RIPPLE SALVO… #711… “… SEVENTH AIR FORCE used a rare day of clear weather–14 February 1968–to attack Hanoi’s Canal Bridge, one of the targets President Johnson had again released only a week earlier. Since the bridge raids of December, the Canal Bridge had returned to operation, while the Doumer Bridge over the Red River was still down. Late in the afternoon, strike forces from Takhli and Korat converged on the bridge from opposite directions. Sixteen bomb-laden F-105s from the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Takhli came down Thud Ridge from the west, with eight F-105 escorts to threaten the SAM sites and eight F-4s to guard against MiGs. A similar force escorted a like number of F-105s from the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Korat as they penetrated North Vietnam from the Gulf of Tonkin. Although the two wings dropped forty-eight 2,000 pound and 3,000-pound bombs, only one hit hit the bridge, and three days later trains were using it. An escort F-105 from Korat was lost to a SAM and the Pilot ROBERT M. ELLIOTT was never seen again.”… (His remains were returned in 1988 and identified for burial in Arlington in 1999 where he rests 50 years after he gave his all for our country.)… (“To Hanoi and Back,” Wayne Thompson, page 128) More on this strike from the Red River Rats who flew it in RS below… but first…
Good Morning, and a happy St. Valentine’s Day to you on day SEVEN HUNDRED ELEVEN of a return to the skies over North Vietnam fifty years ago…
14 FEBRUARY 1968…HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a clear and cold Wednesday in New York City…
TET OFFENSIVE/KHESANH: Page 3: “32,904 OF FOE DEAD IN TWO WEEKS–6,440 CAPTURED–ALLIED LOSSES 3,470 KIA AND 12,062 WOUNDED–US LOSSES 1,113 DEAD AND 1,062 WOUNDED”… Page 1: “U.S. Rushes 10,500 To Met Threat of Vietnam Foe–Call-Up Weighed–Proposal Is Reported To Involve a Division Of National Guard”… “The Johnson Administration is rushing 10,500 more combat troops to South Vietnam to reinforce its stretched lines of defense and to cope with the threat of another enemy assault on Vietnamese cities…”… Page 1: “13 AMERICANS DIE IN SAIGON CLASHES–MARINES DRIVE GAINS IN HUE–Pacification Program Almost At A Standstill”… Page 2: “Army Honors 27 Killed As Foe Opened Saigon Attacks”... ” ‘They were our buddies,’ said Lieutenant Colonel Gordon E. Rowe in a eulogy.”…
Page 4: “JOHNSON POLL RATING ON VIETNAM DROPS–GALLUP FINDS DECLINE TO 35% IN PUBLIC APPROVAL”… “… has slipped from 39% to 35% in the wake of the recent Vietcong offensive that hit Saigon and other major cities in South Vietnam, according to the Gallup Poll….’Here is the question, the latest results and the trend. ‘Some people say that a halt in bombing will improve our chances in Vietnam for meaningful peace talks. Others that our chances are better if the bombing is continued. Which group are you more inclined to agree? Continue: 70% now and 63% in October 1967…Halt: 15% now and 26 last October.’ “… Page 1: “Thant Sees Results If Bombing Is Halted”… Page 4: “Disclosure (Leak) of U.S. Peace Mission to Hanoi Is Attributed to Rusk”… Page 1: “18 Unions Pledge o Seek Negroes For Building Jobs–Assure Labor Department They Will Try To Prevent Discrimination By Locals”…
14 February 1968…President’s Daily Brief… North Vietnam: The North Vietnamese are continuing to describe the Communist offensive in South Vietnam as part of a longer effort…. (redacted)…An article in the North Vietnamese party daily Nhan Dan, on 13 February also suggested that the current fighting would not be the final Communist effort. The article referred to the fighting as “the curtain raising victories” and called it an example of “relentless fighting and of firm maintenance and development of the revolutionary struggle.”
STATE DEPARTMENT: Office of the Historian, Foreign Relations, 1964-68, Vietnam. Document 75 dated 14 February 1968 is a “Circular Telegram from the Department of State to All Posts” from Secretary Rusk. Subject: “Initial Appraisal Viet Cong Tet Offensive.” Two weeks of bloody action in two pages of superb reading…
Document 75… https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d75
14 FEBRUARY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (15 Feb reporting 14 Feb ops) Page 2: “Unarmed Navy Plane Downed By a Chinese Communist MIG”… “The Defense Department said today (14th) that an unarmed United States Navy dive bomber with one man (LTJG JOSEPH P. DUNN) aboard had been shot down by a Chinese Communist MiG when it strayed into Chinese airspace. I was the eighth United States plane lost over of near Chinese territory in three years… it occurred over the Gulf of Tonkin five miles off Hainan Island.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 14 February 1968…
(1) LTJG JOSEPH PATRICK DUNN was flying an A-1H of the VA-25 “Fist of the Fleet” embarked in USS Coral Sea. Chris Hobson tells the story:
“LTJG Dunn must have thought himself lucky to be chosen to collect one of his squadron’s aircraft from Cubi Point NAS …and ferry it back to the Coral Sea, which was having a 10-day stand down from operations. LT Dunn was accompanied by another aircraft on the flight back to the carrier. During the flight the pair drifted north of their intended track and came close to the east coast of the Chinese island of Hainan. The aircraft were intercepted by Chinese MiGs, one of which fired on LT Dunn’s aircraft. The Skyraider came down about seven miles from the coast, off-shore from the village of Kao-lung. The other pilot saw LT Dunn eject from the aircraft and watched the parachute deploy. He reported the incident, but was under the impression that he was off the coast of North Vietnam so the SAR forces were directed to the wrong location. When the pilot eventually arrived at a South Vietnamese airfield he realized his mistake and the search was redirected towards Hainan. Eight hours after LT Dunn was shot down a SAR beeper transmission was heard near Hainan, however, there has been no further evidence of the fate of Joseph Dunn since that day.”… He was listed as MIA until he was eventually presumed dead… Hobson notes that this was the last Navy A-1H lost in the war. The last Navy A-1 sortie was flown on 20 February 1968 as Cora Sea wrapped up their cruise.
(2) CAPTAIN ROBERT MALCOLM ELLIOT was flying an F-105D of the 34th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat in Ironhand support of a two wing coordinated strike on the Red River bridges in Hanoi and as the strike aircraft were exiting the target post-strike CAPTAIN ELLIOT’s aircraft was hit by a SAM at 8,000 feet. He radioed he was hit, in flames, and ejecting. No one in his flight saw a parachute but the aircraft was observed to crash near the Red River about 15 miles south of Hanoi. A number of reports said he did eject and he was listed as MIA with the hope that he would return with the POWs in 1973. Not to be. His remains were recovered and returned in 1988 and positively identified in December 1999. CAPTAIN ELLIOT gave his life for his country fifty years ago on Valentine’s Day 1968…
CAPTAIN LAMONT PHARMER was on the strike and remembered the details of the mission.”It was my first Pack 6 mission and it amazed me how much fire power, AAA, SAMs, etc. the NV sent up at us. Before the flight I rode out to the flight line in the van with Bob Elliot. He was trying to ease the tension for some of new heads. He said it won’t be as bad as some had told us. Unfortunately, he got hit by a SAM that day and his body wasn’t recovered until sometime in the 1990s (1988).” CAPTAIN PHARMER was awarded the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS on this strike in the role of flak suppression: “… Despite heavy missile and antiaircraft artillery fire, CAPTAIN PHARMER unhesitatingly selected and attacked a lethal antiaircraft artillery site over the one originally assigned him in order to suppress a more potent threat to the strike force. CAPTAIN PHARMER displaying outstanding courage and flying skill, delivered his ordnance directly on target, contributing significantly to the safety of the main force on an important and highly dangerous mission.”… oohrah…
(3) LTJG ROBERT CHARLES McMAHAN was flying an F-8E of the VF-194 Red Lightnings embarked in USS Ticonderoga as an escort on a photo mission in the Vinh airfield area when hit by a surface-to-air missile. LJJG McMAHAN was not observed to eject nor was a parachute seen. But a short beeper signal provided come hope until his remains were recovered and returned in September 1990 and positively identified on 29 November 1990. So young. So brave. And remembered here on Valentine’s Day 50 years after he was killed-in-action in the valiant service of our country…
(4) CAPTAIN J. K. LEWIS was on night-alert in an F-100D of the 90th TFS and 3rd TFW out of Bien Hoa when scrambled to provide close-air-support and attack a Vietcong gun position on the banks of the Mekong 17 miles southeast of Can Tho. On his third night strafing pass he was hit by small arms fire and was forced to eject after a few minutes of flight up the Mekong River. He was picked up by an Air Force HH-43 from Detachment 10 of the 38th ARRS to fly and fight again….
RIPPLE SALVO… #711… HUMBLE HOST taps Howie Plunkett’s “34TFS/F-105-History” for the continuation of the Valentine’s Day 1968 strike ops in RP6 by the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing…
14-Feb-68… “Scuba flight from the 34th TFS was one of the Korat flights that struck the Canal des Rapides Bridge (JCS 13) in downtown Hanoi. The flight took off at 1355. The line-up: #1 LCOL Bob smith 34TFS Commander; #2 Captain William Thomas, Jr. ; #3 Major Sam Armstrong; and #4 Captain Gary Durkee… This was Major Armstrong’s 66th combat mission, and his “100 mission log” records: “The target was the Hanoi Railroad & Highway Bridge (JCS 13). The weather was clear for the first time in several weeks. We came up the delta into the target. Col Smith inadvertently dropped his bombs crossing the coast. The visibility was restricted but we picked up the target about 20 miles out. I hit about where I aimed but the wind they gave us was wrong. Nobody hit the bridge consequently, and post-strike photography showed there were 30 cars on the bridge at the time. #2 couldn’t get his bombs off and carried them out. The flak was lighter than reputed and we only saw about 6 SAMs, which weren’t too close. However, Pancho #2 was hit by a SAM on the way out and went down (Captain Robert Malcolm Elliot, 34TFS KIA). We went on down to Pack I in northern Mu Gia Pass and #2 got his bombs off. The rest of us made 3 strafing passes on a building along the road.” The mission lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes….
Major Armstrong reflected on this mission and wrote at length about it– Humble Host will post that tomorrow…
RTR Quote for 14 February: JOHN DRYDEN, Alexander’s Feast: “None but the brave deserve the fair.”
Lest we forget… Bear