RIPPLE SALVO… #94… BLUE SKIES… but first…
Good Morning: Day NINETY-FOUR of a playback of Operation Rolling Thunder, the “air war” against North Vietnam…
1 JUNE 1966…ON THE HOME FRONT… (NYT)… nice in North Vietnam, variable clouds on a Wednesday in New York…
Page 1: “Negro Nominated For Sheriff Post In Alabama Vote”… and at least three other Negroes triumph over white candidates in Democratic runoffs. “The victory that excited the Negroes was the runoff victory of Lucius D. Anderson, a 32-year old former paratrooper who left his job as a postal clerk to run for Sheriff of Macon County, always a Democrat position… Page 1: “Leonid Brezhnev Urges Stronger Warsaw Pact”… the Soviet Communist Chief called today for strengthening of the Warsaw Pact in a speech to the 13th Congress of the Czechoslovak Communist Party–all members…Page 1: “CORE Seeks New Deal Agenda For Rights Talks Today”…Congress of Racial Equality leader Ronald McKissick announced he would move to throw out the announced and prepared agenda for the White House Conference on Civil Rights meeting. The move created an air of uncertainty among the 2500 delegates attending the conference at the Sheraton Park hotel in Washington. A 19 member council was considering a set of recommendations that are aimed at helping the American Negro achieve the equality that had been promised under national law and policy. CORE wants a revised list of recommendations. CORE: “There is a prevailing sentiment that the conference has been rigged by the Administration.” The President set the tone for the conference stating the requirement to address …”the need to give stability to the Negro family which has been damaged by centuries of slavery and injustice.” Conference attendees include Daniel Moynihan, Marlon Brando and Governor Paul Johnson of Mississippi.”…Page 6: “50 From Japanese Diet March To Protest Submarine Visit”…”fifty socialist legislators marched to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to protewst the visit of the nuclear submarine Snook to the Yokosuka naval base. the vieit, they contend, threatens to drag Japan into the war in Vietnam.”..
OpEd Page:…James Reston: “Washington: The Troubled Alliance”…” Europe these days is acting like a troubled wife. Every time Uncle Sam looks at another woman the cry goes up that Old Sugar Daddy is thinking about a divorce. The latest complaint is that Washington intends to take 15,000 men out of Germany and may take another 15,000 later and although Secretary of Defense McNamara has assured the German government that U.S. firepower in Europe will not be reduced by these or any other moves, Europe is not convinced.” The British “Economist”: “The meaning is clear. Apparently the United States will regard its Army in Europe as a strategic reserve for Vietnam or anywhere else.”
PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEF…1 June 1966…CIA (TS sanitized): South Vietnam: We have no further information on the political situation since Ambassador Lodge reported this evening (Saigon time) on Ky’s claim that the Buddhist’s have finally agreed to call off their campaign. The ambassador ended his cable by saying that “it all sounds too good to be true and we will need to wait further developments.”…Later in the evening, the government radio announced plans for the enlargement of the directorate, as Ky had promised, and stated that the change would become effective on Monday. Still later tonight, however, there was another large Buddhist demonstration: not a particularly trouble some. In fact, we are not sure that the Buddhist’s understanding of their agreement with Ky is the same as his. Some of them are still making noises about his stepping down…Moreover, it is questionable how the Buddhists will react to events today in the north. Ky has given orders to I Corps commander Lam to use first Division troops to restore order in Hue. General Westmoreland has been informed that these troops will begin to move from DaNang to a position near Hue where it will serve as a reserve for the other troops…Earlier in the day, there were reports that a South Vietnam engineer battalion known to be siding with the struggle forces were engaged in mining an important bridge between Hue and DaNang. General Westmoreland has ordered General Walt to move in here and take over…
1 JUNE 1966… ROLLING THUNDER OPERATION… NYT (2 June reporting 1 June ops): “Wars Biggest Raid By U.S. Jets Wrecks Arms Plant In North”…”U.S. Air Force fighter-bombers have reduced much of North Vietnam’s extensive Yen Bai arsenal and ammunition storage area to flaming ruble in the largest single raid of the war. The Yen Bai complex, one of the most important military installations in the north, is in a horseshoe bend of the Red River about 75 miles northwest of Hanoi. Seventy-one of 120 wood and masonry buildings were destroyed and 44 others damaged. The raid continued for 90 minutes and 25 of the 30 AAA batteries in the area were silenced. Informed sources said the unusually effective suppression of the flak batteries to the use of a highly improved version of an anti-personnel weapon. The weapons is specifically designed to kill and wound anti-aircraft gun crews. The bombed out area was a one mile square of burning buildings with smoke rising to 8000″. Two F-105Ds were downed and one pilot was rescued and the other is MIA. There were no SAMs fired at the Yen Bai attackers, but the U.S. aircraft were in range of several sites. “Vietnam: Air Losses” identified three aircraft losses for 1 June 1966:
(1) CAPTAIN G.H. PEACOCK was flying an F-105D from the 357th TFS of the 355th TFW out of Takhli on an armed reconnaissance mission in Route Package 2 when he was hit by ground fire. He flew his burning aircraft west to Laos and ejected. He was rescued by an Air Force helicopter.
(2) CAPTAIN ARMAND JESSE MYERS and 1LT JOHN LORIN BORLING were flying an F-4C from the 433rd TFS of the 8th TFW out of Ubon on a night raid on the rail-line near Kep and were shot down by ground fire 12 miles northeast of Kep. Both pilots were captured and interned. They were returned with the POW release in 1973. CAPTAIN MYERS was on his 95th mission at the time of his capture. 1LT BORLING was on his 99th mission.
(3) USS Ranger lost an A-4E from VA-55 on a cat shot…pilot recovered aboard.
RIPPLE SALVO… BLUE SKIES …. With the shift to the southwest monsoon the nation of North Vietnam entered a period of much better weather for our fighter-bombers, and the enemy became vulnerable for the conduct of an intense 24/7 bombing campaign. Our effort was more of the same, while the crowd back in Washington wrestled with whether or not to OK the enemy POL system for destruction. It would be almost a month before that would happen.
Lest We Forget… Bear ……… –30– ……….