COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR… IN THE WEEK ENDING 27 NOVEMBER 1968, 192 BOLD, BRAVE AMERICANS WERE KILLED IN ACTION, BRINGING THE TOTAL KILLED FIGHTING IN SOUTH VIETNAM AND IN THE SKIES OVER NORTH VIETNAM SINCE 1961 TO 30,057… LEST WE FORGET…
Good Morning. It’s Monday, 11 March 2019. Humble Host remembers Week Five of OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT I–10-16 DECEMBER 1968…
HEADLINES from The NEW YORK TIMES (10-16 Dec 1968)…
THE WAR: (10 Dec) FOE SHELLS U.S. POSITIONS AND PROVINCE CAPITALS–Central Market In Town Near Cambodia Is Destroyed… “The enemy shelled three American positions and two provincial capitals near the Cambodian border last night and this morning…a provincial capital and a district town in the Mekong Delta also came under fire. Fewer than 400 shells were fired in all…casualties were light… In other attacks, the enemy shelled two American landing zones north of Saigon and an American advisor’s compound nearby. They also struck Tayninh City, An Loc city and Quanlong city…Yesterday the United States lost its fourth jet plane over North Vietnam since President Johnson ordered a halt to the bombing there five weeks ago…the two crewmen of the aircraft, an unarmed RF-4C reconnaissance plane, were rescued by helicopter shortly after they parachuted into the Gulf of Tonkin 10 miles north of Donghoi.” (Crew: MAJOR ROBERT McCANN and CAPTAIN J.B. KOEBBERTLING)… (12 Dec) ALLIES BATTLE FOE IN DELTA AND DMZ–Enemy Death Toll In Action In Mekong Put At 85… U.S. MARINES END AN ENCIRCLEMENT–Foes Death Toll In Major Drive Put At 1,019… (13 Dec) ENEMY’S BUILD-UP IN SOUTH VIETNAM STIRS WASHINGTON…”The Johnson Administration is concerned over reports of a new enemy build-up in South Vietnam. Intelligence reports from the field tell of North Vietnamese and Vietcong regiments and battalions moving from border regions closer to populated area north and northwest of Saigon, west of Danang and along the central coast west of Quinhon… General Creighton Abrams has alerted his forces to prepare for a new round of attacks and that an offensive may start within the next few days.”…. FRESH FIGHTING REPORTS AT DMZ–AMERICAN COMBAT DEATHS PASS THE 30,000 MARK… “…Reporting on battlefield casualties, a spokesman for the United States command, said that 192 Americans died in combat last week, bringing the total killed in Vietnam since Jan. 1, 1962, to 30,057. This compares with the 33,629 Americans who were killed in the Korean war, which began in 1950 and ended in July, 1953. Nearly half–14,060–of the Americans who have died in Vietnam were killed this year (1968)…”… (14 Dec) B-52s FOCUS ON SAIGON’s NORTHERN APPROACHES–Outposts Are Quiet… (15 Dec) U.S. ORDERS TROOPS IN SAIGON TO NIGHT ALERT AGAINST ATTACK… “American troops in Saigon were ordered off the streets tonight in anticipation of either enemy attack or terrorist activities…Meanwhile, United States B-52s continued their bombardment of the provinces north of Saigon with eight raids. In the last two days there have been a total of 18 B-52 strikes in the region…”… ENEMY ATTACKS GUNBOATS… “Enemy troops ambushed U.S. Navy gunboats with rocket and machine-gun fire in an apparent attempt to break a massive blockade of a river infiltration route…Two United States sailors were killed and 14 wounded in a series of attcks along the three rivers west and northwest of Saigon.”… (16 Dec) ENEMY SHELLED IN DMZ POSITIONS–Three Incidents Bring Total To 41 Since Bombing Halt…”…In the latest incident American observation pilots reported having sighted about 50 enemy soldiers in three positions about 13 miles from the coast. Attacks by fighter-bombers and artillery were directed against them… the pilots said the attacks had resulted in destruction or damage to 35 enemy bunkers. They said the bombs and shells also had set off three explosions and set one fire.”…
THE PARIS PEACE TALKS: (10 Dec) SAIGON TEAM MEETS U.S. AIDES IN PARIS ON PARLEY STRATEGY…”Leading members of the United States and South Vietnamese delegations to the peace talks here held their first long working session today to coordinate their strategy for the expanded negotiation with the Communist side.”… (11 Dec) NO PROGRESS MADE IN PARIS… (12 Dec) HANOI AIDE NOTES AMERICAN TROOP CUTS–Says U.S. Can Raise Topic At Extended Paris Talks… (13 Dec) KY AND HARRIMAN DRAFT NEW SEATING PROPOSAL… (14 Dec) U.S. AND HANOI DELEGATES DEBATE TABLE DESIGN–Vance Offers Four Variations In A Private Meeting–No Progress Reported… PEACE SIEGE IN PARIS–Saigon’s Tenacious stand Expected To Force Long, Tedious Negotiating… (15 Dec) VIETCONG SHOWING WARMTH TO CHINA–Peking Believed Modifying Stand on Peace Talks… (16 Dec) ALLIED DELEGATES CONFER IN PARIS–New Instructions Sought To End Seating Impasse…SAIGON’s NEGOTIATOR PHAN DANG LAM…
OTHER NEWS OF THE WEEK: (10 Dec) SARGENT SHRIVER REPORTED READY TO ACCEPT POST AS U.N. ENVOY–Ambassador To France Will Inform Kennedy Family Of Offer By President Nixon–Democrat Meets Nixon–Lodge Leading Candidate Among Republicans As Shriver Successor In Paris… NIXON WILL PRESENT CABINET ON TV TOMORROW NIGHT… RUSK WILL ASSUME FOUNDATION POST–Will Return to Rockefeller Organization After January 20 As ‘Distinguished Fellow’… CAIRO LINKS END OF STATE OF WAR TO ISRAEL PULLOUT OF SINAI… LAIRD SHARES NIXON’s VIEWS ON DEFENSE AND SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROLE… (11 Dec) WILLIAM ROGERS CHOSEN TO REPLACE RUSK–Cabinet Is Shaped–President-elect To Go On TV Tonight To Name Appointees… SOVIET INCREASES MILITARY BUDGET–Announces A Billion-Ruble Rise For 1969–Also Gives More Funds For Science— (12 Dec) NIXON PRESENTS NEW CABINET–Pledges To Seek Peace And Unity–Emphasis On City Problems–Revision of Federal Role In Urban Matters Seen Likely–Cabinet All Republicans…A TEAM OF MODERATES–Nixon Cabinet Is In Middle Of The Road Without Usual Political Balance… U.S. JOBLESS RATE DECLINES TO 3.3%–Low For 15 years–Surcharge Extension Near–Administration Hopes To Halt Inflation Trend… (13 Dec) NIXON AGAIN PAYS CALL ON JOHNSON–Talk Far Ranging–Middle East, Vkietnam, And Missile Curb With Soviets are Discussed… CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR NIXON CABINET CHOICES… DEFENSE DEPARTMENT TO DRAFT 33,700 IN FEBRUARY… U.S. PLANE DOWN OFF CARACAS–Wreckage Of Airliner Out Of New York Sighted–No Survivors… (14 Dec) LAIRD PLANS VISIT TO WAR ZONE AFTER HE’s SWORN IN–Nixon Defense Secretary Voices Hope For Vietnam Peace In Next Year–Maps Pentagon Review–Announces He Will Set Up Panel to Make Study of Policy and Organization… HONG KONG FLU IMPACT GROWS ACROSS NATION–Business Slows Down And Many Colleges Close–Schools Here Are Hit… (15 Dec) DAYAN MEETS NIXON HERE–Sees No Drop In U.S. Help… IRAQ IS IN MILITANT MOOD… (16 Dec) NIXON IS GIVEN PLAN TO COMBAT ORGANIZED CRIME–G.O.P. Task Force In House Backs A Doubled Staff–Wary Of Eavesdropping–Morgenthau Is Praised And Recommended For Retention–Strike Forces Of Attorney General Clark Termed Effective…
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT I… TWO REPORTS by Terrence Smith of THE NEW YORK TIMES…
I. The New York Times, 10 December 1968, Page 3: RECONNAISSANCE OVER NORTH VIETNAM STILL A RISKY AND BUSY JOB–Pilots At Thailand Base Out Every Hour In Unarmed Aircraft–Weapon Is A Camera–Laos Kept Under Close Watch…by Terrence Smith, Dateline: Ubon, Thailand…9 Dec…
“In the shack that is the headquarters of the 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron here in northern Thailand, a sign over the operations door reads: ‘Caution–flying over North Vietnam may be hazardous to your health.’ The warning is no less true these days for the pilots of the two reconnaissance squadrons stationed here than it was before Nov. 1, when the bombing of North Vietnam was halted. The pilots still maintain an hour-by-hour surveillance of the movement of men and material in North Vietnam and the Communist-dominated secctions of eastern Laos. The reconnaissance flights provided an invlauable tool during the 44 months of bombing. The flights were specifically exempted from the agreement between the United States and North Vietnam on military restrictions that would allow the start of expanded peace talks in Paris.
“In fact, Pentagon sources repoorted after President Johnson’s announcement of the agreement on Oct. 31 that the continuation of reconnaissance flights over North Vietnam and Laos was a principal reason American military commanders willingly accepted a bombing halt. ‘We all heard it on the radio when the President spoke,’ a reconnaissance pilot recalled. ‘Then we suited up, went out and flew another mission. We have been at it every day since.’
“The two squadrons of the 432rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at this vast air base fly an average of 40 to 50 sorties a day in specifically-rigged snoutnosed RF-4C Phantom jet fighters. After the restriction March 31 of the bombing to southern North Vietnam, the two squadrons concentrated on that area and on Laos. The bulk of the long distance surveillance of the Hanoi area was left to the delta-wing SR-71’s, the successor to the high-flying U-2’s that are based in central Thailand. Since the total bombing halt, the nature of the mission over North Vietnam has changed. ‘It’s more strategic than tactical now,’ a pilot explained. ‘Where before we were searching out targets and assessing damage, now we’re looking for changes in the larger military situation.’
LAOTIAN MISSION UNCHANGED
“Over Laos, however, the reconnaissance mission is more tactical than ever. The American bombing of the enemy supply network of jungle paths and roads known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail has at least tripled since the bombing halt, and the surveillance has increased. Reconnaissance flights are especially risky since the planes carry no armament. Instead, they are outfitted with three to nine cameras, valued at up to $75,000 each, which are capable of taking extraordinarily sharp pictures from several miles up. The cameras also have special infra-red equipment and side-looking radar linked to the plane’s navigational gear to trip the shutter and record precise locations. The recce (pronounced ‘wreckie’) pilots set out from Ubon, just 40 miles south of the Laotian capital of Vientiane, and cruise to their target areas in the relative safety of high altitude.
“They usually must descend to get the pictures they want, sometimes to as low as 300 feet. The danger is multiplied because they frequently must hold a stable pattern for several minutes. MAJOR JAMES V. SMOTHERMAN, of Blythville, Ark., a recce pilot, explained: ‘We watch the ground for muzzle flashes, or any sign of the enemy shooting at us. If they start popping away, we get down to the treetops and try to weave our way out of there. At night, there’s not much we can do when they start shooting. When we see that red stuff (tracer fire) coming up we just grit our teeth and tke our pictures and get out of there.’
HOW THE JOB IS DONE
“Once they have their pictures, the pilots climb high and head home to Ubon at full throttle, 1,400 miles an hour. (Humble Host ???) The exposed film is snatched from the nose of the plane even before the pilot has a chance to open his canopy, and developed and printed in minutes. The pictures are studied by photo interpreters for evidence of the enemy’s presence. The smallest detail can provide a valuable clue: a ladder left near the entrance of a cave once revealed the existence of an enemy fuel storage area. The reconnaissance pilots are prohibited from discussing what they see over enemy territory, but military sources in Bangkok and Saigon have reported that North Vietnam is repairing and shoring up its air-defense system.
“The pilots at Ubon take a philosophical attitude to peace prospects. ‘I figure we’ll be here even after a cease-fire, if there is one,’ a pilot said. ‘No matter what they agree to in Paris, they’ll need us to keep the other side honest.'”… End Article…
II. The New York Times, 16 December 1968, Page 3: AMERICAN SQUADRON BOMBS THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL ONLY AFTER DARK–‘Night Owls’ Keeping Pressure On Foe In Laos Jungle–Pilots Under Orders Not To Give Details Of Their Missions… by Terrence Smith, Dateline: Ubon, Thailand, Dec. 7–
“The evening star was diamond bright against the darkening sky as LIEUTENANT COLONEL STANLEY CLARK climbed into the cockpit of his F-4D Phantom jet. ‘This is when my working day begins,’ he said, flashing a grin beneath a luxuriant black handlebar mustache. ‘I’ve been loafing all day, but now it’s time to get to work.’ After a final word with his chief mechanic, Colonel Clark pulled the egg-shaped canopy over his head, gave a thumbs up sign and taxied his twin engined fighter-bomber onto the runway. The plane swung around at the end of the strip, paused for second, and then rocketed down the runway with a terrifying roar. The two afterburners glowed white hot against the night as the plane loaded with bombs, lifted into the eastern sky. Less that a minute later the burners snuffed out, and only the running lights could be seen disappearing into the darkness.
‘WE GET OURS AT NIGHT’
“Colonel Clark is the operations officer of the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron with the nickname the ‘Nightowls.’ The squadron is the only one of the four based here that flies its missions exclusively after dark and it has suffered the heaviest combat losses. ‘We get ours at night,’ proclaims the unit motto, which hangs in the squadron briefing room. Despite the halt in the bombing of North Vietnam, annoounced by President Johnson Oct. 1, the men of the 497th are still flying missions each night. Their target is the Ho Chi Minh Trail in eastern Laos, and their activity has not diminsihed.
“To quench their thirst when they return to base, the bar in the officers’ club at Ubon operates 24 hours a day. It was shortly after six the other night when Colonel Clark set out on his mission. By 8 P.M., he was behind a table in the officers’ club, sipping a 25-cent bourbon and soda and losing at Liar’s Dice. The colonel had come directly from the briefing session that follows each mission. He was still wearing his suit with the small silver figure of an owl on the vest. Around his neck he wore a silk scarf decorated with black and white polka dots. ‘A routine mission,’ he said cheerfully, when asked how it had gone. ‘No problems tonight. Nobody even bothered to shoot at us. We made the round trip in an hour and ten minutes.’
“Like all the pilots at the airbase in Thailand, Colonel Clark is under an injunction not to discuss the operational details of the missions he has been flying since Nov. 1. The restriction rankles some pilots. ‘I don’t want the people in the states to think this is a picnic,’ a first lieutenant who flies in the rear cockpit of one of the 497th’s Phantoms as copilot and navigator. ‘The guys who buy the farm (get killed) after the bombing halt are just as dead as those who went down in Hanoi.’ The pilots who have been flying over Laos report that they have been encountering generally less enemy resistance and goundfire than over North Vietnam. Surface-to-air missiles apparently are no longer a problem, but the pilots still draw heavy flak from radar controlled 37mm antiaircraft guns along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
“Although discussing operational details is forbidden Colonel Clark was able to describe some of the particulars of his profession. ‘The ground is your enemy at night,‘ he said. ‘We have to fly low enough to find our targets and the ground comes up at you pretty fast.’ Many of the pilots who have been killed on night missions have smashed their planes into steep hillsides or the sharp pinnacles of rock that rise up from the darkened Laotian countryside. ‘At night the navigator really counts,’ Colonel Clark said. ‘He watched the radar screen and tells where you are and what’s coming up. I’m usually concentrating so hard on the ground, trying to find a light or a target or a bend in a road, I don’t even know which direction I’m going, much less where I am. My instruments are blacked out, so I don’t even have those to go by. The guy in back keeps me alive.’
AIR TRAFFIC HEAVY
“Although the pilots are prohibited from saying how frequently they fly, one made it clear that many missions over Laos each night, ‘We have to keep our wing lights on when we fly, even though it helps the enemy on the ground to spot us,’ he said. ‘There’s too much air traffic out there to black the aircraft out completely.’ His statement came as no surprise to a reporter who spent a night last week at the Ubon Hotel immediately next to the base. He found it difficut to sleep because the windows of his room rattled every few minutes as one after another of the twin-engined Phantoms streaked off into the night….
AIRCRAFT LOSSES 10 THROUGH 16 DECEMBER 1968. References include CHRIS HOBSON’s VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES… Two weeks before Christmas 1968 the fixed wing air forces in Vietnam lost nine aircraft and ELEVEN intrepid aviators… Lest we forget…
(1) On 10 December an A1H of the 602nd SOS and 56th DOW out of Nakhon Phanom piloted by CAPTAIN J.J. JENKINSON was downed by 12.7mm ground fire while executing aa third diving attack on enemy troops in Northern Laos (Barrel Roll) five miles south of Sopka. CAPTAIN JENKINSON was able to fly his enflamed Spad clear of the enemy to eject and be rescued by an Air Force Helo…
(2) On 12 December an RF-4C of the 11th TRS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn crewed by pilot CAPTAIN HARLAN J. DREWRY and navigator CAPTAIN RUSSELL DALE GALBRAITH was hit and downed by enemy ground fire while executing a photo recon mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail near Ban Muangen in Commando Hunt country. CAPTAIN DREWRY ejected when the aircraft became uncontrollable and was rescued by an HH-3 out of NKP. CAPTAIN DREWRY did not observe CAPTAIN GALBRAITH eject or descend by parachute and never saw of heard from him on the ground. The following day a ground search team searched for CAPTAIN GALBRAITH and found nothing. In August 1978 he was declared dead– “Presumptive Finding of Death”– in other words, KILLED IN ACTION, a status sustained to this day…. He is memorialized in Arlington National Cemetery with a hero’s marker… He rests in peace in Laos…
(3) and (4) On Friday, 13 December a B-57E of the 8th TBS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang and a Candlestick C-123K flare-ship collided in midair in the 3:30 A.M. dark over southern Laos 20 miles south of the Ban Karai Pass. The two aviators in the B-57, MAJOR THOMAS WAYNE DUGAN and MAJOR FRANCIS KAY McGOULDRICK struck the C-123 Provider and were killed on impact. The C-123 pilot LT T.M. TURNER, the sole survivor of the collision, was knocked unconscious and came to as the C-123 slowly spiraled into the jungle. He saw none of his crew as he proceeded to bail out. But as he floated to earth he observed at least one other parachute. He was rescued at dawn by an NKP HH-3. The other six of his crew–1LT JOSEPH PETER FANNING, 1LT JOHN SCOTT ALBRIGHT, 1LT DOUGLAS VINCENT DAILEY, 1LT MORGAN JEFFERSON DONAHUE, SSGT SAMUEL FRANKLIN WALKER and TSGT FREDERICK LEE CLARKE were not so fortunate and were killed in the battlefield mishap. All are currently carried in the status of: “Presumtive Finding of Death” and remain where they fell fighting for our country. 1LT DONAHUE was originally thought to have survived and been captured. (Hobson: “As late as 1987 MAJOR DONAHUE’s family received seemingly credible information that indicated he was still being held captive in Laos. However, there have been no new developments since then [2001] and, officially at least, he remains listed as killed in action.”) The story of the Donahue family’s relentless search for MAJOR DONAHUE (Promoted to MAJOR while in MIA status) is worth a thoughtful read. Go to POW NETWORK and read the entry for MAJOR M.J. DONAHUE. Also, a lengthy article: “Getting Past Not Knowing What Happened to Maj. Morgan Jefferson Donahue” is a good history lesson for understanding the tragedy MIA families endure without end. Jeff Donohue, the Major’s brother, has written extensively–four detailed posts– on his family’s search.
(5) and (6) Also on Friday, 13 December–a second mid-air collision. An AC-47D Dakota Gunship of the 3rd SOS and 14th SOW was scrambled out of Bien Hoa in the middle of the night to counter a Vietcong attack on an outpost in the Mekong Delta. An OV-10A of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG was on scene and controlling the counter-attack. The OV-10 bumped the bottom of the AC-47 over the target. Both aircraft headed for Bien Hoa. MAJOR F.D. REEDER and 1LT P.N. ROSE were able to crash land the AC-47 when the landing gear would not extend. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Forward Air Controllers CAPTAIN CHARLES FARRELL GRIFFIN and CAPTAIN BRUCE BRIAN GREENE in the OV-10A were killed when their aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed north of Saigon in a nest of Vietcong. It took days to drive away from the crash scene to recover the bodies of the two heroic FACs. CAPTAIN GRIFFIN is buried at the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery and CAPTAIN GREENE is buried at Arlington National Cemetery…
7) On 13 December a TA-4F of MAG-11 out of Danang suffered an electrical failure on an attack mission and crashed. The two on-board aviators survived…
(8) On 14 December an O-2A of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG suffered a control failure and crashed while on a FAC mission. Both aviators on board survived…
(9) On 16 December an F-100D Super Sabre of the 612th TFS and 315th TFW out of Phu Cat piloted by CAPTAIN J.A. NUGENT was hit by ground fire on a night close air support mission 35 miles northwest of Nha Trang. CAPTAIN NUGGENT subsequently ejected from the faltering aircraft and was rescued by an Army helicopter….
RIPPLE SALVO…The New York Times, 13 December 1968. Page 1: HANOI ALLOWS GIFTS FOR CAPTIVE PILOTS by Peter Grose…
“Washington, Dec. 12–North Vietnam agreed today to let captive American pilots receive Christmas packages from the Untited States for the first time in the Vietnam war. The State Department announced that Ambassador W. Averell Harriman, chief United States negotiator in the Paris talks had received a message from the North Vietnamese chief negotiator, Xuan Thuy, conveying Hanoi’s authorization. The message said: ‘On the ocassion of Christmas, 1968, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, acting in pursuit of humanitarian policies, authorizes Untied States pilots in captivity in North Vietnam to receive postcard and Christmas gifts.’ Last year, when families of captive Americans attempted to send Christmas parcels though the regular postal service, the packages were returned to the senders as undeliverable.
U.S. MADE REQUEST
“The United States asked the North Vietnamese delegation in Paris last October to grant permission for the receipt of packages this year. The request went unanswered until today (Dec. 12). Mr. Harriman was said to have been deeply ‘gratified’ when two North Vietnamese diplomatic messengers arrived at the United States Embassy in Paris with Mr. Thuy’s note. The gesture was underlined by the manner in which permission for the receipt of the packages was conveyed–in a personal message between the heads of the two delegations, the highest level of diplomatic contact between Washington and Hanoi. If Hanoi had not intended the decision to be related to the atmosphere of the Paris talks, United States officials said, authorization could have been conveyed at a lower level. The United States request to Mr. Thuy was made before the halt in the bombing of North Vietnam Nov. 1. Hanoi’s aauthorization presumably is in response to President Johnson’s action because it is limited to pilots who had taken part in the air war and apparently does not extend to prisoners taken in other actions.
“North Vietnam has never given the United States or the International Red Cross the names or even the numbers of American servicemen held as prisoners. In its latest tabulation the Defense Department lists 336 servicemen as prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. An additional 879 are listed as missing in action. By agreement between the two Governments, the gift parcels are to be limited to nonperishable food items, personal articles, medications and clothes to a maximum weight of six pounds for each man. The United States Government has informed families of the men believed to be held prisoner of lthese regulations as well as the procedures for sending the packages by air parcel post. United States officials said a request had also been made for Christmas mailing privleges for the crewmen of the Pueblo, the United States intelligence ship captured last January by North Korea. So far there has been no reply from North Korea.”… END
Humble Host note. Reference Stuart Rochester’s and Frederick Kiley’s brilliant HONOR BOUND: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973…Page 407: “For the first time many of the Zoo’s residents received holiday packges from home… The Vietnamese attempted to extort statements of good treatment in return for delivering the Christmas mail, then relented when many of the prisoners refused to sign the formatted receipt.”… “Although morale plunged with the realization that the Paris talks–and the POWs–were going nowhere, oversight of the camp remained lax and treatment relatively lenient into the new year (1969).”
HOLIDAY MAIL REACHES DANANG… Associate Press, Dec.12: “The Navy transpoetr ship Hunter Victory, dubbed the Christmas Special pulled into Danang harbor today and dropped off 1,100 tons of holiday mail and packages for americans at war. The cargo averaged 13 pounds for each of 166,000 soldiers, saiolors, airmen and marines in the five provinces of the northern war sector. The 4,000 tons of mail remaining aboard the ship will be unloaded at Quinhon, Camranh Bay and Saigon for troops oin other war zones.”
CAPTIVE’S MESSAGE BROADCAST… Associated Press, Dec. 12: “The Hanoi radio today broadcast a recorded Christmas message froma United States Air Force pilot captured in North Vietnam to his wife and children. Hanoi identified the broadcast voice as that of JAMES H. KASLER, serial number FR24551. It did not give the pilot’s rank. The message was addressed to Mrs. Martha Kasler, Indianapolis. It said: ‘Dear Martha, Jimmy, Nan and Suzanne, on the occasion of Christmas just a few words to let you know I am in fair health. I hope you are well. Give my love to our parents and all my love to you and the children. I pray that we may be together again soon. Love, Jim'”…
COLONEL JIM KASLER stands among the bravest of the brave as a triple AIR FORCE CROSS awardee… His extraordinary story is told by Perry luckett and Charlesl L. Byler in TEMPERED STEEL: The Three Wars of Triple Air Force Cross Winner.
HUMBLE HOST END NOTE… From the current Navy League SEAPOWER Magazine: Rear Admiral Jon C. Kreitz, Deputy Director for Operations, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: “Our mission is global in scope. DPAA teams deploy across the world, on land and sea, often to remote and dangerous locations. They operate in past battlefields from the the tropical jungles of Vietnam and Papua New Guinea, to the forests of Europe, to the mountains of the Himalayas, and the Atlantic and Pacioic Oceans–anywhere Americans have given their lives in the defense of our nation as far back as World War II. In fiscal year 2018, DPAA worked in 36 countries and accounted for 203 missing Americans from past conflicts, the highest yearly total ever reached by the agency or its predecerssor organizations. Broken down by conflict, 10 were from the Vietnam War, 37 from the Korean War, and 156 were from World War II… This is an amazing, honorable mission that I am extremely grateful to be part of. I cannot imagine a more meaningful call to service than this.”… Right on, Admiral… Good hunting…
Lest we forget… Bear