RIPPLE SALVO… #584… “In every war the inequities between home front and the fighting front are distressing. No contribution a civilian makes can compare with one casualty on the battlefield.”…Brooks Atkinson, NYT, 7 October 1967… but first…
Good Morning: Day FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR of a non-stop remembrance of the air war fought fifty years ago by America’s intrepid military aviators…
11 October 1967…HEAD LINES from The New York Times on partly cloudy Wednesday in the Big Apple…
Page 1: “Bolivia Confirms Che Guevara’ Death–Body displayed–Army Reports Fingerprints Prove Rebel Leader Was Killed in Sunday Clash–Confession Described–He Made Himself Known and Admitted Failure Before He Died, General Says”... “The Bolivian army high command officially confirmed that Ernesto Che Guevara, the Latin revolutionary leader, was killed in a clash between guerrillas and Bolivian troops in Southeastern Bolivia last Sunday.”… Page 1: “McNAMARA DOUBTS RISE IN G.I. LOSSES IF BOMBING IS CUT”…“Told Senate Panel Attacks on North Barely Reduce Flow of Material South”… …”Testimony of 25 August made public today.”…. (Humble Host will post in Ripple Salvo tomorrow, 12 Oct)… Page 1: “Thieu Pledges Wider War if Search For Peace Fails”... Page 1: “City Leaders of New York City Organize to Aid the Slums”... “New York Coalition header by Christian Herter, Jr. is seeking private help…105 members in group… initial goal to be jobs and training…Mayor Lindsay praises approach to problem… “… Page 1: “Soviet Announces Arms Budget Rise”... “A budget that promises both more guns and more butter.”… Page 5: “Three Senators Assail Johnson War Policies”... “Senator Ernest Hollings, Democrat of South Carolina, said today ‘we missed our chances to win the Vietnam war before next year’s elections because of President Johnson’s gradual military escalation and political compromises… also drew criticism from Senator Vance Hartke, Democrat of Indiana, and Senator Clifford Case of New Jersey.”... Page 16: “Fordham Breaks Up Recruiting Protest”… “Nineteen students were carried from Fordham University campus center by university policemen yesterday when they refused to clear an aisle to a Navy aviation cadet recruiting table…about 500 students were on hand to observe and cheer for the obstructive action by about 30 students.”... Page 30: “Choice of Chicago for 1968 Explained–Democrats Got Assurance on Disorders”… “Mayor Richard Daley has assured the Democratic National Committee that the potential for racial disorder in Chicago is low and any demonstrations would be orderly.” (Not so fast, Mayor)... Page 30: “Nixon Leads Poll Of G.O.P. Leaders”... Nixon-46%; Romney-26%; Rockefeller-14%; and Reagan-7%.”…
11 OCTOBER 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (12 Oct reporting 11 Oct ops) Page 1: “Spokesmen announced the poor weather had sharply curtailed United States bombing of North Vietnam. Ninety-three missions were flown Tuesday, the spokesmen said, and about half were strikes just above the demilitarized zone. Yesterday (11th), Navy pilots struck the Nam Dinh transshipment point 45 miles southwest of Haiphong. Air Force pilots also wrecked a 100-foot long bridge 77 miles east of Dienbienphu and a hundred miles west of Hanoi.
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft losses in Southeast Asia on 11 October 1967.
RIPPLE SALVO… #584… 7 October 1967…New York Times…Page 28…Essay by Brooks Atkinson… “HOME FRONT THOUGHTS OF VIETNAM”…
“In every war the inequities between the home front and the fighting front are distressing. No contribution a civilian makes can compare with one casualty on the battlefront.
“But the inequities in the Vietnam war are monstrous. In a distant, backward, muddied part of the world about a half million Americans are obediently slugging through the mud and jungles on an elusive mission their Government has assigned them. Every week 150 to 250 of them are killed. More than thirteen thousand of them will never enjoy the beauty and bountifulness of America again: they are dead. their parents, their wives, their children, their friends have made a sacrificial contribution by having relinquished someone they love. (45,000 more will die in before it is over)
A CHEERFUL SUMMER
“For the rest of us the war is an ugly mirage that worries but does not hurt us. Life at home goes on much as usual–heedless and gay. angry and acquisitive. During the summer the roads were choked with passengers cars full of adults, children and bizarre impediments on the way to vacation. Life in the White House goes on cheerfully. Like thousands of other Americans, the President’s daughters take vacations in the West Indies or Europe, and the White House lawn is the scene of a charming carnival for children.
“Riots demonstrate the frustrations of some of the citizens; strikes reveal the aspirations of others. With a few exceptions, no one at home is required to share the awful burden of war that has settled down to futile routine somewhere beyond the horizon.
EXCEPT IN THE JUNGLE
“In Vietnam millions of people are suffering–not only the Americans but Australians, New Zealanders, Filipinos, South Koreans and, of course, the unfortunate Vietnamese on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone. the poor excepted, most Americans at home eat well, sleep well and conduct their lives with a minimum of inconvenience. the men in Vietnam have a right to resent this cruel disparity between their jungle warfare and our continuum of self-interest at home.
“If the Vietnam war hardly disturbs the life at home the logical conclusion is that it is not an essential American responsibility. Everyone at home would be part of it if it were a part of the national welfare. But it is not. It is a distant skirmish that on one foresaw no one wanted, no one controls and no one can finish. Most of us have forgotten how it started.
“For many years the United States Government has been pouring money and military supplies into Vietnam to keep the Communists from conquering the whole of Asia, although Communism has been failing everywhere with dull regularity–in Greece, Korea, the Congo, Indonesia, the Middle East. In 1962 there were 16,000 American soldiers in Vietnam to keep the Communists at bay. Now the American forces have become massive. By easy steps we have advanced to the barbarism of bombing civilian areas in the traditional manner of ruthless imperialism. (OUCH!!! Debatable!!! Hasty generalization)
CONCERNS AT HOME
“After serving for ten months in the Central Highlands a New York soldier, who has the Purple Heart, remarked to a New York Times correspondents: ‘Does anyone back home care about this place? Guys are dying here. Does anyone really care? Why don’t we just chuck it?’
“We can’t chuck it, as if nothing had happened. If and when the time comes, the withdrawal will have to be responsible and orderly. Nor is it true that people at home don’t care about their countrymen assigned to this Asiatic limbo, and also about the millions of people throughout Vietnam who are trapped in the cruel struggle.
POWER–or WISDOM
“But Americans have not made this war their first order of priority because it is alien to the traditions of a peace-loving nation, founded on the principle of liberty and committed to the ideal of self-determination among nations. It is in the nature of imperialism that power should become progressively more inhuman the further it stretches away from home.
” ‘Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair,’ said Washington when the Constitutional Congress opened. It is still a wonderful idea.”
RTR QUOTE for 11 October: WASHINGTON: “Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair.”
Lest we forget… Bear