Death of the Missionaries

It began like a trip to a church picnic. Crammed into the Land-Rover bouncing over South Viet Nam's heavily traveled Route 20 were American Missionary Elwood Jacobsen, 35, and Filipino Missionary Caspar Makil, 36, with their wives and five children. After months of ministering to primitive Vietnamese natives, the two missionaries and their families were headed for the Makil home near the mountain resort of Dalat.

But 50 miles northeast of Saigon their car ran into a string of autos stalled in the center of the road. Around them swarmed some 20 grim-faced Vietnamese wearing rubber sandals, tree branches thrust into their belts for camouflage, and light field packs over their black peasant garb. "We were ordered out of the car," said Mrs. Jacobsen, "but we weren't frightened. We thought we would be on our way in a few minutes." This was not to be, for the hapless missionary families were caught in a roadblock of the Communist Viet Cong.

Without warning the Reds opened up on the two unarmed families in a withering blast of carbine and submachine-gun fire. Three-year-old Thomas Makil fell with a bullet in his leg, and slugs ripped through his four-month-old sister Janie's body into her father, killing them both. Elwood Jacobsen jerked backward and fell dead into the road. "I started hollering 'Elwood, Elwood,' " said Mrs. Jacobsen, "but I got no answer." In a flash, the Reds disappeared into the jungle; moments later, a truckload of government troops lumbered into sight down the road. For the latest victims in the ugly war of South Viet Nam, rescue had been just minutes away.

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