RIPPLE SALVO… #804… HUMBLE HOST IS OLD. I HAVE BEEN AROUND SO LONG I KNOW WHAT’S NEXT. HISTORY HAS TAUGHT ME WELL. History is like the Principles of War. Ignore history or the Clausewitz principles at your own risk. Of course, like history, the principles for war fighting are not immutable. The wise general knows when and when not to apply a principle. But he knows the choice to fudge on one of those axioms must follow careful thought. So it is with history. The lessons from past experience provide wisdom for application, or not, depending on the inevitable variables that come with the passage of time and circumstance. Ignore the past at your own risk. In the present world historic negotiations that will determine the course of world history in this century will meet in Singapore in June. Our “conversations” with North Korea will mirror in many ways our nation’s history at peace talks of the past. It will be folly for our side to ignore the lessons from our previous peace talks following the Korean and Vietnam wars, among other such negotiations. The June kickoff in Singapore is the first milestone in a long and arduous negotiation will proceed just as the first “conversations” between the US and North Vietnam did in Paris 50 years ago… Then it was “to Paris with hope.” In June it will be “to Singapore with hope.” The timeline for the Korean talks will be remarkably akin to the experiences of the Vietnam talks that went on for more than four years…. “To Paris With Hope” below…
GOOD MORNING… Day EIGHT HUNDRED FOUR of a review of historic events of fifty years ago and remembering the great sacrifices nd service of the warriors who carried the Vietnam war to the heartland of the enemy, North Vietnam…
HEAD LINES from THE NEW YORK TIMES on Saturday, 18 May 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “NORTH VIETNAMESE STEP UP PRESSURE NEAR THE DMZ”… Dongha, South Vietnam, May 17–“While worl attention has been focused on the talks in Paris and the bitter fighting in Saigon, North Vietnamese forces have stepped up pressure in the northern provinces of South Vietnam. On Saigon, the military command said that Operation Delaware, the offensive aimed at clearing North Vietnamese troops from the Ashau Valley had been concluded….The North Vietnamese have attacked the cities and military installations in the northern region with rockets and mortar shells and have engaged in a series of sharp battles around the old imperial city of Dongha, a major military center that serves as a supply depot for the defences long the demilitarized zone.. CLASHES EVERY DAY… The biggest action occurred early this morning when a North Vietnamese division apparently tried to overrun this base, 10 miles south of the demilitarized zone. But nearly every day a United states or South Vietnamese unit clashed with an enemy battalion or regiment in the region. This has brought some of the heaviest fighting of the war, reflected by the fact tha of the 562 Americans killed last week, 263 were killed in the five northern provinces, the I Corps area. Flooded with intelligence reports of impending enemy ttacks, the allies are bracing for even heavier fighting in the weeks to come. ‘I forsee a succession of sharp, bloody fighting ranging all the way from squad-size ambushes to multi-battalion operations,’ said Major General Rathvon McClure Tompkins, commander of the 3rd Marine Division. Allied officers feel that the threat of enemy action is greater than ever–partly because they believe that the North Vietnamese hope to influence the proceedings in Paris with their field forces and partly because they believe the long range enemy plans call for more aggressiveness at this point. ‘We are in a dangerous period,’ said on Marine officer…. ENEMY IS OUTNUMBERED… The allies have about 200,000 troops in the region, compared with about 60,000 North Vietnamerse and a substantial number of guerrillas.”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 1: “HUMPHREY IN SLIP ON PARIS PARLEY–AIDE SAYS HE DIDN’T MEAN DELEGATES HAD AGREED TO INCLUDE ALLIES IN TALKS”…Vice President Hubert Humphrey said today that it had been agreed at the talks in Paris that each side could bring to the negotiating table whatever representatives of the South Vietnamese people they wished. Within an hour, in response to newsmen’s questions, an aide issued a statement of clarification for what apparently had been a slip of the tongue in the give and take of a question and answer session at the University of Maine.”... Page 7: “DENIAL BY STATE DEPARTMENT”… “A statement issued today by an offical spokesman of the State Department said: ‘as the Vice President has already stated, the question of participation by the south Vietnamese Government or the Vietcong has not come up in the talks now being held in Paris.”… Page 7: “STATEMENT DISPUTED IN PARIS”… “Unimpeachable sources said tonight that there had been no discussion with North Vietnamese this week on the subject of who could eventually represent South Vietnam in negotiations.”… Page 6: “North Vietnamese Delegation Will Move To Villa Near Paris”…
STATE DEPARTMENT. OFFICE OF HISTORIAN. HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 1964-68. VIETNAM. Two documents worth a look to add understanding of what was going on behind the public face of the President’s supervision for the peace negotiations. Read at…
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d236
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d237
Page 1: “FRENCH WORKERS TAKE OVER PLANTS AS UNREST WIDENS–DOZENS OF FACTORIES BEING HELD BY THE STRIKERS– Red Flags Raised–Some Air Flights Canceled After Orly employees Call a 48-Hour stoppage”… “France’s social revolt spread and changed in nature today as strikers, estimated to total 100,000, occupied dozens of factories in all parts of the country. The red flag was hoisted over several plants of a large chemical company.”… Page 1: “ISRAELIS DISCOUNT A CAIRO PEACE PLAN–Officials Describe Reported Offer As Meaningless”… “Israeli officials today dismissed a meaningless the latest reported offer of peace terms from Cairo. Under the terms, Cairo would end its state of belligerency against Israel and acknowledge her right to use the Strait of Tiran in return for Israeli promise to withdraw her troops from occupied territories.”… Page 1: KOSYGIN IN PRAGUE ON SURPRISE VISIT FOR TALKS ON RIFT–Arrives After An Eight-Man Soviet Military Mission–New Pressure Is Seen”… “…the purpose of the visit was described officially as a ‘continuation of the exchange of views with the Czechoslovakia leaders…. LIBERALIZATION MAJOR ISSUE… “Even though both men had been invited by the reform regime in Prague, it appeared almost simultaneously arrival of the highest Soviet Government and military leaders might represent Moscow’s major effort to persuade Czechoslovak leaders–through pressure or persuasion–to abandon or at least slow down the process of liberalization and democratization.”… Page 1: “PEKING CALLS LIU AGENT OF THANG –MAOISTS ATTACK ON CHIEF OF STATE–Factual Proof Claimed”… “Communist China’s chief of state, Liu Shao-chi was accused by the official press today for the first time of ‘representing the interests of the Kuomintang, the governing party of Nationalist China under Chiang Kai-shek, who withdrew to Taiwan when the Communists took power in 1949.”…
18 MAY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times (19 May reporting 18 May ops)… Page 1: “In the air war in North Vietnam, United States pilots flew 128 multiplane raids, attacking enemy transportation lines, storage areas and antiaircraft positions. Their northernmost target was a railroad bypass 163 miles north of the demilitarized zone and 17 miles south of the 19th parallel. There have been no reports of american attacks north of the 19th parallel since President Johnson limited the bombing March 31.”….
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 18 May 1968…
(1) COMMANDER CHARLIE NEGUS JAMES and LCDR VINCENT DUNCAN MONROE were flying an RA-5C of the RVAH-11 Speartips embarked in USS Kitty Hawk on a photo reconnaissance mission in Route Pak II between Vinh and Vinh Son at 11,000-feet when hit by antiaircraft fire. The aircraft burst into flame and became uncontrollable requiring the crew to abandon the aircraft 25 miles northwest of Vinh in a very hostile area. Beepers were heard and parachutes were seen but a SAR effort in the area was deemed too risky for the helicopters. Both Commander JAMES and LCDR MONROE were listed as Missing in Action and assumed to have been captured after Hanoi Radio reported the capture of two American pilots. Commander James was repatriated in March 1973. LCDR MONROE was presumed KIA and the remains of LCDR Monroe were returned in 1978 and he rests in peace in Arlington National Cemetery…
(2) CAPTAIN TERRY JUN UYEYAMA and CAPTAIN TOMMY EMERSON GIST were flying an RF-4C of the 14th TRS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn….”On 18 May 1968, then Captain Tery Uyeyama and Captain Tommy Gist, navigator, were the crew of an RF-4C, call sign ‘Vacuum’ which was on a single aircraft day airborne alert photo reconnaissance mission in the area of Donghoi, North Vietnam and disappeared. CAPTAIN UYEYAMA and CAPYAIN GIST were listed as Missing in Action for the duration of the war. CAPTAIN UYEYAMA was returned with the American POWs in march 1973. CAPTAIN Tommy GIST never was a POW and he is listed as “presumed killed in action” and he has been left behind… But there is much more to this story and Humble Host will tell it tomorrow in Ripple Salvo #805….
(3) CAPTAIN ROLAND ROBERT OBENLAND was flying an F-100D of the 531st TFS and 3rd TFW out of Bien Hoa against an enemy troop target six miles from the airfield. He was making a low-level napalm drop when hit by ground fire. He was unable to eject before the aircraft impacted the ground. He now rests in peace in Arlington, glory gained, duty done…he is remembered on this day fifty years after his final flight in the service of his country…
(4) An O-1E of the 22nd TASS and 504th TASG out of Binh Thuy crashed in South Vietnam as a consequence of engine failure. The pilot survived…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) ON 18 MAY FOR THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION…
1965… CAPTAIN DAVID LOUIS HRDLICKA, USAF… (POW)…
1966… CAPTAIN LEE DUFFORD HARLEY… USAF… (KIA)… and… A2C ANDRE ROLAND GUILLET, USAF… (KIA)…
1967… COMMANDER KENNETH ROBIN CAMERON, USN… (POW, Died in captivity)… and… LT ROBERT JOHN NAUGHTON, USN… (POW)…
1968… CAPTAIN TERRY JUN UYEYAMA, USAF… (POW)…and CAPTAIN TOMMY EMERSON GIST, USAF… (KIA)… and CAPTAIN ROLAND ROBERT OBENLAND… USAF… (KIA)…
Humble Host flew #168, a night dive bombing flight with one wingman …6 Mk-82s and Mk 24 Flares to work Highway 82 and a truck park… unknown BDA, no fires or secondaries…Also flew 1.8 maintenance test flight then hassled with a returning Battlecry flight…Probably Ernie Christensen…
RIPPLE SALVO… #804… New York Times, 10 May 1968, Page 46, Op Ed ….
“TO PARIS WITH HOPE”…
“The long-sought negotiations that are scheduled to open today in Paris could mark a historic turning point for the United States, Vietnam and the world. Ambassador Averell Harriman sounded a positive note on his departure for the French capital yesterday when he called on the North Vietnamese to match Americans in ‘a spirit of hope, sincerity and good-will.’ His Vietnamese counterpart, Xuan Thuy, responded in kind and as he landed at Le Bourget Airport, saying he was ‘optimistic.’
“Such optimism is shadowed, however, by word of intensified fighting in Vietnam, by Ho Chi Minh’s untimely appeal to the Vietcong to step up their struggle against American ‘aggression’ and by ominous reports of Soviet troop movements in Eastern Europe. days, weeks and even months of hard bargaining lie ahead, delicate negotiations that could be adversely affected by intemperate actions on either side or by disruptive developments elsewhere in the world.
“American officials have long warned that in moving to the peace table the United States faces what former Ambassador Kenneth T. Young has called a new and hazardous kind of LSD trip– Long Slow Diplomacy.’ They recall Korean negotiations, which stretched out over a two-year period during which 12,700 Americans died and 49,500 were wounded.
“Another such ordeal is not inconceivable. But it should not be necessary. The Geneva Accords of 1954, which both sides have endorsed in principle, were achieved in a little over two months. The Paris negotiations must not be permitted to falter or to fail, for they carry with them the hope of mankind.” End quote…
So it is with the conversations in Singapore…
Humble Host suggests a reading of the Wikipedia “Paris Peace Accords”… read at…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/Paris.Peace.Accords
RTR quote for 18 May: ISAIAH II.4: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”…
Lest we forget… Bear