RIPPLE SALVO… #895… HUMBLE HOST HAS A FEW WORDS IN SUPPORT OF THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND…but first…
GOOD MORNING…Day, and page, EIGHT HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE of a 1,000 page –post– journal that returns to the years of 1965 to 1968 and Operation Rolling Thunder, the battlefield in the skies over North Vietnam and recalls the courageous aviators who carried the war to the enemy’s homeland…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Friday, 16 August 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL 72 IN DELTA MISTAKE–DEATHS IN U.S. ATTACK OF AUGUST 8 HAD BEEN PUT AT 18″… “An American river convoy, fighting back at Vietcong ambushes last week, killed nearly five times as many civilians as the 15 that reports from the scene indicated at the time. Many of the deaths–the total was 72–came when the American force attacked the enemy with flame throwers, according to a military investigation that has not yet been made public. Ten Americans were wounded and one boat was damaged and had to be beached. One South Vietnamese soldier was killed and 15 were wounded. Enemy casualties could not be determined. ‘This incident took place at night and our guys did not know who was shooting at them,’ one American officer said. ‘And they stepped up their firing. Unfortunately, they shot up one of the friendliest and most secure towns–Cairang–in the Mekong Delta…. 450 HOMES WERE HIT… The assessment of the destruction and casualty toll shows now that in addition to the 72 deaths, 240 civilians were wounded and more than 450 homes were destroyed.”… Page 3: “3 ARMS FACTORIES SEIZED IN DELTA–SOUTH VIETNAMESE TROOPS MAKE AN AIRBORNE STRIKE”… “South Vietnamese soldiers discovered three enemy munitions factories yesterday in the Mekong Delta, 54 miles south of Saigon, a military spokesman said today. They seized 4,800 hand grenades, sheets of metal, steel rods and a thousand fuses and grenade springs…The troops were lifted into the area by American helicopters after they had received information of enemy activity there. They met no opposition.”… “NEW FIGHTING NEAR DMZ”…”Allied infantrymen were reported to have killed 215 North Vietnamese soldiers yesterday in an outburst of fighting near the demilitarized zone. South Vietnamese infantrymen backed by armored vehicles reported having killed 159 North Vietnamese regulars in a seven-and-a-half-hour battle near Giolinh, at the eastern edge of the defense line. The Government troops suffered one killed and 34 wounded in the fighting…. American marines of the Third Regiment trapped about 200 North Vietnamese regulars entrenched in high grass four miles north of the outpost at Camp Campbell. Supported by air strikes and artillery, the marines killed 41 of the enemy before the North Vietnamese withdrew at nightfall.”… Page 3: “In a regular report on combat casualties a United States spokesman said that 173 Americans died on the battlefield in the week ended last Saturday. He said 788 were wounded, of whom 447 were treated at hospitals. In the previous week 171 American were reported killed and 1,050 wounded…. 1,642 of the enemy were killed in the week.”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 1: “SECRETARY TERMS TROOPS SECURITY KEY TO BOMBING HALT– SAYS U.S. WANTS ASSURANCE FROM HANOI THAT G.I.’S WON’T BE IN MORE PERIL–Signal Is Still Awaited– Secretary Declares Enemy Appears To Plan Big Drive–Thieu Derides Talks”… “Secretary of Defense Clark M. Clifford said today that a halt in the bombing of North Vietnam required some reciprocal assurance from Hanoi that such a halt would not place American troops. The Secretary said at a news conference that the United States was still waiting for some clear signal from the Government of North Vietnam that the present lull in its combat operations represented a change in attitude of an effort toward reduction in the fighting. In the absence of any such indication, Mr. Clifford said, the United States has to assume that the current level of fighting is part of a plan to permit the enemy troops to regroup, refit an rest and will be followed, as in the past, by a large-scale offensive.”
Page 2: “BATTLESHIP NEW JERSEY IS DUE IN VIETNAM SOON–U.S. Naval Chief Sees No Escalation In Move”… “The Unites States Navy’s highest ranking officer said today that the arrival of the battleship New Jersey off Vietnam next month could certainly not be considered an escalation of the war. Instead according to Admiral Thoms H. Moorer, the Chief of Naval Operations, the ship will be an improvement of present capabilities’ in the bombardment of North Vietnam. ‘I don’t see how anybody in any sense of the world can call it an escalation,’ the 56 year-old admiral said at a news conference aboard this guided missile cruiser (U.S.S. Providence). There has been some speculation that the entry of the battleship into the war might be interpreted by the North Vietnamese as an escalation and have a disruptive effect on the talks in Paris…. The ship is due in the theater next month as planned…. The admiral said that air strikes in the limited area of North Vietnam had been very effective. He said it wa obvious that halting the bombing without reciprocity from Hanoi would result in a flood of men and supplies into South Vietnam.”… Page 1: “ROMANIA STARTS A VISIT TO PRAGUE–Ceausescu A Supporter Of Reformist Regime–Will Renew Amity Pact”… Page 3: “RISING WAR PERIL IS SEEN IN KOREA–Officials Believe A Conflict Was Near Twice In Year”… Page 12: “14 CUBANS ESCAPE IN A STOLEN PLANE–Made Ill By Insecticide Cargo In Flight To Florida”… “Fourteen Cuban refugees landed here today violently ill after a two hour flight across the Florida straits in a stolen crop dusting plane loaded with poisonous insecticides…The plane, a Russian AN-2, converted to a crop duster was loaded with Parathion so deadly that it has been banned from Agriculture in South Florida.”…
POLITICS (10 Days to Democrats Convention in Chicago): Page 1: “HUMPHREY DRIVE WILL OPEN IN NYC–HE PLANS LABOR DAY START ON FALL CAMPAIGN IN A SHIFT FROM TRADITIONAL SITE”… Page 1: “McCARTHY TALKS AT GARDEN–URGES A VIETNAM COALITION–19,000 Hail Candidate–The McCarthy Cabinet”… Page 1: “McGOVERN URGES DRIVE ON SLUMS–Says Law and Order Pleas Have Racist Undertone”…
16 AUGUST 1968…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times…Page 3: “The weather improved in North Vietnam and American pilots flew 105 multi-plane missions, attacking 48 boats, 21 trucks and nine railroad cars. Only 31 were flown the day before.”… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) there was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 16 August 1968…
(1) MAJOR MICHAEL OWEN McELHANON and MAJOR JOHN FRANCIS OVERLOCK were flying a Misty F-100F of the 612th TFS and the 37th TFW out of Phu Cat on a FAC mission north of the DMZ. After flying one cycle they radioed the Airborne Battlefield Control Commander that they were en route to rendezvous with a tanker over the Gulf of Tonkin for the second refueling. That was the last contact Airborne Control had with Overlock and McElhanon. They were not missed until some fifty minutes later, when a flight of fighter aircraft tried to locate them to get a fix on their target. The plane is assumed to have gone down somewhere near the city of Dong Hoi in North Vietnam’s Quang Binh Province. No one knows for sure what happened to the two aviators in Misty 11. If they went down close to the city, they could have been captured. If they went down over the Gulf they may never be found. For the next five years, their families waited to see if McElhanon and Overlord had been captured. When 591 of our POWs were released in the spring of 1973 the two were not among them. Experts said that there were hundreds who were expected to be released and who were not. Finally, in late 1975, the United States declared the men dead, based on no specific information that they were alive…
THERE IS MORE, MUCH MORE TO THE EFFORT TO FIND AND RETURN LCOL OVERLOCK and COL McELHANON. . Reference and read at:
Humble Host snipped a few excerpts to wet your interest in reading the whole 3,000 words… I guarantee you’ll take full interest in the report if you get started…
“On August 17 the 37th CSG initiated a Casualty Report which stated that a change in the missing status was determined to be unwarranted based on the fact that the area was extremely hostile, and parts of it were heavily forested, hampering an air search. It was considered possible that the pilots had landed safely and were captured or were evading… On September 27, 1968 the 37th CG confirmed the coordinates and stating the Unit Commander’s assertion that during the period 0845 to 0858, Misty 11 was probably continuing to search for targets while flying at a level below which radar could observe him. The Unit Commander stated that Misty 11’s radio contact at 0858, indicating he was gong out to refuel, would normally have been made at about the time he approached the coastline heading for the tanker. However, there was no way to confirm that he was over land or water at the time of the last radio contact. The best estimate of Misty 11’s position at the time of last radio contact was somewhere between his position at 0845 and the coast….. A year later in August 1969, an investigation and review of the case of the officers missing since August 16,1968 was completed…An official determination was made to continue the MIA status…Both men were promoted on August 17, 1969, a year and a day since they went missing… Next of kin were notified MIA status continued… six years later, on September 16, 1975… a status review hearing in the case of Lieutenant Colonel Overlock…. Upon completion of the hearing, Mrs. Overlock was advised that her husband would be recommended for termination by “finding of death” …the Secretary of the Air Force personally reviewed the case and proposed a change of status from “Missing in Action” or “Killed in Action.”…(details on the notification process)… Another thirteen years had passed before hope was raised of finding Colonel Overlock or his remains (and those of Colonel McElhanon)… From January 18-20, 1989 a Joint United States-Vietnam investigation team investigated incidents involving the loss of American aircraft in Nhan Trach village…Included in their agenda was an investigation of the report of the crash of an American aircraft near Ly Nhon Bac in which burial sites had been reported… the witness led the team to an open sandy area lying on the northern edge of the hamlet, saying that an A-6A aircraft had crashed there at about 0300 hours on August 16, 1968. The results of the teams findings are covered in detail… The investigation team recommended that a full-sized recovery team with special equipment be moved into the village to excavate the crash site and an isolated burial site located 400 meters away… It was confirmed the only aircraft lost over North Vietnam on August 16, 1968 was an F-100 that was heading out to sea to refuel when it disappeared… The search goes on…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 16 AUGUST DAYS OF THE FOUR YEARS THE OPERATION CARRIED THE WAR INTO NORTH VIETNAM…
1965, 1966, 1967… NONE…
1968… COLONEL MICHAEL OWEN McELHANON, USAF… (KIA)… AND … LCOL JOHN FRANCIS OVERLOCK, USAF… (KIA)… Today is the 50th anniversary of their last flight as MISTY 11… They were left behind…but the search goes on… and so does the remembering…
“LEAVE A REMEMBRANCE”… at VVMF’s The Wall of Faces… every day is a good day to remember the men we left behind 50 years ago…
RIPPLE SALVO… #895… Humble Host supports the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund based on what I can see–a memorial of unsurpassed beauty and penetrating meaning. Based on what I feel–overwhelming and total absorption into The Wall when I stand before it. The project is superbly managed and always improving, with tremendous plans for the future… The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is headed up by Jim Knotts, President and CEO, from offices at 1235 South Clark Street, Suite 910, Arlington, Virginia 22202… Phone: 202-393-0090… Check VVMF out on line at www.vvmf.org.
Lest we forget… Bear