And this was expected to be the only American involvement in the Rhodesian settlement.

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I'm Bill Satterfield, WKEN News.