WHITE HOUSE In th e /J u rs u i t of fJ ea c e in Vie tn am th b - e eginning of tlie end. President Nixon t,roclaiming seven o'clock eastern time, tomorrow ntght - a "natio11al moment of prayer and thanksgiving.'' The t,recise moment - wlaen tl,e guns of war are scheduled to fall silent; to be followed over the next twenty-four ho11rs - by a "national day of ,,,,.ayer tad tl,anksgiving." A long and t'l'ying O'l'deal 1,as ended has ended - said tlle President; "our nation has achieved its goal - of peace •Uh ltonor in Vietnam. "As a people will, deep and abiding /aitl& - · he continued - "we know that RO g'l'eat work can be accomplished - without the aid and ins1'iration of Almighty God." And thus - he said - ''no time could be mo'l'e fittiJtg - for grate/ill prayer and meditation." The President also urging "all men and women of good will _ to join in a "prayerful hope" - the ho/)e - said WHITE HOUSE- 2 h _ "th a t this mom en t marks not on l ,,.. the end of th e war . e J in Vietnam - bit the beginning of a new era of world t,eace and iuiderstanding for all mankind." PENTAGON In the same ein the Pentagon •as laying r,lans today - for "Operation Home Coming" - with special medical e acuation teams - assigned the task of picking 111' freed American Priso11ers some of ,oltom will now be coming home - we are told - "the first week in February." It was also sr,ggested tltat President Nixon miglat be 011 ltand - to greet tire first of the returning t,riso11ers. T"e Pentagon stressed, "tltts is not a ceremony or fanfare opera ti on. " "It is designed to get tlae me11 in medical cltartnels - and home with tlaeir families as quickly as possible." ROGERS FOLLOW PENTAGON Meanwhile, Secretary of State William Roger - was flying today to Paris; as you k,eow, tl,ere to sign an official cease fire agreement - as of tomorrow morning. Rogers issui,rg a brief departure stateme,at - saying: "By /he time I return to the U S tomor,0111 the cease fire ,oill be in effect tltroughout Viet,aam. We hope and expect - he co,aUnued - "that shortly the cease fire will be in effect ln Laos a,ad Cambodia too; and tl,at finally - this lo,rg aftd difficult 111ar will come to an e,ed." Rogers adding: "We hope that tltis does usher in - a generation of peace." PARIS Hanoi's Le Due Tho was departing Paris today . The man who spent so many long Ir.ours with He,ary Kissinger - telling reporl•rs: "My task is over I'm goi11g home." But more than that - Le Due Tho ,aoted with great emotiort: "Tomorrow tire gu11s toill be sile11t and t,eace will return to Vietnam." Tlais is "a great victory" - 1,e conti11a,ed - "for the Vietnamese and for t,eaee-loving t,eople tlarougl,oa,t Ille world. And we look forward - Ire added - "to develot,ing Jrie11dly relations with all t,eoples of the world including the American t,eot,le." 1 AGNEW FOLLOW PARIS will be leaving s,u,day o,r a special lour of Southeast Asta. The Vice President to engage in so-called substantive dtscussions?;,,111, the leaders of South Vtet11am, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, St11gapor'! and J,rdonesia. Tltis - said tl,e Wl,ite House an attempt to "reaffirm our desire for peace and self determinatio• - .,,.. for all the countries of Soull1east Asta. On the domestic fro,rt - tl,e Wille House also announced that Presider,/ Nixon 111ill make a natlon•lde radio address - Sur,day ,rigltt ti•, e to discuss a proposed budget of r,early 11110 . . . . ltu,rdred and sixty -eight billion - for fiscal !_evenly-three. The Pre ident reportedly plan,ri,rg a ,rumber of major cutbacks - in order to curb spending..,_ and thereby aver/ a tax increase. VESTMANNAEYJAR The low11 of VestmannaeyJar on the island of He i ma e Y - - on c e ti, e f is hi n g cap it a l of I c e la n d - now a v lrlual gho I /own - d••or its streets knee deep in volcanic a h; as the neighboring Helga/Jell vo lea no - continues its violenJ erruption. Indeed, the volca,ao spewing forth - several new slream of lava today. Officials addh1g tlaat more erruptions could come al any time - perhaps even In Ille center of to••; wlaich remains still slandi,ag -- we are told -- only beca•se "'ost of ils buildings are made of c·oncrete. What aboMI Ille possibility of bombi•g tlae volcano? They 're co,asiderhag it - but they 're also fearful of maki,ig matters worse. The damage at Vestmannaeyjar even no• - r · .,•ning around a . , . llundred and /orly million; and tl1is at a lime wlaen d h ky - due to a string Iceland's economy is alrea Y s a of bad fishing season • NEW DELHI Today in Ne"' Delhi - a spectacular parade in •••••••••• celebratior, of India's t,oe,aty- fiftli annual republic day; the t"'enty-fifth a,u,lversary ~. 1,~ of its ••11--• independence from Great Britah,_. The total procession - covering more than six miles; including six gaily caparisoned elephants - numerous floats and hundreds of folk da,acers; alo,ag witlt ba,rds and •rching units - representing virtually every,,- branch of federal service - military a,rd civilian. There was also an impressive display - of India's new fou11d military might; h1cl11di11g • 1 N missiles such as used i,a surface to surface - • r . defeating Pakistan Just a little over a year ago; Plus a ,aew ship to air • missile called th e "Sea Cat.;" as well as torpedoes that can search out and destroy enemy submarines. All of which NEW DELHI - 2 wa proudly revie.,ed by Printe Minister 1'1dira Gandhi and President V. v. Giri. Chief among the foreign 9i,ests l,y the .,ay: Madame Vale,ati11a Tereshkova of the Soviet U,aion - up to ,ao.,. tlae first and only woman cosmonaut. BRUSSELS From Nato headquarters in Brussels a report today that Russia has greatly reduced the size of tis Mediterranea11 fleet; from a top flg11re of about eighty ships a year or so ago - to a present size of about forty ships. This said to reflect an outwardly modest attitude - with regaYd ,.. to 11,e curreflt mis-East sit11aUo,c. JERUSALEM FOLLOW BRUSSELS Speaking of which a warning today from Israel's «« armed forces chief of staff. General Da id Elazar warning that Egypt "would very mucla like lo renew hostilities" - in hopes of improving its bargaining posiHon. Obs~rving that said hostiU/les might take the form of "another war of alt ition." Elazar stressed, however, that such a development - would be considered a direct challenge; and Israel would then set as its goals - said he - "a speedy and decisive vie tory. " Elazar adding that this alone - might serve as a deterrent. Egypt's leaders are •ell aware - '' s a id 1, e - "t ha t t he y a re U a b le lo g e I hit m "c la harder than they inteNded." L B J Lyndon Baines Johnson so well remembered. So well, in fact, that tlie New y k Ti ~ or mesA printed iuda:, some of the stories that his friends were recalling fondly in the lflake of his death. For example, the fomier President ahvays ~ refusing tu be photographetl wearing his glasses. Whe,i a cameraman once told him "therl's nothing "'rong wi/11 glasses" tr& L B J replying: "Ah, 14 but ii 's mu.ch nicer without them - the women.( 11ever I get over thirty-five." Another time - the former President inspecting some troops bound for Vietnam. When he was finished - he began to walk toward a long line of •• I btfss helicopters. A young corporal saluting smarlly saying: '~I r ''Mr. President your helicopter is over liere." Whe,,.eupon L B J replied: "Son, ~ they're all my helicopters." L B J - 2 Per Ii a P s t he mos I poignant though - a slor)' dealing U l ifh a TV show on the n' ,, ht of his death. Hubert Humphrey and former White ■ a M Bouse aide Joseph Califano - - discussing L B J's constant ' Use of ll1e telephone. Noting lae had phones i11 his car, in his bath room, F7aelleaU, ever)'fDhere. And seemed always to be calUng someone -- friend or foe. studio. And Just then -. the phone rang in the TV Hubert Humphrey sayh1g: "Don't be surprised if that's him calling now." 1 L B J - 2 Perhaps lhe most poignant though - a story dealing with a TV show on the night of his death. Hubert Humphrey and former White ■ ssmv House aide JosP-ph Califano -- discussing L B J's constant use of the telephone. Noting he had phones in hi s ca r, in hi s bat h room , ,,., u , U e • II y ever YIIJ I& ere • And seemed alwa)s to be calling someone -- friend or foe. And Just th~n -. the phone rang hi I TV studio. Hu , bert Hu mph re y sa ylng: "Don't be su-rprlsed if that's him calling now." EH YORI( 1 l' U y O , ., ,. - I 1 1 t / . d / , f( , , 1 i r . a r J.! I di a m o n d t er di ro1 r d - i a Placed on di play today al th Am rican Mil um of 1'atural His/or, , . Th 1 fabl • d tar of i r,·a L • on ; which weighs ,iearly a thou and 12r2: karat maki11g its las/ offi ial appearance lolall) ' intact. Harry a. Winston of New York pla11ning lo cul it up shortly - thereby obtaining about four httndred karats of finished diamonds ..._