UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, November 8, 1995
9A
Seaman pleads guilty to rape
The Associated Press
NHAA, Japan — The three U.S. servicemen spotted the 12-year-old schoolgirl as she stood outside a stationery store where she had gone to buy a notebook.
According to prosecutors, the men grabbed her, shoved her into a car and bound her with tape that they had bought, along with condoms, at a grocery store on a U.S. airbase. Then, they drove her down a lonely road lined with fields of sugar cane.
Navy Seaman Marcus D. Gill calmly confessed yesterday to raping the girl — a crime that has damaged America's security ties with its most important Pacific ally, Marine Pfcs. Rodrico Harp and Kendrick Ledet admitted to helping him.
The rape has prompted an outpouring of anger on Okinawa, where more than 26,000 U.S. troops, including the largest contingent of Marines outside of the United States, are stationed.
Prosecutors gave a graphic account of the crime, saying it
began on the afternoon of Sept. 4 when Gill, Harp and Ledet were out cruising in a rented car.
The rape was Gill's idea, prosecutors said.
First the three men drove to a grocery store on a U.S. airbase, where they bought condoms and electrician's tape. Next they went to a nearby town in search of prey, prosecutors said.
While Gill waited in the car, the prosecutors said. Harp approached her as though to ask directions, and before she could answer Ledet grabbed her from behind.
That search ended at about 8 p.m., when a 12-year-old girl stepped out of a neighborhood stationery store where she had gore to buy a notebook for school.
Ledet and Harp allegedly shoved her into the car and bound her with the tape as Gill drove down a remote road surrounded by fields of sugar cane. Gill confessed to raping the girl and then dumping her there before returning to his base.
In pleading guilty to charges of confinement and rape resulting in injury, Gill, 22, of Woodville, Texas,
Source: Department of Defense
Knight-Ridder Tribune/RON CODDINGTON
could face life in prison in Japan.
JOSHIFURO, Japan
Ledge 20, of Wake Forest,
Harp 21, of Griffin, Ga, face the same charges and are being tried with Gill.
Yesterday they acknowledged their role in abducting the girl, but denied penetrating her.
victim is possible even if a defendant merely acted in concert with the actual rapist. So the two Marines' admissions that they participated in the plot and the abduction could be enough to secure a finding of guilt, although their sentences probably would be less severe.
Under Japanese law, a rape con-
Group wants Vietnam to open archives
General McNamara returns for first time since war's end
HANOI, Vietnam — Robert McNamara returned to Vietnam yesterday for the first time since the end of the war he helped escalate in the 1960s to persuade the country to open its archives on the conflict.
The Associated Press
The former U.S. defense secretary admitted in memoirs published last spring that American participation in the Vietnam war was terribly wrong. His current trip to the former enemy capital is to propose a conference of war-era decision-makers from both countries.
"We're here, obviously, for one reason — to see if Vietnam and the United States can draw lessons from what was a tragedy for both sides." McNamara said.
McNamaga, who was defense secretary from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, came as part of a delegation from Brown University and the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.
Council Vice President Karen Sughrue said the group hoped Vietnamese leaders would release new archival materials and would answer questions about their perceptions of America's wartime policy.
"We want to understand the Vietnamese actions," she said. "The majority of the Americana writing on this subject is completely uninformed about Vietnamese decision-making."
The delegation plans closed meetings today and tomorrow with Vietnamese diplomats, historians and officials, including Deputy Premier Phan Van Khai and Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh. A meeting is tentatively planned with Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, architect of Vietnam's victories against France and the United States.
While in government, McNamara was an ardent proponent of U.S. support for South Vietnam, which caused the war to be nicknamed "McNamara's War." By 1964 he was privately advising Johnson that the South Vietnamese leadership was badly divided and that the Communist guerrillas' hold on the countryside was too strong.
He resigned in 1968 but kept silent until last spring. He acknowledged in his memoirs that
United States' war policy was gravely flawed and that the U.S. could not win the war,
The belated assessment touched off bitter criticism in the United States, where many said he should have tried to stop the fighting and save lives. Vietnam's government, however, said that McNamara's assessment was realistic.
Sughreha said McNamara did not plan to discuss the war or his book with Vietnamese leaders, but he planned to promote the proposed conference.
Conference topics might include discussing why opportunities to prevent or shorten the war were missed, according to a council news release. McNamara identified several missed opportunities in his book, "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam."
The United States pulled out its troops in 1973, and South Vietnam fell to the North two years later.
If you have questions...
Vietnam has joined U.S. experts in several academic discussions of wartime strategies. But it has shown no interest in publicizing doubts or disagreements among its leaders during the war.
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COLLEGE BOWL
24-Team Knowledge Competition November 18,1995
★★★★
Be a participant in the Annual College Bowl
Tournament. College Bowl is a fast-paced
question/answer game played between two teams of four students. Test your knowledge in the areas of literature, science, history, current events, religion, philosophy, art, mythology music, drama, rock n roll, sports, film, and many more. The winning team will advance to the regional ACU-I College Bowl Tournament and compete against schools from Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri. Put a team together to match wits with the
champions!
$25 per team of 4 Students Entry Deadline: Nov.15!!
Sign up at the SUA Box Office, 4th floor, Kansas Union, or call 864-3477 for information.
Restaurants
Best breakfast ___
Best Chinese food ___
Best Mexican food ___
Best pizza ___
Best burgers ___
Best salad bar ___
Best cup of coffee ___
Best ice cream ___
Best frozen yogurt ___
Best place to go for:
Dinner with your parents ___
Best restaurant in Kansas City ___
Best late night restaurant ___
Entertainment
Best selection of beer ___
Best drink specials ___
Best sports bar ___
Best bar for live music ___
Best pool tables ___
Best local music group ___
Best place to go dancing ___
Best place for free entertainment ___
Best road trip ___
Best place to take an out-of-towner ___
Best restroom ___
Best radio station ___
Best place for women to meet men ___
Best place for men to meet women ___
Best place for women to meet women ___
Best place for men to meet men ___
Best place to go on a first date ___
the Best Overall Music Store worth a combined total of $150.
All respondents will be eligible for the "Top of the Hill" Certificate Package. One winner will be chosen to receive gift certificates for the Best Men's or Women's Clothing Store,the Best Grocery Store and
Return entry forms to 119 Stauffer-Flint, Wescoe Terrace, Kansas Union Cafeteria (3rd floor of the Union) or the information counter on the main level of the Kansas Union.
The "Top of the Hill"Reader's Poll is a promotion of The University Daily Kansan. The results are the sole opinions of the respondent and are not a reflection of The University Daily Kansan or the entire KU community. The University Daily Kansan reserves the right to disqualify any entry that exhibits signs of tampering or forgery.
Best free sporting event ___
Best undergraduate class ___
Best place to study ___
Best place to go for a study break ___
Best building ___
Best place to people watch ___
Best dorm ___
Best apartment complex ___
Campus
Retailers
Best used CD store ___
Best overall music selection ___
Best place to buy stereo equipment ___
Best video store ___
Best bookstore ___
Best health club ___
Best coin laundry ___
Best florist ___
Best grocery store ___
Best discount store ___
Best women's clothing store ___
Best men's clothing store ___
Best car repair ___
Rules for Entries
Please include your name,address and telephone number so that you will be eligible for "Top of the Hill" Reader's Poll Certificate Package.
Entries without this information will not be counted.
Address ___
Telephone Number ___
Entry deadline is Friday, November 17, 1995.
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