Easter Greetings

"In the spirit of Easter Week," as he put it at his press conference last week, President Kennedy delivered holiday goodies to two of the most publicized PFCs in Army uniform. Announced the Commander in Chief: "I have asked the Army to cancel the trial of PFC Larry D. Chidester of Fort Lewis, Wash., and I've directed the Army to remit the balance of the sentence of PFC Bernis G. Owen at Fort Polk, La."

Of all the Army reservists who bellyached about being recalled to active duty last year, PFCs Owen and Chidester had two of the tenderest tummies. A pre-law student at the University of Texas, Owen, 23, organized and addressed meetings of unhappy reservists at Fort Polk that drew as many as 700 men. When the meetings were banned by his commanding general, Owen told a newsman that the order was "a hilarious climax to a chain of injustices." For such disrespect to a superior officer, Owen got a court-martial sentence of a $300 fine and six months at hard labor.

An apprentice house painter from Salt Lake City, Chidester, 24, chose a different tactic. In a rambling letter to Utah's Republican Senator Wallace F. Bennett, Chidester attacked President Kennedy: ''Does President Kennedy think the jobs left open by our call-up will re-elect him on the basis of low unemployment? He must think we all are of low intelligence not to see through his political maneuvers. We vote for those who serve the majority well." Nothing in the letter violated Army regulations, but Chidester made the mistake of getting 74 of his buddies to sign it --and found himself facing court-martial under charges of action prejudicial to good order and discipline.

When he heard the news of his release last week, PFC Owen, his nose sunburned from 23 days of hard labor under guard, said contritely: "I want to go back to my unit and be a good soldier." The first thing Letter Writer Chidester did was to sit down and dash off a thank-you note to President Kennedy.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.