RIPPLE SALVO… #681… ON JANUARY 17, 1968, PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON DELIVERED HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE ON THE STATE OF THE UNION…In his speech, the President discussed the prospects for peace in Vietnam:
“Right now we are exploring the meaning of Hanoi’s recent statement. There is no mystery about the questions which must be answered before the bombing is stopped. We believe that any talks should follow the San Antonio formula that I stated last September, which said:
‘The bombing would stop immediately if talks would take place promptly and with reasonable hopes that they would be productive.
‘And the other side must not take advantage of our restraint as they have in the past.
“This Nation simply cannot accept anything less without jeopardizing the lives of our men and of our allies. If a basis for peace talks can be established on the San Antonio foundations–and it is my hope and my prayer that they can–we would consult with our allies and with the other side to see if a complete cessation of hostilities–a really true cease-fire–could be made the first order of business. I will report at the earliest possible moment the results of these explorations to the American people.”… (re: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68/d13 … but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED EIGHTY-ONE looking back and remembering the incredible service and sacrifice of THE SILENT GENERATION in the pre-09/11 era called the Vietnam war… ( Congress and the VA: “Shush now, SILENT GENERATION. We know you are there, but unfortunately you are also the PRE-9/11 GENERATION and the fact is, we can’t afford to include you PRE-9/11 vets in the POST 9/11 veteran benefit bonanza….GET OVER IT!” )…
17 JANUARY 1968… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a cold, sunny Wednesday in the Big Apple…
GROUND WAR: Page 1: “FOE’S LAOS BUILD-UP IS REPORTED TAXING U.S. BOMBER FORCE”… “A dramatic increase in North Vietnam infiltration through eastern Laos has created more bombing targets than there are available aircraft to hit them, an informed source said today. Large concentrations of enemy troops and supplies have been detected in Laos and in South Vietnam near the United States Marine outpost at Khesanh. American military officers increasingly suspect that the build-up is aimed on Khesanh, which lies about seven miles from the Laotian border and some 18 miles south of the demilitarized zone separating North and South Vietnam. ‘We are having to pass up live targets–the ones the reconnaissance planes can see moving–because there have been more targets than we have planes available for Laotian bombing,’ one official said. (In Washington, defense Department sources disclaimed knowledge of any shortage of aircraft to hit targets in South Vietnam) In some cases, it was reported the North Vietnamese have not even camouflaged trucks pulled off the road into forest for repairs, an unusual procedure for a usually wary army. The statistics of the buildup are open to dispute. Some officials said that up to 8,000 trucks had been sighted recently in the Laotian territory opposite Khesanh and many destroyed by air. Other sources said an accurate count of the build-up was impossible to make up. The fear is that the enemy plans to stage a large and psychologically important attack on the Khesanh area., much like the artillery siege of the Marine outpost at Conthien last fall. The prolonged bombardment of Conthien drew public attention in the United States and around the world. Khesanh is more exposed than was Conthien, which lies to the northeast. Khesanh marks the extreme western flank of the Marine forces near the demilitarized zone.”… (Humble Host will include a side-by side of Khesanh and Dienbienphu to show the comparative vulnerability of the two famous fortresses. Khesanh will be the focus point for a significant portion of my blogs over the next two months.)…In the ground war a company of about 150 soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division fought for 25 minutes with an enemy force 59 miles northwest of Saigon. A United States spokesman reported that 4 Americans had been killed and 29 wounded. Enemy casualties were not reported. A company of the South Vietnamese Army, with about 100 men, was reported to have suffered heavy casualties in an attack while clearing a road in Quangnam Province, 357 miles northeast of Saigon. Forty Vietcong soldiers were reported killed. South Vietnamese spokesman announced today that 2,216 enemy soldiers were killed last week. This relatively high loss followed a record figure, 2,868, the period December 31 to January 6. Government losses were also reported high, with 367 soldiers killed, 946 wounded and 110 missing or captured. Casualty reports for the Americans and other allies are to be issued Thursday.”…
Page 1: “Britain To Close Far East Bases; Won’t Buy F-111’s–1972 Deadline Set–Troops Also To Leave Persian Gulf In Bid To Cut Expenses”… “Britain will withdraw her military forces from east of Suez by the end of 1971 and give up her traditional role as keeper of the peace in the area. Prime Minister Wilson announced the decision to the House of Commons this afternoon. It was not altogether a surprise, after weeks of Cabinet pondering of the problem of Britain’s unfavorable balance of payments and devalued currency.”... Page 1: “Hanoi Aide Terms Accord On Agenda First Step In Talks–Says Preliminary Parley Can Be Held Suitable Time After U.S. Ends Acts of War”… Page 1: “Page 6: “Combat Pilots Older–Air Force Worried”…
17 JANUARY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times… Page 4: “Steel Plant Is Bombed”…“United States pilots yesterday bombed targets in North Vietnam, including a major steel plant. Flying with radar guidance the pilots of F-105 Thunderchiefs jets dropped 750-pound bombs on the steel plant at Thainguyen, 38 miles north of Hanoi, in the first attack since the plant was reported destroyed since last June. Heavy cloud layers prevented damage reports. A spokesman said it was apparent that the plant had been undergoing repairs under the protection of monsoon weather, which has curtailed American raids… the steel plant produced barges, structural steel spans and barrels, all important to North Vietnam’s war effort…. The United States command reported that the blast of an exploding bomb dropped by a United States jet blew an American helicopter out of the skies over Quangnam Province, destroying the ‘copter and wounding four crewmen. An Air Force F-4 Phantom dropped the bomb on a radar bombing mission. That presumably meant bombing through a cloud layer. If that were the case, the helicopter would have been flying beneath the clouds unseen by the bomber force..”
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 17 January 1968…
(1) LCOL ROBERT FREDERICK WILKE… see 16 January RTR and blog…
(2) CAPTAIN SAMUEL FESTIS BEACH and SGT DONALD LEE CHANEY, USA... were taking off from the airfield at Khesanh in an O-2A of the 20th TASS and504th TASG out of Danang to provide Direct Air Support as a Covey FAC for close air support missions west of the DMZ when downed by small arms fire as the gear were coming up. Neither CAPTAIN BEACH or his “eyes.” SGT CHANEY, Army Special Forces, survived the crash… Two brave warriors perished fifty years ago this day and are remembered here, and admired… Among CAPTAIN BEACH’s combat awards…
11 JANUARY 1968: ...”is presented a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS...for heroism while participating in aerial flight as Forward Air Controller near Khesanh, Republic of Vietnam, on 11 January 1968. On that date CAPTAIN BEACH was flying in support of a beleaguered Special Forces team deep in hostile territory under adverse weather conditions. By flying low over the area and exposing himself to heavy automatic weapon fire and intense small arms fire he was able to locate and silence most of the hostile fire, allowing the team to reach landing zone from which it was successfully extracted by helicopter. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by CAPTAIN BEACH reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”… and…
1 NOVEMBER 1967: … “is presented the SILVER STAR (Posthumously) to CAPTAIN SAM FESTIS BEACH, JR., United States Air Force, for gallantry in action in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force as a Forward Air Controller for the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, directing fighter aircraft in Southeast Asia on 1 November 1967. On that date, CAPTAIN BEACH rescued elements of a Special Forces reconnaissance patrol which had been overrun by numerically superior hostile forces and separated. Flying at treetop level in the face of continuous hostile ground fire. CAPTAIN BEACH located the members of the patrol and successfully directed them to the only suitable landing zone in the area., where they were extracted. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, CAPTAIN BEACH has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”….OOHRAH… Glory gained, duty done… remembered with great respect, admiration and appreciation…
RIPPLE SALVO… #681… The New York Times had this to say about the State of The Union and the President’s speech in an Opinion editorial on 18 January 1968, two weeks into “the year the dream died.”…
“To a nation persuaded, as the President rightly said by ‘a certain restlessness,’ a nation longing for leadership a nation whose ‘will…is being tried, not in strength’–to this nation Lyndon B. Johnson in his State of the Union message offered little inspiration.
“The tone of the message reflected the pedestrian quality of the Administration’s program in both foreign policy and domestic affairs. Many individual items in that program are unexceptional; but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. It will neither quiet the restlessness of the impoverished nor assuage the discontent of the affluent.
“Although the country grows steadily wealthier there are still thirty million Americans–one seventh of the nation (an improvement over the one-third of Roosevelt’s day)–who do not share in the common prosperity. Yet President Johnson, weighed down by the awful incubus of the Vietnam war, was unable to venture far forward in reordering the nations priorities at redirecting the use of the nation’s resources.
“While it is encouraging that for the first time in several years the space program received almost no mention, it is likely that this costly venture together with the supersonic transport, the dubious ‘thin’ missile defense against China and the Gargantuan highway building program are going to continue right along as privileged dollar-eaters in a time of tight budgets.
“On the more positive side, President Johnson asked for the strengthening or broadening of existing programs such as manpower training, model cities, low and middle-income housing, and the anti-poverty program. In view of the backwardness of some segments of his opposition in Congress, Mr. Johnson could appear politically bold in asking for expansion of some of his programs and for the full appropriations originally authorized for others. But more manpower training and additional low-income housing will seem excessively moderate to those who have proposes a ‘bill of rights’ for the disadvantaged, a Marshall Plan for American Negroes or any of the other ambitious slum discontent.
“President Johnson received his heaviest and perhaps most spontaneous applause when he denounced crime and lawlessness in the streets. A war on crime is apparently more popular in Congress that a paw on poverty. Despite the theatrics in this connection the main lines of the President’s remarks were in the right direction, emphasizing the primacy of local responsibility and local control and urgent Federal assistance to upgrade police salaries. He called for a Federal law to regulate the dangerous and disgraceful interstate traffic in guns and he commendably refrained from endorsing any of the repressive measures which spring up like hardy weeds every time Congress considers crime control.
“President Johnson, whose Administration already has an excellent record in health and education due to this strong personal leadership and Secretary Gardener’s sure, skillful management, urged a new program of prenatal and infant care which should find ready Congressional acceptance. On a lengthy shopping list of other recommendations, the President gave top place to several bills for consumer protection. The fact that these safeguards are relatively inexpensive undoubtedly makes them politically appealing in a period of budget stringency, but that in no way diminishes their merit of desirability’
“On this restive domestic front the President has obviously been crippled on every side by the pressing budgetary necessities of the war.”
Humble Host notes… the allocation of scarce resources is serious business and it always comes down to “Guns and/or Butter”… true in 1968 and true in 2019…
RTR Quote for 17 January: TACITUS, Histories: “Great empires are not maintained by timidity.”
Lest we forget… Bear