RIPPLE SALVO… #949… ON 8 OCTOBER 1968 THE NYT TURNED A PHRASE OF SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK’s ADDRESS TO THE UNITED NATIONS — “THERE IS A SMALL BUT PRECIOUS MOMENTUM FOR PEACE’– THAT RUSK WAS APPLYING TO THE MIDEAST, into an OpEd that pointed out that the same “precious moment for peace” should apply in the search for peace in Vietnam. The precious moment for peace in Vietnam? Stop the bombing of North Vietnam…but first…
GOOD MORNING… Day NINE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE of a daily blog to remember the years of the bloody war in the air over North Vietnam…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times for 10 October 1968…
THE WAR: Page 13: “ENEMY SQUEEZED BY ALLIED CORDON–Encircle-and-Sweep Tactic Used Near Hue I Hailed”… “American and South Vietnamese troops operating in the flat rice lands near this historic city are convinced they have found the solution to one of the most difficult problems of the war. The problem is how to deal with the Vietcong’s ‘local force’ guerrillas and their political structure. The answer developed by South Vietnamese forces and the United States 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) is a human chain of troops who are willing to stay in place for periods of as much as two weeks to trap the enemy and force him to come out of hiding. Just ten days ago, 2,000 Americans and South Vietnamese soldiers formed a 15-mile ring around an expanse of rice paddies and hamlets while 1,500 South Vietnamese infantrymen began ‘sweeping’ from one side of the ring to the other. Tonight the officers in charge of the operation were dismantling their human ring and offering an array of reports that was impressing their commanding officer…NO BOMBS OR SHELLS… Not a single allied bomb was dropped or artillery shell fired during the entire operation.’Not one house was damaged,’ said Col. Thomas W. Bowen, who is from Fayetteville Ark., and served as senior advisor to Thuathien Province. ‘This whole technique was so successful that you can bet we’ll try it again.'”… (No measures of success were given)… Page 16: “ALLIES UNCOVER ENEMY SUPPLIES–NORTH VIETNAMESE ROCKETS FOUND NEAR JUNGLE BASE”…”…vast amounts of enemy supplies were found, but no fighting of consequence was reported…Page 16; “STRAFING INCIDENT REPORTED”… “U.S. Army gunship helicopters flying close ari support for South Vietnamese infantrymen in the Mekong Delta fired accidentally near ground troops killing four and wounding six.”… Far to the north, an enemy force of undetermined size ambushed a South Vietnamese Army company on a road clearing mission yesterday 280 miles northeast of Saigon. Government losses were put at seven killed and eight wounded. Enemy casualties were not reported.”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 1: “JOHNSON IS URGED BY HANOI TO ACT–ENVOYS IN PARIS CALL ON HIM TO GET TALKS GOING”… “Hanoi called on President Johnson today to stop the bombing of North Vietnam and get the talks moving while he still can. ‘If President Johnson really wants to solve the Vietnam problem peacefully, he still has enough time and power to do so,’ Minister of State Xuan Thuy, Hanoi’s chief representative, told the United States negotiators. The chief American delegate W. Averell Harriman, responded by renewing President Johnson’s demand to North Vietnam for some ‘reason to believe that you intend seriously to join with us in de-escalating the war and moving seriously toward peace... JOHNSON’S STAND IS FIRM… It was reported from Washington yesterday that the President had decided tht he would rather leave a settlement of the war to his successor than halt the bombing on less than honorable terms.”…
HEADLINES: Page 1: “SAIGON REPORTS A COUP ATTEMPT–Seizes Officers–But A U.S. Official Denies There Was Any Effort To Overthrow Thieu Regime”… Page 1: “PRESIDENT ORDERS TALKS WITH ISRAEL ON PHANTOM JETS–Acts On Basis Of Congress Call For A Long-Sought Sale of Supersonic Craft–Johnson Signs Aid Bill–Plane Step Seems Motivated By Political Pressure And Soviet Stand on Arms”… Page 1: “DETROIT TIGERS TIE SERIES IN ST. LOUIS, 13-1–10 RUNS IN THIRD ROUT CARDS–Gibson versus Lolich In Final Game Today”… Page 15: “AT TRIAL OF CATONSVILLE NINE–Government Defends Idea That the War in Vietnam Can be Illegal”… Page 51: “GALLUP POLL FINDS NIXON IS MAINTAINING LARGE LEAD”…
10 OCTOBER 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (11 Oct reporting 10 Oct Ops) Page 18: “In the air war over North Vietnam, United States fighter-bombers flew 115 missions yesterday and one Navy Corsair had to dodge a SAM missile…Pilots reported destroying or damaging 17 supply boat and two trucks.”… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 10 October 1968…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 10 OCTOBER DATES OF THE FOUR YEARS OPF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1965, 1967, 1968… NONE…
1966… LTJG MICHAEL STEELE CONFER, USN… (KIA…Body Not Recovered)… Young Michael Confer was killed on a night dive on a target 35 miles southeast of Haiphong. The Hobson report of the loss is archived at RTR for 10-Oct-66 (Ripple Salvo #223). LTJG CONFER’s status remains BB (Killed in Action, Body not Recovered). A Task Force Omega file contains the following: “During November 1993, a team of US investigators from the Joint Task Force for Full Accounting (JTFFA) interviewed a witness who provided information concerning an A-4 that was shot down by his militia on the night of October 10, 1966. According to the witness, this aircraft exploded in the air and crashed at sea approximately one kilometer off shore….” …”Further analysis of documents found in the Military Region 3 Museum in Haiphong, North Vietnam by JTFFA personnel show that LTJG CONFER may have been shot down by the Giao Hai Village Militia, Xuan Thuy District, Nam Ha Province. However, while JFFTA personnel found information pertaining to the shoot down of the Skyhawk, they did not find any information pertaining to the fate of the pilot either live or dead.” … The weapon employed by LTJG CONFER on his final and fatal flight was the infamously unsatisfactory 2.75-Rocket. Many were the aircraft that were downed by fodded engines from debris from the pods of rockets as they were salvoed from the aircraft. A standard weapon loadout was three pods of 17 rockets– total 51- 2.75 rockets. This load fired from the centerline station in salvo put out a lot of debris. There is no mention of 2.75-Rocket failure or engine damage in this incident, but there should have been an indication that that possibility was considered. The flight leader saw the rockets inflight “and an additional large flash on the ground.” A credible eye witness on the ground saw an explosion in the air and the aircraft debris fall into the sea. Alas, we will never know… and LTJG CONFER, who I flew with in VA-125, rests in peace on the battlefield where he fell fifty-two years ago this day…
Mike Confer is remembered. Humble Host suggests readers take a look at the VVMF, Wall of Faces remembrance of Crissy Groves dated 5/18/09. Crissy wears Mike’s POW/MIA bracelet with unusual pride and dedication. Her remembrance is exceptional… (Partial quote below at quote of the day)…
RIPPLE SALVO…#949… NYT, 8-OCT-68, Page 46… OpEd:
“PRECIOUS MOMENTUM FOR PEACE’…
“‘There is a small but precious momentum for peace,’ Secretary of State Rusk told the United Nations General Assembly the other day. ‘All of us should encourage the parties toward a settlement.’
“Mr. Rusk was talking about U.N. Ambassador Gunnar Jarring’s efforts to promote a settlement in the Middle East, but his remarks are equally applicable to the talks in Paris, where a precious momentum for peace in Vietnam is in danger of being lost as the American elections near, and time runs out for the Johnson Administration.
“On the principal immediate obstacle to progress in Paris–the American bombing of North Vietnam–Mr. Rusk told the General Assembly: ‘We are prepared to stop the bombing the minute we can be confident that this would lead toward peace.’ On Sunday, the Secretary of State complained that ‘no human being anywhere in the world can tell us what would happen if we stopped the bombing.’
“Certainly, no one could possibly say with any assurance just what would happen if the United States withheld its bombers from North Vietnam asw Hanoi demands. But U.N. Secretary General Thant repeatedly has expressed his confidence that this would be a vital step toward peace.
“Vice President Humphrey has said he believes a bombing halt ‘could lead to success in the negotiations and thereby shorten the war.’ Despite Secretary Rusk’s denial, reports from qualified sources indicate that W. Averell Harriman and Cyrus R. Vance, the two chief American negotiators at Paris, have urged consideration of a bombing halt. Twenty-seven of 85 Senators who responded to a recent Associated Press survey said they favored a halt with some qualifications.
“Hanoi repeatedly has pledged publicly to move to more substantive talks as soon as the bombing stops. Many observers feel it gave a substantial token of good faith during last summer’s prolonged lull in the fighting. There are some signs–such as a decline in casualties and the easing of pressure on Saigon–that this lull may be returning. Predicted major enemy offensives have not developed.
“Is this not encouragement enough to warrant a new risk for peace to preserve the precious momentum President Johnson initiated in his landmark speech of last March 31?” End quote…
RTR Quote for 10 October: CRISSY GROVES, Omaha: “When people ask me about my bracelet I tell them Michael’s story and why I wear the bracelet and never remove it. I even wore it on my wedding day. To many of the women I know it seems silly and unfashionable to wear it even when I’m dressed up for an occasion. To me, there is nothing silly about making a commitment to the memory of someone wh lost their life defending our country. There is nothing unfashionable about making sure somebody’s loved one is never forgotten for their sacrifice. My husband is a USAF aviator and I can only hope that if he were ever lost in the line of duty that he would be remembered not only by family and friends, but by those thankful for his service, as I am for Michael.”…
(Webmaster note: God Bless you, Crissy Groves)
Lest we forget… Bear