RIPPLE SALVO… #320… A tribute to LCDR DON “Smash” ASHBY : “Sad Day at Black Rock” by RADM Denny Wisely…LCDR ASHBY is pictured on the Home Page… And a pair of bad days in April 1967 when LCDR MIKE ESTOCIN, who rests in peace, took on the entire North Vietnamese IADS with “conspicuous gallantry” and would be awarded the Medal of Honor. And the 19 JANUARY 1967 stories of: COMMANDER ALLEN BRADY, LCDR WILLIAM YARBROUGH, CAPTAIN JOHN JAYROE and 1LT GALAND KRAMER. Fifty years ago on this date they laid their lives on the line for our country and paid a high personal price for our country. This post is what Remembering Rolling Thunder is all about…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED TWENTY of a 1000 post remembrance of OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER the air war with North Vietnam fifty years ago… one day at a time…
19 January 1967… NEW YORK TIMES Head Lines on a fair and partly cloudy Thursday in NYC… Fifty Years Ago…
Page 1: “Congress Likely to Delay Tax Bill Until the Spring”…”The state of the nation’s economy three or four months from now may provide the ‘in’ for Congressional action or inaction on President Johnson’s call for a 6-per cent surcharge on income taxes. Legislators who will strongly influence and perhaps control the outcome encouraged speculation along those lines today in private conversations at the capital.”… Page 1: “Stocks and Bonds Surge in Massive Trading Day”… “Stock and bond markets reacted dramatically to President Johnson’s State of the Union Message. The New York Stock Exchange, after a rocky opening that saw the Dow-Jones industrials average drop 11.47 points turned around. The average closed with a gain of 8.35 points amid turnover of 13.23 million shares. The third biggest trading day in volume in history.”… Page 1: “Peking Demanding Action to Counter Sabotage”… “The Peking authorities conceded today that economic and political sabotage had been carried out by some. Communist officials and workers are trying to discredit Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s cultural revolution. The regime called on the nation in a special appeal to take concerted action and beat back the counterattack by opposition elements.”… Page 12: “Sonic Booms Damage U.S. Parks”… “Sonic booms from military aircraft have caused damage to prehistoric cliff dwellings and geological formations in at two national outdoor poreserves…The National Park Service reported to Interior Secretary Stewart Udall on damage to cliff dwellings…in Northern Arizona and in Bryce Canyon in Utah…Mr. Udall said the situation is disturbing the fragile masterpieces of nature.”… (shame on you Sandblower guys)… Page 1: “More Troops Join allied Offensive”… “United States Commanders reported ‘frequent contact with small groups’ today in the fourth day of Operation Cedar Falls, the largest single allied offensive of the war…since Sunday…troops have killed 196 enemy soldiers.”… Page 4: “Peking Reported Pushing Development of Missiles With Nuclear Warheads”… “Communist China is placing considerable emphasis on large scale production of weapons, particularly medium-range missiles that can deliver the atomic warheads it is developing. Congress was told today by CIA.”… Page 7: “Hanoi Demands Thai Ban on U.S. Use of Bases”… “The North Vietnamese Foreign Minister has officially demanded that the Thai Government ‘immediately’ stop granting the United States the use of air bases and withdraw Thai ‘mercenaries’ from south Vietnam.”…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY AND INTREPIDITY… CAPTAIN (THEN LCDR) MICHAEL J. ESTOCIN, UNITED STATES NAVY, is awarded the MEDAL OF HONOR…
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 20 and 26 April 1967 as a pilot in Attack Squadron 192, embarked in USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14). Leading a 3-plane group of aircraft in support of a coordinated strike against two thermal power plants in Haiphong, North Vietnam, on 20 April 1967, Captain Estocin provided continuous warnings to the strike group leaders of the surface to air missile (SAM) threats, and personally neutralized three SAM sites. Although his aircraft was severely damaged by an exploding missile, he re-entered the target area and relentlessly prosecuted a SHRIKE attack in the face of intense antiaircraft fire. With less than 5 minutes of fuel remaining he departed the target area and commenced an inflight refueling which continued for over one hundred miles. Three miles aft of Ticonderoga, and without enough fuel for a second approach, he disengaged from the tanker and executed a precise approach to a fiery arrested landing. On 26 April 1967, in support of a coordinated strike against the vital fuel facilities in Haiphong, he led an attack on a threatening SAM site, during which his aircraft was seriously damaged by an exploding SAM; nevertheless, he regained control of his burning aircraft and courageously launched his SHRIKE missiles before departing the area. By his inspiring and unswerving devotion toduty in the face of grave personal danger, Captain Estocin upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.”
Mike Estocin did not fully depart the area and was killed in action on the mission. His body was never recovered and he rests today where he fell tenaciously fighting for his country with “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity” on 26 April 1967… An appropriate monument to his memory in the form of a mounted A-4 bearing the colors of VA-192, “The World Famous Golden Dragons” is located in a park at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California… Thanks to RADM Allen “Boot” Hill, USN, Retired…
19 January 1967… Operation Rolling Thunder… New York Times (20 Jan reporting 19 Jan ops) Page 6: “Bad weather continued in North Vietnam limiting American pilots to 40 missions of 2 planes or more, most of the missions were flown in the southern panhandle regions along the coast. In the northernmost strikes, Navy pilots attacked barges in the vicinity of Haiphong.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) Three fixed wing aircraft were lost in Southeast Asia on 19 January 1967… “A Bad Day at Blackrock”…
(1) COMMANDER ALLEN COLBY BRADY and LCDR WILLIAM P. YARBROUGH were flying an A-6A Intruder of the VA-85 Black Falcons embarked in USS Kitty Hawk and leading an attack on the Dong Phong Thong bridge 10 miles north of Thanh Hoa…Hobson: “COMMANDER BRADY, VA-85’s Executive Officer, (and LCDR YARBROUGH) was leading…when he ran into trouble. He had just released 22 MK-82 bombs and was pulling up when the aircraft was struck by AAA. The aircraft exploded immediately and the tail broke away. The remainder of the aircraft tumbled end over end as both crew ejected from the wreck. COMMANDER BRADY landed safely but LCDR YARBROUGH‘s parachute did not deploy properly and he fell to his death.” COMMANDER BRADY was captured, interned as a POW and released six years later in March 1973. LCDR YARBROUGH’s remains were returned to the United States in August 1985, closing a painful eighteen year chapter in the Yarborough family lives…. They also serve who wait at home…
(2) CAPTAIN JULIUS SKINNER JAYROE and 1LT GALAND DWIGHT KRAMER were flying an F-4C of the 390th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang on an escort mission best described by Chris Hobson in his magnificent compilation of Vietnam history (pg 86-87): “Such were the losses suffered by the unattended reconnaissance aircraft over North Vietnam that many of their missions were now escorted by flights of fighters. Four Phantoms from Danang rendezvoused with two Voodoos from Udorn for a mission to Kep where the pilot of the lead Voodoo, 20th TRS’s Commanding Officer LCOL John Bull Stirling, would take photographs of the MIG base. The North Vietnamese reacted strongly and Stirling’s wingman counted 18 SAMs fired in the vicinity of the target. As the Voodoos swept over the airfield the Phantoms were orbiting at 14,000-feet about 12 miles to the southwest. One of the aircraft, flown by CAPTAIN JAYROE and 1LT KRAMER, was hit by either 85mm AAA or a SAM. JAYROE tried to make the coast but he did not get very far as his aircraft became uncontrollable and the crew were forced to eject about 5 miles east of Ba Ninh only minutes after being hit. Both men were taken prisoner, a particularly bitter blow for CAPTAIN JAYROE as he was on his 100th and final mission before being rotated back to the USA…” Both CAPTAIN JAYROE and 1LT KRAMER served with honor as POWs for six years before being released in 1973.
(3) LCDR DONALD ROBERTS ASHBY and LTJG DENNIS MICHAEL EHRICH were catapulted in an F-4B of the VF-114 Aardvarks embarked in USS Kitty Hawk, lost an engine and the aircraft settled into the sea. Neither of the flight crew ejected and were lost at sea, fifty years ago from this day… Gone but not forgotten as they remain where they fell in the service of our country… God bless those who die on the battlefield, on their shield… see Ripple Salvo #320 to follow…
RIPPLE SALVO… #320… Humble Host is proud to yield to one of the bravest, thoughtful and sensitive killer fighter pilots I know. Rear Admiral Denny Wisely is crafting a journal of his admirable flying career… Downed two enemy aircraft for starters… Denny asked for this space to express his feelings for a fallen shipmate LCDR DONALD “SMASH” ASHBY, who with his Radar Intercept Operator LTJG EHRLICH perished fifty years ago on 19 January 1967…
“SAD DAY at BLACK ROCK…submitted by Rear Admiral Dennis Wisely…
“From the time I joined VF-114 in June of 1965, LCDR Don “Smash” Ashby was a stabilizing influence on my life. He was one of three and later four LCDR Department Heads. In a squadron working up to go to war, some feel the pressure more than others. Don was not one of them. He was always steady as a rock and a role model for me. On our first day attacking North Vietnam, we lost our commanding Officer, CDR Carl Ausin the only one with combat experience. During that tough time and throughout the combat deployment, Don was there for all of us Junior Officers. When we were in port, he lead us on the softball field, at the BOQ pool, at the O’Club and even in the town of Olongapo just outside the gate at Subic Bay. He was as we called him the Junior Officer Commanding Officer, or as we said JOCO.
“On the 19th of January we started up our Kitty Hawk war machine against NVN targets. In each Ready Room there is a ships TV up in a corner so that all in the Ready Room can watch either launches or recoveries. The launches are video recorded by a large man-operated camera up on the island near vultures row. The landings are video recorded by a camera imbedded in the centerline of the landing area. On this day the big target was Bai Thong storage area about ten miles north of Thanh Hoa. LCDR Don Ashby and LTJG Dennis Ehrlich launched with a full load of Mk-82s (6,000 pounds). During the cat shot, something, possibly ingestion of a foreign object, caused the right engine to smoke and catch fire. Some of us were watching the launch from the Ready Room TV and saw they had a problem off the cat. The airplane continued ahead with nothing being ejected to reduce the weight. I don’t know if the Air Boss in the tower called Don to jettison or even eject. Then the aircraft started to roll left and went into the water with no ejections. At that time there was no command ejection system, which allowed the pilot or the Radar Intercept Officer to eject both. The back-seater needed to get out first or have a high risk of seat-to-seat collision. We will never know what was going on inside the cockpit, what the intercom conversation was like, why Don didn’t clean up the airplane by jettisoning everything with the push of one button or why they didn’t eject. It was a sad blow to all of us.
“I have kept touch with his widow Wilma in recent years as well as his daughter Molly. Molly runs her own venture cap company on Wall Street. She was seven at the time we lost her father and Denny Ehrlich. Molly’s two brother are also very successful in their own businesses. Don would be so very proud of them.”
HUMBLE HOST is grateful to Denny for a look inside his heart and this remembrance of an event from fifty years ago, a bad, black day in January 1967 for so many good men and their families… Not just the Rolling Thunder aviators, but the troops of Operation Cedar Falls and the Marines south of Danang and along the DMZ and fresh Army troops down in the Mekong Delta– for on this day the Defense Department reported 24 American warriors were Killed in Action and another 25 that had been reported as Missing in Action were changed to Captured and Prisoners of War.
At about this same time President Johnson was on the phone with Senator Fulbright— allow me to quote one exchange from a State Dept document: …LBJ: “He says the trouble is that the targets, that you don’t know anything about these targets, that you’re not hitting the right targets.”…Senator Fulbright:”Well I hope you can get those G—damned people to talking over there. I hate when I see all those figures and all those amounts and so on, you know.”
Entire conversation at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d23
CAG’s QUOTES for 19 January: CHARLES DE GAULLE: “The sword is the axis of the world.”…. PATTON: “A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.”…
Lest we forget… Bear