RIPPLE SALVO… #564… and the September 21, 1967 “last stand” of a warrior of brave heart with fighting spirit… a fitting companion story with the ongoing and compelling Ken Burns’ “The Vietnam War.” (4 EPISODES DOWN, SIX TO GO, BE THERE –#5 PICKS UP THE STORY IN FALL 1967)…. but first…
Good Morning: Day FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR of a return of fifty-years to an air war fought without a cause…
21 September 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a cloudy, rainy Thursday in New York City…
FALL IN AMERICA 1967: New York City School Accord is Reached; Classes Monday if Teachers Ratify Terms–Union is Due to Vote Sunday”… “A tentative settlement of the school dispute which has kept most teachers and many pupils out for eight days was announced yesterday by Mayor Lindsay…normal operations should begin Monday for 59,500 teachers and more than one million students.”… Page 1: Senate Approves Model City Funds of %537-Million–Also Votes $40-Million for Rent Supplementals–Fight in Conference Expected”... “President Johnson’s legislative program for improving living conditions in the slums received a substantial boost today when the Senate voted for the Model Cities and rent subsidies.”… Page 1: “President Urges $5-Billion Effort to Air Safety–Asks for Increase in Personnel and Material to Handle Rising Traffic–Airlines Will Help Pay–Cost Would Also be Shared by Passengers–$7-Million is Requested Immediately”… “President Johnson called today for a comprehensive government plan to expand and improve the nation’s air control system and said he would ask the beneficiaries to pay for it.”... Page 20: “Johnson Warned of Spending Cuts“… “Ways and Means Committee member Representative Al Unman said the President is living in a dream world ‘if he thinks Congress will pass a tax increase without a large cut in government spending.”… Page 1: “Anti-War Slate to Oppose Johnson in New York State Primary”… Page 1: “Queen Elizabeth Launches Queen Elizabeth II”…”Cunard Lines choice of names is a surprise, but it is not without precedent.”… Page 1: “10 Women Fight Police Near White House”… “Anti-War demonstrators crashed through the fence but were turned back.”…
VIETNAM: Page 1: “U.S. Balked In U.N. On Vietnam Talks–Some Allies Join Soviet In Opposing Debate On War By Security Council”... “The U.S. delegations efforts to involve the Security Council in Vietnam peace making have met strong opposition.”… Page 4: “B-52s Bomb Enemy Artillery in Buffer Zone–Seek to Silence Guns of Foe as Marine Casualties Rise“… “… strike twice before dawn today…Marine casualties have continued to mount with one killed and 100 wounded on Tuesday. Yesterday 5 were killed and eleven wounded. Marine fighter-bombers from Chu Lai flew 27 missions to strike targets in the buffer and just north of the DMZ between 3 and 12 miles inland from the Gulf of Tonkin…”
21 September 1967… The President’s TS and “President’s Eyes Only”… “Special Daily Report on North Vietnam” by the CIA…
North Vietnamese Conditions Last Month (August)... The material situation in North Vietnam is very precarious. Except for basic food stuffs nd war materials, there is nothing– Morale in the rural areas is very high, but much lower in large cities such as Hanoi and Vinh.–In Hanoi, many civilians, particularly older segments of the population, would like to see an end to the war. They have had enough of living in a perpetual war footing and of continually receiving orders and instructions.– The young people in general are fanaticized, probably because they have never known anything but war. The bombings have had no effect on the morale of the youth.– Politically, the North Vietnamese are persuading themselves that as long as political and social troubles persist in South Vietnam they cannot lose.– As long as action against North Vietnam is restricted to bombing, no change in the situation can be expected. Only an invasion and occupation of part of their territory can decide the North Vietnamese to change their attitude.– Air raids on North Vietnam do not appear always to be very accurate… (rest remains redacted 50 years after the fact)…. GIAP ANALYZES THE WAR. North Vietnamese Defense Minister Giap published another in his series of analyses of the war. So far, only a portion of the first installment is available in Washington. The general tone of the article exudes confidence. He claims that the military situation has never been better, that his military forces are “invincible,” and foreign aid “increasingly effective.” Although there is nothing unusual or startling in the first part, it should be noted that Giap frequently keeps the heart in his analysis–such as current and future Communist strategy and predictions of future actions–until the conclusion of his article…. THE RICE CROP: The regime has turned out city dwellers in unusually large numbers this year to assist in transplanting the important tenth month rice crop. Some 120,000 for instance have been sent to one province alone, according to a party journal. It is too early to assess prospects, but transplanting was delayed a by a long drought which ended only in mid-August. A bumper harvest will be needed if North Vietnam is to overcome its dependence on food imports…
21 SEPTEMBER 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (22 Sept reporting 231 Sept ops)… Page 1: “HAIPHONG BOMBED THIRD TIME IN FIVE DAYS–PLANES ATTACK TWO BRIDGES–ONE FIRST TIME”... “….in a continuing effort to isolate North Vietnam’s main port city…It was the fourth raid since 11 September. Pilots flying A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers pounded the Haiphong railroad and highway bridge just to the southwest of the city’s limits. Until yesterday (21st) Kienan bridge was the only rail or road bridge leading from Haiphong that had not been attacked The other bridges had been bombed in each of the four raids this month… No assessment of damage… ” (Humble Host notes that the RF-8A Photo recce/BDA aircraft was downed…)
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 21 September 1967…
(1) CAPTAIN JAMES H. BENNETT and an unnamed observer were flying an O-1E of the 20th TASS and 504th TASG out of Danang and was taking-off from Khe Sanh when hit in the engine by small arms fire and crashed. CAPTAIN BENNETT was killed in action and the observer survived the short flight into the jungle…
(2) LCDR MILTON JAMES VESCELIUS, JR. was flying an RF-8A of VFP-63 (Det. 4 on USS CORAL SEA) on a bomb damage assessment reconnaissance flight in support of an Air Wing 15 strike on the bridge at Kienan at the city limits of Haiphong... Chris Hobson tells part of the story: “As LCDR VESCELIUS was making his run over the target at 3,000-feet and 600-knots, just as the last of the strike aircraft left the target area, his aircraft was hit by AAA and the starboard wing burst into flames. The aircraft commenced a shallow starboard turn and the pilot ejected just to the north of Haiphong harbor. The aircraft exploded shortly afterwards. LCDR VESCELIUS was seen alive on the ground by other pilots but he may have been killed by North Vietnamese troops. His remains were eventually returned to US authorities on 14 August 1985.” His remains were identified and announced on 30 October 1985. There is more to this tragic story of a warrior who gave his life for his country 50-years ago today…
RIPPLE SALVO… #564… LCDR MILT VESCELIUS went down fighting? Humble Host thinks so? Here is what is known…
“Lcdr Milton J. Vescelius was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission over North Vietnam on September 21, 1967. As he was about 5 miles west-southwest of the city of Quang Yen, and near the borders of Thai Binh and Quang Ninh Provinces, his aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Vescelius was seen to eject, and other pilots in the area reported that when he reached the ground he was surrounded by Vietnamese. The following day, a Radio Hanoi broadcast described the incident and stated that the pilot had been captured. The U.S. classified Milton Vescelius as a Prisoner of War.
“For the next six years, Vescelius’ family waited for the war to end. In 1973, when 591 Americans were released from POW camps in Vietnam, Vescelius was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him.
“Then in August 1985, the Vietnamese ‘discovered’ the remains of Milton Vescelius and returned them to United States control. For 28 years, he had been a Prisoner of War–alive or dead. The U.S. gratefully accepted the ‘gift’ of the remains of Milton Vescelius, and others which should have been returned decades ago. We allowed the Vietnamese to politically choose the moment it complied with that section of the agreement that ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam
“Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. many authorities who have examined this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive today (1990 report). These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorable return unless all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It is time we brought our men home.” (Source: Homecoming II Project 15 April 1990)…
LCDR MILTON VESCELIUS case file also contains the undated (post 1973) results of further investigations into his final day(s) on the ground in North Vietnam. “LCDR Vescelius ejected. Two escort aircraft overflew the area and saw LCDR Vescelius standing on the ground surrounded by about five North Vietnamese.”… “In September 1972 a North Vietnamese Army rallier reported in September 1967 he had seen a captured U.S. pilot in North Vietnam in the vicinity of the vicinity of grid coordinates (GC) Xi 765 105. The U.S. pilot had reportedly shot a militiaman and was then beaten when captured. The U.S. pilot was evacuated from the area in a vehicle.”… “During the existence of JCRC, the hostile threat in the area precluded any visits to or ground inspection of the sites involved in this case. Details of this case together with information indicating enemy knowledge of the case were turned over to the Four Party Joint Military Team on 7 November 1973 with a request for any information which would assist in determining status and resolution. No response was forthcoming. LCDR Vescelius is currently carried in the status of Captured.”…
Humble Host is sure there is more to this story… and commits to turning a few more rocks… Anybody out there with a missing piece of the gap of 28-years of “captivity” of LCDR MILT VESCELIUS?…
RTR Quote for 21 September: HENRY ST. JOHN, LETTER, 1721: “Plain truth will influence a score of men at most in a nation, while a mystery will lead millions by the nose.”…
Lest we forget… Bear