$486 Per Chopper

To counter the effect of armed U.S. helicopters, the Communist Viet Cong have placed a price on the head of every chopper crew. Kill a helicopter and you win 35,000 piasters ($486). Last week the Viet Cong were doing well for themselves.

A mere three minutes' flying time from Saigon, heavily armed HU-1B spotted a concentration of guerrillas. "There's a whole mess of VC nice and open right under us," announced the pilot over his radio. "We're going down after them." The chopper descended, .60-cal. machine guns clattering, rockets dropping from the pods. "Watch them go," cried the pilot, Captain Gary Riggins of Antioch, Calif. These were his last words.

Viet Cong ground fire from captured U.S. .50-cal. machine guns knocked the helicopter into a blazing heap, and black-clad Communist guerrillas finished the job. Five American crewmen and their Vietnamese observer died. It was the sixth helicopter crash of the week, and it brought the toll of Americans killed in action over the 200 mark.

Time to Depart. For weeks, the Viet Cong had been relatively quiet, apparently failing to exploit the chaotic political situation in South Viet Nam. Americans in Saigon thought the Reds were hurting militarily. Perhaps, a little. At the same time, they probably did not want to take a chance of rallying support behind General Nguyen Khanh's regime by pressing major at tacks. At any rate, last week the Viet Cong cut loose again. In a spate of ambushes and fire fights--some within 15 miles of Saigon--they inflicted 403 casualties on government forces while suffering 266 themselves. The Communists captured 205 weapons, 24 radio transmitters, four field telephones and a typewriter. The government captured only 63 guns, largely because the Viet Cong have taken to tying string to their weapons. Thus, when a guerrilla in an exposed position is shot, his buddies hiding near by can save at least the gun by pulling it into the bush.

But even as the war heated up, the political ferment in Saigon was calming down. Tensions were eased by the departure of Lieut. General Tran Thien Khiem, the professional coup plotter and former member of South Viet Nam's ruling triumvirate who went into exile last week. Ousted by Premier Khanh in response to the wishes of Air Commodore Nguyen Cao Ky and his clique of young officers, Khiem departed Saigon at midweek. It was a lachrymose leavetaking. Tears gleamed in the eyes of General Duong Van ("Big") Minh as he bussed Khiem on both cheeks, and Khiem himself was nearly crying as he shook the hands of nearly 100 high-ranking army officers gathered to say goodbye. Even cocky Commodore Ky, one hand on his pearl-handled revolver, was dewy-eyed.

Time to Begin? Saigon seemed quieter after Khiem flew off to Europe. For once, the assorted Buddhists, students, workers and officers seemed content to scheme behind the scenes rather than demonstrate in the streets. At week's end, Khanh announced that the 13 officers and seven civilians behind September's abortive "coupette" would soon go on trial, facing possible death sentences. Then, at a news conference, Khanh proclaimed the power of the South Vietnamese Air Force, which he said could deliver "one, two or three-ton bombs into North Viet Nam or even southern China."

Everything seemed to be back in place: the Viet Cong were winning battles, a trial was about to begin, the malcontents were scheming quietly, and Nguyen Khanh was looking north. And this week the High National Council, created in the wake of last August's riots that followed Khanh's attempt to seize full governmental power, will make public the new constitution meant to replace Khanh's military regime. Was it time to begin the whole cycle of chaos once again?

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