GOOD MORNING… Day NINE HUNDRED FORTY of daily posts to mark the 50th anniversary of Operation Rolling Thunder, the air war we fought over North Vietnam in 1965 to 1 November 1968… Countdown to cessation of bombing and the last day of Operation Rolling Thunder, the 31 days of October 1968…
HEAD LINES from The OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER (New York Times Oct-68 microfilm missing) for Tuesday, 1 October 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “ENEMY WAR DEATHS HIT 400,000 MARK—AMERICAN TOTAL KIA FOR THE WAR AT 28,211″… “The number of enemy troops killed during eight years of American involvement in the Vietnam war has passed the 400,000 mark, military spokesmen said today. The enemy over-all death toll reached the 400,000 mark sometime mark sometime last week, when 2,866 Vietcong and North Vietnamese killed. this boosted the toll since January 1, 1961 to 401,589. Some military observers were skeptical of the allied claims of enemy dead and the feeling in some circles was that the figures were on the optimistic side. BODY COUNT SYSTEMS VARY… Often enemy body counts are made by aerial observers flying several thousand feet above the ground. In many cases, large number of enemy dead are credited to air strikes, helicopter gunships and artillery. For the same period, through the week ending September 21, 28,211 Americans were killed in action in Vietnam and another 176,456 wounded. U.S. casualty figures for the week ending last Saturday will be released next Thursday…. South Vietnamese losses last week were 316 killed and 1,230 wounded and total killed in action for th entire war (1961 to present) is put at 46,000.”…
HEAD LINES: Page 1: “HUMPHREY SPEAKING IN SALT LAKE CITY URGES BOMB HALT IF HANOI SHOWS GOOD FAITH–Calls Action Acceptable Peace Effort”… “POLICE BAR YIPPIE JERRY RUBIN FROM HEARING”… “Hecklers Irk Wallace In Michigan Square”… “CHINA REDS CELEBRATE 20TH YEAR UNDER MAO–REVEAL NEW PURGE”… “ATLANTIC AND GULF PORTS ARE CLEARED–U.S. Moves to Halt Strike On Docks”… Page 1: “SENATE REJECTS CLOTURE–FORTAS ACTION SET ASIDE–Vote 45-43 Against–Refuse To Cutoff–Filibuster Opposition To Nomination of Fortas As Chief Justice of Supreme Court”… Page 2: “NIXON QUITS SEVERAL CLUBS WHERE NEGROES AND JEWS EXCLUDED”… Page 4: “NAVY CHANGES COURSE–Seeking New Contractor For 2.75-inch Rocket Launcher” (Humble Host wonders if this is as a consequence of all the aircraft that went down due to swallowing bad rockets down the intakes)… Page 5: “MORE PROTESTS VOWED BY MEXICAN STUDENTS IN MEXICO CITY”… Page 5: “FBI REPORT: BIG SECURITY PROBLEM NOTED IN NEW LEFT MOVEMENT”…
1 OCTOBER 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… Ogden Standard-Examiner (2 Oct reporting 1 Oct ops) Page 1: “Headquarters announced the loss of the third warplane over North Vietnam in the last four days. A Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk was downed in the northern half of the demilitarized zone Tuesday while spotting targets for the newly arrived battleship New Jersey.
VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were three fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 1 October 1968…
(1) CAPTAIN J.A. SPAITH, USMC, and 1LT U.S. GRANT, USMC, flying a TA-4F of the H&MS-11 and MAG-11, was hit by ground fire while spotting artillery in the demilitarized zone. CAPTAIN SPAITH was able to fly the battle damaged Skyhawk eight miles to sea before being forced to eject. Both Marines were rescued by a Navy ship to Fly and Spot again…
(2) An A-4E of the VMA-121 Green Knights and MAG-12 out of Chu Lai aborted a take-off , ran off the end of the runway and burned. Aircraft was totaled. The pilot survived.
(3) 1LT DAVID I. HABERMACHER, USMC, (HABU, IS THAT YOU?) flying an A-4C of the VMA-223 Bulldogs and MAG-12, was launching from Chu Lai on a bombing mission and suffered a blown tire and lost the wheel causing the aircraft to veer into an arrester engine and revetment. 1lt HABERMACHER ejected and survived to fly and in later years become the Bear’s Marine Deputy in OPNAV (OP-50) … (Purgatory)
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 1 OCTOBER DATES OF THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1965, 1967, 1968… NONE…
1966… CAPTAIN GLENN NIX, USAF… (POW)
RIPPLE SALVO… #940… On 30 September 1968 President Johnson took back-to-back telephone calls from Presidential nominees Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. The subject: Rolling Thunder…the last days of Rolling Thunder. Both Humphrey and Nixon are seeking clarification on how far they can veer from the President’s policy to keep on bombing while talking. Humphrey gave a speech that seemed to indicate that if he was President he would stop the bombing and that brought Nixon to the phone to see if an agreement to support the President’s bombing policy had changed. The two calls are historic conversations. Document 38 (LBJ and Nixon) is six pages, but is chock full of a restatement of the policy that underpins the peace talks in Paris, keeps the enemy at bay by denying him freedom of movement in the “panhandle,” and provides the rationale for the Johnson position…Good Reading… Document 39 is a shorter conversation (LBJ and HHH) in which HHH gives LBJ a five minute warning that he has a taped interview on NBC that he realizes pushes the President’s policies. LBJ does a masterful job of getting HHH back on track. He gives HHH the party line and reminds him how dangerous “faith as a strategy” might be… Read at:
38… https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v07/d38
39… https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v07/d39
RTR Quote for 1 Oct: PRESIDENT JOHNSON, telecon w/Nixon: “Now, our position–which I’ve been very careful with you and very careful with Humphrey, and I’ve told both of you the same thing, and you, both of you, have the same information–our position has been this: we are anxious to stop the bombing, we’d be glad to stop the bombing, if we can have any assurances that: (A)–they would respect the DMZ, thereby not endangering these four divisions, the three of ours and one allied, or (B) stop shelling the cities, or, (C) most important of all, talk to the GVN, talk to the Government of Vietnam….So in effect, we have said we are interested in what you have to say on these three subjects: DMZ, GVN, shelling the cities.”…
Lest we forget… Bear…