KENNEDY AT REFUGEE CAMP; KENNEDY SPEAKING TO WOMAN: KENNEDY VISITING HOSPITAL; VARIOUS SHOTS OF PATIENTS



TRANSCRIPT: KENNEDY: "THIS IS THE EIGHT DAY, ACTUALLY, IS PROBABLY THE SHORTEST PERIOD OF TIME THAT I HAVE MET REFUGEES. MOST OF THE OTHERS HAVE BEEN MAYBE FIVE OR SIX WEEKS SO I DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS REALLY TERRIBLE UNUSUAL."



REPORTER: "HOW DO THESE PEOPLE EXIST THEN?"



KENNEDY: "WELL, IT IS A VERY DIFFICULT KIND OF A SITUATION FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE OVER THERE. THEY LIVE BY (INAUDIBLE) USUALLY THEY BRING SOME FOOD WITH THEM BUT I DON'T FIND THAT TERRIBLE UNUSUAL BECAUSE IT IS A REMOTE CAMP AND I AM SURE THE SPECIAL FORCES THAT ARE DOING SUCH AN EXCELLENT JOB TO MAKE SURE THEY DON'T STARVE."




Initials



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Background: UNITED STATES SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY, ON A 12-DAY FACT FINDING OF SOUTH VIETNAM, SAID ON FRIDAY (5 JAN) HE HAD FOUND AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE COUNTRY'S WAS CASUALTY AND REFUGEE PROBLEMS SINCE HIS LAST VISIT IN OCTOBER 1965.

THE 35-YEAR-OLD DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE FOR MASSACHUSETTS WAS VISITING A REFUGEE CAMP AND CIVILIAN HOSPITAL NEAR DANANG, ABOUT 350 MILES (560 KM) NORTHEAST OF SAIGON.

AT THE REFUGEE CAMP IN HA TAP, MR. KENNEDY SPOKE TO MANY PEOPLE. ONE, AN OLD WOMAN, TOLD HIM THROUGH AN INTERPRETER THAT SHE HAD BEEN GIVEN NO FOOD SINCE SHE ARRIVED AT THE CAMP EIGHT DAYS AGO.

REFERRING TO HER CASE THE SENATOR, SPEAKING TO NEWSMEN, SAID:
LATER MR. KENNEDY VISITED THE GOVERNMENT RUN PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL AT NEARBY HOI AND WHERE HE SAW PATIENTS LYING SOMETIMES THREE TO A BED.

A DOCTOR AT THE HOSPITAL ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT HALF THE WAR WOUNDED -- ABOUT A THIRD OF THE HOSPITAL POPULATION -- HAD BEEN INJURED BY AMERICAN AND SOUTH VIETNAMESE ARTILLERY AND BOMBS.