RIPPLE SALVO… #651… Part IX of 1967 Ops…During the year four stand-downs from combat ops were observed…. As in the case of all previous stand-downs, those in 1967 were beneficial to the enemy… but first…

Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE of a trip back in time to the days and nights of Rolling Thunder when America’s bravest were “flying into the mouth of the cat of death.”…. She was called “Doom Pussy.”

18 December 1967… HEAD LINES  from The New York Times on a cloudy Monday with rain on the horizon…

Page 1: “Searchers Find No Trace of Prime Minister Harold Holt–Australia Mourns–Little Hope Now Held That Holt Survived Ocean Currents–Weather Impedes Hunt–Liberals Expect to Meet Later in Week to Select New Leader of Party”… Page 1: “Auto Insurance Facing Inquiries–Consumer Protests Spur U.S. Studies of State Controls”... “Restrictive under-writing practices, discrimination for age and occupation, high rates, thievery, and poor management have created serious problems for the automobile casualty insurance businesses.”… Page 1: “Greek Upheavals Shake Greek Military–Plotting, Purges and Loyalty Conflicts Said to Have cut Forces ‘Effectiveness'”...”After two bitter convulsions in eight months…foreign military observers believe the Greek armed forces have lost much of their effectiveness…there is no navy…”... Page 5: “McCarthy Says U.S. Must Take Part of Blame For Greek Turmoil”... “…the U.S. has given over-weight support to the Greek ,military since the end of World War II…to the point of being able to dominate civilian life.”... Page 2: Britain A Month Later–Devaluation Brings Quick Change, But Drastic Cutbacks Appear Certain”… “It will be a month tomorrow since the pound was devalued and on the surface life in Britain has hardly changed at all…the Government has done nothing dramatic at home or abroad. It all seems to be business as usual…But there is a curious note of anticipation…For there is going to be a change in Britain now. Many of the country’s basic assumptions will have to be abandoned in any serious economic rescue operation.”… Page 8: “Fire Rages in a Storage Area On Kitty Hawk at Subic Bay”… “Fire raged for three hours aboard the United States carrier USS Kitty Hawk early today while she was docked at the Subic Bay Naval Base, 90 miles northwest of Manila. Officials said there were no serious casualties and that no aircraft had been damaged…fire was contained to an aircraft tire storage area and a compartment in the control tower of the flight deck.”... Page 18: “Pope Renews Appeal for Peace”… “…make January 1 a “Day of Peace”… Page 22: “Catholic magazine (U.S. Catholic) Calls Vietnam War Immoral”… “…wrong, unjust and immoral… our government for reasons of its own, continues to insist on preconditions that prevent a solution to the war.”…

Page 26: “NAACP Aide Fears Violence In Dr. King’s Call For Disruption”… “An official of the N.A.A.C.P. spoke out yesterday against the plan of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. to lead a campaign of civil disturbance in the nation’s capital next year. The official, Dr. John A. Morrell, predicted that such a protest would not only lead to violence but also would bring repressive measures as well. ‘The time might come when this is the only approach left…when insurrection is in order,’ he said. ‘But I do not see that point as having been reached. This civil disobedience would be met with as insurrection and put down as such and that would led to violence.’…Earlier this month Dr. King announced that he would lead a force of 3,000 demonstrators in an extended campaign of civil disobedience intended to force Congress and the Administration to provide ‘jobs or income for all.’ Dr. King conceded then that his program is ‘risky’ but said that ‘not to act represents moral irresponsibility.’…Dr. Morrell said: ‘I don’t think you can pressure Congress by sitting down in Congressional offices, by creating disturbances or by interfering with the flow of traffic or whatever.’… Dr. King said that all participants in his plan must pledge nonviolence for the duration of the protest….”

18 December 1967…President’s Daily Brief… North Vietnam: Results of most recent US air strikes…Preliminary photographic reports indicate that one span of the bridge over the Canal des Rapides has been dropped and that the Paul Doumer bridge is unserviceable to both rail and road traffic…

18 December 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (19 Dec reporting 17-18 Dec ops) Page 1: “MIGS GET 2 JETS; TWO OTHERS DOWNED–U.S. Pilots Strike Longbien Bridge at Hanoi Again”… “Two United States Air Force planes were shot down by North Vietnam MIG fighters yesterday (17th) north of Hanoi. A third was downed by ground fire in the southern panhandle and another was shot down just south of the demilitarized zone.

“United States pilots returned today to bomb the Longbien Bridge in the fifth consecutive day of attacks near the North Vietnamese capital. At least 10 surface-to-air missile sites were struck...A spokesman said heavy antiaircraft fire, missiles and MIG’s prevented a complete damage report, but pilots reported that one section of the mile-long bridge over the Red River was knocked down in an attack last Thursday…. Air Force F-4 Phantom jets fought briefly with MIG-21s during the day but no aircraft were damaged…The heavy air activity yesterday came during attacks on two MIG bases and two bridges in the Hanoi area. Swarms of MIGs harassed the American planes and there were several air battles. No MIGs were reported hit in the fighting.

“The American losses raise the total of American planes downed in North Vietnam to 765, of which 36 have been shot down by enemy fighters. The biggest fight of the day broke out when MIG-21s and MIG-17s engaged Air Force planes attacking the Langlau railroad bypass bridge, 36 miles north of Hanoi. During the swirling battle, one Air Force Phantom was shot down by a MIG-17. An F-105 Thunderchief was downed by the delta-wing MIG-21, the newest Soviet fighter, with speeds up to twice the speed of sound. The pilots were listed as missing. An Air Force spokesman said pilots believed that they had knocked down the bypass bridge. (Humble Host adds pilot comment on this strike below)…

“During the day, an Air Force Phantom was shot down by ground fire while attacking enemy positions just north of the demilitarized zone. A rescue helicopter picked up both pilots, one of whom was killed. Just south of the DMZ, the buffer area straddling the border of North and South Vietnam, another Air Force Phantom jet was shot down on an air-support strike. The plane crashed along the coast. One pilot was rescued the other was killed.

“Navy pilots from the carrier Ranger in the Gulf of Tonkin dodged heavy antiaircraft fire and surface-to-air missiles to attack the Haiduong bridge area midway between Hanoi and Haiphong. No estimate of damage was available. Thailand based Thunderchief fighter-bombers, escorted by Phantom jets, earlier attacked the Kep MIG air base, 37 miles northeast of Hanoi and the Phucyen MIG base, 14 miles north of the city. Pilots reported scoring a number of bomb hits along the western half of the main runway at the Kep field, on the south end of the runway and on the main taxiway. The main runway at Phucyen was reported covered with bomb craters on the east end and at the center intersection. The Air Force spokesman said the two MIG fields had been repaired during the last few weeks after heavy damage from earlier raids before the monsoon weather closed in a month ago.”

“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft losses on 18 December in Southeast Asia. The four losses reported in the NYT were reported in Hobson for 17 December…see RTR  for 17 Dec … all the same…

From the Howie Plunkett Compilation “34TFS/F-105 History“…

17-Dec-67…  In the afternoon, F-105s in the Korat strike force from the 388th TFW attacked the Lang Lau Railroad bridge…Fragged against Lang Lau were four F-105D strike flights (16 bombers)…one F-105F and three F-105Ds flying Iron hand…and two Ubon F-4D MIGCAP flights…(TOT 1631H)… On their initial track from Channel northeast of the loop in the Red River MIGs disrupted their planned ingress. F-4s in Hornet Flight engaged at least four MIG 17s just after crossing the Red River. Multiple engagements followed involving almost all the aircraft of both forces…”

Among the many great testimonials from this exciting day of ops was this from LGEN Sam Armstrong’s memoirs….”My next mission was on the 17th of December and it was memorable…as the mission that I think was the closest to be shot down. The target was a bridge south of the Thai Nguyen and we were going the land route. We knew that this meant MIG action. sure enough, we were attacked by two MIG-21s after we crossed the Red River. The first one launched two heat-seeker missiles at our formation. The first one hit Bass lead who was Captain Jeff Ellis of the 469th that day. The second missile was apparently headed for me but one of the guys in our flight called for us to jettison the bombs and break right. They tell me the second missile passed right through the position that I would have occupied had we not made the break. Then we heard the sound over the radio of a parachute beeper going off and that was our first indication that Jeff Ellis had bailed out. (He became a POW and after being repatriated became a wing commander in Air Training Command). We continued our turn and exited the area. The other aircraft in the formation continued on to the target and successfully dropped their bombs.” (That is another story!!!…and a Silver Star)…

General Armstrong continues: “Ozark lead, the lead Wild Weasel (Bob Beale) called that he had been hit. We listened as Don Hodge came along-side and told him that his backseater looked like he had been hit and was in bad shape. Bob safely recovered at Udorn but his backseater Captain Mongillo (EWO Captain Paul John Mongillo) was dead. We thought he had been hit by flak although the shrapnel that killed him came through the canopy rather than from the bottom of the aircraft. It was later suspected that he had been killed by a CBU from one of the bomblets we punched off. Normally the Weasels were far enough out in front that this could not have happened, but the true facts never came out because we were too busy worrying about the next mission.”…

RIPPLE SALVO… #651… Part IX of a review of the 1967 year of Rolling thunder… Holiday Stand-downs… From the CINCPAC/USMACV “Report on the War in Vietnam” (July 1968)…

“Prior to1967 three cease-fires were observed in South Vietnam: Christmas 1965–30 hours; Tet 1966–over four days; and Christmas 1966–48 hours. Bombing of North Vietnam had been suspended for even longer periods. On 22 November 1966 the Joint Chiefs of Staff informs the Secretary of State that they opposed any stand-downs in military operations during the holiday seasons. The Joint Chiefs of Staff indicated that if a cease-fire were directed, bombing stand-downs should be limited to a maximum of 48 hours in order to minimize the military advantages to the enemy, and that, if there was no indication of North Vietnam’s willingness to negotiate, we should be allowed to strike unusual military targets in North Vietnam which might develop. This action by the Joint Chiefs of Staff supported CINCPAC’s position on the matter.

“During 1967 four stand-downs were observed: New Years–48 hours, Tet–over five days, Buddha’s birthday–24 hours, and Christmas–24 hours. As is the case in all previous stand-downs, those in 1967 were beneficial to the enemy. He took full advantage of the opportunity to conduct major resupply operations and to reconstitute and replenish his forces, all of which cost the United States and other Free World forces greater casualties.

“Intensive photographic reconnaissance conducted over North Vietnam during the period of Tet in 1967, supplemented by visual sightings from ships and aircraft, revealed significant logistic movement of material by water, truck and rail transport. As a result of this reconnaissance we estimated that North Vietnam moved between 22,500 and 25,100 tons of supplies from the north into the area below 19-degrees North in the period 8 to 12 February.

“Evidence indicated that the North Vietnamese had anticipated and calculated in their planning the probability of a bombing pause during Tet and took full advantage of the situation.

“On Buddha’s birthday, 23 May 1967, another stand-down was observed.This time we were authorized to conduct both Naval gunfire operations and air strikes against any observed substantial military resupply activity in North Vietnam south of 20-degrees North.”… 1967 review continued and concluded tomorrow… to be followed by a Christmas Day exam…

RTR Quote for 18 December: H.L. MENCKEN, Prejudices : “The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear–fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants beyond everything else is safety.”…

Lest we forget…     Bear