RIPPLE SALVO… #645… Take notes, there will be a test… Part II of Review: the first quarter of ’67. Treading water–in monsoonal torrents–“Keeping the pressure on” with “small force attacks.”… but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE of a remembrance of the events and fearless aviators of the air war called Rolling Thunder…
11 December 1967…HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a Monday of all-day rain…
Page 1: “SOVIET WARNS U.S. ON SPREADING WAR BEYOND VIETNAM–CITES HINTS THAT WASHINGTON IS WEIGHING MOVE IN LAOS OR BLOCKADE OF CAMBODIA–VOWS STRONG REBUFF–STATEMENT BELIEVED TO SHOW CONCERN OVER THE EFFECTS OF McNAMARA’S DEPARTURE”… “The leading circles of the Soviet Union closely follow the developments in Southeast Asia. The Soviet Union proceeds from the belief that all states must respect the independence and neutrality of Cambodia and Laos and the Geneva agreements guaranteeing the interests of these states must be unswervingly observed and respected. United States attempts to cause further aggravation of the situation in Southeast Asia will be strongly rebuffed by the peace-loving states of the world and the United States will naturally bear the complete responsibility for the consequences of its actions.”… Page 1: “U.S. Sailors In War Zone Warned On Peace Groups”... “The United States Navy is warning its personnel in South Vietnam to avoid antiwar peace groups that try to induce American servicemen to desert. The warning follows the desertion of four sailors from the aircraft carrier Intrepid. The four were hidden by a Japanese peace group before going on to Moscow.”... Page 1: “Congress Driving to Finish Session By End of Week–Disputes on Welfare Laws and Cuts in Poverty and Aid Are Last Hurdles–Month Recess Is Goal–Democratic Leaders Would Defer Action On Bills That White House Calls Vital.”… Page 1: “Atomic Blast Set Off In Earth To Spur Recovery of Gas”... “The world’s first commercial thermonuclear blast was successfully detonated here in New Mexico in lonely Leandro Canyon just outside the boundary of the Jicaritia Apache Indian Reservation.”… Page 2: “Napalm Protests Worry Dow Chemical, Though Company is Unhurt by Antiwar, Anti-Napalm Demonstrations”… Page 13: “General Hershey Is Firm In Calling-Up Draft Violators–He Says Prosecution Plan is Not A Substitute for His Directive on Priorities”…
GROUND WAR (“War is a killing business.”)Page 1: “G.I.’s Repel foe In Close Fighting–Vietcong Soldier Strangled in Bunker By American in Battle North of Saigon”...The United States military command said today that a company of United States First Infantry Division killed 124 of the enemy during a North Vietnamese-Vietcong attack on an artillery base camp 50 miles north of Saigon this morning. Only one American soldier was killed during close fighting in which a sergeant strangled a Vietcong soldier in a bunker. One officer said that the attacking enemy soldiers had been using heroin before the battle. The officer said little white packets of white powder had been found on many bodies of the enemy soldiers. Most of the attackers were shot down by heavy crossfire from well-arranged emplacements. Some However got inside the camp before they were killed. Intelligence officers identified the attackers as the 165th North Vietnamese Battalion which was smashed late in October in fighting at Lochinh, 17 miles to the north…. In addition to one American killed, 31 were wounded… American officers were at a loss to explain the fanaticism of the mixed North Vietnamese and Vietcong attacking forces. In the last week alone, the enemy has suffered more than 1,200 dead in major actions. Perhaps the greatest victory of the week was scored by South Vietnamese troops in the Mekong Delta in a three-day battle in which 451 enemy troops were killed.”
11 DECEMBER 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times…Devoid of comment on the air war in the North. “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 11 December 1967…
The logs of Major Sam Armstrong, 34th TFS out of Takhli, who flew his 32nd and 33rd missions on 10 and 11 December, provides an explanation–lousy weather that curtailed most ops and limited the few that were flown. The following is from the Howie Plunkett compilation of the history of the 34th TFS and the F-105.
10-Dec-67: Two F-105D pilots from the 34 TFS were part of a four-plane Wild Weasel flight from the 44 TFS on an Iron Hand mission into RP-1 nd RP-2 (the lower panhandle of North Vietnam). The flight of four Thunderchief’s was led by Major Michael Muskat of the 44TFS. Major Armstrong was #4… “It was Major Armstrong’s 32nd combat mission. “I was flying the Iron hand flight on the regular strike force. When the Pack VI strike was canceled for weather, our flight was sent out to Pack 1 and 2 to look for GCI, gun laying radar, and SAMs. We hit the coast and went all the way up to Vinh and backdown but couldn’t pick up any signals so we went south of Mugia Pass and bombed a river ford under F-100 FAC control. The clouds were pretty thick and it was hard to pick up the target. It took three passes before I could drop. I couldn’t tell where my bombs hit.”…
11-Dec-67: Four TFW 388 F-105Ds from 34 TFS launched at 14;25 on a mission to bomb in Laos. The flight was led by Captain Sam Morgan and Major Armstrong was #3. Flying #4 was Captain Lawrence Hoppe on his 98th combat mission. Armstrong: “This was another Laos mission. We went to an F-100FAC who was operating in an area just south of the Mugia Pass. The area to the east of this particular location was completely covered with clouds. Our target was a rock and gravelford across a river. #2 Captain Carl Lasiter, hit right in the center and the other three of us hit just on the west bank. There was quite a tailwind at release altitude. We weather recced all of the way over to the coast afterwards.” Major David Dickson, Jr., also from the 34th was in a flight that attacked targets in southern Laos. LCOL Rufus Dye, Jr. 34th TFS flew his 19th mission against a bridge in Southern Laos, ‘Ban Senkua’ ford. 100% heavy damage with light 37mm opposition.”
RIPPLE SALVO… #645… Part II of a Review of Rolling Thunder Campaign 1967… The first quarter of the year…
“The ROLLING THUNDER campaign during the first quarter of 1967 was hampered by adverse weather typical of the northeast monsoon season, conditions which precluded full-scale attacks on fixed targets and greatly reduced armed reconnaissance. However, ground controlled radar delivery of ordnance in the southern Route Packages, small force attacks by Seventh Fleet A-6 aircraft, and attacks by Seventh Air Force F-105’s and F-4’s combined to keep pressure around-the-clock. Of special importance was the implementation of ROLLING THUNDER 53 on 24 January and ROLLING THUNDER 54 on 23 February. Combined, they authorized strikes against 16 fixed targets in the industrial area in the northeast quadrant of North Vietnam. The middle of April generally marked the end of the bad weather over North Vietnam, air activity was accelerated, and by 21 April all ROLLING THUNDER 54 targets had been struck.
“On 23 April the execute order for ROLLING THUNDER 55 was received. Armed reconnaissance operating areas remained constant while fixed targets included one power transformer, a cement plant, three bridges, a rail repair shop, an ammunition depot, a POL storage area, and the Kep and Hoa Lac MIG-capable airfields in the vicinity of Hanoi. Selected targets were authorized for strike within the ten-mile circle around Hanoi. By 28 April all but one of the ROLLING THUNDER 55 targets had been struck. The continued strikes in the Hanoi-Haiphong area caused intensified defensive reactions to our strikes. The enemy rapidly shifted concentations of antiaircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles o those areas.
“ROLLING THUNDER 55 was replaced by ROLLING THUNDER 56 on 2 May. This added ten new fixed targets, all of which were struck by the end of May. The good weather period over North Vietnam permitted maximum effort against all authorized targets and LOC’s. Of signal interest was the concentrated program against North Vietnam’s land transportation system along the major supply lines from Communist China. The main effort was concentrated primarily on classification yards, repair facilities, railroads and highway bridges, and support areas. Results were excellent, particularly in the entrapment of rolling stock and its subsequent destruction. Simultaneous armed reconnaissance of the road and canal LOC’s contributed to intensifying overall logistical problems throughout North Vietnam. This pattern of air attacks continued throughout 1967 with the over-all purposes of isolating Haiphong from Hanoi, and Hanoi and Haiphong from the rest of the country, especially those LOC’s radiating southward to Laos and the Demilitarized Zone.”…. Part III tomorrow: “June, July and August–all out air war.”
Source: Report on the War in Vietnam, Through June 1968 (CINCPAC and COMUSMACV)
RTR Quote for 11 December: SUN TZU, The Art of War : “A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation, and does not demand it from his subordinates.”…
Lest we forget… Bear