RIPPLE SALVO… #590… “They really worked our planes yesterday, didn’t they?”…
The scene was the Johnson Library in the White House. Time: 1:40 to 2:50 p.m. The participants were the usual suspects: the President, Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, General Wheeler, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director Helms of the CIA, Walt Rostow, the President’s right hand man and principal advisor, and George Christian who brought a pen and paper to take notes that would be classified “Top Secret, Eyes Only,” and kept secret for decades.
The meeting was the usual Tuesday Luncheon meeting to talk targets, but was meatless this day and all business. The President broke up talk about the visit of the Prime Minister of Singapore, and shuffling a fistful of papers he had brought into the chamber, he announced that, “It looks like the news is all bad.” He took advantage of the silence of his audience to read a few pages aloud. One was about the widespread demonstrations at draft boards all over the country on 16 October and he highlighted the massive and unruly antiwar crowds in Oakland that were entertained by Joan Baez before she was hauled off to jail. Then he moved on to read a Situation Room report about a battle northwest of Saigon that left 58 infantrymen killed-in-action. General Wheeler chimed in: “The battalion had about 100 casualties out of a battalion of 900. Of course, the battalion is still operational.” That probably didn’t make the President feel any better about how his war of attrition was going.
The President moved on: “They really worked on our planes yesterday, didn’t they?” Secretary McNamara had the ready response: “Yes, they hit three of four. I think they were lucky hits rather than any refinements in their anti-aircraft defenses.” The President grimaced and requested his Secretary of Defense to “have it analyzed so we will know what to say.” Obviously, he wasn’t buying the “lucky shots” answer… and the meeting moved on to other agenda items, including the schedule for the authorization for destruction of the MIG airbase at Phucyen… finally… read the “Notes of Meeting” at:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68vo5/d355
17 OCTOBER 1967… On this day F-105s from the 388th TFW out of Korat struck the Dap Cau railroad yard on the northeast rail line between Hanoi and China in Route Package 6A. The strike group included four divisions of F-105D bombers dropping 750-pound bombs.
Here is how Chris Hobson tells story of the “Hot Rod” flight of four F-105s in the 34th TFS formation of sixteen bombers. The pilots: MAJOR DWIGHT EVERETT SULLIVAN, MAJOR DONALD EUGENE ODELL, CAPTAIN ANTHONY CHARLES ANDREWS, and CAPTAIN FLOYD “Skeets” HEINZIG.
“On the 17th the Korat Wing flew a major Rolling Thunder strike against the Dap Gau railway yards near Bac Ninh, 15 miles northeast of Hanoi. The raid turned out to be a costly affair for the USAF with three aircraft lost and three pilots taken prisoner. All three aircraft came from Hotrod flight of the 34th TFS. The flight approached the target at 19,000-feet but ran into an intense barrage of radar directed 85mm anti-aircraft fire. MAJOR SULLIVAN’s and MAJOR ODELL’s aircraft were both hit to 19,000-feet as they rolled in to attack the target. About a minute later MAJOR ANDREWS dived down to drop his bombs and was pulling up through 6,000-feet when his aircraft was hit by smaller caliber flak. All three pilots ejected from their aircraft and landed close to the railway yard. (they were quickly captured). After more than five years of imprisonment the three airmen were released together on 14 March 1973.”…
Here is how Major Sam Armstrong of the 34th TFS commented on the Hot Rod flight of the 17th in his memoirs (thanks Howie Plunkett)… “The day was a no-fly day for me. However, we lost three members of the squadron out of a flight of four at the Dap Cau railroad yard. Dwight Sullivan, Tony Andrews and ‘Digger O’Dell were all hit by 85mm fire just before roll-in on the target. This was the first 34th loss since the Summer so it was especially tough. There was only one beeper heard from the three of them and nobody saw a parachute. All three turned out to get out safely and become POW’s although we didn’t know at the time.”
LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT W. SMITH, 34th TFS, was in the air and on the raid. The following is quoted from his “unpublished autobiography,” and is presented in its entirety. This is ROLLING THUNDER come alive from 50-years ago….
“I would fly my 8th combat mission in 12 days on the 17th and it proved to be one of the greatest eye openers of my flying career. A wake-up call for a morning flight and my entire tour of combat. More than any other it affected my views of what I was there for in a very positive way, because I was not only the commander but at age 39, an old man of the squadron and had a job to comfort and encourage as well as set an example and lead.
“We arrived for the Wing briefing to find out this would be a tough day, but that was the ordinary. The target was announced to be Dap Cau railroad yards, located along the Song Cau river, near the larger city of Bac Ninh. That terminal was on the northwest line out of Hanoi, about 20 miles northeast of the capital along a main highway (1A) and NVN’s prime railroad tracks, northeast to China. The area was a hub of activities and therefore a defensive center for the enemy, as well.
“I was flying tailend Charlie, number 4 in the fourth flight, thus be the last to roll in on the attack, so I would get a good view of all the others in their dives. Some believed the rear slots were more vulnerable, which is argumentative when there is enough anti-aircraft fire for everyone. I never felt it mattered where I was in the formation, when the dice were rolling, they didn’t stop by tail number or flight position.
“We arrived at the tankers, this time over northern Laos, and took on full fuel in standard order of flight leader, 2,3,then 4. Each sequence assured the positions that used more fuel would depart for the targets with the most. Each flight had its tanker and we flew formation with tankers in racetrack pattern, until time to top off the fuel and depart for the target. The initial refueling of four took some time but the top off was brief, which assured maximum fuel for each and minimum variation within the flight.
“We flew to about 20-degrees 45-minutes north latitude, then eastward into North Vietnam, passing Dienbienphu, where the French had been badly defeated by the NVN. This was always a point for alertness, since the NVN had radar controlled 100mm or 85mm batteries scattered about and sometimes practiced on us in that vicinity. The entire country north is mountainous and rugged and up to a mile high, so visually acquiring them was impossible. We cruised east in spread formation for Mig watch to Thud Ridge, and there were warnings of Mig activity but no attack. Then tightened to formation flying southeast along the ridge to gain protection from the SAMs, until about 20 miles north of ‘Downtown’. from there we turned eastward and assumed ECM formation for the cruise to target, climbing to over 16,000-feet for our attack.
“I got my first view of Hanoi and its’ surroundings and of how large the Red River delta was and the great expanse of the huge delta going south of Hanoi. As we started a left turn I had a great view of Hanoi, the expansive Red River delta and very broad river. The delta had many rivers, one of which meandered past Bac Ninh, 20 miles east as we turned.
“We departed the ridge at about 12,000-feet, hit the burners and leveled at about 18,000 for the dive runs. The radar aimed 85 or 100 mm batteries opened up with their large black burst around us as we approached. They posed a real threat, being lethal well above 20,000-feet. The target was to our right so I was sitting on the far left and above the last seven aircraft to make the turning roll-in to the dive before me. As the lead flights went into full dive one by one, I began to see the black bursts of the long-range AAA. then, as the lead flight started down, the small black puffs of 57 mm and finally the grayish puffs of 37s as the dives extended.
“Number four on the 3rd flight (Hot Rod) had rolled into his dive, so my leader would follow suit momentarily, but I was watching the diving line of attackers when an airplane from the attacking flight was blown to bits, then another was destroyed and almost simultaneously a third…three of my new squadron mates would not come home. It was a picture that was indelible yet momentary.
“Suddenly my element lead rolled in and it was my turn. Now I had only one thought and that was to place my 6 bombs on the railroad. With a railyard’s vulnerability and a careful effort, I knew I could place my entire load on target.
“When I rolled in for my dive bomb run I was completely focused and what I saw was out of mind. The best catharsis for fear on a dive bomb run, and absolutely necessary to bombing accuracy–focus. My intended 60-degree dive would be shallow, due to starting from the farthest outside of the formation, but I could adjust for it with a lower bomb release, faster speed and/or aim long. Fortunately, the railroads tracks were long and straight so only the cross-track miss distance was critical, a far easier situation. After release of ordnance I was free to make any break, keeping in mind the withdrawal direction to locate and rejoin my flight.
“We fueled in fours on our assigned tanker, inbound and out, but this time we arrived as five because CAPTAIN FLOYD ‘SKEETS’ HEINZIG, the only flyer left in the air from third (“Hot Rod”) flight, joined us on our journey home. His moving in to join us really drove home the realization of what I witnessed and I suddenly recalled the deadly reality of those black and white bursts around us all.”…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times (18 Oct reporting 17 Oct ops) Page 1: “58 G.I.’s Are slain In all-Day Battle With 2,900 of Foe–61 Hurt in Bitter Fighting 41 Miles from Saigon–Enemy Loss Put at 103–3 JETS DOWNED IN NORTH–Pilots Are Listed as Missing–Marines Open New Drive South of Buffer Zone”… “the United States suffered one of the heaviest battle losses in months yesterday when 58 infantrymen were killed and 61 wounded in a bitter all day fight 41 miles north-northwest of Saigon. A spokesman announced this morning that enemy losses totaled 103 in the clash, in which American troops were heavily outnumbered by an enemy regiment of about 2,900 men. AT THE SAME TIME, the spokesman announced the loss of three Air Force jets over the North bringing the unofficial total of planes downed to 705. The three pilots were listed as missing in action.”… There were two other fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 17 October 1967…
(1) An O-1E Bird Dog of the 21st TASS and 504th TASG out of Nha Trang was destroyed in an accident…
(2) LTJG FREDERICK JOHN FORTNER was flying an A-4E of the VA-155 Silver Foxes embarked in USS CORAL SEA was part of a flight that attacked a storage area on a small island 20 miles northeast of Hon Gai firing 2.75-inch rockets at the target. As LTJG FORTNER came off the target he was trailing smoke and radioed that his flight controls were frozen. The aircraft rolled into the sea. There was no ejection. The cause of the loss was judged to be ingestion of a 2.75 rocket in part or in full. LTJG FORTNER was killed-in-action and his remains were returned to the United States in November 1988. The young warrior perished fifty years ago today glory gained, duty done…
17 October 1967…It was not a good news day, Mr. President. But it’s fair to say, your day went a lot better than it did for 58 infantrymen, three F-105 warriors, a young Naval Aviator and their families and brothers-in-arms…
Lest we forget…. Bear