RIPPLE SALVO… #956… THE “EXCITEMENT IS BUILDING” AND THE PROSPECTS FOR THE START OF “SERIOUS TALKS” are the talk of the world. The New York Times takes the lead with an OpEd on 17 October 1968… see below…
Good Morning…Day NINE HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX of a review of the air war code-named Operation Rolling Thunder, which by mid-October 1968 was winding down. In fact, the tempo of ops leaves very little for Humble Host to focus on. As a consequence, the next few posts will be abbreviated date-and-space holders to sustain the unbroken sequence of 1000 days in order for follow-on inputs to be made at a later time…ALSO… RTR for 16 October was cut short by computer problem. An additional 1,500 words will be added as time permits. Readers will be advised… The repeat material will include experiences of CAPTAIN RICHARD D. APPLEHANS, (KIA) and POWs CAPTAIN GEORGE W. CLARKE, LCDR JAMES F. BELL and LCDR JAMES L. HUTTON…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times for Thursday, 17 October 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “FOE LOSES 75 DEAD IN BATTLE AT DMZ–CLASH IS ONE OF THE MOST SERIOUS OF DAY AS LULL CONTINUES”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 1: “U.S. MOVES HUNT A NEW PROPOSAL TO HALT BOMBING–Caution Is Voiced–President Says There Has Been No Basic Shift On Vietnam”… Page 14: “BUNKER AND THIEU MEET TWICE; STIR SPECULATION ON BOMB HALT”… Page 14: “U.S. REPORTS ‘MOVEMENT’ IN PARIS TALKS, BUT NO PROGRESS YET”…
17 OCTOBER 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (18 Oct reporting 17 Oct 68) Page 9: “The slow pace of the war was also reflected today in the official weekly war bulletin of the South Vietnamese armed forces. It said: ‘Enemy activity continued decreasing during the week. A total of enemy initiated incidents was reported during the period, compared to 282 for the previous week. Most of these actions were shelling, harassing and road mining.’ The air war also has slowed somewhat recently. Officials have cited the weather. However strikes were flown today in both North and South Vietnam, with more than 100 missions of 2 to 5 aircraft each being flown over the southern part of north Vietnam. Supply areas and facilities were the main targets. Clouds hampered damage assessment. In South Vietnam, B-52 bombers flew nine missions, hitting troop concentrations, base camps and infiltration routes in several scattered provinces. No damage assessment was available.”…
VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 17 October 1968…
(1) 1LT MARK CONSTANT CHENIS was killed flying an F-100D Super Sabre of the 615th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang. He aborted his takeoff, overran the end of the runway, crashed and burned… 1LT CHENIS is remembered on this 50th anniversary of his death in the service of our country with admiration and gratitude… Mark is buried at Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 17 OCTOBER DATES OF THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1966 and 1968… NONE…
1965… LCDR STANLEY EDWARD OLMSTEAD, USN…(POW)… and… LTJG PORTER A. HALYBURTON, USN… (POW)…and… ENSIGN RALPH ELLIS GAITHER, USN… (POW)… and… LTJG RODNEY ALLEN KNUTSON, USN… (POW)… and… LT RODERICK LEWIS MAYER, USN… (KIA)… and… LTJG DAVID ROBERT WHEAT, USN… (MIA)…
1967… MAJOR DWIGHT EVERETT SULLIVAN, USAF… (POW)…and…MAJOR DONALD EUGENE ODELL, USAF… (POW)… and…CAPTAIN ANTHONY CHARLES ANDREWS, USAF… (POW)… and…LTJG FREDERICK JOHN FORTNER, USN… (KIA)…
RIPPLE SALVO… #956… NYT, 17-OCT-68, Page 46… Editorial page…
OPENING TOWARD PEACE… I quote…
“The American spokesman’s reference to ‘movement’ in the Vietnam talks, the hasty conferences in Saigon, the return to Hanoi of North Vietnam’s highest-ranking Paris negotiator, President Johnson’s phone calls to the three major Presidential candidates–all add confirmation to reports that the peace parleys have entered a critical phase.
“The White House statement that there has been no ‘basic’ change in the situation, ‘no breakthrough,’ presumably means only that the new formula under discussion in recent weeks has yet to receive the final agreement of Washington, Hanoi and their respective South Vietnamese allies. The new formula apparently would hurdle the bombing-halt issue that has hampered progress in the negotiations since their start five months ago. It would bring the Vietcong and the Saigon Government into the United States-North Vietnamese conference and, perhaps, into direct negotiations with each other. Combined with an undeclared lull in the fighting in South Vietnam, such as now seems under way, its acceptance would provide President Johnson with adequate reason to waive the explicit assurance of future military restraint that has been his chief condition for halting the bombing of North Vietnam.
“It is essential to be clear about the central issue in this emerging package deal. It is not whether Hanoi and the Vietcong’s National Liberation Front (N.L.F.) will agree to negotiate with the Saigon Government, as Hanoi suggests. That Government, which is recognized by more than fifty countries–about twice the number that recognize Hanoi–is a reality that cannot be ignored. Nor is the issue, as Saigon suggests, whether the Vietcong should take part in the negotiations at all. No settlement can be reached without the participation of all the combatants.
“If Hanoi in the past has said it would not talk with Saigon, that stance was simply to establish a bargaining posture to obtain recognition of the N.L.F. The real issue is the relative status of the two South Vietnamese forces in the negotiations. The N.L.F. has never claimed the status of a provincial government and has never been capable of achieving the essential prerequisite of such station in international law: an open capital. It is an insurrectionary movement, neither more nor less.
“Any attempt to define the status of the two South Vietnamese forces is likely to be difficult. Ambiguity in this case is a better method that clarity. Washington’s suggestion that the American and North Vietnamese delegations each bring its ‘friends’ to the talk is the simplest solution. The two sides now are faced with the opportunity to take a decisive step that would move the wide-ranging exploratory talks in Paris–which have covered far more ground that is generally realized–into the hard-bargaining phase that will still have to precede a settlement.”… End quote…
RTR Quote for 17 OCTOBER: GEORGE CHRISTIAN, White House Spokesman, at Press Conference 17-Oct-68: “The position of the United States with respect to Vietnam remains as set forth by the President and Secretary of State. There has been no basic change in the situation: no breakthrough. As you have always been advised, when there is anything to report, you will, of course, be informed promptly.”
Lest we forget… Bear