RIPPLE SALVO… #226… RESCAP…LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND… … but first…
Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX of THE ROLLING THUNDER DIARY…
13 OCTOBER 1966… WHAT THE HOME FOLKS WERE READING… On the United States Navy’s 191st Birthday…A sunny Thursday…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY USN… Don’t Tread On Me!…Page 1: “Johnson Attacks Republican Fear On City Tour”…”President Johnson toured New York City yesterday in an old fashioned stumping campaign for Frank O’Conner, Democratic candidate for Governor, and for Democratic congressional candidates. He also attacked the Republican Party as a party of fear. In a hectic crowd-filled day of campaigning, President Johnson scorned the Republicans as the party that had voted against the minimum wage, against aid to education, and against the 1966 civil rights act. ‘Afraid, afraid, afraid,’ he chanted at a Staten Island rally. ‘Republicans are afraid of their own shadows and they are afraid of the shadow of progress. But the only thing Americans are afraid of–is Republicans.’ Last night he joined Vice President Hubert Humphrey at a Columbus Day dinner in Brooklyn where the President appealed for racial justice with a reminder to Italian-Americans that not long ago they felt the raw pain of discrimination in America. ‘Other Americans are now feeling the same weight which you and your families once felt,’ he told an Italian-American dinner at the St. George Hotel.”… Page 1: “Bank In Detroit Insolvent”…”Biggest Failure Since ’30s”…”The Public Bank of Detroit, the biggest bank to fail since the Depression, was declared insolvent early yesterday morning, but steps were taken immediately to protect depositor’s funds.”… Page 1: “Israel Asks Move By U.N. On Syrians”…”Israel urged today that the Security Council be convened to ‘deal with acts of aggression by Syria.’ The request for a meeting of the 15 member Council followed a series of border incidents last weekend. In one, four Israeli policemen were killed and two were injured by a land mine that the Israelis said had been laid by Syrian infiltrators. The request also complained of ‘threats by Syria against the territorial integrity and political independence of Israel.”
Page 1: “Six In Ky’s Cabinet Reported To Be Seeking To Resign In Feud”…”Two members of the South Vietnamese Cabinet asserted today that they and four other cabinet ministers had submitted resignations to Premier Nguyen Cao Ky and attempts to smooth over a cabinet feud had failed. Other sources said the Premier had not accepted the resignations. The dispute is complex. Five of the six dissident ministers are natives of what is now South Vietnam and these ‘Southerners’ were understood to resent the overwhelming influence of North Vietnamese exiles who are members of the Ky Government.”… Page 1: “GOP Goes Johnson One Better; Asks Social Security Rise Now”…”House Republicans, angry at what they viewed as a pre-election bid by President Johnson to win votes for Democrats urged immediate action today on his plan for increasing social Security benefits. The Republicans said that congress should approve the increases before the General Elections November 8 instead of waiting until next year as the President has proposed…His plan is to raise benefits by 10 per cent.”…
Page 5: “Peace Aide Says Raids By U.S. Fail”…” Chester A. Rowning who visited Hanoi in June as a special Canadian envoy says that continued bombing will not break the will of the North Vietnamese but will only increase their determination to win the war. ‘They will not come to the table on their knees,’ he told an audience of 900 at a university lecture in Edmonton, Canada. Mr. Rowning, who has served twice as Canadian Peace Envoy to Hanoi and Saigon, said that ‘as long as the bombing of North Vietnam continued, there is not the slightest possibility of getting talks started to end hostilities so that negotiations can begin. He said that to assert that Peking caused the war in Vietnam ‘is to ignore completely the whole history of the revolution led by Ho Chi Minh against the French and Japanese and the traditional relations between Vietnam and China.’ Speaking at the new Marshall Tory University at the University of Alberta, Mr. Rowning listed a few North Vietnamese facts of life. The North Vietnamese say: Communist China must be seated at the UN; Peking is not engaged in the war and are not the aggressors; both sides want the presence of the International Control Commission; Canada must seize the opportunity to strengthen ties with China; and the war in South Vietnam is a ground war and China is the greatest land power by virtue of the greatest manpower resources.”…
Page 3: “McNamara Visits Posts In Field”…”Defense Secretary McNamara left Saigon today for visits to United States commands in the field. After two days of briefings in the capital he flew here (Phucat), 275 miles to the northeast, for a look at one of the major innovations during his tenure as SecDef and the Vietnam War–the First Cavalry Division (Air Mobile), with its 456 helicopters. He visited Danang and Third Marine Amphibious Force then on to USS Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin to observe Navy combat operations.”…
13 OCTOBER 1966…THE ROLLING THUNDER DIARY… NYT (14 Oct reporting 13 Oct ops) Page 16: “American pilots flew 145 missions over North Vietnam yesterday striking supply and transportation routes and surface-to-air missile sites.” (That was it!) …”Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) One fixed wing aircraft was lost in Southeast Asia on 13 October 1966… Page 78…
(1) 1LTs MURRAY LYMAN BORDEN and EUGENE THOMAS MEADOWS were flying an F-4C Phantom of the 480th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang on a section night armed reconnaissance mission over the trails and roads just north of the demilitarized zone. they spotted trucks, set up a pattern and made several attacks on the target vehicles. 1LT BORDEN’s aircraft failed to recover from his third run. The other aircraft in the flight observed a large explosion on the ground in the area of the target. One, short SAR beeper signal was heard and then silence but searching aircraft failed to find any evidence of the pilots or their aircraft. In 1994 a Joint US-Vietnamese recovery mission found human remains at a crash site about ten miles north of the DMZ that were subsequently identified as those of 1LT MEADOWS. No trace of 1LT BORDEN has ever been found. Fifty years ago on this day two young warriors perished carrying the fight to the enemy in his homeland. 1LTs BORDEN AND MEADOWS were Killed in Action and young 1LT BORDEN remains where he fell… Alas…
RIPPLE SALVO… #226… AN EVENING WITH THE ANGELS OF THE TRADE — the combat search and rescue guys who were always there when they were called, which was often during Rolling Thunder, Steel Tiger and Barrel Roll operations in the 1960s… As I review the daily records of the air war hardly a day goes by that brave men in distress aren’t saved by brave men doing heroic duty. These are the legion of ResCAP rotary wing guys whose job it was to charge into hornet nests to rescue fixed wing aviators who desperately needed a ride home. Tonight I continue the account of efforts to rescue LT ROBERT WOODS a USS Oriskany A-4E warrior who was downed 30 miles southwest of Thanh Hoa on 12 October and spent two days evading his pursuers on the ground. The initial effort by Navy SAR helicopters to make the rescue was turned away by intense ground fire. Undaunted, the Joint Recovery command put a “Shining Brass” operation together and on 16 October a 12-man special forces team was inserted by two SH-3s near the crash site to conduct a search and rescue operation. Discovered and opposed, the commandos killed four North Vietnamese troops before terminating the effort as the enemy rousted more forces into the area. The “Angels” returned through intense enemy fire to recover the 12 man team and exit the arena. One of the Sea King helicopters sustained major combat damage in the process and was forced to ditch near the carrier in the Gulf. all hands were rescued without loss of life. LT WOODS was captured and imprisoned until March 1973. Bottom line: another adventure by Angels in the domain of the bold and brave where there are no easy days.
On 5 September and again on 3 October my posts have retold Angel adventures that required extraordinary courage under fire to save downed strike pilots from sticky situations where life and death were even options and Fate was very near in order to select the option. This evening I call attention to more Angel tales on the internet for your appreciation and admiration. The first is the very recently published article in the Ocala (Florida) StarBanner posted on 9 October 2016 under the headline: “Former pilot of Air Force One recalls heyday.” It is a fun read that follows Colonel Bob Ruddick from his HH-53 Jolly Green days in 1967-68 through his years of flying Presidents Carter and Reagan around the world in Air Force One. What makes this a special read is Colonel Ruddick’s conclusion that “the most fulfilling service in his career was performing the rescue missions in Vietnam.”
“Flying those missions so those pilots could live another day, that was the most rewarding.”…
Find this fresh copy at http://www.ocala.com/news/2o161009/former-pilot-of-air-force-one-recalls-heyday
The other Angel tale for your retelling at a bar or at a family picnic with grandkids is the story of Navy Medal of Honor awardee Clyde Lassen. Only three Naval Aviators were awarded the MOH during the Vietnam air war: Vice Admiral Jim Stockdale, Lieutenant Commander Mike Estocin, and LTJG Clyde Lassen. Warriors all, but only one Angel in the select group. Google: “Commander Clyde E. Lassen, Medal of Honor” and pick a site. Try the Naval Aviation News September-October 1998 story “Into the Night” by Hill Goodspeed…
The heroic work of the combat search and rescue forces for the duration of our air war with North Vietnam was a vital enabler for our strike operations. Every strike, fighter, and reconnaissance pilot who flew forward to face the guns and defenses of the enemy did so knowing that there were brave men who would risk there lives to get you out if there was anyway it was possible. Fighting spirit thrives where and when you know you are not alone. Our Angels were always there “to do their damndest for us.”
HAPPY 241ST BIRTHDAY NAVY…
Lest we forget… Bear ………. -30– ………..
More Real Life Angels.
Below posting is from a plaque hanging in the USO Lounge at the Pensacola International Airport:
HELICOPTER COMBAT SUPPORT SQUADRON 7
September 1st 1967 marked the beginning of one of the most storied periods in US Naval Aviation History with the establishment of HC-7, the “SEADEVILS.” The next 7 years and 9 months were filled with no finer examples of dedication, professionalism and heroic acts.
HC-7 was tasked with multiple missions including Logistics, Vertical Replenishment, Seventh Fleet Flagship, Mine Countermeasures, Oceanographic, home station SAR and Combat Search & Rescue (CSAR). HC-7 became the only dedicated CSAR Naval helicopter squadron.
Rescuing 150 persons, (102 were potential POWs) some deep within North Vietnam, along its coast, along South Vietnam coast, Japan, Philippines, and USA.
NAS Atsugi Japan, NAS Cubi Point Philippines, NAS Imperial Beach California
September 1, 1967 to June 30, 1975
2,215 continuous days on YANKEE STATION
Hc7.seadevils.org