RIPPLE SALVO… #647… Part V: North Vietnam’s Air Defense System–1967… but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN of looking back and bringing forward for a round of remembrance, the air war called Rolling Thunder fought fifty years ago…
14 December 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a nice, average Thursday in New York…
Page 1: “Greek King Flees To Rome With Family After Failing To Overthrow The Junta–Viceroy is Named–Civil War is Averted–Premier Deposed, Also in Flight”... “King Constantine fled Greece early today after trying unsuccessfully to overthrow the military junta that seized power last January. even before the 27-year old King ‘[s departure with his family, the junta declared him deposed. It appointed Lieutenant Governor George Zoitakas as viceroy ‘to exercise royal authority.’ The cabinet was reorganized, with Colonel George Papadopoulos as Premier.”… Page 1: “Mansfield Rebuts Johnson Attack on G.O.P.”... “Democratic leader of the Senate Mike Mansfield took issue today with President Johnson’s sharp attack last night on Republicans in Congress. ‘There are nay-sayers and yes-sayers in both parties. So any blame should be spread impartiality.’ “… Page 1: “U.S. Considering Pursuits of Foe in Cambodia”… Page 1: “Missile To Bomb City-After-City Planned By U.S.–Craft Could Drop Warheads Over Foe’s Land–Defense Aide Discloses”... “A spacecraft that can drop off thermonuclear warheads city-by-city as it flies over enemy territory is being developed in the United States.”… Page 1: “Jobless Rate Drops to 3.9%, Drop Sharpest Since 1961–Figures down from 4.3%–Negro Employment Up in NYC, Now at 5%”… “2.5% in Washington, 9.8% in San Francisco.”… Page 1: “U.N. To get Terms of Vietcong Today”… “The political programs of the South Vietnam National Liberation Front, including terms for peace and policies for the future, will be circulated tomorrow to all members of the United Nations by Secretary General Thant.”…
GROUND WAR (“War is a killing business.”)… Page 2: Hanson Baldwin “Fortified Barrier Below Demilitarized Zone is Taking Shape–Troops Under Enemy Fire Build Bunkers and Towers to Bar North Vietnamese”... “Heavy bunkers are sprouting in the red clay and deep mud south of the DMZ along the border between North and South Vietnam. Marines Seabees and South Vietnamese under enemy fire and in drenching rain, are constructing fortified bases, living areas and fighting positions. The swath of military positions of various types is what Washington civilians, call the barrier, what military men describe as an obstacle, the Marines call the McNamara Line, for the Secretary of Defense, who is believed to be the architect.”… Page 6: “Foe Renews Attack in The Dakto Region”… “The North Vietnamese returned to the offensive in the Dakto region of the Central Highlands last night… Three men were killed and twelve wounded in a 45-minute mortar barrage against an artillery base of the Fourth Infantry Division near Dakto, which is 20-miles from the Cambodian border… about 55 82mm mortar rounds were fired at the base. The mortar attack indicates that North Vietnamese units, which were cleared last month from the 1,000-foot ridge surrounding the river valley in which Dakto is situated, had begun filtering back from bases across the border. The area had been quiet since Thanksgiving Day, when the 173rd Airborne Brigade stormed Hill 875, five miles from the border, after having taken heavy losses in a four-day fight.”…
NYT, 15 Dec, Page 16: “Earlier, the South Vietnamese armed forces reported their heaviest weekly death toll of the year. A total of 380 men were killed last week, 80 were wounded and 59 were listed as missing. These figures reflected two heavy battles in the Mekong River delta as well as an in creasing number of enemy attacks against army and militia outposts throughout the country… The weekly summary also reported that 194 Americans and 21 other allied servicemen had been killed in action. A total of 1,643 Americans were wounded, of whom 803 required hospitalization. The total of 595 dead was the second highest weekly figure of the war. It was surpassed last May, when 628 were killed when American troops were heavily engaged near the DMZ. The report said 1,818 enemy soldiers were killed last week, 938 by Americans and other non-Vietnamese forces, the rest by South Vietnamese troops… “
14 DECEMBER 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (15 Dec reporting 14 Dec ops)..Page 1: “U.S. PILOTS RESUME HANOI AREA STRIKES”... “United States Air Force pilots struck at the Longbien Bridge, Hanoi’s rail link with Communist China, yesterday (14th) as the weather over central North Vietnam lifted for the first time since November 26…Pilots reported having shot down one of four MIG-17s that rose against them south of Haiphong. It was the 99th enemy interceptor reported shot down. Thirty seven American planes have been lost in aerial combat over the North…In the raid on Hanoi, heavy anti-aircraft fire prevented American pilots from remaining over the city long enough to learn whether the Longbien Bridge had been cut. It was the third of the war against the rail and highway bridge across the Red River 1.7 miles from the center of Hanoi. the first raid, on August 11, in which one of the bridge’s 14 spans was reported destroyed, marked an important intensification of the air war. By late September the bridge was opened again, and October 11 after several attempts, the American military announced that it had again been cut.
“Air Force sources have indicated that they would regard it as a stroke of good fortune if the bridge, perhaps the single most important target in North Vietnam, was knocked out again on the first attempt. The Air Force reported that MIG-21s had defended the Hanoi area. A brief engagement was reported, but it was said that there was no damage to aircraft of either side. The Navy reported that the pilot of an F-8 Crusader jet had been credited with shooting down a MIG…Page 16: “111 Missile Sites Struck”… “American pilots reported having struck at least seven surface-to-air missile sites in their raid on Hanoi and four near Haiphong.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) there was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 14 December 1967…
(1) CAPTAIN JAMES ELDEN SEHORN was flying an F-105D of the 469th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat and participating in a wing strike on the Longbien Bridge at Hanoi and had delivered his bombs on target before being hit by Antiaircraft fire as he recovered from his dive attack. He ejected in the target area and was captured immediately. CAPTAIN SEHORN spent more than five years as a POW before being freed in March 1973. He remained in the Air Force and completed his service in the rank of Brigadier General…
Snipped From the Howie Plunkett compilation “34TFS/F-105 History“… 14-Dec-67…
“From Korat, two pilots from the 44th TFS and eight from the 34 TFS flew in today’s strike against the Paul Doumer bridge (JCS 12)….The pilots were: Major White and Captain Thomas A. Tobin, Jr from the 44th; and Major James E. Daniel, Jr., Captain Sam P. Morgan, Captain Robert M. Crane, and Major David E. Igelman from the 34th TFS.
“Four 34 TFS pilots formed “Simmer” Flight that took off at 1105. The mission lasted for 3 hours and 35 minutes. The lineup: Major Spence “Sam” Armstrong, Flight Lead; Major William M. Blakeslee, #2; Colonel James l. Stewart, #3; and, LCOL Nevin G. Christensen. It was Major Armstrong’s 36th Combat mission. “We finally got in on the Doumer Bridge in Downtown Hanoi. We were delayed 5 hours waiting for the weather to clear. When we dropped off of the tankers we could see (coming up the Gulf of Tonkin) that the entire delta was clear. They launched 6 SAMs at us from the Red River south of Hanoi as we headed up but nobody got hit. as we approached the target for a left roll-in, we had swung further to the North than we anticipated. Consequently, I wound up rolling-in almost straight ahead with a slit-s maneuver. I had to maneuver the aircraft quite violently to get lined up and I’m not sure I hit the bridge. I saw two bomb impacts to the south of the bridge when I bombed. My #2, #3, #4 men all lost me as I pulled off and I went out by myself. There was heavy 85mm and 37/57 mm in the target area. Cactus #4 did not come back Captain James Eldon Sehorn, 469th, did not come home…”…
RIPPLE SALVO… #647… Part V of 1967 Rolling Thunder review… “North Vietnam’ Air Defense System–1967″…
“Although MIG pilot aggressiveness, proficiency, and air tactics continued to improve in 1967, we maintained the lead in aerial engagements. Averaging some 20 encounters per month for the year, the North Vietnamese Air Force lost aircraft at a ratio of three to one (over 75 MIGs downed in air-to-air combat vs. our aircraft). In addition to the air losses, strikes against three airfields resulted in the destruction of 15 MIGs on the ground. MIG losses, however, were soon replaced by shipments from Russia and Communist China. At year’s end, some 20 aircraft were operating in North Vietnam; the remainder were believed to be in Southern China, probably for retraining and regrouping.
“At the beginning of 1967 North Vietnam’s fighter aircraft were utilizing four airfields: Gia Lam, Phuc Yen, Kep and Cat Bi. In February newly constructed Hoa Lac became serviceable, and in April our photography indicated that MIG aircraft had landed there. Harassing strikes against Hoa Lac and Kep began in April and Kien An at Haiphong was added to the list in May. By the end of the year, all the jet capable or jet potential airfields had been attacked except for Gia Lam, the international airport at Hanoi, which had not been authorized for strike. Although vital ground equipment was destroyed, most of the major fields were returned to serviceability within a short time after each strike…
“By 1967 approximately 25 SAM battalions were estimated to be operational in North Vietnam and by the end of the year more than 100 new SAM sites had been discovered. SAM coverage expanded to the northwest and to the area just north of the demilitarized Zone. In October 1967 and again in December, the first known SAM’s were fired at B-52 aircraft, but they failed to damage the aircraft. Although some 3,500 SAM visual firings were noted throughout 1967, compared to about 990 in 1966, SAM effectiveness again declined. An average of 55 SAMs was required to down one of our aircraft compared to 33 in 1966 and 13 in 1965. It was evident that our countermeasures and techniques were becoming more effective.”… (CINCPAC/USMACV, “Report on the War in Vietnam–June 1968”)
RTR Quote for 14 December: DUKE of WELLINGTON; “A great country cannot wage a little war.”…
Lest we forget… Bear