RIPPLE SALVO… #176… STAY THE COURSE…. but first…
Good morning: Day ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SIX of a review of events from fifty-years ago and the air war over North Vietnam…
24 AUGUST 1966: “ALL THE NEWS THAT IS FIT TO PRINT”… New York Times… A fair Wednesday with a cool evening to follow…
Page 1:…”McNamara Plans To Salvage 40,000 Rejected In Draft“…”Defense Secretary Robert McNamara disclosed yesterday that 40,000 draft rejects and sub-standard volunteers, most of them with ‘poverty-encrusted backgrounds would be salvaged’ for military duty in the next ten months. The number of ‘salvaged’ will reach a rate of 100,000 in the next fiscal year and in succeeding years, Secretary McNamara told the annual convention of Veterans of foreign Wars at the New York Hilton Hotel. The rehabilitation of young men who fail to pass the standard aptitude tests because of physical or educational deficiencies, or both, will be accomplished by special training programs. His disclosure caught the Pentagon by surprise. A spokesman called the proposal an attempt to revive in an expanded form, a controversial program that was killed by congress last year. Congress did not appropriate the $16,375,000 requested by President Johnson for a three year experiment called the ‘Special Training Enlistment Program’ (STEP). The program would have involved about 11,000 at the start. Detractors referred to the STEP project as the ‘moron corps.’ Some cities charged that it was simply an adjunct to the President’s anti-poverty program and questioned whether the Army was the proper vehicle for socio-economic experiments. Again today Secretary McNamara linked the ‘salvage’ plan to the nation’s anti-poverty program…Currently the military rejects 600,000 young men a year for failure to meet minimum standards.”…. Page 1: “U.S. Plans Inquiry Into Medical Costs; Up 3.4% This Year”…”President Johnson directed John Gardner, Secretary of Health, education and Welfare, to begin a major study of rising medical costs. After the meeting Gardner said: ‘I am not saying there are abuses, but we want to take a very hard and very quick look at it. We will move rapidly to ascertain the facts.”…
Page 1: “Senators Brand Los Angeles Lax On Aid To Ghettos”… “Senator Abraham Ribicoff declared today that despite the glitter and charms of greatness, ‘right now the city of Los Angeles doesn’t stand for a damn thing.’ The Connecticut Democrat suggested that residents of Los Angeles ‘have a lot of soul searching to do on social problems.’ The charge drew an indignant response from Mayor Sam Yorty of Los Angeles, ‘That’s unfair.’ The exchanges came as a Senate sub-committee looking into what it calls, ‘the crisis in the cities,’ sought to find out how Los Angeles was trying to head off another racial explosion such as the one that ripped the Watts area last year. Asked about employment rates the Mayor said: ‘I don’t know.’ Asked about the school programs, he said: ‘That’s not in my jurisdiction.’ …’You’re the Mayor of all the people of Los Angeles, aren’t you,’ Senator Robert Kennedy asked caustically… At that point, under the barrage of questions, Mayor Yorty turned to the New York Democrat and snapped, ‘I don’t need a lecture from you.’ Accusing Mayor Yorty with failing to come to grips with the problems of Watts and other areas, Senator Ribicoff said: ‘You can wring your hands, go home and pray it won’t happen again, but it seems to me the people of Los Angeles are not doing much to prevent another Watts.’….
Page 1: “Asian Peace Parley Is Backed by Nixon”…”Republicans were moving quickly today toward a new Vietnam policy that emphasizes peace negotiations in an all-Asian conference instead of a hard line of stepped up military activity.”… Richard Nixon, former Vice President was doing the speaking… “Page 2: “No Rise in Vietcong Terror”…” Vietcong terrorism has been at a relatively low level since the beginning of August. An American tabulation shows fewer incidents each week than in July. The compilation includes sabotage, harassment, and assassination. Weekly totals: July–642; 561; 582; and 540. August–426; 418; and 400… The tempo of incidents is expected to equal a ‘reign of terror’ to disrupt the elections.”… Page 17: “Fulbright Says U.S. Plans Indefinite Stay In Area”…”Senator J.W. Fulbright said today that he believed ‘the real people’ of the United States in Asia was to stay there indefinitely to counter balance Communist China. The development of air and supply bases on a wide scale in Thailand supports his feeling. ‘It is almost incredible to think that we are doing this as a temporary operation.’…”…
24 AUGUST 1966… The PRESIDENT’s DAILY BRIEFING… CIA (TS sanitized)…West Germany: The German press has been highly critical of the Air Force chief Panitzki’s criticism of the government, viewing his action as entirely improper regardless of the validity of the charges. However, a third high-ranking general has offered his resignation, suggesting that Panitzki’s unusual action is symptomatic of deep dissatisfaction within the armed forces… (the issue involves the F-104 and a prohibitive safety record with 37 fatal accidents. This was a case of Generals saying “take this job and…”)…
24 AUGUST 1966…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT (25 August reporting 24 ops)… Page 2: “Bad weather over North Vietnam limited raids by United States air force and Navy pilots to coastal targets. they flew 86 multi-plane missions.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson)…there were no fixed wing aircraft losses in Southeast Asia on 24 August 1966… Oohrah…
RIPPLE SALVO… #176… “RUSK AT VFW CONVENTION: A Warning By Rusk”… NYT 23 August 1966 Page 1…
“Secretary Rusk warned in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars at the New York Hilton yesterday (22 August) that a premature pull out from South Vietnam would surely lead to World War III. Any withdrawal before complete victory over Communist aggression would be as fatal as were attempts to appease Axis powers in the nineteen thirties… Rusk implied that had President Kennedy lived, American combat troops would be as heavily committed in Vietnam as they are under President Johnson. Rusk said: ‘President Kennedy never faltered in taking whatever action was necessary to preserve South Vietnamese independence. Kennedy said: ‘We are not here to see a war lost.’… (This does not agree with the reflections of former Secretary of Defense Arthur m. Schlesinger who said in his book…President Kennedy never regarded Vietnam as a high priority problem.)…
“Rusk then talked about Johnson and Vietnam. ‘President Johnson is one of the most resolute Presidents this country has ever had…President Johnson has faced great alternatives. We can quit in Vietnam and await the great catastrophe that surely awaits at the end of the trail. Or we can meet these people who are coming in from North Vietnam. And our people are meeting them with a skill that is deeply moving.
“Now that’s what this is all about. Either we act to prevent war or sit with neglect and wait for it to happen. Our objective is peace that permits an independent people to live in peace with institutions of their own choice…
“Once in a while I see a picket carrying a ‘Peace in Vietnam’ sign. I am tempted to go up and say let me help you with that sign because President Johnson has taken that sign to every capital in the world. American troops in Vietnam would come home tomorrow if the North Vietnam infiltration stopped and those in South Vietnam would go home. But they still keep coming.
“If anyone from Hanoi can be in Geneva tomorrow morning to talk peace, I will be there…all we want is an enduring peace. What’s wrong with that?”…
Lest we forget… Bear ………. –30– …………