RIPPLE SALVO… #437… MEMO: “IMMEDIATE BOMBING DECISION”…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY-SEVEN of a solo return to the years of Rolling Thunder to remember those years of great sacrifice and valor by the nation’s aviation warriors… This blog will be super short–my 1500 word first try vanished while posting… live and learn…
16 MAY 1967… HEAD LINES and leads of The New York Times on a pleasant Tuesday in NYC...
Page 1: “Six Senators Warn President On War...that further increases in military activity against North Vietnam might foreclose the last possibility for a peaceful settlement and bring Red China and Soviet Union into the war… Senator Sherman Cooper, Kentucky: ‘I ask our government acting in full confidence that rises from strength, to confine and restrain the bombing if bomb it must–to infiltration routes near the demilitarized zones where men and supplies enter South Vietnam over the 17th parallel or throughout Laos…’ “… Page 1: “Marine Casualties Are 100 in Fight Near Buffer Zone”… “North Vietnamese attacks have killed or wounded more than 100 United States Marines just South of the demilitarized zone…Reports from Danang said the Marine base at Conthien, two miles south of the buffer was subjected to intermittent shelling throughout the day…Total enemy killed in the fighting for the “ridge-line” put at 351.”…
Page 1: “Kennedy Round Succeeds; 50 Nations to Cut Tariffs, Liberalizing World Trade–Duties Down 33%–Program of Food Aid for Hungry Lands Also Provided”…
Page 2: “Isolated American Unit Near Buffer Zone Awaits Attack as North Vietnamese close in…Major Al Gray sat on a folding aluminum and plastic chair on the roof of his bunker, chewing tobacco and gazing north into the darkness…’You know,’ said Major Gray, ‘There are 440,000 Americans in South Vietnam, and they are all behind us.’ “… (spoken by a Commandant of the Marines-to be) oohrah…
16 MAY 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (17 May reporting 16 May ops)…Page 5: “In air activity over North Vietnam yesterday the Air Force planes attacked convoys, supply barges and storage areas despite generally poor weather. Pilots also said they destroyed four armored missile carriers in the vicinity of the strikes against the artillery, 23 miles southeast of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam… Page 5: “Hanoi Reports Plane Downed”... “The North Vietnamese press agency said today that an American plane was shot down by antiaircraft fire last night…brought the total of aircraft downed in North Vietnam to 1,888.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) One fixed wing aircraft was lost in Southeast Asia on 16 May 1967…
(1) CAPTAIN C.E. HAY and 1LT M. CARSON were flying an F-4B of the VMFA-314 and MAG-13 supporting Marines near the DMZ and were downed on a third strafing attack on a North Vietnamese gun position. The aviators were able to eject and were rescued by a helicopter from Danang…
RIPPLE SALVO… #437… The President’s Tuesday Lunch bunch broke huddle on Tuesday afternoon 16 May and RT 56 was authorized. On that target list was an OK for the Hanoi Thermal Power Plant… the importance of this target is made clear in the Memorandum By Assistant Secretary of State Bundy in State Department, Office of the Historian document #174… This TS memo is a must read for a solid understanding of the political aspect of North Vietnam targeting… great read… at:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d174
CAG’s QUOTES for May 16: MAO TSE-TUNG: “Despise the enemy strategically, but take him seriously tactically.”… PATTON: “Frighten the enemy! Fear is induced by inflicting wounds and death.”…
Lest we forget… Bear