RIPPLE SALVO… #422… “The International War Crimes Tribunal”… Bertrand Russell’s…kangaroo court in Stockholm…but first…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO of a return to a forgotten battlefield–the skies over North Vietnam…
1 MAY 1967… HOME TOWN HEADLINES and leads from The New York Times on a sunny Monday in NYC…
Page 1: “Tornadoes Kill 12 In Minnesota”…”the heaviest toll was at Waseca, a town of 6,100 where five bodies were recovered. Other towns with fatalities with fatalities: Albert Lea, Owatonna about 50 miles south of Minneapolis, Alden, Freeborn and Clarks Grove.”… Page 1: “Central Park Ban Put on Activists”... “The City Parks Commissioner said he would no longer permit political activists to use Central Park as a staging area for mass demonstrations. He said thousands of ‘anti-war demonstrators who gathered there April 15 to (burn draft cards and) march to the U.N. building had disrupted the pleasure of New Yorkers who went to the park to enjoy the park itself.”... Page 1: “Greek King Joins Soldiers in Fete”... “King Constantine of Greece, looking pale and tired, walked up to a giant red paper Easter egg standing in a mess hall of the Armoured Training Center here in Athens expectantly, as one called out an order. A panel suddenly opened in the egg, a soldier leaned out of it and handed the king a small pink egg to crack. All part of an annual Easter celebration at the center carried off today to imply that all is normal.”… Page 16: “Peking Rejects Brezhnev’s Plea For Red Bloc Unity in War Aid”… “Peking rejected today the recent appeal by the Soviet Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev, for unity of action by all Communist bloc counties aiding North Vietnam and the Vietcong. (This item taken from an article in the Peking newspaper–Jenmin Jih Pau)”… Page 2: “84 U.S. Troops Killed”…”The Department of Defense today identified 84 American servicemen, including 10 Marines from the New York area, killed in action in Vietnam.”…
The Rolling Thunder Rambler Report #1 :… Another great “There I was story”…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…FOR HEROISM AND EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT… LIEUTENANT COMMANDER RAY GEORGE HUBBARD, JR…. DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS…25 APRIL 1967…
“The President takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross…
“For heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as a jet fighter pilot attached to and serving with Fighter Squadron TWO HUNDRED ELEVEN, embarked in USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31) during a mission over enemy territory in North Vietnam on 25 April 1967. Lieutenant Commander HUBBARD was serving as a section leader on a flak suppression element with a group strike on the very important Haiphong ammunition Depot, Kien An, North Vietnam. Upon arriving at the target the strike group was taken under fire by a barrage of not less than 15 surface-to-air missiles; simultaneously, Lieutenant Commander HUBBARD and his wingman were attacked by two MIG-17 aircraft. He courageously led his wingman through a violent evasive maneuver to avoid missiles and simultaneously out-turned the MIGs to gain attack position. Using his 20-mm cannons he scored several hits on one of the MIGs. Seeing that the MIG was not fatally damaged he fired his air-to-ground ZUNI rockets and saw one explode close to the MIG causing further damage. His performance directly contributed to the success of this highly important mission and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”…. oohrah…
1 May 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (2 May reporting 1 May ops)…Page 1: “Air War Intensifies; Six MIGs Destroyed”... “Yesterday the air war in both the South and the North intensified. Three MIG fighters were shot down in the North while 577 sorties, a record, were flown in the South. MIGs rose in swarms to fight Air Force and Navy fighters-bombers which again attacked MIG airfields near Hanoi, while Air Force F-105 Thunderchiefs heavily damaged the Hoalac base 24 miles west of Hanoi.
“Pilots from the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard found seven MIGs parked on the air strip at Kep and destroyed three. Photo reconnaissance pilots reported that all bombs landed in the target area covering the airfield’s entire complex.
“In the air war two MIGs were shot down by Navy carrier fighter pilots and one was downed by an Air Force F-4C Phantom jet, bringing the total to 48 the number of MIGs shot down since the air war began in February 1965. Nine MIGs have been shot down in the last week, four in the last three days. An Air Force F-4C Phantom was shot down three days ago (1LT LOREN TORKELSON-POW/ 1LT GEORGE POLLIN-KIA) raising the total of American planes lost in the North to 522.
“In other air strikes in the North, Air Force Thunderchief pilots again attacked the Thainguyen iron and steel complex 38 miles north of Hanoi and scored secondary explosions. (A photo of the Thainguyen industrial complex has been added to the RTR roller on the home page in addition to a map showing the targets struck in the late April/early May period)... Enemy defenses prevented accurate bomb damage assessment. Navy pilots also attacked the Bai Thoung airfield 23 miles northwest of Thanh Hoa, cutting the runway in two places. The base is capable of accommodating MIGs but has never been used for that purpose.”
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) there was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 1 May 1967…
(1) LTJG C.R. RAMSKILL was flying an F-8E of the VF-51 Screaming Eagles embarked in USS Hancock and lost his engine on an armed reconnaissance mission and was unable to get a relight. He ejected over water and was rescued to fly and fight again…
RIPPLE SALVO… #422… A British philosopher and world-renowned peace activist Bertrand Russell finally found a following and a host for his “International War Crimes Trial.” RTR will follow the proceedings with short reports since the principal criminals being tried in absentia, so to speak, were the Yankee Air Pirates and River Rats of Rolling Thunder. Wikipedia is loaded with details…I will stick to NYT clips…Here is the May 1, 1967 opening day of the “kangaroo court… “Foc’sle Follies” without a forecastle…BUT, the world was watching…
NYT, Page 1: “Russell Inquiry Will Open Today”… “…‘Every honest man knows the Americans have committed crimes in Vietnam. That is the point of departure.’ The words were those of Earl Russell, irrepressible philosopher and antiwar campaigner who will be 95-years old on May 18. The point of departure of which he spoke is the so-called ‘international war crimes tribunal’ that will meet for eight days, and possibly longer, with Jean-Paul Sarte, the French philosopher, as executive president and Vladimir Dedijer, the Yugoslavia writer, and Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician, as co-chairmen of the sessions. Lord Russell, whose forthright activities against war go back to World War II, inspired the inquiry but is too old to preside at its sessions. The inquiry, designed to show that the United States forces have committed war crimes in Vietnam, has no legal standing. Its members include long time critics of American policies…Mr. Sarte recently summarized the aims of the tribunal…He said:
“Our inquiry, if it concludes the United States is guilty, should allow all young who are combating Johnson’s policy to invoke not only the law of Nuremberg, but also the judgement of a number of free men who do not represent any power or party.”…
The Law of Nuremberg: “The defendants face the same charges as those faced at Nuremberg–Crimes Against Humanity and waging aggressive war… The basic premise of the principles is that no accused war criminal in any place or time is above the law.”…
CAG’s QUOTES for 1 May: MAO TSE TUNG: “Guerrilla strategy must be based primarily on alertness, mobility and attack.”… PATTON: “Let the American soldier know what has to be done, and he will do it.”….
Lest we forget… Bear