BLACK POWER IN VIET NAM

ONLY two years ago, the U.S. military seemed to represent the most integrated institution in American society. In many ways it still does. But the armed services, made up of so many conscripts and "volunteers" escaping conscription, are mirrors that reflect and sometimes exaggerate the divisions of the entire society. While traditional military discipline remains an overwhelming control, the combination of domestic turbulence, an unpopular war and the new spirit of black militancy has produced ugly incidents in which American fighting men turned upon one another.

At Camp Lejeune, N.C., about 30 Negro and Puerto Rican Marines attacked 14 whites in July. One of the white Marines died. At Fort Bragg, N.C., racial antagonisms erupted into a brawl between 200 white and black soldiers. At Hawaii's Kaneohe air base, some 100 black and white Marines, just returned from Viet Nam, fell upon one another after a colors ceremony. Seventeen were injured.

Disturbing Decay. Earlier this month, Marine Commandant Leonard Chapman issued a message to all Marine commands, ordering, among other things, that officers hear complaints of discrimination promptly. Chapman dictated that the clenched-fist gesture of Black Power be permitted as a "sign of recognition and unity," but not as a gesture of defiance of authority.

Chapman claimed that racial problems "are almost unheard of among Marines in combat." He was at least technically correct. Neither Marines nor members of other services have been at one another's throats in the battle lines —survival requires total attention. Outside of the war zone, there has been a disturbing decay in racial relations among U.S. troops. To probe how deeply the new militance runs in the military, TIME Correspondent Wallace Terry spent six months interviewing black troops in Viet Nam. His report:

Before the war went stale and before black aspirations soared at home, the black soldier was satisfied to fight on an equal basis with his white comrade-in-arms in Viet Nam as in no other war in American history. But now there is another war being fought in Viet Nam —between black and white Americans. "The immediate cause for racial problems here," explains Navy Lieut. Owen Heggs, the only black attorney in I Corps, "is black people themselves. White people haven't changed. What has changed is the black population."

When an American force stormed ashore south of Danang this summer, young blacks wore amulets around their necks symbolizing black pride, culture and self-defense. They raised their fists to their brothers as they moved side by side with white Marines against their common Communist enemy. "Ju Ju" and "Mau Mau" groups have organized to protect themselves against white prejudice and intimidation. In remote fire-support bases near the Cambodian border, blacks register their complaints as a group. Tanks fly black flags. At Danang, Black Power Leader Ron Karenga's followers have designed a flag: red for the blood shed by Negroes in Viet Nam and at home, black for the face of black culture, and green for youth and new ideas. Crossed spears and a shield at the center signify "violence if necessary," and a surrounding wreath "peace if possible" between blacks and whites.