RIPPLE SALVO… #202… BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARDS WITH 67 SCIENTISTS… but first…
Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED TWO of a return to the air war called ROLLING THUNDER…
19 September 1966… The Hometown News From the New York Times… On a cloudy Monday with a possibility of rain…
Page 1: “Thant Tells U.N. Force Can’t Solve Vietnam Problem”…”Secretary General Thant today decreed the idea that the war in Vietnam is an ideological ‘holy war,’ whose settlement depends mainly on considerations of super power politics. The real issue he said is survival of the Vietnamese, and this can be resolved by patience and understanding rather than force. The Secretary General also asked the General Assembly, which opens its 21st session on Tuesday, to give him a clear directive extending observer status to all governments now unrepresented here. This would include the Chinese Communists, the North Vietnamese, the North Koreans and East Germans. The implicit hostility to United States policy in Southeast Asia, bitterness toward South Africa, of Mr. Thant’s statements appeared to some observers here to imply that the United States wished to continue the war at the expense of the Vietnamese people. The United States delegation however would make no comments on these statements…The Secretary General has sounded North Vietnam in the past on the possibility of peace talks. But over the last year most of his discussions on a solution have been with the United States leaders. ‘I see nothing but danger in the idea so assiduously fostered outside Vietnam,’ Mr. Thant’s reports, ‘that this is a kind of holy war between two powerful political ideologies.’ The basic problem as the Secretary General sees it, is not one of ideology but national identity and survival. ‘If this approach is accepted by both sides and the moral influence of governments and people’s outside the conflict are brought to bear,’ he said,’ then it will be possible to reach a settlement which could end this suffering in Vietnam, satisfy the conscience of the world at large, and remove a formidable barrier to international cooperation.’…”
Page 1: “Civil Rights : At Turning Point”…Public support for the Negro and his problems is waning, white opposition is growing, and the civil rights movement is falling into disarray. Many white liberals ar confused; others have become preoccupied with Vietnam. And white moderates, disturbed by Negro riots and mounting pressure for housing desegregation are becoming apathetic or hostile. These developments which emerged clearly in a recent series of interviews across the nation, have touched off a wave of unease among politicians. In Washington, Congress is ready to kill a civil rights bill for the first time in three years, and some of President Johnson’s advisors say the President is convinced that the public mood will not permit any ‘big and bold’ programs for Negroes. It appears to be a major turning point for the Negro, who until this year had been gaining momentum in the social revolution that he began in 1955 with the Montgomery bus boycotts. For many civil rights enthusiasts the question now is not whether the Negro can win major new legislation but whether he can muster enough political strength to force a strong enforcement of existing civil rights legislation and prevent the erosion of the gains made when the revolution was at its peak.”…
Page 1: “Percy’s Daughter Is Slain In Home Near Chicago”…”An intruder entered the palatial home of Charles H. Percy today and killed the Republican Senate candidate’s 21-year old twin daughter Valerie Jean in her second floor bedroom. The killer fled when Mrs. Percy, awakened by her daughter’s moans at 5AM, left the master bedroom less than 35-feet away to investigate. Mrs. Percy confronted the murderer standing over the dying girl. She screamed and ran to awaken her husband…the coroner said the victim died of a fractured skull and 14 stab wounds…The police have been unable to establish any motive. The murder casts a pall over the hotly contested senatorial race between Mr. Percy and the Democratic incumbent Paul Douglas.”… Page 1: “Saigon To Reform Rural Efforts”..”South Vietnamese officials have concluded that there have been serious deficiencies in the rural pacification program this year and that reforms are needed this year and that reforms are needed in 1967… Top South Vietnamese officials have made varying assessments of the pacification or ‘revolutionary development’ work done so far in 1966. The most optimistic was that performance was not quite satisfactory and that progress was quite limited and not much was achieved.”… Page 2: “Eisenhower Asks Atomic Readiness”…”Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower says the United States should be prepared to use tactical nuclear weapons where an enemy can call thousands of men to get their way through a little military excursion like Korea…He said that as President he was prepared to use nuclear weapons against Communist China during the Korean War…”
19 September 1966…The President’s Daily Brief… CIA (TS sanitized)…Communist China: Peking is showing increasing concern over the autumn harvest which accounts for most of the year’s production. In Canton, the rice ration has been cut by one third, the first time since 1960-61 that food shortages have been reported in a large city. Communist China’s grain production has remained static for the past five years while the population has grown by 14 million a year. This year’s total production is likely to be lower than last year’s, and continued imposts of grain will not help significantly to make up the difference…
19 SEPTEMBER 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT (20 September reporting 19 September) Page 4: “In North Vietnam yesterday American pilots flew 117 missions involving more than one aircraft. Enemy MIGs were sighted for the third day in a row as they continued to bomb the railways and highways linking China and Hanoi. Scores of other targets were hit in the panhandle. three flights of F-105s fought brief battles with 11 MIG-17s but there were no reports of damage to either Amerian or enemy planes. Across North Vietnam American pilots reported destruction of 17 buildings, 18 boxcars, 11 bqrges, 11 bridges and 5 trucks. In ten strikes in the DMZ pilots reported having destroyed 26 other structures and starting several fires… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) Pages 74-5: Five fixed wing aircraft downed in southeast Asia on 19 September 1966:
(1) CAPTAIN DONALD G. WALTMAN was flying an F-105D of the 13th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat on a strike on the Cao Nung Bridge near Kep and was hit hard in the wing by intense AAA as he was recovering from his dive bombing attack. He was forced to eject almost immediately and subsequently captured. He was released from POW status on 4 March 1973.
(2) CAPTAIN D.J. FITZGERALD and 1LT P.C. BRUHN were flying an F-4C of the 555th TFS and 8th TFW out of Korat on a follow-on strike to the Cao Bridge near Kep and after delivering their ordnance on target and as they were clearing the target area they were hit by AAA. The aircraft remained flyable and the aviators headed for Danang, and almost made it. CAPTAIN FITZGERALD and 1LT BRUHN had to settle for a successful and unusual crash landing near Ca Lu, a few miles south of the demilitarized zone. Now there’s a great Happy Hour tale!
(3) MAJOR WARREN LEE GOULD and CAPTAIN WILLIAM SHELDON DAVIS were flying a B-57B of the 13th TBS and 405th FW out of Danang and were returning from a strike mission in support of in-country ops against Vietcong targets when downed by ground fire 10 miles south of Chu Lai. Neither MAJOR GOULD or CAPTAIN DAVIS survived the crash and were Killed in Action fifty years ago this day… they are remembered here for their sacrifice of life and limb for our country…
(4) LTJG DON BROWN PARSONS and LTJG THOMAS HOLT PILKINGTON were flying an F-4B of the VF-154 Black Knights embarked in USS CORAL SEA on a night armed recce mission on the coast 25 miles south of Thanh Hoa when their flight lead called a possible SAM coming their way. LTJG s PARSONS and PILKINGTON did not acknowledge the call and perished in the night. Another aircraft reported seeing a bright flash leading to an assumption that the aircraft was either hit by a SAM or flew into the ground or sea maneuvering to avoid the missile. In either case, LTJG PARSONS and LTJG PILKINGTON were Killed in Action on that night fifty years ago. they are remembered today as brave and noble young men who died in the service of their country… and were left behind??
(5) LT FRANK MONROE BROWN and LTJG DAVID ALLEN HENRY were flying an F-4B of the VF-151 Vigilantes embarked in USS Constellation on a nightcap mission and failed to climb after a normal night catapult shot and settled into the sea ahead of the carrier. There are “no easy days, or nights” for carrier aviators, and the night cat shot remains one of the most hazardous events in all of aviation. LT MORGAN and LTJG HENRY were Killed in Action in the service of their country and are remembered on this day fifty years after they perished at sea…
RIPPLE SALVO… #202… THE JASON SUMMER STUDY… Secretary McNamara had spent eight months developing what was called the POL strangulation plan. The POL plan was finally executed on 29 June 1966. McNamara had been assured by all his uniformed and civilian advisors that an aggressive POL campaign would hurt the North Vietnamese bad enough that the flow of men and material to South Vietnam would be sharply reduced and that the pressure for North Vietnam to seek a negotiated end to the war would be greatly enhanced. His high hopes got dashed. The full disclosure of how disappointed McNamara was with the whole idea of the bombing campaign, Rolling Thunder, as a consequence of the ineffective POL attacks did not come out until many months later when McNamara testified before a joint session of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee in January 1967 when he argued against any further extension of Rolling Thunder. McNamara testimony… quote..
There is no question but what petroleum in the North is an essential material for the movement, under present circumstances, of men and equipment to their borders. But neither is there any doubt that with, in effect, an unrestricted bombing campaign against petroleum, we were not able to dry up the supply. The bombing of the POL system was carried out with much skill, effort and attention as we could devote to it, starting on June 29, and we haven’t been able to dry up those supplies…We in effect took out the Haiphong docks for unloading of POL and we have had very little effect on the importation level at the present time. I would think it is about as high today as it would have been if we had never struck the Haiphong docks. And I think the same thing would be true if we took out the cargo docks in Haiphong for dry cargo…I don’t believe that bombing up to the present has significantly reduced, nor any bombing that I could contemplate in the future would significantly reduce, actual flow of men and material to the south. …end quote…
From the Pentagon Papers (Gravel Edition, Vol. IV, page 112): Senator Gravel : “Thus disillusioned with air power’s ability to turn the tide of the war in our favor, McNamara would increasingly in the months ahead (starting in the summer of 1966) recommend against any further escalation of the bombing and turn his attention to alternative methods of shutting off infiltration and bringing the war to an end.”
At about the time the Secretary’s high hopes were being dashed (that Rolling Thunder and the POL campaign would prove effective) he received a report from his Deputy Sec Def John McNaughton that supported a conclusion that there must be a better way to cut the infiltration of men and material from north to south. A paragraph from that report (Pentagon Papers) that proposed an alternative– “the barrier concept.” …quote… The Future of A Bombing Strategy
Although bombings of North Vietnam improve the GVN (Government of South Vietnam) morale and provide a counter in eventual negotiations (should they take place) there is no evidence that they meaningfully reduce either the capacity or the will for the DRV (North Vietnam) to support the Vietcong (VC). The DRV knows that it cannot force them to stop bombing and that we cannot, without an unacceptable risk of a major war with China or Russia of both, force them to stop by conquering them or ‘blotting them out.’ Knowing that if they are not influenced we cannot stop them, the DRV will remain difficult to influence. With continuing DRV support, victory in the South may remain forever beyond our reach. …end quote…
In April 1966 while Rolling Thunder was awaiting the decision to expand and execute the POL campaign, McNamara was presented an offer from some very smart university scientists to help McNamara study “the technical aspects of the war.” McNamara bought the idea and the JASON Summer Study group was mustered to “examine the feasibility of “A ‘fence’ across the infiltration trails, warning systems, 24/7 reconnaissance methods, night vision devices, defoliation techniques, and area denial weapons.” A contract was let to the Institute for Defense Analysis “for the study to be done through its JASON Division,” A think tank where studies could be conducted using non-IDA scholars, in other words, scientists from the ranks of prestigious universities. Most, if not all, were civilians to number 67 for “THE JANUS SUMMER STUDY.” The group has been described as “the cream of the scholarly community in technical fields,”and, “a group of America’s most distinguished scientists, men who helped the Government produce many of the most advanced technical weapons systems since the Second World War., and men who were not identified with the vocal academic criticism of the Administration’s Vietnam policy.”
They presented their report to McNamara in August 1966. Senator Gravel said of the study: “These conclusions and recommendations had a powerful and perhaps decisive influence in McNamara’s mind at the beginning of September 1966.” I will comment on the report and its impact on OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER in my next Ripple Salvo…
Lest we forget…. Bear …….. –30– ……..