RIPPLE SALVO… #900… ON 21 AUGUST 1967, SKIPPER PROFILET LED HIS A-6 INTRUDERS ON A ROLLING THUNDER STRIKE ON THE DUC NOI RAIL YARD FOUR MILES NORTH OF HANOI. THEY WERE MET BY ONE OF THE LARGEST VOLLEYS OF SURFACE-TO-AIR-MISSILES OF THE WAR. The strike was coordinated with an Air Force strike in the Hanoi area at the same time. When the air cleared, the enemy’s 51 SAM’s and AAA had knocked down four of the attackers and, tragically two more were downed by Chinese MiG’s from Hainan as they were returning to Yankee Station and inadvertently entered Chinese air space. On the day the U.S. lost 8 aircraft and ten aviators. (Refer to RTR for 21-Aug-68, Ripple Salvo #533). Commander PROFILET and his B/N, LCDR William Morgan HARDIMAN were the “lucky ones,” they were captured and lived through 5 and 1/2 years of POW duty in Hanoi. (Pick up below)…But first…
GOOD MORNING…Day NINE HUNDRED of a daily journal recovering the essence of OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER, the air war fought fifty years ago in the skies of North Vietnam, in conjunction with the nation’s Commemoration of the Vietnam War (1961-1973)…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Wednesday, 21 AUGUST 1968…
PAGE 1: BANNER HEADLINE: “CZECHOSLOVAKIA INVADED BY RUSSIANS AND FOUR OTHER WARSAW PACT COUNTRY FORCES–They Open Fire On Crowds In Prague–Tanks Enter City–Deaths Are Reported–Troops Surround Offices Of Communist Party”… Page 1: “SOVIET EXPLAINS: SAYS ITS TROOPS MOVED AT REQUEST OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA”… Page 1: James Reston: “Soviet Turns Back Clock”… Page 14: “The Crisis In Prague Recalls The Anxious Days of 1930’s”… Page 1: “PRESIDENT JOHNSON SUMMONS U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL–Calls Emergency Session after Seeing Soviet Envoy Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin”…
THE WAR: Page 1: “FIFTEEN POINTS IN DELTA ARE SHELLED BY FOE:… “The Vietcong shelled 13 cities and military installations in the Mekong Delta this morning, extending their latest wave of attacks into South Vietnam’s southern-most region. Seven of the shellings were followed by ground attacks. Initial reports…allied casualties and damage in all of the attacks appeared light…In the north, allied forces are making an increasing number of forays into the southern part of the demilitarized zone in search of North Vietnamese troops believed to be making their way south….” …Page 4: “FOE LOSES 739 TROOPS IN 3-DAYS”… “Savage fighting along the Cambodian border, in the Central Highlands and the Northern Provinces cost the enemy 739 dead, most of them in Tayninh Province northwest of Saigon…American casualties were reported as 69 killed and 361 wounded… In one of the Vietcong’s lightning attacks guerrillas wiped out a United States Combined Action platoon after overrunning an outpost 12 miles south of Danang in the north. The Raiders killed all 11 Americans–10 marines and a Navy corpsman–and 24 Vietnamese militiamen guarding the camp. Eight Vietcong bodies were found…. Reinforcements…pursued the attackers but reported no contact.”… STATE DEPARTMENT Historical Document dated 21 August addresses the “war at sea” around Tiger island between the South Vietnamese commandos and the North Vietnamese taking station in the “waterborne logistics craft”, i.e. junks. I wonder why the intel boys in IOIC on Enterprise never told us about heavy weapons on the water off Route Packages I and II?…Read at: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d335
PEACE TALKS: No coverage. …but… A must read STATE DEPARTMENT Historical Document, Foreign Relations, Vietnam 1964-68, dated 21 August 1968, a telegram from Ambassador Harriman and Secretary Vance in Paris to Secretary Rusk. This is a twelve point brief on the weekly meeting of the peace negotiators… Read at: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d334
Page 1: “NIXON INCREASES GALLUP POLL LEAD–Tops Humphrey 45-29 And Maintains His Margin over McCarthy 42 to 37″… Page 1: “KENNEDY BACKERS OFFER A WAR PLAN–But McCarthy Group Balks At Compromise–Russia is for General Statement”… Page 1: POLITICS: “DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION TAKING SHAPE IN WIDE CONFUSION AND DISSENSION–President’s Role And Uncertainty–Impending Floor Fight May Upset Advance Plans”… Page 15: “U.N. DIPLOMATS EXPECT U.S. PROTEST IN SECURITY COUNCIL TODAY–Downfall of Dubcek Regime Is Feared–Tank Announces He Intends To Visit To Visit Prague This Week”… Page 1: “Outlook Guarded For Eisenhower–His Condition Still Critical Despite Favorable Trend.”…
21 AUGUST 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times…No coverage… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft downed in Southeast Asia on 21 August 1968…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) ON THE FOUR 21 AUGUST DATES IN THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION
1965, 1966, and 1968…NONE…
1967… 1LT LYNN KESLER POWELL, USAF… (KIA)… and… CAPTAIN MERWIN LAMPHREY MORRILL, USAF… (KIA)…and… COMMANDER LEO TWYMAN PROFILET, USN… (POW)… and… LCDR WILLIAM MORGAN HARDIMAN, USN… (POW)… and… LTJG DAIN VANDERLIN SCOTT, USN… (KIA)… and… LTJG FORREST GEORGE TREMBLAY, USN… (KIA)… and… LCDR JIMMY LEE BUCKLEY, USN… (KIA)… and… LT ROBERT JAMES FLYNN, USN… (POW)…
Operation Rolling Thunder warriors POWELL and MORRILL from the 354th TFS, and from VA-196 and USS Constellation, SCOTT, TREMBLAY and BUCKLEY– are names on The Wall… Leave a Remembrance… Google VVMF, Wall of Faces…then search for the fallen warrior of choice and leave a remembrance on this 51st anniversary of his final Rolling Thunder flight…
RIPPLE SALVO… #900… A salute to CAPTAIN LEO TWYMAN PROFILET, USN (1928-2004), who rests in peace among the warriors in Arlington National Cemetery, glory gained, duty done. LEO PROFILET flew 98 combat missions in Korea and was on his 59th Rolling Thunder mission when downed by a surface-to-air-missile over Hanoi on 21 August 1967, 51 years ago on this day of remembrance…. Among CAPTAIN POFILET’s combat awards for Valor: the SILVER STAR, LEGION OF MERIT, four awards of the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, 13 AIR MEDALS, two awards of the BRONZE STAR, the NAVY COMMENDATION MEDAL with V device, and the PRISONER OF WAR MEDAL… oohrah…
Upon release from captivity in 1973, LEO PROFILET was asked to submit comments for inclusion in the book project of Captain and Mrs Frederic Wyatt, USNR, retired, titled WE CAME HOME… a few comments from that contribution to the book… I quote…
“During my years (5 1/2) in Hanoi I never lost faith in the American people. When I learned of the tremendous support given to the POW/MIA cause, the many organizations who responded to the call of our wives and families, that wonderful bracelet program, the letter writing campaigns, the profoundly moving welcome home–I knew that my faith was right on. The strength of our beautiful nation comes from her people. I hope that all of us , especially our young people, will become as personally involved in the future of America as with the POW/MIA cause.
“I thank all of America for getting us home with honor. Let us not forget that the real heroes are our families who went through years of torment and anguish. And remember that the families of the MIA are still undergoing that torment ans anguish. Also, let us not forget the thousands who did not survive, nor the men who came home wounded, some crippled for life. Theirs was a far greater sacrifice than mine.”… End quote,,,
At the time of LEO PROFILET’s deployment on his last cruise to Yankee Station and Rolling Thunder, his 13-year old daughter Jana (“Peach”) Profilet wrote for the somber occasion… “For Dad–Spring 1967″… “He’s Going Away”…
Here I lie
Beneath a star,
Thinking of a land afar,
Thinking of a time once passed,
And now a time
That came too fast.
A picture of a smiling face,
Remembrance of a warm embrace,
A waving hand,
A windblown kiss,
A laughter I will always miss…..
THANK YOU, JANA PROFILET…It’s a keeper for all who leave their families to go to war…
Lest we forget… Bear