RIPPLE SALVO… #588… ANYTHING TO MAKE A BUCK… In this case–fictional photos and film of our POWs– but first…
Good Morning: Day FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY-EIGHT of a remembrance of OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER on the 50th anniversary of that bloody and controversial air war with North Vietnam.
15 OCTOBER: HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a soggy Sunday in New York…
Page 3: “UNITED STATES ASSERTS HANOI MISTREATS FLIERS–TERMS FILMS OF PRISONERS ARE COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA”…by Benjamin Welles, Washington, Oct. 14…
“The United States today charged North Vietnam with ‘trafficking’ in doctored photographs and films of captured American servicemen for ‘hard cash.’ In a strongly worded statement, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul H. Nitze accused Hanoi of violating the 1949 Geneva convention by parading American prisoners through the streets and photographing them.
“Other officials said that only 20 to 30 of the more than 180 United States prisoners known to be in Hanoi’s hands had apparently told East German and other interviewers of being well treated. ‘Some of many, who have been less cooperative’ said one official, are being treated differently. The implication was that the majority of the United States prisoners are being kept out of sight and subjected to harsh conditions.
FILM OFFERED TO OTHERS…
“The same East German film has been offered to Stern, to Paris Match, to N.B.C. and to Life,’ an informant said. ‘we have seen the film and its stage-managed qualities are readily apparent:
“In view of the deep interest we all have in the welfare of our service personnel in enemy hands, I can readily understand the desire of American news organizations to obtain these films from whatever sources are available.
“Mr. Nitze stressed that it was important for the American people and the world to know that such films were Communist propaganda–being sold for cash.
“In response to questions, United States officials said that East German sources had recently old television films of United States prisoners to the National Broadcasting Company and stills to Life magazine. the officials declined to give details of the negotiations, but it was understood that N.B.C. had paid Approximately $50,000 and Life around $25,000.
“What is especially worrying officials here is evidence–so far undisclosed but said to be authoritative– that the Hanoi Government has selected a handful of United States prisoners to give the appearance that all prisoners are being treated in accordance with the terms of the 1949 Geneva convention. In fact, this evidence is said to show, most United states prisoners are not being properly fed or humanely treated.
“The latest evidence from the official sources indicates that there are 230 United States servicemen in enemy hands, of whom 188 are in North Vietnam and 24 in South Vietnam. In addition, there are 570 American servicemen listed as ‘missing’ of whom a substantial number are believed to be in captivity.
CHANGE IN TACTICS SEEN
” ‘The enemy is changing his tactics,’ one official commented. ‘A year or so ago there was brainwashing and alleged confessions t war crimes. Now it’s more subtle. Hanoi wants the world to think that they’re treating our prisoners decently.’ Mr. Nitze charged Hanoi with deliberate and persistent violations of the Geneva stipulations. He said it had done the following:
+Denied representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross access to prisoners.
+Refused to furnish a list of prisoners to the Red Cross as provided by the convention.
+Refused or totally denied mail privileges.
“Attempts by the State and Defense Departments and the International Red Cross to get Hanoi to comply with the Geneva convention have been persistently rebuffed,’ Mr. Nitze said. ‘These attempts will continue.’
N.B.C. TO SHOW FILM
“The network plans to show the 28-minute silent film depicting living conditions of so,me American prisoners in North Vietnam. the films taken at a prisoner-of-war camp outside of Hanoi, were made by an East German camera crew last spring and were purchased by N.B.C News from the East German film agency, Deutsche Film Agentur. Mr. William R. McAndrew, president of N.B.C. News, said in an interview last week that the network had paid ‘several thousand dollars’ for the film and planned to show parts of it on ‘The Huntley Brinkley Report’ tomorrow night.
“Life magazine, which purchased still photographs made by the same team, will publish them in a 13-page spread in its issue reaching the newsstands tomorrow. According to the magazine, the United States Government ‘believes the camp is a deception and that many of the pictures have been staged.’
“The six prisoners in the N.B.C film are identified as Lieut. Paul E. Galanti, Lieut. Comdr. Richard Allen Stratton, Seaman Douglas Burnett Hegdahl, Lieut. Comdr. Kay Russel, Capt. David Burnett Hatcher and Lieut. (j.g.) David George Rehmann. N.B.C. said the films had been shown to both the State department and the Pentagon, both of which refused to supply the addresses of the captives.
“Commander Stratton, who has been a prisoner since he was shot down last January, and Seaman Hegdahl, who was washed overboard from the guided-missile cruiser Canberra last April when his ship was struck by a shore battery, have been the subjects of interviews published in this country before.
“The N.B.C. film includes scenes of the sullen but healthy looking prisoners taking outdoor showers, doing their laundry, sitting in their sparsely furnished rooms and reading in the prison library.”…
N.B.C. EXPLAINS POSITION
“After Mr. Nitze’s charges were made, William R. McAndrews, president of N.B.C. News, issued the following statement: ‘As a common practice all network news organizations including N.B.C. News, clearly label this type film as having been acquired from Communist sources.’ “
Other Head Lines from Page 1 of the 900-page New York Times on Sunday 15 October 1967 (just for the record)…
Page 1: “Governor Rockefeller asks End of Campaign To Nominate Him–Tells Backers Here and In New Hampshire To Drop Efforts on Presidency–Fears Decisive result–Governor Says Involvement Could Hurt Party–Urges ‘Respect’ For His Stand”… Page 1: “Romney Says War is Used By Johnson to Conceal Waste”… “…a smoke screen to excuse high Government spending and to justify a tax increase. ‘the biggest jump in federal spending has not been for guns abroad, but for butter at home. And in my opinion, that butter includes an awful lot of fat.”…Page 1: “G.O.P. Sees Reagan Playing Key role In Two Primaries”… “Leaders think he could hurt Richard Nixon and help Romney of himself in early races.”… Page 1: “Southern Cal Crushes Notre Dame, 24-7–Affirms Top Football Rating–Purdue Routs Ohio State”… and way back on page 58: “LGEN James M. Gavin Weighing a Presidency Bid”… “…if a moderate Republican is not nominated by mid-November.”…
15 October 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (16 Oct reporting 15 Oct ops) Page 1: “U.S. LOSES 3 JETS IN RAIDS ON NORTH–TOLL IS PUT AT 701–LATEST ATTACKS ARE EFFORTS TO CHOKE FOE’S SHIPPING”...
“A United States spokesman announced today the loss of three more American planes in North Vietnam, binging the total downed in the two years and eight months since the air war to 701. The spokesman also said that the raids yesterday on barge buildings and repair yards near Haiphong and Hanoi, none of which had been hit previously represented an attempt to choke off North Vietnam’s coastal and inland waterway transportation at the source.
“Intelligence officials here believe that steady air attacks against highways and railroads have forced the Hanoi regime to try to move by water more of its food and war supplies to troops fighting in the South. Pilots from the carrier Constellation, who struck the western Haiphong yard on the banks of the Trambar River, one of the mouths of the Red River, said that debris was blasted 1000-feet in the air by a secondary explosion caused by their bombs. The yard which has two drydocks and covered shipways was said to account for 10 per cent of North Vietnam’s annual construction of barges.
“The yard is 1.5 miles west of the center of the city, where the docks used by foreign shipping are, and about 10-miles from the Gulf of Tonkin. Also struck for the first time were the early warning radar station at Kienan, 8 miles south of the port city, a warehouse complex and maintenance yard 1.3 miles to the south, and smaller boat yards at Xomtrai and Hoaloan, on the arms of the Red River about30 miles northwest of Hanoi. Two other yards near Haiphong were bombed for the first time Friday.
“A total of 162 missions were flown against the North. the weather in the Hanoi area was once again cloudy and overcst, a precursor to the extremely bad flying weather that grips the central part of North Vietnam through late fall and winter.
“Fliers from the carrier Oriskany raided the radar station. Ltjg James I. Dolley of Manchester Center, VT, one of the pilots, said: ‘I saw direct hits on the revetted middle radar site. One of the buildings was burning as we left.
“The three downed planes were struck over the Panhandle, the narrow, lower section of North Vietnam, the spokesman said. The planes were a Marine F-4 Phantom, which went down Friday, its two man crew dead or captured, a Navy RA-3 Skywarrior reconnaissance plane hit yesterday, and an Air Force Phantom that went down this morning. The Skywarrior, a relatively slow two-engine jet generally used as an aerial refueling tanker, was struck over the coast, the spokesman said, and crashed five miles at sea. Two of the three crew members were rescued. The rescue was carried out under fire from shore batteries and small boats attempting to capture the fliers. The boats were driven off by the cannon fire of a propellor-driven Skyraider. The Air Force Phantom also went down in the Gulf of Tonkin. Both crew members were saved.”…. “B-52’s Bomb Mugia Pass”… “United States B-52s struck the Mugia Pass for the fourth time last night in their first raid in 10 months (12 Dec 66) on North Vietnam’s major infiltration route to the South through Laos. The pass has been a frequent target of smaller Untied States planes. (called fighter-bombers)…”
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 15 October 1967…
(1) COL R.W. MALOY and CAPTAIN W.S. PAUL were flying an F-4C of the 480thTFS and 366th TFW out of Danang as part of a formation of Phantoms on an armed reconnaissance mission in Route Pack I. COLONEL MALOY and CAPTAIN PAUL were hit in their dive on a target, lost an engine and headed for the Gulf of Tonkin, then Danang, They made the water but not Danang. The aircraft became unflyable and they ejected to be rescued by an Air Force helicopter…
RIPPLE SALVO… #588… “Propaganda on War Prisoners’…Humble Host goes to the New York Times for the last word on the East German work of fiction…
“If North Vietnam wants to convince Americans that it is treating captured pilots humanely, there is a simple route available. Instead of floating propaganda pictures and stories through East German sources, all Hanoi need to do is cooperate in Washington’s lone effort to promote mutual observance of the Geneva Convention of 1949.
“Specifically, it should agree to inspection of all prisoner-of-war camps by the International Red Cross, another proposal the United States has pressed for many months with both North Vietnam and the Vietcong. Without such independent certification, no amount of circulation via press and television of material intended to show how well P.O.W.’s are treated will relieve anxiety over their welfare.”
(Webmaster note: The New York Times of today would no doubt be unapologetic cheerleaders for North Vietnam’s murderous communist masters, just as they are for Hamas terrorists)
RTR QUOTE for 15 October: HOMER, IIliad: “Who dares think one thing, and another tell, My heart detests him as the gates of hell.”
Lest we forget… Bear