RIPPLE SALVO… #485… CO, 469th TFS MAKES PAGE 3 OF THE NYT FOR 3 JULY 1967 THE HARD WAY…

Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE recalling the events and warriors, great and small, who were Rolling Thunder fifty years go…

3 July 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a rainy Monday in New York City…

SIX DAY WAR: Page 1: “Israel And Egypt in 2 New Clashes Along Suez Canal–Israelis Contend Foe Fired Heavy Mortar Barrage Across Waterway–8 Casualties Reported–Cairo Says Enemy Resumed Drive Along East Flank Toward Port Said”…”third clash within 24 hours…Israelis return fire and after 90 minutes of shelling silenced the Egyptian guns.”… Page 1: “At UN West Fails Move to Delay U.N. Vote–Backers of Yugoslavia’s Draft on Mideast Sought Time To Win More Support”… “Western powers opposed to a Yugoslavia resolution on the Arab-Israeli settlement blocked an attempt by its sponsors today to gain time to revise it and canvass for votes.” … Page 1: “Israelis to Allow Refugees to go Back To The West Bank”… “detailed plans will be broadcast 10 July and refugees will have one month to return.”…

Page 1″ “Joint Chiefs Back Troop Rise Asked By Westmoreland”… “The Joint Chiefs of Staff have warned the Johnson Administration that if General Westmoreland’s minimum request of 70,000 more troops is not met, the United States will run a high risk of losing the initiative in the ground war in South Vietnam. The warning was contained in a recommendation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara that the Administration grant General Westmoreland’s request for two-more combat divisions and supporting units by mid-1968. The recommendation was submitted on 20 April and there has been no action on it.”… Page 3: “Newsweek Prints Issue on Vietnam”… “Magazine Assesses Impact of Conflict on U.S.”... “…an examination in-depth of the impact of Vietnam on major segments of U.S. society. ‘The nation stands divided on  bloody jungle war whose beginnings are last in controversy and whose outcome is unpredictable. The crisis in conscience has spilled over into the streets in massive demonstrations and counter-demonstrations. So incendiary have feelings become that close-knit families have had to agree to disagree bout Vietnam at the dinner table. More than anything Vietnam has made Americans question their fundamental assumptions about themselves and their country…’ ”

HUMBLE HOST note: Our country was at a turning point. In mid-July 1967 52% of Americans disapproved of President Johnson’s handling of the Vietnam war. Approval had dropped to 34%. When asked if the country had “made a mistake sending troops to fight in Vietnam,” 54% said Yes. The Newsweek Vietnam edition coincided with the first of the hard questions and media interest in the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The President’s credibility was now the focus of the Doves. “He lied to us.”

Page 1: “51 Marines Killed in Fierce Battle Near the Buffer Zone–170 Wounded at Conthien and 34 Are Missing–Fighting in The Second Day”… “…the action began yesterday morning and is continuing. It is centered in an arena a mile and a half south of the southern boundary that separates North and South Vietnam. Once contact was made with small units, reinforcements were rushed in by both sides until it was a regiment versus regiment sized fight. The Marines called in air strikes and thousands of rounds of artillery.”…

3 July 1967… The President’s TS Daily CIA Brief: SOUTH VIETNAM: Information is still coming in on the armed forces meetings last week which hammered out the agreement between Ky and Thieu. At this point, it seems Thieu’s uncompromising attitude may well have alienated some of the key generals while Ky’s behavior generated considerable admiration among them...ARAB STATES-ISRAEL: The Israelis do not give much importance to the minor clashes with Egyptian troops that took place over the weekend on the banks of the Canal. More such clashes have occurred today.…COMMUNIST CHINA: Liu Shao-chi may have been formally overthrown as head of state as the US newspapers are saying, but this signifies little. He was deprived of all meaningful authority months ago. The turmoil continues in many parts of China.

3 JULY 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (4 July reporting 3 July ops)… Page 3: “In air action over the North yesterday United States Air Force Phantom jet pilots reported that they had destroyed half the Thainguyen military barracks area 43 miles north of Hanoi. Air Force Thunderchiefs bombed another military barracks in the same area but were unable to give  damage report because of the anti-aircraft fire and heavy smoke from the bombs on target. Other Thunderchief pilots said they had damaged 19 railroad cars in a siding 40 miles north of Hanoi.”... Page 3: “3 U.S. Planes Downed”… “Three United States planes were shot down over North Vietnam on July 2 raising to 596 the number of American aircraft lost in the North since attacks began in 1965. The pilots of two air Force Thunderchiefs shot down near the Mugia Pass were recovered but a Navy Skyhawk pilot was not saved and is listed as missing.” (These three losses reported in RTR post for July 2: Navy LTJG KASCH (kia); AF MAJOR STONE (recovered); and AF CAPTAIN PICHARD (recovered)…

“Vietnam: Air Loses” (Hobson) There were no fixed wing losses in Southeast Asia on 3 July 1967…

3 July 1967…New York Times…Page 3: “REPORT DESCRIBES AMERICAN POWS”… special to NYT… “A Polish writer says he saw interrogations in Hanoi of three captured servicemen. One of the three was identified as LIEUTENANT COLONEL GORDON A. LARSON, an Air Force pilot based in Thailand who was reported to have been shot down May 5. The United States State Department protested that ‘Colonel Larsen and two other captured fliers had been paraded through Hanoi in violation of the Geneva Convention.’ Other prisoners mentioned were Commander Stockdale and Greg Hegdahl.”… The Polish writer’s “interrogations in Hanoi” story consisted of the following questions and answers given by LCOL LARSON:

“Q. ‘Have you realized that by bombing cities that you have killed women and children?’.. A. ‘I did not bomb women and children. I executed my battle orders. I hope I did not kill more people than was inevitable in bombing in a city.’

“Q. ‘What were your orders?… A. ‘To destroy industrial quarters of Hanoi. I led a squadron emerging from the clouds. I got into ack-ack fire. Shells bursting inside the plane. I barely had time to leave the cabin.’

“Q. ‘What happened to your mates?’… A. ‘Don’t know, probably burned.’

“Q. ‘How was the antiaircraft fire?’… A. ‘Terribly dense. The worst I could imagine. Friends who have flown for long time said it was worse than over Germany and Korea.’

“Q. ‘How were you treated after being shot down?’… A. ‘Good. Quite good. They did all they could to put me on my feet.’

“Q. ‘What do you think of your government’s war in Vietnam?’… A. ‘I am not a politician. I am a soldier. Ask that question of the State Department.’ “

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… GALLANTRY AND DEVOTION TO DUTY…LIEUTENANT COLONEL GORDON A. LARSON, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE…the SILVER STAR… 11 MARCH 1967…

“The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the SILVER STAR to LIEUTENANT COLONEL GORDON A. LARSON, United States Air Force, for gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force as an F-105 Aircraft Commander over North Vietnam on 11 March 1967. On that date, COLONEL LARSON, while leading the largest single force of F-105’s ever assembled, dealt severe damage to the largest steel plant in North Vietnam. He led his large force through marginal weather conditions and through the most dense hostile fire ever encountered by pilots in this force. By the gallantry and devotion to duty, COLONEL LARSON has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”

Among Colonel LARSON’s other combat awards are a second SILVER STAR and five awards of the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS and the PRISONER OF WAR MEDAL…    OOHRAH…

This from the Operations Summary of the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron for May 1967… “The 469th lost its able Squadron Commander, Lt. Col. Gordon A. Larson on May 5th. On that day, in an attack near the outskirts of Hanoi, Lt.Col James Hughes (also of the 469th) who was Lt. Col. Larson’s wingman was forced to eject near the Hoa Lac airfield when his engine failed. Lt. Col Larson followed Lt. Col. Hughes down in an attempt to RESCAP and to positively fix his bailout position. Lt.Col. Larson’s aircraft was then hit and he bailed out. News stories and photographs have confirmed that both are alive and residing in the Hanoi Hilton.”

RIPPLE SALVO… #485… Humble Host enjoyed a few hours diddling with his iPad Sunday going through about a dozen superb entries available on Google for COLONEL GORDON A. LARSON, USAF...  A great way to “Remember Rolling Thunder”… and enjoy a little of the legacy of a complete Cold War Warrior… you gotta’ read COLONEL LARSON’s biography to believe it… whattaguy… Posted with highest respect, admiration and appreciation for his inspirational service for our country…

RTR QUOTE for 3 July: ST. JEROME: “Being over seventy is like being engaged in a war. All your friends are going or gone and we survive amongst the dead and the dying as on a battlefield.”

Lest we forget…    Bear