GOOD MORNING… Day NINE HUNDRED FORTY-ONE of thoughts about the great events and people of the Vietnam air war called Rolling Thunder…
HEAD LINES from the Ogden Standard-Examiner for Wednesday, 2 October 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “REDS BRING DOWN TWO AMERICAN HELICOPTERS”… “Two evacuation helicopters loaded with wounded Americans were shot down by North Vietnamese troops during a fierce battle in jungled foothills south of Danang military spokesmen reported today. U.S Headquarters said several soldiers who had been wounded in the ground fighting were accounted for and presumed dead. They were aboard one of the helicopters that was destroyed while trying to evacuate them to a field hospital. … The two helicopters wre clearly marked with red crosses and that to fire on them was a violation of the Geneva convention governing the rules of warfare… The U.S. Command declined to say how many men were missing while a search was still on their bodies, but unconfirmed reports put the number at three. Four crewmen aboard the helicopter, a corpsman and two wounded infantrymen s were rescued, all of whom were wounded. The second helicopter was recovered. None of the crewmen or wounded aboard it was killed or missing but three of them were reported wounded. Headquarters said 23 Americans were wounded in the daylong fighting Tuesday, but none killed in the ground action that was touched off when enemy troops opened fire on troops of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade sweeping the area. Enemy casualties are unknown…The loss of one helicopter raised to four the number downed by enemy ground fire in the past three days in South Vietnam and raised to 876 the total for the war.”…Page 4: OpEd: DOING MORE FIGHTING…”South Vietnamese troops are doing more fighting, as recent casualty lists show. The are responding to President Thieu’s oft-repeated statements to his troops that success or failure ultimately rests with them. Thieu is right of course. In the long run, South Vietnam must win and hold its own independence.”…
PEACE: Page 1: “RUSK ASSAILS RUSSIA–CLAIMS CZECH INVASION PERILS PEACE–Rakes Reds In Speech before U.N. General Assembly”… “Secretary of State Dean Rusk today denounced the Soviet military intervention in Czechoslovakia as repugnant and dangerous to peace, and declared it had ‘sent a shock wave of indignation and apprehension around the world. The U.S. secretary of state making his first U.N speech was interrupted by three demonstrators in the public gallery who shouted and displayed a banner saying ‘Stop The War In Vietnam” before they were hustled from the chamber by security guards. Another sign said:’Big Firms Get Rich, G.I.’s Die.” Rusk told the 125-nation General Assembly that the United States wants peace in Vietnam and is ready to halt the bombing of North Vietnam ‘the minute we can be confident that this would lead to peace. an honorable settlement is possible,’ he said. ‘What remains is for Hanoi to get down to the serious business of making peace in Paris.’…. ‘…we must do all we can to turn from war to the works of peace.’ He repeated U.S. insistence that Washington wants ‘no empire in Asia, but that it does want a political solution on honorable terms–a solution consistent with the safety and notional existence of all the smaller nations of Southeast Asia. We want a settlement on the basis of the 1954 and 1962 Geneva agreements. Let no one mistakenly suppose that military pressure or any other kind of pressure can make us abandon our commitment to help the Republic of Vietnam defeat aggression from the North and determine its own future. But in carrying out that commitment we shall pursue energetically the road to an honorable peace.’…
HEAD LINES: Page 1: “JUSTICE ABE FORTAS ASKS TO WITHDRAW BID FOR CHIEF JUSTICE–LBJ ACCEPTS”… “‘With deep regret I have accepted and concur in the request of Mr. Justice Fortas and am withdrawing his nomination as chief justice of the United States,” a brief presidential statement said. ‘I believed when I made this nomination, and I believe it now, that he is the best qualified man for the high position.'”… Page 8: “PUBLIC OPINION POLL–ELECTION YEAR PROFILE SHOW TRADITIONS OUT”… Page 1C: “JOHNSON SIGNS FLAMING GORGE BILL”…
2 OCTOBER 1968…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… Ogden Standard-Examiner/Associated Press: No coverage of the air operations in the North. …VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 2 October 1968…
(1) MAJOR A.F. MASON and CAPTAIN R. MEADOWS were flying an O-1F Bird Dog of the 21st TASS and 504th TASG out of Nha Trang on a FAC mission 55 miles from Nha Trang when downed by enemy ground fire. They survived a forced/crash landing and were rescued by an Army helicopter… to fly and FAC again…
(2) MAJOR D.R. BARRON, flying an F-100D of the 352nd TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang, was scrambled for a night bombing mission against troops and bunkers near That Son in the extreme southwestern corner of South Vietnam. His aircraft was damaged by small arms fire and assumed the damage was not significant as he headed for Cam Ranh Bay, over 250 miles away. He overflew Tan Son Nhut. Unfortunately, the aircraft failed near Cam Rahn Bay and MAJOR BARRON was forced to eject over the bay where he was rescued by a Navy ship. Oops…
(3) A KC-135A of the 93rd BW attached to 4258th SW out of U-Tapao suffered an engine failure on takeoff from U-Tapao on a tanker mission over Thailand and Laos. The aircraft had passed the point of no return but the asymmetric thrust and the heavy weight of the aircraft caused both nosewheel tires to fail. The aircraft got airborne but impacted a concrete and steel runway light stanchion, crashed and burned killing the five man crew: MAJOR DEAN I. BEACH; 1LT RICHARD M. WELCH; 1LT ROBERT C. PROFILET; AND, TSGT EARL B. ESTEP…. five comrades together in service, together in death fifty years ago this day… They rest in peace, duty done…
(4) COMMANDER DONALD EDWARD ERWIN, XO, VA-164, was flying an A-4E from USS Hancock on a road reconnaissance mission about 20 miles northwest of Vinh when hit by 85-mm ground fire. He attempted to fly his burning aircraft eastward to gain the safety of the sea. He also attempted to jettison his weapons to extend his range, but was unable to lighten the aircraft. Nevertheless, he was able to reach the coast. As he ejected, the A-4 exploded, which either killed or rendered CDR ERWIN unconscious. His parachute opened automatically and he descended into the Gulf. He did not resurface. He landed amid a number of fishing boats, and it is presumed one of these boats retrieved COMMANDER ERWIN’S body. His remains were returned to the United States and identified for burial by his family in March 1990. He is remembered on this 50th anniversary of his final flight…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 2 OCTOBER DATES FOR THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1965, 1966, 1967, … NONE…
1968… COMMANDER DONALD EDWARD ERWIN, USN… (KIA)…
RIPPLE SALVO… #941… OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER, 1 OCT 68, Page 6. The Great PAUL HARVEY…
“AMERICAN’S ARE ENTITLED TO A GUIDE ON VIETNAM”…
“What do the politicians intend to do about Vietnam?
“Never, in a national election, have all candidates evaded the paramount question with such disgraceful double talk. American mothers and their sons are entitled to a straight answer to this life-and-death question: what do you, who want to president, intend to do about Vietnam? Maybe in another year, says Hubert Humphrey, we can start withdrawing some Americans. Already this war has dragged on for 22 bloody years. Why should we suffer through even one more?
ELECTION-YEAR SOP
“And worse–the bait of ‘;just one more year’ which is being held out to American servicemen and their families is conspicuously nothing morel than an election year sop. Running mate Spiro Agnew has said that the Republican plan for Vietnam is not being unveiled yet ‘for fear the rest of the campaign would die of boredom.’ He promises specific proposals before Election Day. If Nixon does not come up with some specifics pretty soon, voters must conclude that he has nothing better to offer than the discredited ‘sustained pressure policy’ of the Johnson Administration.
“Announced token withdrawal of American troops, reduced bombing, minimized casualty figures–these conspicuous election-year devices only add insult to this agony. Even George Wallace modified his ‘let’s win’ policy when advised that war-sensitive New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are ‘afraid to aim to melt ’em.’ Wallace, earlier, had offered a very sensible policy: ‘As President I would call in the diplomats and ask if we can talk our way out. If they said we could not talk our way out I would call our military experts and ask if we can fight our way out. If military experts say we can’t win promptly and decisively with conventional weapons–then I’d tell our sons to come on home. We never should have been over there in the first place.’ Recently, however, Wallace has been deleting that third alternative in his public utterances.
HANOI BOAST
“Radio Hanoi, listening to the vapid evasiveness of our presidential hopefuls– is boasting with increasing confidence th they will oust us from Vietnam precisely s they ousted the French; not by forcing us out but by wearing us out. the big three who want to be your President are seeking to divert attention to crime and violence at home. Some of them manage to sound pretty tough when it comes to corralling restive Americans.
“But history will merely record that much domestic restiveness derives fro hopelessly prolonged foreign involvements which promise young Americans nothing but a lifetime of uncertainty and probably premature death in places they can’t even pronounce. Demand a definite drive-it-or-park-it promise right now–or you sentence thousands more American sons to die under this stalemate no-win policy for at least four more bloody years. “… End quote… Or, as Paul Harvey would say….”Good, day.
RTR quote for 2 October:Paul Harvey: “Demand a definite drive-it-or-park-it promise right now–or you sentence thousands more American sons to die under the stalemate no-win policies for at least four more bloody years.”… How right Paul Harvey was. Four and a half more years and 30,000 more American sons was the Nixon era…
Lest we forget… Bear