BERLIN ¢@

LL across the land flags
were at half mast. Behind
drawn curtains and black

draped windows the mothers by
traditional ‘Welsh custom were
at home. On the mountainside
close to the fern-clad slopes ‘on
‘which they used to play, the
‘children of Aberfan were buried
while weeping relatives and

neighbors stood in prayer and

sang in Welsh and in English
hymns of the dead. Thousands
‘of mourners from near and far
lined the slopes in the valley. of
this village of sorrow.

The greatest single tragedy in
the history of Wales: These
words sum up the terrible day
when the tip collapsed killing
over 150 of the villagers, among
them over 80 of the children
whose school was swept away in
the remorseless slime-like river
which ran like 4 cataract down
the mountain.

It has been said that in a coun-
try which is hardened to trdage-
dies, where hardly a village does
not have memories of the toll
the coal fields have taken, this
Pompeii-like disaster seems in-
credible. And once again it is
Coal demanding the sacrifice.

Unlike Pompeii, this was a
man-made’ catastrophe. As an
editorial in the London. Morning
Star said, “For generations the
mining valleys have lived with
‘danger. But the ‘blood on the
‘coal’ has been mainly the blood
of miners beneath the surface.
Now the years have brought a
further threat. Huge man-made
mountains have accumulated on
the surface as a result of the ex-

traction of coal from below.”

“An earthquake is a natural
phenomenin,” they continue,
“which cannot be controlled by
man. But this tip was made by
man. The danger from it should
have been anticipated and guard-

ROME BS

WASHINGTON

TOKYO

ed against by man... We can-
not tolerate the children being
the victims today and in the
future, as their fathers were in
the past.” :

As the miners dug in the
muck for the bodies of the vic-
tims they spoke of warnings
that had been given to the Coal
Board about the tip. They de-
clared themselves determined

-that no more tragedies like this

shall befall any other valley.

At the inquest on the death
of 32 of the children, their bit-
‘terness and anger broke forth.
As the coroner gave the cause
of death of one child as “asphy-
xia and multiple injuries,” the
child’s father called out “No, sir,
buried alive by the National
Coal Board.”

When he challenged the cause
of death one or two women
among the 60 people present
shouted, “He is-right. They kill-
‘ed our children.”

Lord Justice Edmund Davis,
‘who is to conduct’ the . inquiry
into the disaster visited the vil-
lage, pledged a proper inquiry.

“I should hate to think that
anybody would associate me

‘with a whitewashing exercise,”

he said, “this inquiry will be’ of
the most searching character.” If
blame is shown, then blame will
be cast, If ho one is to blame,
then that will: be shown with
equal clarity.”

A special coalfield conference
of the South Wales area ofthe
mineworkers union has decided
to ‘carry out a private inquiry
to prepare evidence -for the
Davis Tribunal. It also. demand-
ed urgent attention to make se-
cure all existing tips. :

\A group of mothers in the
South Wales New Town of

» Cwmbran have launched a peti-

tion protesting about the South

‘In the valley of this village of sorrow’

Anger at Ab

ahs

erfan

fall of the coal tip at Aberfan. Photo shows gangs of children filling sandbags to dam up the water t
was coming down the mountainside for days after the disaster.

Wales coal tips. “The Aberfan-

tragedy must never be repeat-
ed,” they say.

The Welsh Congress of the
Communist ‘Party has called for
national action to ensure against
further disasters. This, they say
should be “the beginning of a
program to clear up these scars
of the past century which have

Letters from Fort Hood

ONVICTED by a court-mar-
tial for refusal to fight in
Vietnam last month, the

“Ford Hood 3” are in the Fort
Meade Stockade awaiting trans-
fer to a federal prison.

When visited by relatives it
was found that as a result :of
public outcry against the brutal
treatment to which they had
been subjected they were now
no longer in solitary confine-
ment and may eat with other
men. -

However, they are still forced
to stand all day and are allowed
no reading material other than
the Bible.

They gave their lawyer state-
ments handwritten and signed.

Excerpts from them follow be- -

low:

Denis Mora wrote: “The pri-
soner regulations: state that from
5 a.m. to 6 p.m. bunk displays

are to be set up and remain that
way. This means that. bedding
is prohibited and if anyone is
caught asleep he faces the
“pox.” The box is a single, un-
ventilated, unlit cell which is .
reserved for any breach of
Stockade Regulations. Whoever
is placed in this cell is also on a
restricted bread, potatoes and
water diet. . .:;

“We are not allowed to talk
to any of the prisoners, and to-
day prisoners were forbidden to
even look in our direction. They
were told that they would be
put in the ‘box’ if they did so...

“Given these restrictions and
rules, the only way to pass the
time is to shine boots or pace
the floor. We are told that we
are not being treated differently
from other prisoners, when we
know this is an obvious lie.

“We have been seperated.
Two of us are in one cell and

the third is in a separate, single
cell. No reason has been given
for this separation. The cell is
8’ x 10” approximately.”

This is what James Johnson
writes:

“I .awaken each morning at 5
a.m. From that moment until six
in the evening I’m not permitted
to sit or lie down. At five my
bunk is used for my display. I’m

not permitted to talk to anyone. -

I’ve been given a direct order
not even to talk to Dennis Mora,
who is my cellmate. The prison-
ers in the cells adjoining ours
are not permitted to talk or even
look in the direction of my cell.

“We are not permitted to have
shoe strings or razor blades al-
though we are not considered
escape risks. This means that
many days we're not able to

shave because it is difficult to’

obtain a locked razor or razor
blades.” ee

been left as monuments to an
irresponsible and brutal system
throughout our valleys.”

In their letter to the -Secre-
tary of State for Wales, . they
added, ‘“‘We share also the bitter
knowledge that this most ter-
rible disaster is a dreadful addi-
tion to the price paid over the
years for the way in which the
industrial wealth of Wales was

Three

Denis Samas adds:

“Tam in a cell by myself and
not allowed to speak with any-
one at all. The guards also have
been instructed not to speak
with me. If I am caught talking
I am made to do push-ups (usu-
ally 20-25). Leaning against the
wall, standing too close to the
bars, talking, singing, whistling
are all punishable by push-
UPS. =~.

_“We have no reading material
except for a Bible, but only
either the old or new testament.
We are not allowed both testa-
ments. All day long I do nothing.
That’s it until six o’clock when
we can take down our displays.
Lights out is at 9 o’clock but at
times lights go out about 11.”

Protests against their convic-
tion continue across the U.S.
They wil be an important part
of the Nov. 5-8 anti-war rallies.

exploited, and our national fail:
ure to deal with the legacy °
danger which that exploitatiO”
has left us. ;
“The coal industry of soutl
Wales has provided fortunes fo
great companies and wealth a
the nation. All necessary: fina™
ces must now be provided
the Government to give 9
people the security of life a”

health which is their right.” -

Miners and other villagers joined in digging for the bodies that were still in the sludge left by !? ©

The Bishop of Llandaff h%

the,
to
d

made a public appeal in

press for tens of thousands
write to the Prime Minister 2"
to their own MPs demandit
action now to survey and m@
secure the coal tips of Wales-

}
From all around the world
money and messages of Sy —

pathy have come to the village
of Aberfan. The National Exec
tive Board of the Mine Mill ©
Smelter Workers Union in C4"
ada is discussing a memorial

Aberfan to be built by Canadia®

miners.

All the grief, all the angel
will surely build the greate®
memorial of all to the childre
of Aberfan—to clear away ®
the sodden slag heaps that now
disfigure South Wales, thus mak
ing certain that no similar t@

gedy ever snatches at a villaé

again.

Then will the songs that f inB
in the valleys of Wales be thos?
of life and joy not hymns
mark the passing of the you"s
and growing generation.

November 11, 1963—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 8