Across the Wing-Stories of Navy Carrier Combat Squadrons in the Vietnam Theatre



ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED 2 OCTOBER 1967

RIPPLE SALVO… #575… TWO ARTICLES on NVN SAM defenses: (1) North Vietnam “Vietnamese Courier” of 28 July 1966 and (2) NYT of 2 October 1967 and a brief score sheet on SAM kills of US aircraft… but first…

Good Morning: Day FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE of a return to the contested skies of North Vietnamese in Rolling Thunder…

2 October 1967: HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a mostly sunny, mild fall Monday in NYC…

FALL IN AMERICA 1967: Page 1: “BOSTON WINS THE PENNANT: DETROIT LOSES ON LAST DAY–BOSTON BEATS TWINS; DETROIT LOST TO ANGELS”… “The Red Sox completed one of the most spectacular one-season reversals of form in baseball history. They finished ninth last season, only half a game our of last place. They will face the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1967 World Series that opens Wednesday in St. Louis.”… Page 1: “Congress Is Told Foreign Aid Curbs Would Ruin NATO–Administration Fights Move to End Arms Credit Sales and Allies Hanoi Trade”… “The White House told Congress that restrictions voted by the House or Senate in the foreign aid bill will wreck the Atlantic Alliance and impose a unilateral disarmament on friendly governments in the Mideast, Latin America and on the border of the Communist world.”… Page 1: “Cornell Asked To End Roll As Buffer for Offenders”... “…University will no longer interpose itself between police and students who get into trouble under a new policy recommended today. …reject idea that university can act as an ‘away-from-home-parent’ “… Page 1: “TV Heroes Smoking Scored By City Health Director”... “…says TV heroes need to show smoking is the Out-thing of do, not the In-thing to do.”... Page 43: “Farm Union Pins its Hopes On Victory in Coast Grape Strikes–Earlier Success spurs Drive–Worker’s Gains In Disputes With Processors Inspire Wide Organizing Effort”… “The tattered Mexican American pickets who tramp the macadam roads in the verdant vineyards of California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley know how to wait… out for 2-years and state they are prepared to stay out for 2 more years… The outcome will tell whether the farm workers can build a viable labor union.”…

VIETNAM: Page 2: “JOHNSON’S CREDIBILITY–REDS BELIEVED TAKING HIM AT HIS WORD–MANY AMERICANS SAY THEY CAN’T”… Page 2: “Critics Admit Risk In a Bombing Halt”… “The Senate democratic leader Mike Mansfield of Montana said that a ‘expansion of attacks in North Vietnam could very well result if Mr. Johnson accepted the contention of domestic and foreign critics that a bombing pause would induce talks, and then they failed to materialize. He said for that reason he opposes cessation of the air strikes. Senator John Sherman Cooper of Kentucky however. is holding to his position: ‘I think cessation of the bombing is an indisputable requirement for peace talks and I think we ought to take the risks.’ “... Page 6: “Enemy Mortar Barrage on Hue Hits Hospital and P.O.W. Camp”… “Enemy mortarmen shelled the ancient imperial capital of Hue today with a light but well-disciplined barrage that landed on a high school, a hospital and a POW camp A South Vietnamese military spokesman said enemy soldiers had lobbed 14 rounds of mortar fire in the barrage on Hue, 400 miles northeast of Saigon. Most of the shells landed on a Vietnamese army communications unit…Two rounds hit the prisoner camp, wounding one guard and 12 prisoners.”…

2 October 1967… The President’s Daily Brief… SOUTH VIETNAM: Both Vietnamese and American officials now feel there is a good chance that the full assembly will give its approval to the election of Thieu and Ky by today’s deadline... COMMUNIST CHINA: National Day celebration in Peking yesterday reflected an effort by the leadership to present the facade of unity while continuing to throttle back the Cultural Revolution….the turn toward normalcy seems to be taking hold outside the capital. reports from the provinces indicate order is being restored in major trouble  spots…. The Chinese continued to p[ledge all-out support for the struggle of the Vietnamese people against US imperialism, while the Vietnamese stressed the deep friendship and militant solidarity that unite both peoples… SOVIET UNION: Trade: Recently released figures for 1966 indicate that Soviet trade with North Vietnam showed an over-all decline of 11-percent from 1965. The soviet trade figures, however, do not present a complete picture since grant aid is excluded and most of the Soviet aid is believed to be in the form of grants. A comparison of shipping indicates that during 1966, 122 Soviet ships carrying commercial cargoes called at ports in North Vietnam–an increase in 54-percent over 1965–and high volume of Soviet shipping int North Vietnam continued during the first six months of this year (1967)… SOVIET BLOC AID: Since 1954 the Communist countries have supplied an estimated $1.4 billion in economic aid to North Vietnam. And an equal amount of military aid… (Humble Host: Gee, do you thing mining the harbor might be a good thing to do if your intent is to reduce the flow of material to the war in the South?)

2 OCTOBER 1967…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT: no coverage of the air war in North Vietnam… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were three fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 2 October 1967…

(1) An AC-47D “Spooky” of the 4th ACS and 14th ACW out of Nha Trang was shot down over Hue City on a mission near the DMZ, 40 miles to the north of Hue. All seven Air Force warriors in the crew were killed in action in the crash 50-years ago today: LCOL VAN HAROLD NEWVILLE; CAPTAIN ARTHUR RAYMOND COUGHLIN; MAJOR WILLIAM WHITBY DUCK; MSGT CHARLES JOSEPH ROGIERS; TSGT JAMES CHARLES KROUSE; A2C WILLIAM WARD SCOVILLE; and, A2C WALTER CLARENCE WRIGHT.

(2) MAJOR I. BROWNE and MAJOR D.M. MILLER were flying an RF-4C of the 11th TRS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn and were forced to eject over Thailand after their Phantom flamed out as a consequence of a fuel system malfunction… they were rescued to fly and photo again…

(3) Night of Oct 2/3 1LT PATRICK LEWIS, USMC was flying an F-8E of the VMF(AW)-235th Death Angels and MAG-11 out of Danang, returning from a radar bombing mission, and preparing to land at Danang when he inexplicably flew into the ground.

RIPPLE SALVO… #575… NYT, 2 October 1967, Page 1: “North’s Missile Sites Estimated at 180″… Hanson Baldwin…

“According to testimony by two top generals, the North Vietnamese are estimated to be expending 25,000-tons of anti-aircraft ammunition each month and there are now 180 surface-to-missile launching sites in North Vietnam. These and other statistics on the air war were made public last week in the testimony of General Earle G. Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and of Lieutenant General William W. Momyer, commander of the 7th Air Force in Saigon… The two generals appeared before the Senate subcommittee chaired by Senator John Stennis of Mississippi, on August 16. Their testimony was published after what observers termed relatively light censorship..

“General Wheeler said that since the summer of 1965, battalions firing surface-to-air missiles, with six missile launchers to a battalion–have increased from one to 30. During this period, he said, almost 4,000 of the SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles have been fired. Other Pentagon sources credited the missiles with shooting down 76 United States planes.”

(Humble Host notes the following details about the SAM success. SAM Kills by year: 1965-13; 1966-35: 1967-62; 1968-12; 1969-zero; 1970-one; 1972-72{Linebacker I/II); and 1973-3. Also, A-4s downed by SAMs=32; F-4s=45; and F-105s=31…SAM kills in September 1967=one; October=10; and November=11)…

“General Momyer said he thought the enemy ‘was experiencing difficulty with his logistical system.’He said the ‘number of SAMs that he is firing today as compared to what he was firing, eight of nine months ago is considerably less on the average–about 8 per day.’ The general said there were considerable variations in the density of North Vietnam’s antiaircraft fire, also indicative of supply difficulty. The number of antiaircraft guns and early warning and ground control intercept radars have increased fourfold. General Wheeler testified. Nevertheless he said, loss rates for United States aircraft have averaged about 1.7 per 1,000 sorties, considerably lower than in World War II and Korea. He credited ‘improved tactics, better electronic countermeasures and more effective munitions,’ plus unremitting pressure against North Vietnamese defenses, for an improving trend in U.S aircraft losses. He said, however that ‘hard’ or heavily defended targets around Hanoi and Haiphong exacted larger losses than those in other parts of the country.

“General Wheeler estimated that at least ’25 per cent of North Vietnam’s present force’ was committed to South Vietnam. But he did not indicate total strength of the ‘pressure force.’ North Vietnam’s regular army prior to its intervention in South Vietnam was estimated at 14 divisions by other sources but additional manpower has since been mobilized. General Wheeler emphasized the importance of North Vietnam’s war potential of seaborne supply, particularly through the port of Haiphong. He estimated that Communist China supplied 30 per cent of the ‘commodities shipped to North Vietnam, the Soviet bloc 60 per cent and the free world countries 10 per cent.’ The general estimated the value of Soviet military assistance to North Vietnam as $240 million in 1965 and $670 in 1966, and the rate for 1967 can be expected to be about the same as 1966.”….

Humble Host adds two items on SAMs from the North Vietnamese side… a Hanoi radio international service English broadcast on 8 August 1966 went like this…

“In order to calm American pilots, U.S military officials have described North Vietnam’s surface-to-air missiles as ineffective ‘flying telephone poles.’ At the same time the US command in Saigon stopped specifying when American planes are hit by surface-to-air missiles over North Vietnam and, since last March , SAM hits have been merely listed under the general heading of ground fire or enemy fire.”

A report from the “Vietnamese Courier” on 28 July 1966 explains how North Vietnam’s “telephone poles” hit and destroy American fighter-bombers… (from: “Volcano Under Snow,” page 205)…

“The weather was gorgeous on this afternoon of 15 July. Flakes of snowy clouds sailed in the wind. The anti-aircraft missile fighters of unit X were at the ready. Since the American air pirates raided the periphery of Hanoi and Haiphong, these fighters have been boiling with anger and hatred and intensifying their training with a firmer determination to force the enemy to pay for their crimes. Today they will be able to fulfil their aspiration.

“An order cane from HQ: Target: a flight of enemy planes at 100 kilometers in the southeast! Everybody at the ready!

“The whole battlefield bustled. Like an interrelated system, the reconnaissance, liaison, pinpointing organs worked harmoniously and accurately. Every fighter was absorbed in his duty. Enemy planes in many waves appeared on the radar screen, heading in the direction unit X had expected. They were only fifty-five, then forty, then thirty kilometers off.

“The US air pirates split their formation in two, flew at different altitudes, and sought to sidetrack our observers. But such worn-out tricks could not deceive unit X fighters, who never lost sight of the enemy for even one second. A wave of planes suddenly swooped down. The missiles left the launching ramps and soared up in the direction of the air pirates.

” ‘Got it, got it’ shouted the interceptors. an enemy plane was on fire, clothed in blacksmoke. It staggered for a while, then plummeted to the ground. the pirate pilot bailed out. When reaching the ground, he lay flat on his back, holding his head withhis hands, then hurriedly covering up his body with leaves. But he was caught by the Vietnam People’s Army fighters and militia coming from all directions.

“The other planes either soared up or swooped down for an escape. But they all ran into a net of intensive ground fire: two more marauders paid for their crimes. The battle ended swiftly and victoriously. Hanoi knocked down three more American planes and captured some more American air pirates.”…

Humble Host note: On 15 July 1966 Two aircraft were lost over North Vietnam. A USS Ranger VA-55 A4 (Jim Connell, POW, died in captivity) by SAM 14 miles, south of Hanoi and an F-105D to AAA at Cam Pha (pilot eject over the Gulf and was rescued.)….

RTR Quote for 2 October: MACHIAVELLI, The Prince: “Hence it happened that all the armed prophets conquered, all the unarmed perished.”…

Lest we forget…    Bear

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