RIPPLE SALVO… #506… THE USMACV VIETNAM HISTORY: 1967 (TS)… SA-2s GALORE… but first…
Good Morning: Day FIVE HUNDRED SIX of a journal of 50-year-old events and heroes from the air war over North Vietnam…
24 JULY 1967…HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a rainy Monday 50 years ago…
SUMMER 1967: Page 1: “Disorders Erupt in East Harlem; Mobs Dispersed–1,000 Police Rushed In To End Melee–Eight Shots Fired on 11th Street–Patrol Cars Pelted–Windows of 25 Stores Are Smashed–New Outbreak Interrupts Truce Talks”... “New violence broke out in the Puerto Rican section of East Harlem and was contained early today. More than 1,000 policemen were rushed into the area…windows of 25 stores were smashed and there was a small amount of looting.”... Page 1: “Boycott of Sports By Negroes Asked–Black Power Also Calls For Removal of All Unsympathetic Politicians”... “Resolution calling for Negro boycotts by athletes of international Olympic competition and professional boxing were shunted through today at the final session of the First National Conference on Black Power in Newark. The cheering delegates also adopted a black power manifesto envisioning the establishment of future national and international black power congresses…a report was released calling last week’s Newark riots by Negroes ‘the inevitable results of a society which dehumanizes people and drives men to utter distraction.’… also a boycott of Negro churches not committed to ‘the black revolution.’ “…
Page 1: “Detroit Swept By Rioting and Fires–Romney Calls in Guard–700 Arrested–Negroes in Detroit Defy Curfew and Loot Wide Areas”... “Thousands of rampaging Negroes firebombed and looted huge sections of Detroit today. Governor George Romney ordered 1,500 National Guardsmen backed by tanks to quell the riot. Violence spread uncontrolled over most sections of the city. Destructive fury swept long three mile and four mile sections of streets crisscrossing the heart of Detroit and ranging seven miles outward almost to the city limits…In the first wave of 700 National Guardsmen, 200 State Police troopers and 600 Detroit policemen failed to slow the outbreak…800 additional National Guard from Grand Rapids called in from 150-miles to reinforce the first 800….Governor Romney: ‘It is a case of lawlessness and hoodlumism and apparently not organized. Disobedience to the law cannot and will not be tolerated in Michigan. I will supply whatever manpower the city needs to handle the situation.’… Worst outbreak in Detroit since city’s race riots in 1943.”
VIETNAM: “Page 1: “Johnson Said To Rule No Shift Now in Bombing Rate”... “Administration officials say President Johnson has decided this is not the time to alter the scope of the bombing pressure against North Vietnam. Instead, they report it has been decided to continue the air strikes at the present rate of about 250 to 300 flights a day against targets throughout North Vietnam and 150 against infiltration routes in Laos. Besides this course, President Johnson was said to consider restricting bombing of North Vietnam to the southern panhandle region in the hope of eliciting some reciprocal move by North Vietnam. Another alternative which was rejected was a proposal for expanding air strikes to new targets….the decision was reached after the visit of Secretary of Defense McNamara to South Vietnam…bombing is becoming increasingly effective and less costly in terms of aircraft... At present the enemy fires about 50 SA-2s for each American aircraft downed…of the 615 planes downed in North Vietnam, 545 were downed by AAA guns, 50 by surface-to-air missiles and 20 by MIGs.”…
Page 3: “A Split Is Denied By Westmoreland–General Asserts McNamara Did Not Charge Inefficiency”... “…denied that he had used troops inefficiently and that Secretary McNamara had said that he did so. He said: ‘We have a balanced force in South Vietnam.”… Page 4: “GIs Inflict Heavy Losses on Enemy Battalion–124 Killed in 6-Hour Battle In Highlands”... “A North Vietnamese battalion caught by air strikes and artillery in open country and under clear skies was reported to have suffered a major defeat in the Central Highlands yesterday…the 500 man North Vietnamese 32nd Regiment lost 124 men killed and 8 captured…American losses of Ninth Infantry Division troops was 19 killed and 43 wounded. The U.S. assault on the unit was aided by 15 sorties by fighter bombers dropping 500- and 1000-pound bombs and more than 3,300 rounds of artillery fire. In addition, helicopter gunships hovered near the battlefield and cut up exposed enemy formations with rockets and machine gun fire.”…
ALSO Page 1: “Nasser Pledges No Let Up Drive To defeat Israelis–Calls For Total Mobilization and Hints At Arab Plan of Guerrilla Warfare”… “…reorganizing the armed forces to continue the struggle against Israel…promised there will be no surrender to Israel.”… Page 1: “Puerto Rico Vote Strongly Favors A Commonwealth–Statehood Second Choice–Munoz Claims Victory–But Those Who Want Island to Be a State Say Polling Bolsters Their Position”… Page 3: “Army Misconduct Charged In $20-Million Copter Contract”… “House investigators reprimanded the Army for the manner in which it had awarded a $20-million contract to the Hughes Tool Company and urged the Air Force and Navy to takeover procurement of aircraft for the Army.”…
AMONG THE BRAVEST…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER … EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT…LIEUTENANT COMMANDER THOMAS P. SCOTT, United States Navy…the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS… 10 MAY 1967…
“The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of the Second DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS to Lieutenant Commander THOMAS P. SCOTT, United States Navy, for HEROISM and EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT in aerial flight in combat against the enemy on 10 May 1967, while attached to and serving with Attack Squadron 113 embarked in USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN-65). Lieutenant Commander SCOTT flying an A-4C attack aircraft was a division leader in one of the bomber elements of a 26 aircraft coordinated strike against the Haiphong Thermal Power Plant East. As the strike group crossed the North Vietnam coast they were fired upon by the first of 12 surface-to-air missiles and encountered a virtual blanket of anti-aircraft fire. Lieutenant Commander SCOTT skillfully maneuvered his aircraft to both avoid the heavy flak and maintain the integrity of the formation as a defensive measure against the surface-to-air missiles. With complete disregard for his own personal danger, Lieutenant Commander SCOTT courageously maneuvered through the flak barrage and executed his dive attack. Rolling in with the final bomber element on the target realizing that there were surface-to-air missiles being fired at him and heavy flak burst that were disrupting his flight path and at times obscuring his view of the target, he heroically pressed home his dive and accurately delivered his bombs directly on target. His skillful and courageous delivery of his bombs in the face of the heaviest anti-aircraft defense that the enemy could mount contributed directly to the total destruction of the thermal power plant that was the primary source of electrical power for the port city of Haiphong. His heroic actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service.”… oohrah, Hook!!!
24 JULY 1967… Operation Rolling Thunder…New York Times (25 July reporting 24 July ops) Page 7: “United States jet pilots attacked the Ben Thuy thermal power plant near Vinh in the southern panhandle of North Vietnam for the second consecutive day yesterday and returning airmen reported they had silenced two anti-aircraft sites protecting the thermal power plant…the Ben Thuy plant furnishes electricity for a transshipment point used to send war materials into South Vietnam…An Air Force B-57 Canberra bombed a truck park and oil storage depot 12 miles west of Dong Hoi in the panhandle. Pilots said they touched off 26 secondaries.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson)…There were two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 24 July 1967…
(1) An A-4E of VMA-211 and MAG-12 suffered an engine failure on takeoff from Chu Lai on a strike mission. The pilot eject and survived to fly and fight again…
(2) MAJOR HERBERT LAMAR LUNSFORD and 1LT JEREMY MICHAEL JARVIS were flying an F-4C of the 390th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang… Hobson: “During a night armed reconnaissance mission off the coast of North Vietnam a Phantom crew spotted a light on the beach about 10 miles south of Dong Hoi. The aircraft apparently rolled in to investigate or attack the light but the Phantom crashed near the target as a result of being shot down or flying into the ground due to misjudgment of altitude. No radio transmissions or SAR beepers were heard and it was assumed that the crew perished in the crash.” MAJOR LUNSFORD and 1LT JARVIS were killed in action fifty years ago on this day and continue to rest in peace, duty done…
RIPPLE SALVO… #505… PART II of COMUSMAV VIETNAM HISTORY … (TS in 1968, UNCLASS in 1984) …THE SAM DEFENSES OF NORTH VIETNAM in 1967…
“Despite the continuing relative ineffectiveness of SAMs, an increased number of SAM sites and a much larger volume of SAM firing were employed in mid-1967. The Commander 7AF stated in June that during the preceding two year period the enemy had fired a total of approximately 2,400 SAMs and that 799 of these had been fired during April and May of 1967. Commander 7AF further noted that they had been relatively ineffective (kill ratio 1:55); however, the maneuvers of friendly aircraft to avoid the SAMs made them more vulnerable to conventional enemy AA fire at altitudes of 10,000-13,000 feet. Some of the factors which had a bearing on the ineffectiveness of the SAMs in the NVN air war were the effects of weather on the delicate SAM systems, the movement from one site to another caused by US air operations against missile sites (IRON HAND), the lack of NVN crew proficiency in the manning of the SAM system, and the general effectiveness of overall US anti-SAM measures. Unconfirmed reports during 1967 indicated that the NVN may have begun to receive the advanced Soviet SAM-3. In September intelligence indicated that the NVN had been able to double the number of SAM sites over the preceding year. The number of SAM sites in NVN in mid-1966 was in excess of 100. The total for 1967 was about 195. Intelligence estimated that the maximum number of missiles that the enemy was capable of firing at given time was 500 to 600 grouped from 150 sites. It was further explained that some of the sites were standby emplacements available for the use of mobile SAM battalions. These mobile Battalions were reportedly capable of moving into the emplacement, firing their missiles, and evacuating within 24 hours. Movements of the mobile battalions were made in accordance with US flight patterns.
“The NVA stepped up efforts to locate SAM sites closer to the DMZ early in the year. Only low level missile activity was indicated in this area within 40 miles of the DMZ until February 1967 when six missile transporters and other missile associated equipment were detected. Sporadic electronic emission activity continued through March and April while US aircraft continued to destroy sites. In early May the first US aircraft was shot down in the DMZ area by a SAM. Active IRON HAND and associated anti-missile operations continued; however, in late May another US aircraft was downed by a SAM in the DMZ area.During most of June only sporadic indicators of missile activity were noted until late in the month when activity increased. Eleven missiles were fired from an unknown location on 6 July and one US aircraft was downed. By mid-July SAM associated activity in the DMZ continued to be sporadic. US air strikes and artillery continued to force the enemy into furtive hit and run tactics in order to minimize equipment losses and continue to maintain a threat to US air operations in the DMZ area. These efforts by the NVA were not effective; nevertheless, the enemy persisted in an attempt to maintain a SAM threat in the area.”…
In a later section of the report (page 111 of 1340) this:
“Probably the most positive reaction to US bombing strikes has been the enemy build-up of the ground components of the air defense system:SAM, AAA and the aircraft control and warning facilities. Although the estimated number of SAM battalions remained at about 25, the number of SAM sites discovered by the beginning of the year was 151. By mid-December, the total SAM sites discovered had risen to 270, a net gain of 119 sites; however, 41 of these are not currently in use. Although some 3,400 SAM visual firings were noted from 1 January through mid-December (compared to 990 firings from 1966), SAM results actually declined as evidenced by the average number of SAMs expended to down one US aircraft (56:1) in 1967 compared to the ratio for 1966 (33:1). The total number of AAA weapons increased from 7,126 to 7,959 for 1967, an addition of some 830 guns, mostly in the light caliber range (37mm and 57mm). In the vicinity of the DMZ, 85mm AAA guns were used for the first time as a threat to higher altitude operations. (B-52 ArcLight) …NVN electronic order of battle declined from 400 to 300 radars during 1967, however, the effectiveness of the radar system continued to improve.”
Part III: next Ripple Salvo…
RTR QUOTE for 24 July: ERASMUS: “In front a precipice, behind wolves.”…
Lest we forget… Bear