COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR… IN THE WEEK ENDING 18 JANUARY 1969, 196 AMERICANS WERE KILLED ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF SOUTH VIETNAM BRINGING THE NUMBER OF U.S. WARRIORS KIA SINCE 1961 TO 31,143– WITH MORE THAN THREE YEARS OF WAR TO GO… “War is always a matter of doing evil in the hope some good may come of it.” (B.H. Liddell Hart, 1950)… LEST WE FORGET…
Good Morning. It’s Monday, 15 April 2019. Humble Host remembers WEEK ELEVEN of OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT I– 20-26 JANUARY 1969…
HEADLINES from The NEW YORK TIMES (20-26 January 1969)…
THE WAR IN VIETNAM… (20 Jan) ENEMY IS ACTIVE IN SMALL GROUPS–Five U.S. Bases Attacked… “Enemy troops launched a series of small attacks in South Vietnam yesterday and today. Little damage was reported… the latest wave of enemy action has been coordinated with the start of expanded talks in Paris…most American officers discounted this theory… A South Vietnamese spokesman said that the enemy shelled about 20 Government outposts and district towns last night. There were few casualties… Four Killed In Theater…Two grenades that exploded in a movie theater 264 miles northeast of Saigon at Phucat killed four and wounded 52. An explosive charge in a restaurant in the Mekong Delta, 40 miles from Saigon killed one and wounded six. Enemy riflemen charged a hamlet 100 miles northeast of Saigon. They killed two civilians, wounded two others and killed 10 Government troops. They left behind 43 of their own dead… Enemy forces bombarded five united States bases in the Saigon area yesterday and today and attacked two of them with infantry. Five Americans were killed and 11 wounded…(21 Jan) FOUR DIVISIONS IN NORTH VIETNAM SAID TO MOVE FORWARD TOWARD DMZ–Southward Shifting of Units Previously Withdrawn By Hanoi Puzzles U.S. Aides… “Senior American analysts report that four North Vietnamese Army divisions that were withdrawn well out of South Vietnam late last year appear to be moving southward again.”…G.I.’s AT CAMP TAKE FOND FAREWELL–Highlands Post Given Over To The South Vietnamese... TWO AMERICAN SAILORS KILLED AS ROCKETS STRIKE VIETNAM CITY–Tank Landing Vessel Hit At Vangtau–Small Allied Positions Are Attacked… VIETCONG CACHES SAID TO YIELD TWO YEARS’ SUPPLIES FOR 1,000… “Allied forces have uncovered unusually large caches of enemy food and munitions in the last month. Most of the caches were found in the provinces north of Saigon.”… (23 Jan) U.S. SINKS 45 SMALL WICKER BOATS NEAR DANANG–Shelling Reported… (24 Jan) U.S. ATTACK FAILS TO DISLODGE FOE–Force Still Dug-In At Village–Total Of War Dead Is Up… “United States planes, tanks and infantrymen tried unsuccessfully again today to dislodge an enemy force dug in for the last four days in an abandoned village near Quangngai on the northern coast of South Vietnam…. The enemy is surrounded and a captive enemy soldier said the enemy soldiers trapped in the village had no food.”… Thus far 19 enemy bodies have been found…Elsewhere in South Vietnam there were several other sharp engagements in which at least 20 Americans died in the last 24 hours.”… Fighting Grows Intense…”The intensity of fighting throughout the country is slowly increasing again…Last week the number of allied and enemy soldiers rose for the second consecutive week. The South Vietnamese lost 2,192 men from January 12 through January 18 and American losses for the week were 196 men. Enemy losses were put at 2,420 men.”… (25 Jan) FOE DOWNS TWO COPTERS KILLING NEW YORK COLONEL… “Enemy gunners shot down two United States helicopters, one of them a Marine regimental command craft and the other a medical helicopter on separate incidents that killed 15 American servicemen. One of them was the commander of the Third Marine Regiment, Col. Michael M. Spark.”… Enemy Position at Quangngai Finally Taken... (26 Jan) VIETNAM BUFFER: EMBATTLED ZONE–Scars Of War Mark Face Of Demilitarized Strip… G.I.s ENDING A SIX-DAY BATTLE–Seize Enemy Village In South Vietnam…
THE PEACE TALKS: (20 Jan) HARRIMAN HAILED BY TOP DEMOCRATS AS HE COMES HOME–200 Welcome Retiring Envoy At Airport Outside of Capital–He Talks With Lodge… WEDNESDAY START FOR PARIS PEACE TALKS HINTED–Four Parties To Meet Today To Set The Date for Opening–Lodge To Arrive In Paris Tonight… (21 Jan) LODGE ARRIVING IN PARIS–Pledges To Do All Possible For Peace Talks Success… (22 Jan) VIETNAM DELEGATES TO HOLD PLENARY SESSION SATURDAY… (23 Jan) POPE PAUL SENDS MESSAGE TO NEGOTIATORS… “…expressing hope they can arrive soon at ‘a just, true and honorable peace.'”… “…identical messages were sent to all three nations last Thursday, when it was announced in Paris that agreement had been reached on the expanded negotiations.”… (25 Jan) KY ARRIVES IN PARIS FOR 4-PARTY TALKS ON VIETNAM… NIXON ON VIETNAM: No Strategy Yet Decided For Talks–A Flexible Approach Is Desired… (26 Jan) FIRM BUFFER ZONE IS URGED BY LODGE AT VIETNAM TALKS–He Terms A Demilitarized Area the First Practical Move Toward Peace–Foe Cool Toward Proposal–Session Lasts 6 1/2 Hours–U.S. Calls For Goodwill Of All…
OTHER NYT HEADLINES, 20-26 January 1969… (20 Jan) NIXON TO BECOME PRESIDENT TODAY–The Nation’s 37th–Plans 15-Minute Inaugural Address–Warren Will Adminsiter The Oath–An Even Chance of Rain–Johnson Works Quietly On In Last Ful;l Day In Office–Vietnam War Protest Is Staged… THOUSANDS OF WAR FOES STAGE DOWN PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE–Protest Marred By Rock Throwing–3 Policemen Hurt–Young Militants Stick Mostly To Banners and Chants…TWO AIRLINERS HIJACKED TO CUBA–One From New York Carried 171… BUCHER EXPECTED TO TESTIFY TODAY–Pueblo Skipper Slated To Be Inquiry’s First Witness… (21 Jan) NIXON SWORN–DEDICATES OFFICE TO PEACE– Offers A Role To Young And Disaffected And A Chance To Black As Well As White… HAILED BY PARADE–CHEERED BY 250,000 ON ROUTE– Vice President Spiro Agnew Takes The Oath… SOVIET TELLS U.S. THAT IT IS READY FOR MISSILE TALKS–Terms Curb On Arms Race Realistic But Not Easy–9-Point Plan Pressed… (22 Jan) NIXON AND AIDES TAKE UP VIETNAM ON FIRST FULL DAY–National Security Council Is Called in For Review Of Ways To Obtain Peace–O.A.S. Chief Consulted–President Also Reported To Be Weighing Soviet Call For Arms Control Study… BUCHER DEFENDS FAILURE TO FIGHT–Pueblo’s Skipper Calls Ship Hopelessly Outgunned…SPORTS: STAN MUSIAL AND ROY CAMPANELLA GAIN BASEBALL HALL OF FAME–Lou Boudreau, Ralph Kiner and Enos Slaughter Miss Cut… (23 Jan) NAVY COURT PUTS BUCHER UNDER SUSPICION–Warns Skipper He May Face Court Martial For Surrendering Pueblo… NINE SENATORS PROPOSE BILL TO ABOLISH DRAFT… (24 Jan) BUCHER ASSERTS HE SIGNED CONFESSION TO SAVE CREW… (25 Jan) NEW STUDY BY PENTAGON ON ENDING DRAFT URGED… COURT OF INQUIRY ON THE PUEBLO HEARS BUCHER IN CLOSED SESSION–Skipper Appears Drawn As He Enters Heavily Guarded Room–2 More Secred Meetings Slated–Senator Assails Navy… (26 Jan) SECRETARY OF HUD, GEORGE ROMNEY, APPOINTS TWO NEGROES TO FILL MAJOR POSITIONS– Three Other Aides Named– President’s Cabinet Member Declares The New HUD Officials ‘Should Make A Strong Team’… MOON LANDING CRAFT UNVEILED BY ASTRONAUTS… U.S. WEIGHING PLAN TO REDUCE NONCOMBAT TROOPS IN EUROPE… GALLOP POLL: Volunteer Army Opposed–62% Would Continue Draft After War Is Over… OpEd: YOUTH IN REVOLT: They Didn’t Advance Their Cause At The Inaugural…
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT I…The following is clipped from Lewis Solberg’s VIETNAM CHONICLES: The Abrams Tapes, 1968-1972, pages 103-5. This conversation takes place in General Creighton Abrams’ COMUSMACV Headquarters in Saigon on 16 January 1969 at a briefing for visiting Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Alexis Johnson. Participants included: ABRAMS; JOHNSON; GENERAL GEORGE BROWN, USAF, Deputy MACV for Air Ops and Commander Seventh Air Force; MAJOR GENERAL PHILLIP DAVIDSON, USA, MACV J-2; VICE ADMIRAL ELMO ZUMWALT, Commander, Naval Forces, Vietnam; and AMBASSADOR WILLIAM COLBY, Deputy to COMUSMACV for CORDS. This portion of the conversation covers “the air effort in Laos,” i.e. COMMANDO HUNT…
BROWN: “It’s a frustrating story. In September and October when we were (bombing) in North Vietnam, we had it pretty well sealed off, between ourselves and the Navy. Right now we’re concentrated on the areas of Ban Karai and Mu Gia, but they still get through. They’re going around us at Ban Karai. I think there’s another pass, and they’re not using Ban Karai.” (refers to B-52s against this) “We’ve stepped that up to about 50 percent of the total. So far this month.”… “We’re flying 1,800 Arc Light sorties a month, 60 a day, and about 50 per cent of the total so far this month is being applied in Laos. It’s most effective, dramatic.”… “We’re averaging about 450 to 500 strike (Tac Air) sorties a day in Laos, between ourselves and the Navy. And he’s still pushing trucks through. He’s got quite a stockpile now down as far as Tchepone.”
ABRAMS: “When the bombing halt came, George (Brown) and the Navy and so on, they went to work on these points here to try to stop this flow from coming in here. And for a while, it was going pretty good. It looked like we had the stopper in. But then they started going around it, going around somehow in here and so on, and then it began to build up. And in the first part of January it was really hot. Well, what it looks like is the principal effort was to get it into a massive storage down here around Tchepone.”
BROWN: “Amabassador Sullivan (in Laos) feels that we haven’t really got a handle on assessing the effectiveness of our efforts. He feels that we really ought to concentrate on many things that we can’t measure. One, we can count trucks destroyed and damaged. We can get visual and some photo evidence of truck kills. That’s not too accurate. Some crews working at night will claim kills that may not in fact be kills. On the other hand that, I feel, is balanced because the Arc Lights, B-52 strikes against the truck parks through the foilage, we get reactions but we don’t claim trucks. We don’t see it, or rarely do we see it. So there are probably trucks destroyed there that’ll balance the overclaims, or erroneous claims, out on the roads. But there’re only two things moving through there that’ll burn and explode–that’s ammunition and POL, and we’re getting a lot of secondary effects.”
BROWN: “It’s the most frustrating experience I’ve ever had–chasing these things (trucks).”
ABRAMS: “He’s (the enemy) making a fantazstic effort to push stuff down in there. He’s not interested in costs. So as far as intent is concerned, he hasn’t decided to back away from the problem. That part I think, is unmistakably clear.”
JOHNSON: “What happened to the McNamara Line?” (OPERATION IGLOO WHITE)…
ABRAMS: “Well, uh–basically what we’re doing is playing that a little looser. We’ve backed away from the strong point obstacle system, and we’re handling that thing with small forces and sensors and this type of thing.”
BROWN: “At least on the air side, and I think probably the ground side too, we’ve found that the hardware that was a derivative of this program is useful, and there’ve been certain innovations to further exploit this, and the munitions that went with it, but the concepts that were held by the Jason Group initially–you know, that wrote the report that led to all of this–haven’t in all cases panned out.”
ABRAMS: “It’s given us a degree of intelligence on this that we never had.”
ZUMWALT: “And we’ve used sensors for our river interdiction, so the hardware really has paid off.”
ABRAMS: “Since the bombing halt, and we’ve had this understanding about the DMZ. The truth of the matter is that we’ve put little stock in that (understanding). We’ve got relatively light forces in here. Moved the 1st Cavalry Division to III Corps. Part of being able to do that was taking a little stock in understanding about the DMZ. Now it’s true that we have reacted, and have insisted with Washington that we allow no monkey business in the southern half of the DMZ. Well, see–they’ll creep up on you if you let them.”… (Using B-52s in or near the DMZ) “It’s an awful mass of power. Nothing can stand up to it.”…
Conversation shifts to subject of Cambodia as a sanctuary…
DAVIDSON: “A very high powered group from CIA, State Department, DIA at the Washington level came out, and they now agree with us specifically as to this, that there is high ranking Cambodian complicity in the movement of arms and ammunition through Cambodia. They’re inclined to take a discalimer that Sihanouk himself is involved, although whether he knows about it or not they–I think they’re inclined to believe he does, as we are.”… “There is high level complicity. It may go as high as Lon Nol, the acting prime minister.”
JOHNSON: “Is this stuff coming through Sihanoukville?”
DAVIDSON: “Yes, sir…Arms and Ammunition.”… End clip from “The Abrams Tapes”….
Humble Host notes… SANCTUARIES… In January 1969 the “limited” Vietnam war was about to spread to Cambodia. Cambodia was to our war in South Vietnam what Pakistan and Iran are for our war in Afghanistan. Iran is also a sanctuary for our enemies for our fights in Iraq and Syria. Sanctuaries are why limited wars become regional wars, and why regional wars become general wars.
AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: 20-26 JANUARY 1969… References include Chris Hobson’s mammoth study: VIETNAM AIR LOSSES: United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps Fixed-Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973… (If you did combat flying duty in Vietnam consider giving a copy of this one-of-a-kind history book, at any price, to your oldest grandkid…)… The NINTH Week of COMMANDO HUNT I included the loss of 14 aircraft, including eight F-100s, and four aviators…
(Webmaster note: The entire Vietnam Air Losses database is now available online)
(1) On 20 January an F-100D of the 615th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang, piloted by 1LT J.D. JAMES, was lost while dropping napalm on a target in the Mekong Delta. Ground fire set his Super Sabre afire on his pullout and he was forced to eject in the target area. The rescue helicopter guys got there ahead of the bad guys and he was saved to fly and fight again…
(2) On 21 January a second F-100, this one from the 352nd TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang and piloted by Captain F.E. DAVIS, was heavily damaged by ground fire while providing close air support for troops in South Vietnam. He was forced to eject off the coast 10 miles south of Phan Thiet where he was rescued by a U.S. navy vessel…
(3) On 21 January a third F-100, this one from the 612th TFS and 37th TFW out of Phu Cat, piloted by 1LT J.R. NICHOLS, was downed on a COMMANDO HUNT mission south of the Ban Karai Pass. Hit at the pass, 1LT NICHOLS was able to fly the failing Super Sabre southeast and over the Gulf to eject at a point just east of the Mairne airfield at Chu Lai where he was rescued…
(4) A third F-100D was lost on the 21st, this one from the 615th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang. CAPTAIN MILO GEORGE MAAHS was killed in action dropping napalm on a close air support mission southeast of Katum near the Cambodian border. CAPTAIN MAAHS made a game effort to fly the damaged aircraft to a landing at Bien Hoa. Tragically, the aircraft failed on the approach to the airport, CAPTAIN MAAHS ejected from the aircraft but too low and too late to survive the ejection.. He rests in peace at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Hennepin County, Minnesota. A grandson has left a remembrance with the VVMF Wall of Faces on behalf of the family. CAPTAIN MAAHS left a wife and three small children behind, but Michael Milo Maahs carries on with great spirit and courage…
(5) On 22 January an F-4B of the VFMA-115 Silver Eagles of MAG-13 out of Chu Lai crewed by 1LT W.E. COLLINS, USMC, and 1LT DANIEL JOSEPH MINAHAN, USMC, was downed while executing napalm attacks in close support of troops 17 miles south of Hue. The enemy fire included the cockpit area injuring both aviators. 1LT COLLINS was able to fly the doomed F-4 over the sea and both of the crew were able to eject and were rescued by helicopter. Unfortunately, 1LT MINIHAN was dead and 1LT COLLINS was seriously injured. 1LT MINAHAN is buried at New Cavalry Cemetery, Matipan, Massachusetts, where he has rested in peace to be remembered on this 50th anniversary of his last flight…
(6) On 22 January another Misty FAC F-100D of the 355th TFS and 37th TFW out of Phu Cat was lost on a COMMANDO HUNT mission over southern Laos. MAJOR J.M. GRATHWOL and CAPTAIN COLIN ARNIE CLARKE were on a visual reconnaissance flight when hit by small arms fire. MAJOR GRATHWOL was able to fly the Super Sabre to a point 40 miles west of Chu Lai before having to eject. Both were rescued by a USAF SAR helicopter…. Chris Hobson wrote that CAPTAIN CLARKE had been shot down earlier in the war in August 1964 and would be recognized for distinguished flying on a 1972 RESCAP mission in an A-7D… oohrah…
(7) On 24 January an F-4C of the 555th TFS and 12th TFW out of Cam Ranh Bay, crewed by MAJOR R.D. RUSS and 1LT R.J. RYBAK, was downed by .50 calibre ground fire near the A Shau Valley while making a series of close air support bomb runs. MAJOR RUSS and 1LT RYBAK were forced to eject close to the South Vietnam and Laos border where a USAF helicopter made the rescue of both aviators.
(8) On 24 January and A-4E of the VMA-223 Bulldogs and MAG-12 out of Chu Lai piloted by CAPTAIN MICHAEL P. GREEN, USMC, was hit by ground fire on a fourth close air support bomb run 20 miles southeast of Danang. He headed the Skyhawk out to sea and ejected to be rescued by a Navy ship. VMA-223 logged 32,068 combat sorties and 38,375 hours while delivering 34,260 tons of ordnance on enemy targets starting in 1965 and ending with their final departure from Southeast Asia in January 1970. The Bulldogs lost 14 Skyhawks in the process… CAPTAIN GREEN’s A-4 was the last loss…
(9) On 24 January an F-4D of the 433rd TFS and 8th TFW Wolfpack out of Ubon, crewed by LCOL R.W. CLEMENT and CAPTAIN J.A. NASH, was lost on a COMMANDO HUNT mission in southern Laos when hit by 37mm AAA ten miles east of Ban Talan. When hit the Phantom burst into flames and the crew was forced to eject a few miles from the area covered by the 37mm site. The crew was rescued by an Air Force HH-53B piloted by Coast Guard LT LANCE A. EGAN on exchange duty with the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. LT EGAN was awarded two Silver Stars and the DFC during his extended tour with the lifesavers of the 37th… oohrah…
(Webmaster note: Tragically, Captain Lance Egan USCG (ret.), passed away on 15 September 1993 from a heart atttack. He was only 53 years old)
(10) Also on the 24th of January a two-seater F-100F Super Sabre of the 614th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang piloted by 1LT J.D. MULLER and CAPTAIN G.G. POTTER was lost conducting close air support attacks in the Mekong Delta 40 miles southwest of Saigon. Hit by ground fire at the target, 1LT MULLER was able to maneuver the crippled aircraft a few miles south of the target area before both aviators ejected to be rescued by an Air Force HH-43…
(11) On 25 January an F-4C of the 557th TFS and 12th TFW out of Cam Ranh Bay, crewed by MAJOR P.E. GUSHWA and 1LT W.J. ARLAND, was part of a flight of F-4s attacking an enemy gun position 25 miles southwest of Hue when hit by ground fire. The aircraft burst into flames and both aviators were able to safely eject from the Phantom about 15 miles from Hue. The crew was rescued by friendly ground troops….
(12) On 25/26 January and F-4E of the 469th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat, crewed by MAJOR RUSSELL KEITH UTLEY and 1LT DANIEL EVERETT SINGLETON, was downed by ground fire on a night COMMANDO HUNT mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail near the Ban Karai Pass. The aircraft was observed to crash but no beepers or radio transmissions were heard and no parachutes seen. Both men were presumed killed in the crash placed at 5 miles southwest of the town of Tchepone. COLONEL UTLEY and MAJOR SINGLETON, promoted while listed as missing, are currently carried in a status of “presumed killed in action.”… Left behind… Captured?… Surely a crash site 5 miles from Tchepone warrants active pursuit by our Defense POW/MIA Accounting folks… Humble Host is surprised there is not more available on this loss of two gallant warriors who perished a little more than 50 years ago in a very hostile area.
(13) and (14) On the same night of 25/26 January an F-100C and F-100D were destroyed on the ground at Phan Rang by North Vietnamese Sappers. A total of 74 rounds of 82mm mortars and 107mm rockets were fired at the base and 11 other aircraft were damaged. Fifteen troops were wounded. Fourteen enemy troops were captured.
RIPPLE SALVO… ON 20 JANUARY 1969 THE UNITED STATES INAUGURATED THE 37th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. On 21 January President Richard Nixon hosted his first meeting with his new NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL. The following is clipped from the State Department, Foreign Relations of the United States, Vietnam, 1969-1976, Volume VI, page 10-12, An Editorial Note is quoted in full…
“On January 21, 1969, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., President Nixon met in the Cabinet Room of the White House with the National Security Council… At this inaugural meeting, President Nixon asked Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms to prepare for the second National Security Council meeting (which was held on 25 January) ‘a good job on the situation in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam,’ adding that he also wanted an overview from State and CIA on the views of other nations on the situation and stating that much of what we will do depends on the effect these actions will have on the peoples of the area, not only on the leaders but on the people themselves. The council then discussed events in East Asia, Nigeria, Peru and procedural and administrative issues.
“Toward the end of the meeting, the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry Kissinger, stated that the Council would address at the next meeting the situation in Vietnam and ‘alternative courses of action open to us.’ At this point the following discussion occurred.
“…’the President emphasized that while he did not believe in changing policy for change sake alone that he felt with respect to Vietnam that we must rethink all of our policy tracks by reviewing all past instructions and determining whether of not we are proceeding down the correct tracks. He stated we do not want the enemy to assume that we are locked on the same old tracks as the previous Administration, emphasizing that we will change if the situation dictates.
“Secretary of State (Rogers) emphasized that the U.S. has not really made any commitments in this regard, pointing out that Ambassador Harriman informed him that we really had no policy with respect to negotiating objectives.
“General Wheeler said that both Harriman and Vance had only been provided preliminary instructions to get the talks started in Paris but that they had not been provided any finite objectives from Washington.
“The President stated, ‘I was very disturbed about this since it was obvious from the conduct of the negotiations.’ He stated that he had discusssed the problem with Lodge and Walsh (the two new top negotiators for the U.S. in Paris), emphasizing that he did not want any coercive action with respecct to South Vietnamese, pointing out that while they (Thieu and Ky)may be difficult to deal with, they are on our allies and this was the basis for the selection of Lodge and one of his principal missions is to rebuild South Vietnam’s confidence and trust in the U.S.
“Dr. Kissinger stated that they had been operating in Paris with a laundry list of objectives which served as probing vehicles with the other side.
“Secretary Rogers stated that this was the Administration’s effort to get something started before the election.
“The President said he was very much aware of the domestic issues but that he would rather take the heat now and achieve a sound settlement subsequently. He emphasized that he does not want a lot of promising press pizazz which we may not be able to deliver on later. He told Lodge to avoid the type of over optimism which had characterized past press treatment. He stated that while it looks fairly rosy now, we may not be able to achieve acceptable agreements. The President added that he instructed Lodge not to be quite so friendly with the North Vietnamese and assured him that if he made the President took a little tougher, that was just fine. The President stated that we cannot panic by moving the wrong way.
“Dr. Kissinger stated that the most difficult problem on Vietnam can be traced to fundemental disagreements on facts and that is why we are inventorying the facts to insure that we have them in hand before considering our basic objectives, referring to the questions on Vietnam which are to be developed interdepartmentally with a short deadline.”
“The inaugural meeting of the National Security Council then turned to procedural matters.”….
(On 21 January Dr. Kissinger delivered to the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the CIA, a set of 28 “Vietnam Questions” in National Security Memorandum 1, as directed by President Nixon to address “the situation in Vietnam.” Humble Host will summarize questions pertinent to COMMANDO HUNT in the next Ripple Salvo (Week 12 of CH)
END NOTE: Clipped from THE MEMOIRS OF RICHARD NIXON, Volume One, Page 456… Nixon wrote about his first night in the White House (20 January)…”I slept only about four hours my first night in the White House, and was up at 6:45 A.M. While I was shaving I remembered the hidden safe that Johnson had shown me during our visit in November. When I opened it, the safe looked empty. Then I saw a thin folder on the top shelf. It contained the daily Vietnam Situation Report from the intelligence services for the previous day, Johnson’s last day in office. I quickly read through it. The last page contained the latest casualty figures. During the week ending January 18, 185 (196) Americans had been killed and 1,237 wounded. From January 1, 1968 to January 18, 1969, 14,958 men had been killed and 95,798 had been wounded. I closed the folder and put it back in the safe and left it there until the war was over, a constant reminder of its tragic cost.”…
Lest we forget… There are more than 52,200 names of fallen warriors on the Vietnam Memorial Wall on the Mall in Washington… Bear