RIPPLE SALVO… blog #65 …NATURE… but first…
Good Evening (or later): Day SIXTY-FOUR of a review of a chapter of our nation’s history…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…. late getting this done… Mother Nature at work… 70 knot winds knocked out Comcast and power on Mount Ogden for thirty-six hours over the weekend and I spent a wonderful day and a half in conversation with my beloved wife without interruption… My computer is back on line and I have returned to my bear cave, and here goes blog #65….
2 MAY 1966 (NYT)…ON THE HOME FRONT … The NYT Monday morning headline, page 1: “Soviet Calls U.S. Cruel in Vietnam”…May Day in Moscow and a day for speeches, military parades and red flags. Defense chief Rodion Y. Malenovsky said, “United States troops in South Vietnam are using the most cruel and barbaric means of annihilating people.” Page 1: “2 More U.S. Planes Downed in North; Total Now 225″…The downed aircraft were an RF-101 photo reconnaissance aircraft and an A-1E escort of a rescue helicopter responding to the RF-101 downing. Both pilots are MIA (see my blog for 29 April)…No MIGs or SAMs reported while Air force and Navy flew 43 strike missions. “The weather over North Vietnam was clear with some haze and scattered clouds and the pilots hit supply routes, bridges and coast shipping in the panhandle region.” B-52s struck targets 75 miles northwest of Saigon for the third time in a week… Short report: In rainy Washington, LBJ led a tour of the White House for a large group wounded warriors from Walter Reed Hospital…oohrah… Page 5: Pilot Rescued on 4th Attempt,” in the mountains of North Vietnam. CAPTAIN JAMES INGALLS, of Palo Alto, California, went down on 1 May (see my blog #64) and evaded NVN troops to afford the Air Force Third Aerospace Rescue Group an opportunity to pick him up on the fourth try. CAPTAIN INGALLS was the 48th rescue for the unit in 1966. The unit rescued 120 in the three month period October to December 1965… oohrahx2… Page 6: “Pentagon sued on Resignatio0ns”…”Officers refused discharge contend that no emergence exists to justify holding them in the service…More than 1,000 officers have sought to be released since the increased build up for Vietnam, but have been held in the service. Four officers filed suits, “…there is no law, national emergence or declared war to justify being kept in the service, and this constitutes a violation of constitutional amendment against involuntary servitude.”
Page 10: “Johnson’s Right Goals”… “Many Think Too Much of His Effort is Restricted to Problems in the South”… “Despite the breadth and eloquence of President Johnson’s latest civil rights message, many observers believe the Administration has yet to come to grips with the major, more controversial issues in race relations. These include: defacto segregation, the inferiority of many slum schools, and the alleged use of public funds to worsen rather than alleviate the problems of the ghetto.”… LBJ: “Whether the nation succeeds that frontier–human beings– is an issue that rests in the hearts of every American…in our common willingness to secure equal opportunity and achievement for the Negro American.”
2 MAY 1966… ROLLING THUNDER OPERATIONS… Two downed Navy aircraft…
(1) LT EUGENE J. CHANCY flying an F-8E from the VF-211 squadron on USS Hancock was on a strafing run on the radar station on Hon Me island when his hydraulic system failed (small arms?) and he was forced to eject just clear of the island. He was subsequently rescued by a Navy UH-2 helicopter. Chris Hobson’s report on this incident included the fact that LT CHANCY was a MIG-17 killer (21 June 1965) and had previously ejected from an F-8 in stateside training.
(2) LCDR WALTER SUTTON WOOD flying an A-4E from the VA-55 squadron on USS Ranger was returning to the carrier after a coastal reconnaissance mission that included a rocket attack on a target on Hon Ngu island. One of his LAU-3 pod, 2.75 rockets did not fire and to preclude the remaining rocket from coming loose on the arrested carrier landing, he successfully fired the rocket over the Gulf. Unfortunately, the rocket came apart on firing and was ingested in the J-52 engine with catastrophic results. LCDR WOOD immediately ejected and had a good chute into the water. He went under with the good chute and perished forever. LCDR WOOD was Killed in Action and lost forever.
RIPPLE SALVO… MAJOR ROBERT E. ADAMS, USMC (RETIRED) and deceased…the Major was my Grandfather’s cousin. He fought in the trenches of World War I at Verdun with the First Battalion Sixth Regiment of Marines. He commanded Marines at the Chemin des Dames and again at Chateau-Thierry in June 1918. He is buried in Arlington. In 1935 he wrote a book entitled “War and Wages” that I treasure. In the course of my blogging I will share his wisdom with the world 80 years removed from his attempt to influence the action of President F.D. Roosevelt (to prepare for war) as the world came apart in the 1930s… Much as it is in the 2010s… This evening I submit a quote from his summary of the causes of war that fits our times…
“Nature is hard and raw, and the softer a nation becomes the more revolting to its delicate senses are nature’s methods and requirements, but nature doesn’t change. Its laws and evolutions are immutable. They are the same today as they were in any period, historic or pre-historic, in any location and among the living creatures of the world. It is man that changes, and he changes only in part. When he is softened up, he still demands a living without toil, but loses the ability and willingness to fight for the acquisition of his needs or the retention of these needs. Under these conditions, acquisition must be made easy, and so hard work, struggle and the sweat of the brow give way to cheating, thievery, dishonesty, lying and other similar devices by which material things are easily acquired. When this process sets in, the effect on the human system is plainly visible. Men object to a day’s work for a day’s living, which has ever been the demand of all living creatures.
“The predatory animal must work hard to catch his food, for his quarry has been given some means of defense by nature–horns, teeth, claws, fleetness of foot or other natural protection. If the ability to use those gifts is dulled, the penalty is the loss of life. Man’s defense has been placed in the creativeness of his brain and the ability of his hands to fashion weapons for his attack and defense, not only against the attacks of other men and animals but for his defense against starvation, a defense made possible only through attack. This creates rivalry among men, rivalry among families, clans and communities and, finally rivalries among nations. We call it rivalry; to be more correct, it is the struggle to exist. It shows itself in the rivalry to create things desired and necessary for life, rivalry in the opportunity to trade the things created for profit, that can in turn be used to make other things to trade, which in turn creates further profit to be stored up for future use–wealth. When the land, the wealth and the profits which create the comforts of the people come too easily, the softening process sets in. The horror of nature’s methods are then loudly shouted against, workless days are demanded, everything must be made easy, and emotion rules in place of realism. Wars are declared immoral and their abolishment is demanded. Dishonesty becomes prevalent. Virtue in everybody is lowered or ceases to exist, and the race or nation affected is on the road to inferiority, if that condition lasts too long. Life, power, and prestige are all transitory and they reside longest where effort is made to retain them.”
Max Lerner (1974): “The paramount purpose of a nation is survival…”… Unfortunately, American power, position and resolve have been greatly diminished in pursuit of a Utopia where “everything must be made easy.” As a consequence, our nation has become vulnerable “to the horror of nature” and is in peril. American virtue is undeniably on the wane and “the softening process” has run amuck. Uncle Robert would agree with me. You?
Lest we forget…. Bear ………. –30– ……….