RIPPLE SALVO… #230… and “LONG TIME PASSING”… but first…
Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED THIRTY of a look back of fifty years to the air war called ROLLING THUNDER…
17 OCTOBER 1966… WHAT THE HOME FOLKS WERE READING in the New York Times… on a fair and seasonable Monday…
Page 1: “President Urges Polish-Americans To Shun Backlash”…”President Johnson, taking a last political fling before departing tomorrow for a tour of Asia, helped consecrate today a huge Roman Catholic shrine intended as a symbol of unity for Polish-Americans. Touching several bases before leaving the country on a trip that will take up most of his time remaining before the November 8 election, Mr. Johnson was obviously making a bid for Polish-American support, but he also cautioned that ethnic group that it would betray its history by participating in a white backlash.”… Page 1: “South Stiffens Against Race Guidelines”…”A South Carolina school board thought the Unite States Office of Education was bluffing earlier this year when it handed down its guidance for school desegregation. But the county school superintendent took the office at its word and after a bitter fight, persuaded the board to shuffle Negro and white teachers in 11 classrooms and put more than 200 Negro pupils in classes with whites. Now the superintendent is afraid of losing his job. Recent attacks from Congressmen on the Office of Education and its desegregation policies that the superintendent confided recently are convincing the school board that it was right all along and could have gotten by with less desegregation.”... Page 1:…”In Tight Races The Backlash Vote May Mean Victory:…”The white backlash is once again a major factor in an American political campaign. It has already proved to be the case decisive issue in primary races in Georgia and Maryland. It may well make the difference in close contests in nine states north of the Mason-Dixon line.”
Page 1: “China Denounces Johnson’s Appeal To East Europe”…”Communist China delivered a slashing attack today on President Johnson’ recent speech setting forth several steps aimed at improving relations between the United States and Eastern Europe. An Article in Jenmin Jui Pav, the Chinese Communist Party publication, viewed Washington’s friendly gestures toward the Soviet Union and it’s European allies as a major threat to Communism and China. The daily paper bitterly assailed the Soviet Union, which it declared had ‘long ceased to support the world revolution.’ The attack on Moscow came as the Soviet Union and Poland jointly accused China of weakening the Communist effort in Vietnam. The prospect of further denunciations in the Soviet capital for a meeting of Eastern European Community leaders should be expected… Noting the meeting last week between President Johnson and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko the article stated: ‘Look! To what shameful level the renegades of the Soviet revisionist leading group has descended.’…” Page 1: “Johnsons Fly To Hawaii Today On Far East Tour”…”President Johnson embarks tomorrow morning on a 26,000-mile flying tour of the Far East, his first overseas foreign journey since he became President three years ago. The seventeen day trip will cover six countries including the Philippines where the President will meet next week with Premier Nguyen Cao Ky and the leaders of five other countries that are making military contributions to the war. The President’s schedule shows no stop in South Vietnam but there has been speculation that he may make an unscheduled cisit at a secure area of that country such as an air base with a well protected perimeter.”
Page 1: “Marines On Patrol: Elephant Tracks and Small Children”… Charles Mohr with the troops…”United States Marines marched along the edge of the demilitarized zone today and found that North Vietnamese pack elephants had been there before them. Even for this unusual war it was an unusual day for Company F of the Second Battalion Fifth Marine Regiment, as it patrolled in strength along the southern boundary of the demilitarized zone. The Marines also found themselves temporarily in custody of five loudly weeping children, who proved remarkably resistant to discipline. Since mid-July the Marines have worked to stop the heavy flow of North Vietnamese Army infiltrators south through the zone. The action has become something closer to conventional warfare rather than to a guerrilla fight.”… Page 51: A bit of hometown sports: “Colts Beat Lions On Passing, 45-14″…”Johnny Unitas threw four touchdown passes and Gary Cuozzo added a fifth today as they led the Baltimore Colts to a rout of the Detroit Lions in a National football League game in Baltimore. Touchdown passes were thrown to Jimmy Orr, Ray Berry and John Macke.”…
17 October 1966… The President’s Daily Brief… CIA (TS sanitized) North Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh may have made another secret trip to Peking last month. We have no reason to discount the report which comes from French press representatives in Hanoi. Ho was, in fact, out of public sight during the time he is said to have been in Peking. As to the possible reasons for a Ho trip in September, we note that the timing would have permitted high-level Hanoi-Peking consultations just prior to last month’s deluge of visitors to Hanoi… South Vietnam: Minister of Economy Thanh has joined the six southern cabinet members in a threat to resign unless the security forces are curbed. Thanh is one of Ky’s most able economic experts, but this will carry little weight with Ky if he feels Thanh is out of line. This controversy is fast coming to a head. The dissidents recognize that Ky’s desire to have his house in order during the Manila conference gives them more leverage now than they are likely to have for some time…Soviet Union: Cuba’s president and deputy premier arrived in Moscow today to join the meeting of East European Communist leaders. Rumania is also sending a high level delegation, ending speculation that Bucharest might boycott the gathering because of differences with Moscow over treatment of the Chinese. The assembling Communist leaders were greeted by three separate articles in today’s Pravda calling for the unanimous condemnation of the political course taken by Chinese leadership.”
17 OCTOBER 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…NYT (18 Oct reporting 17 Oct ops)..Page 14: “In North Vietnam yesterday bad weather continued to hamper American pilots. They were limited to only 92 missions by more than one aircraft in the coastal plain. Targets included highways, roads, bridges, storage areas and surface-to-air missiles.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses (Hobson): there were no fixed wing aircraft lost in southeast Asia on 17 October 1966.” ooorah…
RIPPLE SALVO… #230… One of my dear friends shocked me this week. He said he liked this RTR project of mine, but he said he was worried about me spending so much time reliving the past. His suggestion was that I’d be a happier curmudgeon if I put the past in the past–look to the future, enjoy the present, he said…. My rejoinder… “I am!!!’… “How’s that?” he says…. “Easy,” says I, “What is past is prologue.” (Shakespeare)…
Every week I go swimming for about twelve hours in the creeks, rivers, ponds and seas of history–at the public library. I spend most of my time with “the gray lady,” whose every word has been recorded for every day of my life (1935+), including the glory days of Rolling Thunder (1965-1968). And what I have verified is how remarkable what was is what is. There are days from fifty years ago to the day, where the news of then is akin to the news of now. The faces and characters have changed, but human nature, geography, domestic headaches, foreign relations, dreams, politics, the dynamics of the generations, and the presence of evil and evil doers have not. Some days the yellowed pages of the past are a mirror of the living day. It happens that my daily blogs not only match the date fifty years ago, but the day as well. My blogs, 230 so far, are there for your perusal as evidence that “past is prologue.”…
Case in point… Song sheets… In 1968-69 Country Joe and the Fish were wowing the world with “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixing-To-Die.” … I quote from the internet…
(1) “Well come on all of you big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again,
he got himself in a terrible jam, way down there in Vietnam… or (way out there in Afghanistan),
put down your books and pick up a gun, we’re gonna have a whole lot of fun.”
Chorus: “And it’s 1,2,3, what are we fighting for
Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam (or Afghanistan)
And it’s 5,6,7, open up the Pearly Gates
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee we’re all gonna die.”…. and then three more verses…
(2) “Now come on Wall Street don’t be slow, why man this’s war a -go-go,
there’s plenty good money to be made, supplyin’ the Army with the tools of the trade.
just hope and pray that when they drop the bomb, they drop it on the Vietcong (terrorists).”
(3) “Now come on generals lets move fast, your big chance ishere at last.
nite you go out and get those reds cuz the only good commie is one that’s dead.
you know that peace can only be won, when you blow ’em all to kingdom come.”
(4) “Now come on mothers throughout the land, pack your boys off to Vietnam (Afghanistan),
come on fathers don’t hesitate, send your sons off before it’s too late,
be the first one on your block, to have your boy come home in a box.”
Country Joe’s hit was sung with as much gusto at Yankee Station as it was on the campus at Berkeley.
I conclude the piece is timeless. As is Pete Seeger’s 1961 “Long Time Passing”….
“Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing…
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago.
They’ve gone to graveyards, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?”
“History is the teacher” is a subset of “the past is prologue.” The lessons of Rolling Thunder and the American experience in Vietnam wherein 58,000 brave men bled out for their country, must be studied relentlessly. As must the ongoing lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, from whence more than 5,000 more warriors have come home through the Dover mortuary. And still they come. And where have they all gone? To Arlington and graveyards every one. When will we ever learn? Do their lives not count for anything? Are not the millions who have fallen in our nation’s wars not the greatest reference for the conduct of our national affairs, now and forever? They are our past and “have set the stage” for all that is to come, therefore, they are “the prologue.” Just as remembering their sacrifices, contributions, and experiences, individually and collectively, is living in, and enjoying, today and the way ahead. For as far as a happy curmudgeon can see.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: …”studying history remains the only way to understand who we were, are, and will be.”
Lest we forget…. Bear ……… –30– ……….