RIPPLE SALVO… #921… ON 11 SEPTEMBER 1968 THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF presented a paper for the Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford’s consideration. Title: “CESSATION OF OFFENSIVE ACTIONS AND NVN”…Then: “It has been proposed that, in the near future, the President would make a nationally televised speech in which he would state: A. Effective one week later, he was directing the cessation of all offensive actions against NVN… B. He assumed that the DRV would refrain from certain military actions and would, within 2-3 days after the cessation of US operations against NVN, engage in fruitful discussions leading to a just and honorable peace. (See paragraph two below for a hard-core listing of these actions)… C. He assumed also that, during the intervening week, if the DRV found his assumptions unacceptable, they would so state. He would construe silence on their part to indicate consent.”… Included in this historical document from General Wheeler to the Secretary of Defense is a paragraph that reflects his concerns on the adverse impact of a cessation… that paragraph and the document at Ripple Salvo below… but first…
GOOD MORNING…Day NINE HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE of posts celebrating the incredible courage and professional performance of the men of Operation Rolling Thunder through the years of 1965 to 1968…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times for Wednesday, 11 September 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “CITY ALONG INVASION ROUTE TO SAIGON ENTERED BY FOE”… “Two columns of enemy troops have moved into Tayninh and heavy fighting broke out early today in the city, a provincial capital of 200,000 people on a major invasion route to Saigon. United States jets raked the mixed force of Vietcong and North Vietnamese regulars just outside the city, 55 miles northwest of Saigon, and allied troops moved to halt the new thrust. All major installations in Tayninh appeared to be in allied hands this morning, but a senior American officer on the scene said that the enemy spearhead had penetrated farther than an assault into the city on August 20… The size of the enemy thrust could not be immediately determined, but an officer estimated that there were 300 to 400 men in the two columns that struck during the night… The Tayninh raid is now generally accepted by U.S. military men to have been the start of the enemy’s third general offensive of the year.”… Page 14: “34 OF FOE DIE IN 2 CLASHES”… “Ground fighting shifted to the areas just south of the demilitarized zone yesterday when United States Marines clashed twice with enemy troops…34 North Vietnamese soldiers had been killed in two actions near the artillery base known as the Rockpile, in Quangtri Province… OPERATION CONCLUDED… To the south, in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnamese soldiers were said to have killed 20 enemy soldiers in scattered action five miles south of Minhduc. South Vietnamese casualties were described as vey light.”… Page 14: “G.I.s LAND IN FOE’s MIDST”… “United States infantrymen assaulting by helicopter just south of Saigon landed virtually in the midst of an enemy battalion today and after seven and a half hours of fighting reported having killed 48 enemy soldiers. The area, 17 miles south of Saigon, has been the scene of repeated heavy fighting between large enemy units and the United States Ninth Infantry Division.”…
PEACE: Page 1: “JOHNSON ASSERTS RAIDS WILL GO ON UNTIL HANOI ACTS–Speaking to the American Legion, He Says Alternatives Are Invading the North and Retreating–Gives Soviet a Warning–In a 2nd Address, He Discloses That He Cautioned Moscow on Using Force In Berlin”… “President Johnson delivered a strong defense of his Vietnam policy in a speech to the American Legion convention in New Orleans this afternoon, and then told a B’nai B’rith audience here (Washington) this evening that he had warned the Soviet Union against the treat or use of force in Berlin. Shouting frequently and pounding his fist on the lectern, Mr. Johnson vowed in an emotional address to the 50th annual convention of the veteran’s organization that he would not stop bombing North Vietnam until Hanoi offered reciprocal military restraint.”…
Page 1: “RUSK HINTS NORTH KOREA RAISES ITS PRICE FOR RELEASE OF PUEBLO”… “Secretary of State Dean Rusk indicated today that the price of releasing the Pueblo and her crew North Korea was demanding not only an apology but also ‘commitments about further action that would involve the high seas in the Sea of Japan.’… Page 1: “PRAGUE ASSURES NATION ON RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS, FREEDOM TO MAINTAIN CONTACTS ABROAD IS ALSO CITED IN PROCLAMATION”… Page 1: “Agnew Criticizes Humphrey Record ‘As Soft On Reds’–He Says Vice President Also Errs On Inflation And Law and Order”… Page 1: “MORE HOME RULE PLEDGED BY NIXON– Rockefeller Shares Platform With Him In White Plains As State Drive Begins”… Page 11: “SPEECHES BY CHOU AND MAO’S WIFE INDICATE ANEW THAT COMMUNIST CHINA IS STRESSING CONSOLIDATION”… Page 12: “GRIM REPORT TO SEATO SAYS COMMUNIST INSURGENCY GROWS”… Page 19: “Strong Gun Curbs Pressed By Attorney General Ramsey Clark–Plea To Senate Urges Arms Registration And Licensing”…
11 SEPTEMBER 1968…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times/AP: No coverage of the air war over the North… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) there wa one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 11 September 1968…
(1) MAJOR I. E. BUSTLE and 1LT RICHARD HAVEN VANDYKE were flying an F-4D Stormy FAC aircraft of the 389th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang in a flight engaging a target 1o miles northwest of Dong Hoi and were hit twice by 37mm pulling off a truck target. … MAJOR BUSTLE was able to fly the aircraft to the coast before ejecting and was rescued by an Air Force SAR helicopter… LT VANDYKE’s story is told by his roommate in Squadron 1 at Officer Training School, JAMES C. MILLER… I quote…
“On 11 Sept 1968, Rich’s F-4D Phanotm II…was hit twice by 37mm flak while attacking trucks on a road near Vinh Loc, 10 miles northwest of Dong Hoi in North Vietnam. The aircraft was on fire. The back cockpit filled with smoke and Rich lost communication with the forward cockpit. This was a mandatory ejection situation and Rich punched out, receiving a compound leg fracture somewhere in the ejection situation. Ironically, the pilot Major Larry E. Bustle, nursed the jet over water, punched out also with leg injuries, and was rescued by U.S. forces.
“Rich was captured by the local militia. Instead of turning him over to the NVA, as required, the militia had a cast put on his leg, but the bone was not set. He was held in a hole in the ground in An Vinh. Two other captives were put in the hole, also. Heavy rains came and the hole flooded. Rich was delirious and his buddies kept him from drowning. Their cries fro help were heard by the NVA, who took them out of the hole. Rich was taken to a hospital where it was determined that he had gangrene. His leg was amputated in an attempt to save his life, but he died on approximately 22 September 1968. His remains were repatriated on 8 July 1981…. I’ve searched for years for Rich’s family and have concluded using genealogical data that his parents are deceased and that he may have no siblings or first cousins. Thus I have assumed responsibility for placing his biography out where folks can appreciate one more ultimate sacrifice made in the service of our country.”… James C. Miller, Ph.D., CPE, San Antonio, Texas, 2012
In 2017 Doctor Miller updated his 2012 entry for the record. The two other POWs in the hole in An Vinh were Captain Arthur Hoffson, who visited Rich’s family in Salt Lake City sometime after his release with the POWs in 1973 and shared his experience with Rich’s family, and Joe Shanahan. Captain Joseph Shanahan was the navigator in an F-4 downed on 15 August 1968 and was a POW in Hanoi for the duration of the war before being released with the POWs in 1973… Colonel Shanahan’s pilot, Captain Terrin D. Hicks, has never been accounted for (presume killed in action, body not recovered) and Colonel Shanahan had a request when he was returned to his homeland. He said: “The POW is back, but I believe there is more to be done. We must all work for a complete accounting of the Missing in Action. We must thank, support and help the unsung hero of this war–The G.I.”…. oohrah…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 11 SEPTEMBER DATES OF THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1965, 1966… NONE…
1967… MAJOR RICHARD WILLIAM HAWTHORNE, USMC… (KIA)…and… CAPTAIN RICHARD RAYMOND KANE, USMC… (KIA)…
1968… 1LT RICHARD HAVON VANDYKE, USAF… (KIA)…
RIPPLE SALVO… #921… TO BOMB OR NOT TO BOMB, that is the issue… The President made it crystal clear that there would be no cessation of Rolling Thunder until the North took some effort to deescalate the war. But Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford was doing everything he could to getthe President to give a little. A footnote to the State Department, Office of the Historian, Historical Document 10. quoted and referenced here explains the evolution of the Wheeler paper for the Secretary (which was passed to the White House staff) Quote: “Clark– Some days ago you asked me to think over an idea of yours related to a cessation of bombing north of 17! I have done so. The attached paper, which I wrote personally, sets forth the doubts & problems it raises for me. Bus” …A second note attached to the Wheeler memo reads: “Mr. Clifford. You handed the attached paper to Mr. Warnke (Assistant SecDef) some time ago. He now returns it with the comment that he feels no action is indicated at this time. /s/ Robert Pursely (Military Assistant to SecDef) dated 17 October.”… In other words the paper went no further than Secretary Clifford… but the message for Red River Rats and Yankee Air Pirates was clear… THERE WAS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR ROLLING THUNDER… Read General Wheeler’s list of “undeniably true factors” concerning the bombing from the document…I quote…
“I (General Wheeler) believe the following factors are pertinent to our air and naval campaign against NVN and moreover, are undeniably true: (1) Our limited air and naval campaign is the only means available to us, within selling imposed constraints, to bring pressure on NVN…(2) Without attempting to quantify physical results, our operations are disrupting the enemy’s war effort and hurting him… (3) Complete cessation on offensive operations north of 17th will permit the enemy to move with impunity forces, military materiel and suppl;ies to areas contiguous to the combat zone, thereby increasing the hazard to U.S. and Allied forces and installations. Under these circumstances, should the enemy so choose, US and Allied casualties will increase to a level largely determinable by the enemy… (4) The morale of US and Allied troops, and that of the SVN populace, would suffer… and (5) Friend and enemy alike, military and civilian, would construe the imposition of further unilateral restraint on our forces as a victory for NVN supporting the thesis that, if the NVN remain intransigent they can achieve their full objectives in SVN.”… Then the General states: “Question. Would a total cessation of military operations against NVN create a situation, political and military, more favorable or less favorable for the achievement of US objectives?”… and then he adds a couple of stingers… read the entire document at…
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v07/d10
RTR Quote for 11 September 1968: MAO TSE-TUNG, Principles of Operation #4: “In every battle, concentrate an absolutely superior force (two, three, four and sometimes even five or six times the enemy’s strength). Encircle the enemy completely, strive to wipe them out thoroughly and do not let any escape from the net. In special circumstances, use the method of dealing the enemy crushing blows, that is, concentrate all your strength to make a frontal attack and an attack on one or both of his flanks, with the aim of wiping out one part and routing another so that our army can swiftly move its troops to smash other enemy forces. Strive to avoid battles of attrition in which we lose more than we gain or only break even. In this way, although inferior as a whole (in terms of numbers), we shall be superior in every part and every specific campaign, and this ensures victory in the campaign. As time goes on, we shall become superior as a whole and eventually wipe out the entire enemy.”…
Lest we forget… Bear