RIPPLE SALVO… #256… WITH WORDS FOR ALL VIETNAM VETERANS… but first…
Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX of remembering the warriors and events of OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…
13 NOVEMBER 1966…HOME TOWN HEADLINES from the New York Times… On a sunny Sunday in the Empire State…
Page 1: “Air Fight Erupts at Israeli border…Jordanian plane downed…Tel Aviv reports raiding village across Jordanian border.”…Page 1: “President Signs Food Peace Bill…but scores congressional curbs asserting Congress limited his flexibility in dealing with Communist countries…$5 billion authorized”…Page 11: “Astronaut rides 2 1/2 hours in open and eclipse is filmed…Aldrin watches two sunrises as he stands in hatch…gets first pictures of a solar eclipse taken beyond atmosphere.” …Page 1: “Marine Platoon Battered as foe penetrates lines.”… Page 1: “College Football Scores: Notre Dame 64 duke 0; Clemson 14 Maryland 10; Nebraska 21 Oklahoma State 6; UCLA10 Stanford 0; Navy 30 Vanderbilt 14; Air force 20 North Carolina 14; Army 6 California 2.”… Page 3 “Corruption Taking Up To 40% of Vietnam Aid.”…Page 3: “Hostility is found to draft lottery…Harris Poll and study asserts 75% of public is opposed.”…Page 9: “Technology Gap becoming political issue in Atlantic Alliance.”… Page 1 Financial Section: “Treasury Facing Dilemma On Debt…at $3.3 billion ceiling raises problem of getting cash to pay nation’s bills from new financing sources…Government could turn to ‘Participation Certificates’ and let checks lag.”… NOTE: NATIONAL DEBT NOVEMBER 1966 WAS $3.3 BILLION!!! and they were sweating it…FIFTY THIFTY YEARS LATER OUR NAT’L DEBT IS NEARLY $20 TRILLON…
13 November 1966… No President’s Daily Brief…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER: NYT (14 Nov reporting 13 Nov ops) Page 17: “In North Vietnam bad weather continued to hamper air activity. United State pilots flew only 56 missions of 2 to 5 planes. Thbey reported having destroyed nine barges and having damaged two bridges. No planes were lost.”…”Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 13 November 1966…
RIPPLE SALVO… #256… On this weekend 32 years ago, Veteran’s Day 1984, President Ronald Reagan spoke at the Dedication Ceremonies for the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Statue– the three young warriors– a few yards to the south of “The Wall.” The President said:
“The fighting men depicted in the statue we dedicate today, the three young American servicemen, are individual only in terms of their battle dress; all are as one, with eyes fixed upon the memorial bearing the names of their brothers in arms. On their youthful faces, faces too young to have experienced war, we see expressions of loneliness and profound love and a fierce determination never to forget.”
“The men of Vietnam answered the call of their country. Some men died in the arms of many of you here today, asking you to look after a newly born child or care for a loved one. They died uncomplaining. The tears staining their mud-covered faces were not for self-pity but for the sorrow they knew the news of their death would cause their families and friends.
“As you knelt alongside his litter and held him one last time, you heard his silent message–he asked you not to forget.
“Today we pay homage not only to those who gave their lives but to their comrades present today and all across the country. You didn’t forget. You kept the faith. You walked from the litter, wiped away your tears, and returned to battle. You fought on, sustained one another and deaf to the voices of those who didn’t comprehend. You performed with a steadfastness and valor that veterans of other wars salute, and you are forever in the ranks of that special number of Americans in every generation that the nation records as true patriots.
“Among the service men and women honored here today is a unique group of Americans whose fate is still unknown to our nation and to their families. Nearly 2,500 of the names on this memorial are still missing in Southeast Asia, and some may still be serving. Their names are distinguished by a cross rather than the diamond thus this memorial is a symbol of both past and current sacrifice.
“The war in Vietnam threatened to tear our society apart, and the political and philosophical disagreements that animated each side continue to some extent…. There were great moral and philosophical disagreements about the rightness of the war, and we cannot forget them because there is no wisdom to be gained in forgetting. But we can forgive each other and ourselves for those things that we now recognize may have been wrong, and I think it is time we did…
“And let me say to the Vietnam Veterans gathered here today. When you returned home, you brought solace to the loved ones of those who fell, but little solace was given to you. Some of your countrymen were unable to distinguish between our native distaste for war and the stainless patriotism of those who suffer it scars. But there’s been a rethinking there, too. and now we can say to you, and say as a nation: Thank you for your courage. Thank you for being patient with your countrymen. Thank you. Thank you for continuing to stand with us together.
“The men and women of Vietnam fought for freedom in a place where liberty was in danger. They put their lives in danger to help a people in a land far away from their own. Many sacrificed their lives in the name of duty, honor, and country. All were patriots who lit the world with their fidelity and courage.
“They were both our children and our heroes. We shall never forget them. We will never forget their devotion and their sacrifice. They stand before us, marching into time and into shared memory, forever. May God bless their souls….”
(the entire speech is at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=39414 ) Bold and italic print are mine.
To all my fellow Veterans of the Vietnam War– “the arena”– you KNOW who you are; rear back and strut.
Lest we forget… Bear -30-