RIPPLE SALVO… #169… A GUTSY STORY… but first…
Good Morning: Day ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-NINE of a return of fifty years to the skies of North Vietnam…
17 AUGUST 1966… NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT… NYT… A mostly sunny day at the Statue of Liberty…
Page 1: “War Foes Clash With House Unit”…”At the start of Congressional hearings into how some Americans have aided the Vietcong erupted into disorder today, minutes after a head-on clash between judicial and legislative branches was averted. A three judge Federal Court of Appeals panel met hurriedly this morning and dissolved for the time being , a restraining order issued by district Judge Howard Corcoran against the hearing scheduled for 10 A.M. by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The committee charged that a court did not have the authority to enjoin Congress. It was prepared to defy the order and hold the hearing. The hearing got underway only 10 minutes late, without risk of contempt of court. It immediately degenerate into angry shouting matches between witnesses and attorneys on one side and committee members, policemen, and Unite States Marshals on the other. Periodically witnesses and spectators were carried out screaming and kicking from the hearing room through crowded corridors to a police station. At least eight persons were dragged out and booked on disorderly conduct charges. It was a classic contest between the most militant protesters against American policy in Vietnam and Representatives who believe in using Congressional hearings as a weapon against Communism. Both sides seemed pleased at the opportunity for action... Page 1:…”Key Lending Rate Increased To 6%”…”The key lending interest rate on business borrowing was raised yesterday to 6%, the highest level since 1929…major banks announced that their prime rate, the minimum interest charge on short term business loans, would go to 6% immediately, up from 5 3/4% rate established June 29. It was the fourth rise in nine months. In Washington, Secretary of Treasury Henry Fowler attacked the rate increase saying that it ‘threatens to push the cost of money again for every borrower.’…”…
Page 5: “Five Latins Urge Peace In Vietnam”…”Five South American Presidents called today for an ending of the war in Vietnam which they say constituted a threat to world peace. The Presidents urged a peaceful settlement and declared their faith in the UN as the forum for resolving disputes. The Presidents of Chile, Venezuela, Columbia, Peru and Ecuador also called for world disarmament, stressing nuclear weapons in particular, and urged preparations be assigned to provide economic development to poorer lands…The South American leaders expressed an abiding devotion to representative democracy but avoided any reference to the military regimes in Argentina and Brazil.”
17 August 1966…PRESIDENT’s DAILY BRIEF… CIA (TS sanitized)…South Vietnam: Public concern over high prices has not abated and worry over the high cost of living still seems to bb the dominant issue in most areas, and especially so in the Delta. There was a moderate rise in Saigon retail prices during the first week of this month…Public concern may be raised further by a recent report …that is very critical of Saigon’s economic policies and blames the US for many of the difficulties… Soviet Union: The Soviets seem to have finally made the grade in weather satellites. Moscow announced today that data from Cosmos 122, launched 25 June, would be provided to weather services in other countries. The Soviets have had an agreement to exchange satellite weather information with us since 1962 but, until Cosmos 122, none of their experimental weather satellites had worked properly…Ethiopia: there is likely to be some tough bargaining ahead as we begin another round of negotiations with Addis Ababa on military aid. The Ethiopians are most uncomfortable about the Soviet arms going into Somalia, and Ethiopian officials have warned that they expect us to be forthcoming….
17 AUGUST 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (18 August reporting 17 August ops)…Page 3: “Over North Vietnam, American pilots flew 131 missions, hitting petroleum depots and other targets in the Hanoi and Haiphong and southern panhandle region. No planes were shot down. The F-8 incident near Danang marked the third time in eight days in which Vietnamese civilians were killed by United States aircraft through error or accident… American commanders have been ordered to reassess procedures with a view to preventing such tragedies in the future… THE INCIDENT: “26 Vietnamese Die As US Jet Crashes”…”A United States Marine jet taking off from the Danang air base plunged into a village at the south end of the main runway yesterday (17th), killing 26 Vietnamese civilians and injuring about 15 as it flattened huts. One of the two 1000-pound bombs carried by the plane and part of its load of 400-20mm cannon shells exploded…Marine officers said that the plane’s afterburner failed after the jet — an F-8 Crusader– lifted off the runway the pilot–First Lieutenant Walter Doherty, 22, of Gold Hill, Oregon — was unable to restart the afterburner. Eyewitnesses said the plane was at about 150-feet. LT Doherty ejected from the aircraft as it fell but his parachute failed to open because of the low altitude. The fall of his ejection seat was slowed by a tree and he was uninjured ( Now, there is a story!)…
“Vietnam: Aircraft Losses” (Hobson): two aircraft lost on 17 August 1966…
(1) 1LT WALTER DOHERTY, USMC, ejected from an F-8E of the VMF(AW) Death Angels and MAG-11 at Danang and survived (see above).
(2) MAJOR JOSEPH WILLIAM BRAND and MAJOR DONALD MAURICE SINGER were flying a Wild Weasel F-105F of the 354th TFS and 355thTFW out of Takhli was hit by AAA supporting a strike on a target 12 miles north of Van Yen, 65 miles west of Hanoi. The aircraft was leading an Iron Hand flight and was attacking a SAM site when the aircraft was hit and both crew ejected at low level. One parachute was seen to open but the other did not deploy fully before hitting the ground MAJOR BRAND radioed that he was on the ground and OK but despite attempts by Sandys to locate the two airmen they were not recovered and MAJOR BRAND and MAJOR SINGER were listed as KILLED IN ACTION 50 YEARS AGO ON THIS DATE. This was the fifth Wild Weasel F-105F between July 5 and August 17. Only 6 remained and as a result, the free roaming “hunter killer” missions were curtailed and the Weasels were used in close support and suppression.”
RIPPLE SALVO… #169… FLYING STORY… On August 3, 1966 a young Iraqi MIG-21 pilot wrote this letter…
“I hope this letter will reach you safely because it is very important for my safety. Also I hope you will believe what I say. But though I cannot be definite that the letter will be in your possession I am going to carry out what I have decided with the help of God.
“I am an Iraqi MIG-21 pilot of the Iraqi Air Force and I have decided to come to your country. This decision I have come to after very hard thinking and for reasons that I shall explain to you personally. I have great respect for your country and I am sure you will not send me back.
“I plan to carry out this decision within three or four weeks from now. Please tell your pilots not to shoot me down because I come for peaceful feelings. I should come in high altitude between 0700 and 1100 GMT flying east to west over the Jordan River near the Dead Sea. With the help of God I hope to land at one of your bases.
“I want to stress again that my intentions are friendly so please give all the necessary orders to the air force personnel concerned to secure my safety. You can be sure that I won’t disappoint you and you will find a good friend in me of your respect.
“Yours faithfully, a MIG 21 pilot.”…
17 AUGUST 1966 New York Times (page 9)…”Iraqi Pilot In MIG-21 Defects To Israel”…”An Iraqi air force pilot defected today and flew his MIG-21 to Israel. Mordechai Hod, Commander of the Israeli air force said it was ‘too good to be true’ and he did not know of another MIG-21 that had flown into the free world. The Iraqi pilot whose name was withheld said that he wrote to the Israelis a few weeks ago that he intended to ‘come to your country. I am a MIG-21 pilot…’
And he did. The young aviator said that he had been discriminated against as a Christian in Iraq, a Moslem country, and that he had grown tired of fighting Kurds. ‘I spent five years fighting Kurds. Many times I asked for a transfer. I was fed up flying all the time against unarmed people.’
When asked at a press conference what model MIG-21 it was, the burly, mustached Captain said, ‘MIG-21F-13 tail number 534.’ He was asked if it was the best the Iraqis have. He said, ‘no they have a better one.’ He said he had more than ten years in the air force and that he was only one of five or six Christians in the service. He sent his family out of Iraq some time before he wrote his letter and their whereabouts was not disclosed. He was on a navigational flight when he defected…
Gee, I wonder if 534 ever logged any time over the Nevada desert?…
Lest we forget… Bear ………. –30– …………