RIPPLE SALVO… #680… Fighter-bomber pilot, intrepid Rolling Thunder gladiator, defiant prisoner of war, teacher, mentor, diplomat, commissioner, extraordinary public servant, “the happy warrior every man should wish to be”… Who wrote: “I ‘came to’ after a particularly horrific torture session, alone, lying on a stone floor, more naked than clothed, bruised, filthy, gaunt, and panting in little puppy breaths. I felt surprisingly free of pain and absolutely aware of every inch of my surroundings. I knew I wasn’t very healthy, and I was startled at how my body looked like a bag of leftover chicken bones.”…. Colonel Thomas Moe, an inspirational life of service…but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED EIGHTY of a 1000 day remembrance of the air war called Operation Rolling Thunder and the great gallant aviators who carried the war to the enemy’s homeland…
16 January 1968… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a sunny but cold and windy Tuesday in New York…
GROUND WAR; Page 1: “U.S. Units Escape Traps In Vietnam–37 Of Foe Killed Attacking Convoys In The Highlands–23 Americans Injured”… “Enemy forces ambushed two American convoys in the Central Highlands yesterday, but United States tanks, army helicopters and infantrymen killed 37 of the attackers and captured four. Twenty-three Americans were wounded, and damage in the convoys was described as light…. In the first attack 24 Vietnamese were killed and 13 Americans wounded. An American spokesman said that when enemy troops hiding in the steep mountains alongside the road fired of the lead armored vehicle two tanks from the 69th Armored Battalion, which happened to be nearby, moved in and pumped cannon fire at the attackers. Two helicopter gunships quickly flew in to strike the North Vietnam with rockets and machine-gun fire. Then about 100 men of the 44th Division were rushed up the road, the spokesman said. In the second ambush, three mines buried in the road were set off to halt the convoy, then the enemy troops fired machine guns and rifles. …the fight raged for an hour and a half until the Fourth Division arrived. Thirteen enemy soldiers were killed and four captured…10 Americans were wounded….Near Bonson on the coastal plain 295 miles northeast of Saigon, South Vietnamese troops of the 22nd Division reported having killed 76 North Vietnamese troops in heavy fighting on Sunday…. A United States military spokesman disclosed that an operation named Muscatine had been under way 9 miles north of Quangngai since December 19. It involves the 11th and 198th Light Cavalry Brigades, attached to the American Division. Thus far 234 enemy soldiers have been reported killed in fighting between Quangngai and Chulai, where the Americal Division’s headquarters is. There were no reported American casualties.”… Page 1: “Laotians Report Loss of Key Town–Communist-led Forces Take Nambac, A Supply Center”… “The Government announced today the fall of the fortress town of Nambac in northern Laos to Communist-led forces in the last 36-hours. ‘Our forces had to reshuffle their defensive positions. We are ordering them to make a fighting retreat to the west.’ “…
Page 1: “Thieu Accuses U.S. Of Acting Alone In Peace Efforts–He Says Central Role In Any Such Moves Is Saigon’s Despite Hanoi’s Actions–Asks Heavier Pressure–Bombing Is Called Vital–Rush Again Promises to Consult On Proposals”... “‘…this is our country,’ he said. ‘The Republic of Vietnam most naturally should have the central role in any development relating to the events in Vietnam. To overlook or to disregard this normal set-up is to give leeway to the Communist tendentious propaganda and damage the success of our common cause. I regret to say that in the past our allies sometimes have not avoided these pitfalls, by placing themselves at the center of peace efforts on Vietnam, for instance by asking the United Nations or other governments to help in solving the Vietnamese problem.’ “... Page 1: “Congress Opens With a Wrangle Over War Issue–Two Senators Fail In Bid to Petition On Record–Civil Rights Filibuster Hinted”… “Congress reconvened today on much the same note that it left on a month ago. There were exchanges over Vietnam, appeals for economy and preparations for a civil rights filibuster in the Senate….” … Page 1: “Romney Offers Peace Plan For Neutralizing Vietnam”... “Governor George Romney said tonight that if he became President he would seek the ‘guaranteed neutralization of South Vietnam and her neighbors. He said he would do this by pushing for a settlement between the Saigon Government and the Vietcong…”…. Page 2: “Kennedy Polls 700 In Rochester: Most Urge End To The Bombing”… “An overwhelming majority of the guests at the Rochester Chamber of Commerce’ annual dinner tonight backed a prompt end to the bombing of Vietnam and a start of negotiations to end the Vietnam war…. an impromptu poll administered by Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The Senator has given this poll to other audiences, earlier but his aides said tonight that this was the largest support he had found for an end to bombing and a start of negotiations…Among the 700 or so diners scarcely 30 or 40 signaled their support of President Johnson’s present policy.”….
16 JANUARY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (17 Jan reporting 16 Jan ops) Page 1: “In the air war Navy carrier pilots took advantage of clearing skies over North Vietnam Tuesday to knock out a large railroad bridge on the line connecting Hanoi with the port to Haiphong. A United States spokesman said that the Haiduong railroad bridge was demolished by 500-pound bombs. Navy pilots also reported having destroyed the Phuxuyen highway pontoon bridge, a temporary bypass constructed for road traffic between Hanoi and Haiphong after other highway bridges in the area had been demolished. Carrier pilots also bombed the Dachong barge repair yard on the coast northeast of Haiphong and struck three surface-to-air missile sites in the Haiphong area. The Navy pilots reported encountering antiaircraft fire near the Haiduong bridge, which is 22 miles west-northwest of Haiphong. Air Force F-105 Thunderchief pilots bombed the Motrang railroad yard 39 miles north-northwest of Hanoi and the Xombai army barracks, 43 miles west-northwest of Hanoi. A United States spokesman said that an Air Force F-4 Phantom had been downed in the southern panhandle…both crewmen were reported rescued. The cause of the loss is undetermined. It was the 787th American plane reported lost in the North since the air war began in February, 1965. (Humble Host reminds: When an aircraft was down and the pilot(s) were escaping and evading, the release of further info would be withheld UFN)… Navy and Marine pilots attacked artillery positions and what was described as troop concentrations in and just north of the demilitarized zone, which straddles the border between North and South Vietnam. B-52s bombed a suspected North Vietnamese troop staging area nine miles northwest of the Marine base at Khesanh where the DMZ touches the Laotian border.”…
FROM THE COMPILATION “34TFS/F-105 History” by Howie Plunkett 16-Jan-68 “ ‘Scuba’ flight from the 34 TFS used the Commando Club radar against a target in Laos. The flight took off at 1415. The line-up was: #1 Captain Stan Morgan; #2 LCOL James Ross; #3 Major Sam Armstrong; #4 Major Billy Givens…This was Major Armstrong’s 56th combat mission.” Armstrong from his 100-Mission Log: “We were originally the mission commander’s flight. Due to weather, we went Commando Club instead on a target in Laos. We hit the target almost with no effort and started home when we got a call to go on a RESCAP in Pack I where 2 F-4s had gone down. We went over and picked up one beeper. Although the weather was completely undercast we orbited just 10 miles northeast of Mu Gia Pass and in a non-radio contact with 2 or 3 of the crew members on the ground. They were OK and in a non-populated area. We had to leave for low fuel state just as the A-1E and HH-43s started in. We refueled and came back but there was nothing we could do with the undercast. One A-1E got under the undercast and vectored a chopper in. We came home and as we got out of range they still hadn’t picked anybody up.” Their mission lasted for 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Plunkett: “The two F-4s were in ‘Hanger’ flight from the 480 TFS and 366 TFW out of Danang. they went down when a bomb on one of the planes exploded and blew them out of the sky. the crew of the F-4C was Major C.E. Lewis and 1LT J.L. Kelly were rescued. The pilot of the F-4D was Captain Scott B. Stovin was also rescued, but his back seater, also a pilot, was 1LT Thomas Nelson Moe, who was captured…” See more below on 1LT Moe…
There was another hero in this 16-17 January 1968 story who gave his life so that others could live…
LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT FREDERICK WILKE, USAF… Rest in Peace… On this day fifty years ago…
“The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Air Force Cross (Posthumously) to ROBERT FREDERICK WILKE, Colonel, U.S. Air Force, for EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force as an A-1E Skyraider pilot of the 602nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (Commando), Udorn Royal Thai Base, Thailand, SEVENTH Air force, in action on 16 and 17 January 1968. On these dates, COLONEL WILKE participated in the successful combat recovery of two downed aircrew members and commanded an effort to recover two other downed pilots. The latter attempted recovery required a penetration of, and flight beneath, an extremely low overcast condition. With complete disregard for his own safety, COLONEL WILKE executed a slow spiral maneuver into cloud formation, broke out below the overcast and initiated his search in mountainous terrain with extremely limited airspace. As he was conducting his low-level search in a heavily defended hostile environment, intense ground fire was being directed toward his aircraft and resulted in his being shot down over hostile territory. Through his EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, COLONEL WILKE reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force…. OOOHRAH…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 16 January 1968… (Hobson includes LCOL Wilke as a loss on 17 Jan)
(1) CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAVID MORELAND, USMC and 1LT PAUL STUART GEE, USMC were flying an EF-10B Skynight of VMCJ-1 and MAG-11 out of Danang on a jamming mission over North Vietnam and returning to base when the aircraft inexplicably crashed at sea 15 miles north of Danang. CAPTAIN MORELAND and 1LT GEE perished in the accident… fifty years ago this day and rest in peace…
(2) LCDR WILLIAM JOSEPH THOMPSON, LT ORVILLE DALE COOLEY, and AO3 WILLIAM HENRY REEDER and seven passengers and crew were manning a C-1A Trader embarked in USS Kitty Hawk when a catapult launch went awry and the aircraft veered over the side. Seven aboard were recovered but LCDR THOMPSON, LT COOLEY and PETTY OFFICER REEDER went down with the aircraft…
(3) and (4) Two F-4 Phantoms of the 480th TFS and 366th TFW based at Danang were lost on a bombing mission near the Mu Gia Pass when a bomb exploded as the pilots armed their 750-pound weapons readying for their bombing attacks. The four pilots aboard the two F-4s ejected safely and reached the ground in extremely hostile territory 20 miles northeast of the pass. On the ground were CAPTAIN C.E LEWIS, 1LT J.L KELLEY–both of whom were rescued and survived to fly and fight again– and CAPTAIN SCOTT B. STOVIN and 1LT THOMAS NELSON MOE…
1LT MOE tells their story: “My squadron had F-4Cs and Ds. I met my demise (?) in a brand new D model which had just arrived from the factory–first operational flight. I was a backseat pilot (one of the last before they turned over the job to the navigators who were the right people for the job). My front seat pilot was Scott Stovin who was rescued a couple of hours after I was bagged (captured). We hid in the bushes and ducked the V for three days before the rescue ops focused their search. Our wingman was knocked down by the same bomb that knocked us down. I don’t remember their names, but I think the front seater’s name was Major Lewis. The back-seater was a pilot, too. They were both rescued on the first day. During rescue ops on day two, one of the Sandy A-1H drivers augured in only a few hundred meters from me I felt the ground shake when he went in (LCOL WILKE) I believe his name was Wilke–I inquired about him as soon as I got to Clark after our release in ’73… (Tom Moe comment on LCOL WILKE; I wish I could be more positive about the fate of Robert Wilke. There is no doubt he was killed instantly when his aircraft impacted the ground near ne in North Vietnam. He was a brave person who died trying to save my life. I will never forget his sacrifice.) I was hiding under a log. Doing my best to masquerade as North Vietnam terrain, I’d pulled branches on top of me smeared mud on mu face and arranged leaves and other foliage to stick to my clothes. I was 20 miles behind enemy lines, having parachuted our of my F-4D fighter aircraft when a weapon malfunction blew it, along with my wingman. So far my terrain act was working; a group of North Vietnamese soldiers had passed unaware of my presence, within six feet of me.
“I’d heard on my survival radio that two other pilots had been rescued on the day of the mishap. Now, after three days in the cold and rainy jungle, I knew planes were on their way for me. It looked like a question of who would find me first. I was eventually betrayed by a small hole in my camouflage through which I poked my radio antenna. Within seconds a zillion rifles were pointed straight at my head. Thus began a month-long, 100-mile journey to the Hanoi Hilton to begin my five years a a prisoner of war–where I got to know on a personal level.”…
COLONEL MOE’s five-year experience as a POW is a story well told that merits absorption… Most Highly Recommended at:
http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/m/m114.htm
Colonel Moe flew 85 combat missions before his capture and holds two awards of the Silver Star, a Legion of Merit and two Distinguished Flying Crosses among his combat awards. His post-war career took him to school at Notre Dame for a Master’, duty in Switzerland, Command of the Notre Dame AFROTC unit and Professor of Aerospace Studies… Since retirement in 1995 he has continued to serve our country with distinction, including a two and a half-year period as the State Director of Veteran’s Services under the Governor of Ohio, and service on the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission… Humble Host extends highest respect and admiration to a great American…
RTR Quote for 16 January: THOMAS NELSON MOE: Notre Dame Magazine, Winter 1995-96: “There were two things that helped me get through the hard times. One was an appraisal of the situation that if I moped and dwelled on some cloudy dreamy future, it would be depressing. So I lived each day as it came. I considered that my real life was being a prisoner; so I should make the best of it since it was at hand and I should not get tangled up with the future so that my personal survival would be jeopardized. The second thing, after accomplishing the first, was to plan for the future and try to do something in the present to bring fruit in the future. for instance, I learned French and Russian so that I might use them in a future-planned career. My faith in God became very real but it was not a dependency faith. God gave the strength if I had the guts to do something and believed in an ultimate truth. Moral law as well as physical laws are self-evident, I discovered, and if I followed my conscience, I felt I could do no more and God’s truth would do the rest. I feel that I developed a strong faith in my country but I also matured in my understanding of governments. The reason we have and need a democracy is that men are men–weak, not always motivated by the most honorable intents–and through due process we maintain a clean society from top to bottom. That is, a firm trust and confidence in my leaders, but not a naive disillusionment should a bad apple show up anywhere in the system, because the electoral processes could take care of that.”
Lest we forget… Bear