Harvard Grad Held Captive In Uganda

A Harvard graduate was among a group of Peace Corps volunteers held captive for two days in Uganda by order of its president, Gen. Idi Amin.

The volunteers were released yesterday afternoon.

The Harvard alumnus, Todd S. Healey '72, was one of 112 volunteers en route to the Central African country of Zaire where they were to receive their in-country training as secondary school teachers.

Coup

Amin, who came to power by a military coup in January 1971, claimed that the Americans might be either military mercenaries or "even Zionists." When the Peace Corps' chartered jet landed Sunday at Uganda's international airport in Entebbe, Amin ordered that the volunteers be detained.

Amin had said he would determine the validity of their mission before he proclaimed any further action.

Weakening of Relations

The unexpected seizure is only the most recent tension-filled incident in weakening U.S.-Ugandan relations.

Last week the Ugandan dictator sent President Nixon a telegram wishing him a "speedy recovery" from Watergate, but warned Nixon to stop meddling in the political and economic affairs of other nations.

The White House responded to the telegram by refusing to send a new ambassador to Uganda. The previous ambassador was recalled last spring.

Todd Healey was once quite a familiar face around Harvard. Active in Lowell House drama, he also appeared in a number of productions at the Loeb Ex.

Gregarious Athlete

Healey was extremely gregarious and a solid athlete, Ken Levison, Lowell House Senior Tutor, said yesterday. He was active in intramural skiing, hockey and golf Levinson said. A History and Science concentrator, Healey was one of the first men to move to Radcliffe housing at a time when virtually all other Harvard undergraduates lived in Harvard houses.

He entered the Peace Corps at the beginning of this month, his mother said yesterday. Since his graduation a year ago, he had been living in Central Square while working for a law office in Boston, she said.