June 28, 2004 is Mary Stuart Masterson's thirty-eighth birthday. Hope you will all take advantage of the Tavern's Guestbook to send along your best wishes to our favorite actress. As many who enjoy Ms. Masterson's work were too young to remember what life was like during the year she was born, this greeting card will include some stories about what was going on in the world during the period that Mary Stuart Masterson joined it, late 1965 and early 1966.
In Vietnam, it struck home that the United States was at war. In November 1965, the Seventh Cavalry Regiment of the First Air Cavalry Division was helicoptered to landing zones at the base of a mountain near the Laotian border called the Chu Phoung Massif. The helicopter landing zone was code named "LZ X-RAY." An entire North Vietnamese Army division was operating in the area, and they hit the cavalrymen shortly after they landed. In waves, charging North Vietnamese infantrymen cut the American units into separate circles comprised of companies, platoons, and even squads of cavalrymen fighting for their lives in the high elephant grass. Some commanders had to call artillery and air strikes dangerously close to their own positions in order to beat back the North Vietnamese attack.
A few days later, another cavalry unit walks into an ambush on the way through the jungle to a landing zone called "LZ ALBANY." Again, artillery and air strikes fell close to our own troops in order to drive off the ambushing North Vietnamese. CBS News reporter Richard Threlkeld, then a trooper in the First Cavalry, was a fortunate survivor of this battle.
Inflation, a faltering economy, and unease over the war in Vietnam propel the Republican Party to victory in the off-year elections in 1966. Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon, who campaigned extensively for Republican candidates, emerges as the front-runner for the 1968 Republican nomination for President. In California, Ronald Reagan wins his first term as governor.
The group The Association tops the late summer and early fall charts with "Cherish." Some fans think there is some kind of secret code embedded in the lyrics to some of the songs on the Beatles' album, "Abbey Road." Some claim the code is saying that Paul McCartney is dead. The Mamas and Papas strike gold with "Monday, Monday." The disc jockey "Cousin Brucie" spins the platters every week night on WABC radio in New York City.
The western "Bonanza" is the most popular prime time show. Other favorites include "The Andy Griffith Show," "Gunsmoke," "The Lucy Show," "The Man From UNCLE," "Batman," "The Ed Sullivan Show," and "Bewitched." Marlo Thomas premieres as television's first single working woman in "That Girl." Sally Field's first television effort, "Gidget," is in reruns during its only season, 1965-1966.
Chet Huntley and David Brinkley sign off the evening NBC News broadcast with "Good night, David." "Good night, Chet." Walter Cronkite informs his CBS News viewers: "And that's the way it is, Monday (any date), 1966. This is Walter Cronkite. Good night."
There is talk of a merger between the staid National Football League and the upstart American Football League. The rival leagues agree to play against each other for the championship of professional football in the first Superbowl in January 1967. The Green Bay Packers, coached by Vince Lombardi and led by quarterback Bart Starr, are the favorites to win against the Oakland Raiders, coached by John Madden.