SPECIAL TICKET LUNCHEON - CAPTAIN LEO T.PROFILET, USN - THE HONORABLE EDWIN O. REISCHAUER - FRIDAY FLASHES—APRIL 20TH

Sep 29, 2026

Special ticket luncheon and Friday flashes content featuring multiple speaker profiles and regional geopolitical discussion. Captain Leo T. Profilet is described as a recent POW returnee, including capture details after being shot down during a North Vietnam mission. The document also presents Edwin O. Reischauer’s questions about U.S. policy in Southeast Asia and Soviet intentions toward China, alongside commentary on the tenuous nature of postwar peace, POW ransom, withdrawal negotiations, and the ongoing costs of conflict in Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

CAPTAIN LEO T.PROFILET, USN

RECENT POW RETURNEE

THE HONORABLE EDWIN O. REISCHAUER

Discussion Questions

FRIDAY FLASHES — APRIL 20TH

From Address by ROBERT R. GROS

SPECIAL TICKET LUNCHEONWEDNESDAY,MAY 2,12 MOOW,6RAMD BALLROOM,SHERATOM-PALACE HOTE # CAPTAIN LEO T.PROFILET,USN RECENT POW RETURNEE Captain Profilet was Commanding Officer of Atack Squad-ron One Hundred Ninety-Six from the USS Constellation(CVA 64),when he was shot down on August 21,1967,whileflying an A-6(lntruder)on a combat mission over NorthVietnam. Tickets $5.75 each,available at Club officeMembers are urged to obtain their fickets prior tomeeting date.Sales of fickehs at the door cannot bo guaranteed. FRIDAY,MAY 4TH,12 MOON # THE HONORABLEEDWIN O.REISCHAUER Former U.S.Ambassador to Japanand Professor,Harvard University Are China and the Soviet Union using the U.S.in S.E.Asia as a foil against Japan?Wehear much about Japan,as an economic power,overtaking the U.S.Isn't this already a"fait accompli"?Is the Soviet Union likely to launch a pre-emptive attack on China'snuclear installations?If so,can the U.S.and Japan remain neutral? Tickełs $4.75at door RENEE RUBIN,Quarterly Chairman FRIDAY,MAY 11Tt:DAYID J.MAHONEY,CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD,MORTON SIMON,INC. GOLD BALLRO0M,SHERATOW-PALACE HOTE FRIDAY FLASHES—APRIL 20THFrom Address by ROBERT R.GROS,Vice President,Public Relations,PG&E "THREE WEEKS ago I witnessed thedeparture of the last of a one-time peakforce of 540,000 American troops. Yet somehow,I felt a sense of ambiva-lence and uneasiness.I asked myself,'AmI really witnessing the end of a war andthe beginning of peace?’Inevitably,Iwondered "how peaceful is the peace?' My answer is an unhappy one:Thepeace is tenuous_and fragile and highlyunlikely to last.The daily news makes itclear that peace is far from a reality to-day in Cambodia and Laos and even inSouth Vietnam. What we achieved at the bargainingtable was not peace,but only the ransom-ing of our POWs and the negotiation ofAmerican withdrawal. That war cost us 46,000 American livesand $140 billion dollars,in addition to$5 billion in economie aid and the incal-culable agony of our 300,000 woundedand hundreds of prisoners of war. An even more exacting price has beenpaid by the Republic of South Vietnam.Her military and civilian dead exceed600,000.Enormous land acreage,hun-dreds of villages and several cities weredevastated. Wemust ask and ask again whether thewar was worth its terrible cost.How dowe evaluate the expenditure of billions of 25,000 VIETNAMESEKILLED SINCE TRUCE dollars,thousands of lives and the impactof the erosion of American patriotism? But we must be careful not to succumbto propaganda that the war was withoutits positive accomplishments.South Viet-nam,hell-bent toward destruction tenyears ago,now has a relatively stable gov-ernment and a good chance for survival.At least we're leaving these people strongenough now to do their own thing. And South Vietnam is strong,thanks toAmerican contribution of know-how,andour tremendous infusions of economie aidand military hardware. # Communist Threat Reduced A second positive benefit is that thenearby American presence was all thatkept Indonesia from going Communist.Thirdly,although Hanoi gained control oflots of real estate,this war proved at lastthat Maoist Communism is not the irre-sistible wave of the future in Asia. # Agonies of War And finally,but not least,the UnitedStates kept the faith and honored its trea-ties—proving that we were not the 'papertiger'the ChiComs had claimed. The treatly assumed that North Viet-nam would honor the Paris Agreements.But is it realistie to expect them to keepthese Agreements any more than they didthe Geneva Accords of 1954 and 1962?Within days of the American pull-out,Premier Pham Van Dong called again forthe liberation'of South Vietnam andpledged,'We shall carry forward thisstruggle.' (Coninaed on ext pare) | OFFICERs OF TH CLUB
The Commonwealth
Pres/dent
Bruce T.Mitchell
_Vlce_Presldent
Vernon L.Goodln
Chmn.Ex.Comm.
Donald P.Krotz
Publlshed every Monday by the

FAQs

Who is Captain Leo T. Profilet and what event is described?

Captain Leo T. Profilet is presented as a recent POW returnee, formerly commanding Officer of an attack squadron, shot down on August 21, 1967 while flying an A-6 Intruder on a combat mission over North Vietnam.

What topics are raised by Edwin O. Reischauer?

He questions whether the U.S. in Southeast Asia is used as a foil against Japan, whether Japan’s economic rise has already made events a “fait accompli,” and whether the Soviet Union may launch a pre-emptive attack on China’s nuclear installations.

What message does Robert R. Gros convey in the April 20th address?

He argues that peace is tenuous and fragile, describes negotiations as involving the ransom of POWs and American withdrawal, and emphasizes the ongoing realities of conflict and devastation in multiple Indochina regions.

Sep 29, 2026

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