COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR: 1961-1973…

LEST WE FORGET…  AMERICAN WARRIOR LOSSES IN THE WAR REACHED 31,379 KILLED IN BATTLE, so far… For the week ending 22 March the losses were 266 Americans and 337 South Vietnamese soldiers. Vietcong and North Vietnam killed in battle were put at 3,873 as their spring offensive began to stall… “And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights a soldiers tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.”… James Drake, American Poet… REMEMBER…

Good Morning. It is Monday, 17 June 2019. Humble Host remembers the Vietnam War and WEEK TWENTY of COMMANDO HUNT I, the relentless hunt for trucks on the infiltration routes through Southern Laos called “The Ho Chi Minh Trail.”

I.   HEADLINES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES for 24 through 30 March 1969…

A.   THE WAR: (24 Mar) NEW BATTLES NEAR SAIGON–Sweep of Ashau Valley by Allies Disclosed… “New ground fighting and continued shellings were reported today into the second month of the enemy spring offensive throughout South Vietnam…the enemy shelled 25 bases last night hitting several civilian areas. Casualties were light….The United States command disclosed that a sweep was under way in the Ashau Valley…The 30-mile long valley is considered to be North Vietnam’s major infiltration route in the northern provinces of South Vietnam…. Three battles were fought yesterday in an area 45 miles southwest of Saigon… In the heaviest fighting U.S. infantrymen killed 31 of the enemy in a six-hour fight. Twenty-two of the enemy were killed in the same area in two fights later in the day. American losses were two killed and six wounded.”… “In the Ashau sweep by 101st Airborne units 60 of the enemy were reported killed in the first three weeks of the campaign. U.S. casualties were reported at 23 killed and 63 wounded…A month earlier U.S. marines operating in the Ashau Valley mountains reported killing 1,405 North Vietnamese regulars and seizing almost 500 tons of supplies.”…NIXON MEETS WITH BUNKER–President Begins Study of Vietnam Policies… “President Nixon began a review of his diplomatic and military options in Vietnam with Ellsworth Bunker, the U.S. Ambassador in Saigon, and General Andrew J. Goodpaster, deputy American military commander in Vietnam…. Nixon is seeking a fresh assessment of the latest enemy attacks and the continuing build-up of enemy forces around Saigon. The enemy offensive, accompanied by a sharp increase in American casualties, has placed the President under renewed pressure at home to show some signs of progress toward peace. For this reason Mr. Nixon is thought to be eager to obtain from Ambassador Bunker an appraisal of what concessions–if any–the South Vietnamese leaders are prepared to make at the bargaining table in Paris.”… (25 Mar) GROUND FIGHTING HEAVY IN VIETNAM–Battles Reported in All Four Tactical Zones–Enemy Shells 35 Targets… “…the battles resulted in at least 265 enemy deaths…. The fighting reflected the continuing effort by enemy forces to maintain their general offensive, now in its second month.”… (26 Mar) FIGHTING ERUPTS ALONG INFILTRTION ROUTES… “…a series of battles broke out during the last 36-hours…also heavy contact in the Mekong Delta and near Quangngai, a city about 80 miles south of Danang… The most serious battle fought north and west of Saigon…broke out 35 miles from the capital city.”... (27 Mar) U.S. UNIT IS BATTERED IN MORTAR AND GROUND ATTACK…”…enemy troops smothered a United States position with mortar fire last night and then moved in with a ground assault that left 8 Americans dead and 17 wounded.”… “Elsewhere in South action tapered off.”… (28 Mar) US DEATHS IN VIETNAM ARE DOWN 25%…Enemy Losses Also Drop As South Vietnam’s Rise in the 4th Week of Foe’s Drive… (29 Mar) U.S. CONVOY FOILS AN AMBUSH BY NORTH VIETNAMESE TROOPS–46 Enemy Soldiers Are Reported Killed By Day-Long Battle North of Saigon–Attack is 2nd in Area in 4 Days… (30 Mar) VIETNAM COMBAT HEAVIEST IN WEEK–Ground Fights Range From Buffer Zone to Delta, But Casualties Are Light…

B.   PEACE TALKS IN PARIS… (25 Mar) FRIENDS AND KIN IN PARIS SERVE AS A SAIGON-VIETCONG CONDUIT… “Members of the Saigon and Vietcong negotiating teams at the peace talks here do not speak  to each other, but they speak much about each other with cousins, sisters-in-law and friends. Their remarks have traveled through the large and largely uncommitted Vietnamese community in Paris and have established an indirect dialogue between supporters of the South Vietnamese Government and the National Liberation Front, or Vietcong…. The ties of Vietnamese family structure…provide elusive channels between hostile forces…”… (26 Mar) THIEU NOW READY TO MEET VIETCONG IN SECRET TALKS– Says He Expects Parley–Nixon Reiterates Belief That Privacy Is Essential… (27 Mar) THIEU SAID TO OPEN ELECTION ROLE FOR N.L.F. MEMBERS–Reported Ready To Integrate Them Into Political Life as Part of Vietnam Accord–Saigon Studying Plans–President Expected to Take Leadership of An Enlarged Pro-Government Party… (28 Mar) SECRETARY OF STATE ROGERS DECLARES QUICK G.I. PULLOUT DEPENDS ON ENEMY–Informs Senators Troops Will Go Soon, If Foe Does So As Well–Won’t Set Time Limit–American Combat Deaths In Week Listed As 266… FOE CRITICIZES BID FOR SECRET TALKS–But The Vietcong-Hanoi Side In Paris Stops Short of Rejecting Allied Proposal… (30 Mar) LODGE EXPECTS TO BRIEF NIXON ON PEACE TALKS–Will Fly Home From Paris For Eisenhower Funeral…HANOI ASSAILS U.S. ON LAOS BOMBING AND NIXON SUGGESTION IN PEACE TALKS…

C.    THE REST OF THE HEADLINES… (24 Mar) REVIEW OF JOHNSON BUDGET BRINGS INCREASE, NOT A CUT–Total Given Nixon Put at $198-Billion–President Determined to Reduce it–Treasury Chief Sees Defense Slash… NEGRO ENLISTMENT IN GUARD LAGGING–Percentage Up Only Slightly Despite Offical Calls For an End to Imbalance… U.S. AT GENEVA PREPARES TO FILL IN GAPS IN PROPOSED TREATY TO BAR NUCLEAR WEAPONS… “…from the ocean floor when the disarmament conference meets Tuesday… (25 Mar) U.S. PROPOSES BIG 4 OPEN FULL TALKS ON MIDEAST AT U.N. –Yost Is Said To Urge Raising The Bilateral Exchanges to Parley of Chief Delegates… TRUDEAU OF CANADA WITH NIXON–Discuss ABM, Student Unrest, Race Problems At White House… EISENHOWER CONDITION WORSE–Continuous Oxygen Required… FRUITLESS MEETINGS OF ISRAELI ELON AND JORDAN’S HUSSEIN… SHAH OF IRAN OPPOSES U.S. RETENTION OF BAHREIN FACILITIES AFTER 1971– ARTILLERY ERUPTS ALONG SUEZ… (26 Mar) TRUDEAU PLEDGES INDEPENDENT LINE–Tells Washington Audience Friendship Doesn’t Mean Unanimity of Policy… AYUB KHAN QUITS–Places Pakistan In Army’s Hands–Turbulence Cited–Martial Law Declared In Bid To End Violent… EISENHOWER STAYS IN CRITICAL CONDITION…”Doctors said today that former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s heart congestion was severe and his condition critical.”… U.S. REJECTS CALL BY SOVIETS TO BAN ARMS ON SEABED–Part of Plan Would Bar Conventional Weapons Is Termed Unworkable… SUPREME COURT WIDENS CURBS ON QUESTIONING BY POLICE… 225 RADICAL STUDENTS PICKET 8 BUILDINGS AT COLUMBIA…  (27 Mar)  CIVIL RULE IS GOAL PAKISTAN IS TOLD–But No Date is Set For Shift–Leader of Military Regime Says Military Acted To Save The Nation… U.S SPANISH PACT ON MILITARY BASES EXTENDED FIVE YEARS... JORDAN SAYS 18 DIED IN ISRAELI RAID… “…worst Israeli air raids on Jordan since the June, 1967.”…  EISENHOWER FAILURE TO RESPOND CALLED UNFAVORABLE SIGN… “Walter Reed Army Hospital said today there had been ‘no appreciable improvement’ in the condition of the former President.”… PILOTS MOVE TO BOYCOTT NATIONS THAT FAIL TO PUNISH HIJACKERS… ARABS WIDEN WAR IN THE SINAI AREA–Guerrillas Fire Rockets At Israeli Positions–Israelis Report Grows Ineffective… WHITE HOUSE PICKETS, HOUSE SPEAKERS SCORE VIETNAM WAR… “There were pickets at the White House and fiery speeches on Capitol Hill today as antiwar forces pressed their demand for the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. But perhaps the most dramatic appeal of all was a silent one that rolled off the Government printing presses in the hours before dawn. There, in the daily Congressional Record, were 341,379 names, seemingly endless in column after column, covering 121 pages: a roll of honor of the United States dead in Vietnam.”… (Humble Host has no answer for the difference of 404 names with the count through 22 March.) “The names were inserted by Rep. Paul Findley, Republican of Illinois who said: ‘the names establish, as no other arrangement of words can possibly do, the true dimensions of the Vietnam war in total overall terms, as well as the most intimate.’…(The printing covered 120 pages at $83 a page printing cost– Humble Host says: WORTH EVERY BUCK)… (28 Mar) EISENHOWER RESTS ‘MORE COMFORTABLY… CHANGE IN PAKISTAN; Though Ayub Is Out, Elite That Ruled For 10 Years Still Runs The Country… NASSER SAYS ISRAELI CIVILIANS WILL BE BOMBED IN RETALIATION… “…said in a speech last night ‘the day will come’ when Egyptian troops would bomb and shell civilians in retaliatation for Israel bombardment of civilian centers along the Suez Canal.”…U.S. IN U.N. ASSAILS ISRAELI AIR STRIKES AND ARAB ATTACKS–Soviet Denounces Israeli Raid on Jordan… (29 Mar) EISENHOWER DEAD AT 78 AS AILING HEART FAILS–Rites Will Start Today–End is Peaceful–DeGaulle Will Attend Funeral Of 34th Presidernt Monday… President Nixon Will Deliver Eulogy Tomorrow in Capitol’s Rotunda–Nixon Hails ‘Great Leader’ For His Moral Authority– Wife and Family With General As Death Ends 10-Month Vigil— (30 Mar) EISENHOWER FAMILY AND FRIENDS JOIN TO BID HIM FAREWELL–Private Service Starts 3 Days of Mourning… SOVIET BIDS CHINA JOIN NEGOTIATION’S ON BORDER ISSUE–In Note Handed to Embassy, Peking is Asked to Refrain From Fanning Tensions–Friendship Stressed, But Moscow, Retracing the History of Disagreement Still Claims Island in Usurri River…

II.     COMMANDO HUNT I… The hunt for trucks, truck parks and enemy activity on the Ho Chi Minh Trail was greatly facilitated by the sensors, aircraft, organization and personnel involved in the IGLOO WHITE operation. The Wikipedia summary of IGLOO WHITE may be accessed via the Link available through the RTR Home page. Humble Host suggests a perusal of an excellent article by GEORGE L. WEISS from Air Force Magazine (October 1971) titled: “THE AIR FORCE’S SECRET ELECTRONIC WAR.”… The 3,500-word essay is a superior introduction to the entire system in place in Southeast Asia for the purpose of carrying out the mission of COMMANDO HUNT–“Find and kill trucks. Cut the flow.” Read at….

https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/reports/images.php?img=/images/225/2250405001.pdf

III.     AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: 24-30 MARCH 1969… References include Chris Hobson’s history of the air war in Vietnam, VIETNAM AIR LOSSES, updated by Humble Host with sources that include: VVMF, Wall of Faces; POW Network: and, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency… During the week ending 30 March 1969 the United States lost eleven fixed wing aircraft and six intrepid aviators in Southeast Asia air operations…

(1) On 24 March an O-1E Bird Dog from the 20th TASS and 504th TASG out of Danang was downed by small arms fire while flying a FAC mission in the Ashau Valley. The pilot, CAPTAIN K.G. HERRON, was at too low an altitude to bail out when hit by the enemy gunfire and was forced to crash land in the very hostile valley. He was injured in the crash and was fortunate to be rescued by friendly ground troops. CAPTAIN HERRON was evacuated out of the area by helicopter. Another great Happy Hour story with a happy ending…

(2) On 25 March an F-100D of the 615th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang piloted by MAJOR W.R. CHAFFER was part of a flight scrambled to provide night close air support for troops in contact with the enemy 20 miles northeast of Bien Hoa. His Super Sabre was hit by automatic weapons fire on the second napalm run and he ejected from the doomed aircraft  a few seconds later. An Army helo was able to outrace the Vietcong to MAJOR CHAFFER’s position and rescue him. Another Happy Hour tale…

(3) On 25 March an A-1E of the 22nd SOS and 56th SOW flown by CAPTAIN K.E. GILMORE was on a night COMMANDO HUNT  mission over the Trail in Southern Laos and surprised a number of trucks on a road 15 miles east of Ban Napoung. After a successful first bombing attack, while maneuvering for a second run, he was hit by antiaircraft fire and lost control of the Skyraider. He ejected, spent the night evading the enemy and was rescued at dawn the next day by a Jolly Green Giant helo that was piloted by “MAJOR SMITH”… Chalk up another great tale for the next Tactics Brief…

(4) On 25 March an F-4B of the VF-151 Vigilantes embarked in USS Coral Sea–“The Best in the West”– (oohrah..Humble Host leaking a little partiality) was lost due to an engine failure after completing a CAP mission. The two aviators ejected and were rescued from the sea snakes of the Gulf of Tonkin by Navy SAR troops. Coral Sea completed the deployment a few days later with a total of 110 days on Yankee Station. Carrier Air Wing 15 lost eight aircraft and seven aviators on the carrier’s fourth deployment from Alameda to the Vietnam war.

(5) On 26 March an A-1H of the 1st SOS and 56th SOW out of Nakhon Phanom was lost on a Steel Tiger mission near Ban That, 30 miles northeast of NKP. 1LT MICHAEL J. FAAS was downed by Soviet ZPU mobile antiaircraft guns as he attacked a covey of trucks in a park. 1LT FAAS was able to eject before the aircraft crashed very near the truck park. He was able to evade enemy troops to be rescued by the same HH-3 that had rescued CAPTAIN GILMORE the day before. You gotta’ love those Jolly Green Giants and their fearless crews…

(6) On 27 March a B-57B Canberra of the 8th TBS and 35 TFW out of Phan Rang piloted by LCOL RICHARD W. BURKHOLDER and LCOL H.W. WRIGHT was hit by 37mm fire on a dawn COMMANDO HUNT strike on a river ford near Tavouac, 20 miles southwest of the Ashau Valley. LCOL BURKHOLDER was able to control the aircraft clear of the target area but both he and his navigator were forced to eject short of Phu Cat. They were rescued to fly and fight again…

Chris Hobson adds: “This aircraft was the last B-57B lost in Southeast Asia. A total of 54 B-57Bs, two B-57Es and one B-57C had been lost in Southeast Asia since the first Canberra arrived at Bien Hoa in 1964. By June 1969 there were only six B-57s left at Phan Rang and these were operating almost exclusively at night by then. The 8th TBS started to run down in September and left Phan Rang at the end of October 1969 after five years in Southeast Asia. However, this was not the end of the Canberra’s contribution to the war in Southeast Asia.”…

(7) On 27 March an F-100C of the 120th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang flown by MAJOR CLYDE SEILER was downed by ground fire while providing close air support near Song Be City. MAJOR SEILER was not seen to eject and was killed as the aircraft flew into the ground. His remains were recovered and he is buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

(8) On 28 March an F-4D of the 389th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang piloted by MAJOR ROBERT ARTHUR BELCHER and WSO CAPTAIN MICHAEL ANDREW MILLER was shot down while striking an enemy mortar site in the DMZ. The Phantom was hit in the attack and both aviators were still in the aircraft when it went into the ground and exploded. Both were listed as missing but later classified as Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. Fifty years after their last flight MAJOR BELCHER and CAPTAIN MILLER remain where they fell… Left Behind… Hopefully, the search goes on… Both are honored with memorial stones in Arlington National Cemetery…

(9) On 28 March an F-4D of the 555th TFS and 432nd TFW out of Udorn flown by CAPTAIN ROBERT DEAN DAVENPORT and WSO CAPTAIN WILLIAM PAUL JUSTICE was lost on a night Barrel Roll mission over the Plain of Jars. They were on their second bombing attack on a supply and storage area six miles south of Ban Naxa when hit by 37mm antiaircraft fire. The Phantom was observed to crash but no ejection was observed (dark) and no emergency beeper or voice calls were heard. A search for the wreckage failed to find the crash site but subsequent investigation led to the recovery of the remains of both warriors. CAPTAIN DAVENPORT is buried at the Air Force Academy Cemetery and CAPTAIN JUSTICE is buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Niagara Falls, New York… they are remembered with admiration and respect, glory gained and duty done… so young…

(10) On 29 March an F-4D of the 390th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang piloted by CAPTAIN W.J. POPENDORF and WSO 1LT FREDERICK WILLIAM HESS was a part of a formation of three aircraft on a “Fast Jet Defoliation” mission to defoliate a segment of route 915 southwest of the Ban Kari Pass. On the formation’s second pass at 100 feet, 500 knots the POPENDORF/HESS Phantom was hit by small arms fire. The aircraft became uncontrollable and both aviators ejected moments before it crashed into a mountainside. CAPTAIN POPENDORF was seriously injured and was rescued by an Air Force helicopter after three hours on the ground.  A ten hour search failed to locate 1LT HESS, who was subsequently listed as MIA. In 1979 he was presumed killed in action, and remains in this status today. Gone for 50 years. Humble host recommends the rest of the story told by Rudi Williams of the American Armed Forces Press Service in 2000. His piece is titled: “Wife Hopes Husband is Alive After 31 Years.” (now 50 years)… Read at:

http://www.virtualwall.org/dh/HessFW01a.htm

Same source explains the why and how of the short life of the “Fast Jet Defoliation” program…

(11) On 29 March an F-105D of the 34th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat piloted by 1LT R.A. STAFFORD was downed on a Steel Tiger mission in Southern Laso near Saravane. The Thunderchief was part of a strike on a road intersection and was hit at 9,000-feet after three successful diving attacks on the target. He was forced to eject a few miles from the target area and was rescued by an Air Force helicopter to fly and fight again. This was the only F-105 lost in Steel Tiger in March 1969….

IV.    HUMBLE HOST END NOTE… On 11 January 1972 the Russian Newspaper KRASNAYA ZVEZDA ran a “Reports on Vietnam Convoys” article by a Lt. Colonel M. Sviridov, that provides the enemy’s eye-view of the American interdiction campaign in North Vietnam and Laos that is a must read for anybody who flew in Route Packs I, II, and III (Highway 1/1A) and Steel Tiger (COMMANDO HUNT). Colonel Sviridov’s report should also be of interest to every reader of this blog… Read at…

“VIETNAM–A COURAGEOUS COUNTRY: HEROES OF THE FIRE ROUTE”… by Soviet Colonel M. Svididov…

https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/reports/images.php?img=/images/213/2131904085.pdf

Lest we forget…      Bear