RIPPLE SALVO… #690… CURRENT STATUS, PROGRESS, AND THE PLAN FOR THE RELENTLESS SEARCH FOR THE MISSING VIETNAM WARRIORS WE LEFT ON THE BATTLEFIELD… but first….
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED NINETY of a remembrance of the sacrifice and service of the brave Americans who fought for our country in an unpopular air war called Rolling Thunder fifty years ago…
24 January 1968… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a Wednesday with snow in the wind…
Page 1: “Pueblo Seized Off North Korea And Taken To Wonsan”… “North Korean patrol boats seized a United States Navy intelligence ship off Wonsan today (23rd) and took the vessel and her crew of 83 into the North Korean port The Defense Department reporting the incident,said the ship had been in international waters about 25 miles off the eastern coast off North Korea when she was boarded by armed North Korea sailors at 1:45 P.M. (11:45 P.M. Monday EST). But North Korea, in a Pyongyang radio broadcast asserted that the Pueblo had ‘intruded into the territorial waters of the republic and was carrying out hostile activities.’ The broadcast called the Pueblo ‘an armed spy boat of the United States imperialist aggressor force.’ “… Page 1: “Seizure of Vessel Scored in Capital”… “North Korea’s seizure of the United States intelligence gathering ship Pueblo was condemned in Congress today as an act of war. Some lawmakers demanded a quick military response.”…Page 1: “Radiation Found Where B-52 Fell–It Suggests Hydrogen Bomb Did Not Go Through Ice Off Greenland Base”... “Air Force search teams were reported today to have detected small amounts of radiation from some or all of the four hydrogen bombs missing after a B-52 bomber crashed on the ice off northwest Greenland. After two days of hunting with dog sleds and helicopters, teams from the Thule Air Force Base in Greenland still had not found the unarmed thermonuclear weapons.”… Page 1: U.S. Resumes Normal Relations With Greece’s Military Regime”... “…six weeks after King Constantine failed in his attempt to oust the military regime. The State Department said that Ambassador Phillips Talbot had been instructed to make an official call on the Greek Foreign Minister Panayotis Pipinelis, and thus signal the resumption of formal contacts between the two governments.”…
GROUND WAR: Page 1: “5,000 MEN MASSED AT KHESANH BY U.S.–Marines Rushed In As Foe Builds Up Force In Area–Supply Planes Fired On”… “More than 5,000 Untied States Marines have been concentrated at Khesanh amid indications that one of the major battles of the Vietnam war may be in the offing. The marines were rushed in because of an increasingly obvious concentration of North Vietnamese troops in the area… Sixty-one enemy soldiers were reported killed by air strikes and artillery fire on Tuesday near Khesanh. In a battle on the Bongson plain, 128 Vietcong troops were reported killed by United States infantrymen…. The nearness of the enemy forces around Khesanh made itself evident when the unmistakable sound of a bullet striking a fuselage rang out as a transport plane glided in to land at the Marine base here…. they off-loaded 4,000-pounds of ‘body bags’–rubberized, zippered sacks for transporting the dead… Few body bags have been needed at Khesanh so far, but they were brought here because of the high probability of a big battle…. Yesterday, an F-4 fighter-bomber was shot down by ground fire within sight of Khesanh. Marines in trenches could see the pilot and radar man eject and float on parachutes into the jungle. Armed helicopters rescued the fliers within minutes.” (MAJOR HARRY HAGAMAN and CAPTAIN DENNY BRANDON of VMFA-323 were downed on 22 Jan and rescued as reported in 22 Jan RTR blog.)…
24 January 1968…THE PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEF… NORTH KOREA: The bold attempt by North Korea infiltrators to attack President Pak’s official residence may be only the beginning. The North Koreans have been putting considerable effort during the past two years into their apparatus for armed harassment of the South, and we expect them to use it. The idea of course, is to make the resulting terrorism and sabotage appear to be an indigenous struggle against the Seoul government…COMMUNIST CHINA: Rival factions continue fighting it out in a number of provinces as leaders in Peking keep on calling ineffectually for reconciliation. A dozen affected cities and provinces have been affected in the past two weeks and there is no end in sight. The regular military has become more deeply embroiled since early last month in at least the two most seriously affected provinces….
24 January 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… Other than the air action south of the DMZ the NYT reported no air activity in Southeast Asia of 24 January. “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on the 24th…
RIPPLE SALVO… #690… On 15 January 2018 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (ADAA) updated the progress and laid out their plans for the conduct of their never-ending search for warriors left behind. “Of the remaining 1,253 Americans still unaccounted for in Vietnam, 470 are in a ‘non-recoverable’ category. This means that as a result of rigorous investigation, we have conclusive evidence the individual perished, but do not believe it possible to recover his remains. On rare occasions, new leads can arise that bring a case back to an active status.” DPAA plans to conduct four Joint Field Activities in FY2018, ongoing. The 129th JFA, a 30-day period of recovery and investigation by 95 U.S. personnel assisted by Vietnamese counterparts, were working sites in ten Vietnam areas between 6 November and 9 December. The 130th JFA will be in Vietnam from 28 February and 6 April 2018… The search goes on…
The 15 January update on “Progress in Vietnam” includes a superb report “Resolving ‘Last Known Cases”… of the original 196 individuals in this classification — those who survived or may have survived their loss incident and were either alive on the ground, in captivity, or in immediate proximity to capture, but did not return — DoD has confirmed the death of 176, with 20 unresolved. Of the 175 whose deaths have been confirmed, remains of 51 have been returned and identified. Efforts continue to recover the remaining 125… Since 27 January 1973 a total 1,045 lost have been found, identified and returned to their families, including 720 from Vietnam and 120 from Laos… This report is worth a few minutes of RTR folks perusal at…
Humble Host extends highest respect, admiration and appreciation to the troops of DPAA and the JFA teams who man the shovels, screens, and labs in search of those brave Americans left behind on a battlefield 10,000 miles from the land and families they loved…
RTR Quote for 24 January: ROBERT E. LEE, 1807: “Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.”…
Lest we forget…. Bear