News on this May 9th in 1978 was all about the kidnapping and death, after a 55 day hostage situation, of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro at the hands of members of the terrorist group Red Brigade.
When word got out that the body, found in the trunk of a car parked near the center of Rome, was that of Moro's, a wave of shock spread throughout Italy, quickly replaced by outrage that the government was unwilling, or unable, to deal with a hostage crisis that allowed Moro to be assassinated. The government's response was an attempt at justification, that it would no longer give in to demands of terrorist organizations. That Italy was no longer willing to be considered "soft" when it came to acts such as these. But that didn't stop the anger from being echoed throughout the world.
And the Moro tragedy was being considered on Capitol Hill as the FBI was calling for stepped up measures in dealing with Terrorism, particularly the threat of terrorism within the U.S. Clearly, the kidnapping and death of Aldo Moro was having a marked effect on terrorist policies in many countries.
The other big news story of this day happened off the coast of Florida, where news of a dramatic rescue of passengers of National Airlines Flight 193 by a fishing boat was credited for saving the lives of all but 3 passengers.
So there was bad news and there was good news for this May 9, 1978 as reported by Douglas Edwards and The World Tonight from CBS Radio.
Just like every day on Planet Earth.
