Good Morning… Day SEVEN of our long look back to Operation Rolling Thunder.
7 MARCH1966 (NYT) … ON THE HOMEFRONT … Senator William Fulbright was holding the headlines explaining that his Foreign Relations Committee hearings had been called for educational purposes and “to prevent a war.” The headline ran: “Fulbright Warns of U.S.-China War as Growing Peril” and the fine print said, “The danger of war is very real.” On the same page and page three were articles rehashing Rolling Thunder operations for the previous three days. While Sunday had been a washout, the previous Friday and Saturday had been the busiest of the campaign with 61 multiple Air Force and Navy aircraft missions on Friday and 41 on Saturday. Targets were bridges, roads, rail lines, barges, installations and communications sites. The attacks were countered by fierce AAA, a pair of SAMS and a few MiGs. From the front pages I jumped to the Sports Pages– my usual habit. Bob Seagram of Glendale City College became the first pole vaulter to clear 17-feet in an indoor meet. It happened at an AAU meet in New Mexico. I also noted that Weber State whupped Montana, 106-82… ( Now we have a tough time beating Montana — until last week, and with the win Weber State wins the conference—on to the 2016 NCAAs). I digress. The only other home front item of note was an ad for 1966 Volkswagen Fastbacks at $2128. I came up empty on my scan for anti-war and anti-draft protests. It was a quiet day in both New York and Washington. Not so at “the front.”
7 MARCH 1966 … ROLLING THUNDER … Chris Hobson (“Vietnam Air Losses”) writes: “Monday March 7 proved to be a costly day for the USAF units based in Thailand with two F-105s and two RF-101s lost before the day was done,” Four F-105s of the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Takhli, led by CAPTAIN HAROLD VICTOR SMITH, attacked a SAM site 20 miles west of Thanh Hoa and on a strafing run, CAPTAIN SMITH’s F-105 was hit by ground fire, burst into flames and went in near the target. No parachute. He was Killed in Action. His remains were recovered, identified and returned to the United States in May 2000 for his internment as a Colonel. The two F-101s from the 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron based in Udorn were on a photo recce mission in the same general area as the -105s led by CAPTAIN SMITH. The two Voodoos, piloted by CAPTAIN JERDY ALLEN WRIGHT and CAPT GORDON LEE PAGE failed to return to base. The loss was attributed to either a mid-air collision or SAMs. They were Killed in Action. Both pilot’s remains were recovered and returned to the United States: CAPTAIN WRIGHT’S in June 1989. CAPTAIN PAGE’S remains were returned in 1989 but not positively identified until 1998. The 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron out of Korat also lost an aircraft on 7 March. Piloted by MAJOR J.L. HUTTO, the F-105 was hit by 57mm AAA about 75 miles south of Vinh. HUTTO ejected, was rescued by a USAF HH-3 from Nakhon Phamon, and returned to duty.
Ripple Salvo: I am proud to skip my commentary and let the second attachment to my daily look back do the talking. Rupe Owens, God bless him, has gotten Rolling Thunder Remembered tale telling and recording of Rolling Thunder operations for posterity off to a great start with a recounting of his strike into the Heartland of North Vietnam (Ubong TPP) on 10 August 1966. I present his A6 mission as an example of what can be recorded –must be recorded – as a consequence of this initiative to Remember Rolling Thunder from a perch fifty years after the historic bombing campaign became history. Let Rupe’s recall be your guide, and let Rolling Thunder Remembered be your trumpet and path to the archives of history. Get with it storytellers—it’s happy hour…. (Caution: this is hard copy and must be “what really happened”) . Truth matters. Fly the ball.
Lest we forget…. Bear PS…
Also: you will never see a commercial on this website, I promise. You will see the names of great American warriors.