RIPPLE SALVO… #177… NOT GOOD ENOUGH… but first…
Good Morning: Day ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN of a review of the air war fought fifty years ago… Classified title: ROLLING THUNDER…
25 AUGUST 1966… HOMETOWN HEADLINES from the pages of the New York Times… a pleasant Thursday at Yankee Stadium…
Page 1: “President Backs All-Asia Parley On Vietnam War”…”President Johnson warmly endorsed today a proposed all-Asian conference to settle the Vietnam War. But he also addressed the willingness of the United States to attend a reconvened Geneva conference…the President’s remarks apparently designed to blunt a Republican drive in support of an Asian meeting. The Republicans are urging Asian talks and at the same time, calling for a more vigorous prosecution of the war. Yesterday former Vice President Richard Nixon joined those advocating an Asian meeting and dismissing the 1954 Geneva Conference as ‘a dead end street.’ He believes the meeting should include those countries that have already accepted the Thai proposal for an all-Asian meeting. He believes the meeting should include…the Philippines, Malaysia, Nationalist China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Neither President Johnson or former Vice President Nixon mentioned that both North Vietnam and Communist China have rejected the proposal for such a conference and have blasted Thailand and the Philippines as ‘American lackeys for their support of it.’…”
Page 1: “Guard To Protect Cicero Marchers”…”Troops of the Illinois National Guard will be on hand to assist the police in preventing clashes over the weekend when the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., expands his drive against housing bias in Northern cities into the exclusive all-white Chicago suburb of Cicero. The unusual decision to call up the Guard as a preventative measure was announced today by Governor Otto Kerner after meeting with officials of Cook County and the town of Cicero.”…. Page 1: “Johnson Defends Urban Aid Record As Best In History”…”We can afford whatever must be done to erase slums and restore city life, President Johnson said today. Obviously stung by recent Congressional criticism of Administration efforts to solve problems the President told a news conference, ‘The Administration has done more than any administration in the history of the country… in the last three years the Federal Government has stepped up spending on urban programs a third more than the previous administration.’ This was generally viewed as a reply to criticism by Senator Robert Kennedy. In a current hearing by a Senate sub-committee on the ‘crisis in the cities’ Senator Kennedy has repeatedly scored the Administration efforts to come to grips with city problems. President Johnson said his Administration has practically doubled the Federal aid provided to cities by the Republican Eisenhower administration.” …
Page 2:…Charles Mohr article from Saigon…”Westmoreland Calls Civilian Toll great Problem”…”General William Westmoreland asserted today that the question of civilian casualties inflicted by allied forces in South Vietnam was a ‘great problem that must be solved.’ The U.S. Commanding General issued a statement on the problem after United States military sources had disclosed that in a total of no fewer than 12 incidents since July 1 at least 143 civilians or friendly military personnel were killed and 234 wounded by air or artillery strikes. A spokesman said the problem has reached epic proportions. General Westmoreland who in a series of orders has stressed the need for a discriminating use of military power here issued the following statement:
“Let one fact be clear. As far as the United States Military Assistance Command of Vietnam (MACV) is concerned, one mishap–one innocent civilian killed, or one innocent civilian wounded, or one building needlessly destroyed–is too many. By its very nature war is destructive, and historically civilians have suffered. But the war in Vietnam is different. It is designed by the insurgents and aggressors to be fought among the people, many of whom are not participants in, or even closely identified with the struggle. Pwople more than terrain are the objectives of this war. And we can not, and will not be callous about these people. We are sensitive to these incidents and we want no more of them. If one does occur–mistake or accident–we intend to research it carefully for any lesson that will help ws improve our procedures and our controls, and I can assure you we are attacking it aggressively.”…Westmoreland.
25 AUGUST 1966…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…NYT (26 August reporting 25 August)… Page 3: “U.S. Raids Set Record“…”The United States carried out yesterday the heaviest concentration of air raids in the war against North Vietnam. A military spokesman said Air Force, Navy and Marine pilots flew 148 multi-plane missions. The total was seven higher than a day earlier this month. The chief targets in yesterday’s raids were storage areas and transportation centers in the southern coastal strip of North Vietnam. In all, the pilots attacked 195 targets, including 47 railroad and highway bridges, 20 petroleum depots, and 11 grenade storage areas. The spokesman said a record number of American planes were involved in the 146 missions but refused to give figures. Close military observers speculated that about 400 planes had participated in the raids. No American aircraft were lost and none of the pilots reported seeing any enemy aircraft. However, pilots reported heavy anti-aircraft and automatic weapons fire over most of their targets. The Air Force pilots flew 71 missions, Navy 68 missions and the Marines 7… In the raids on North Vietnam the pilots concentrated their attacks around the coastal cities of Donghoi, Vinh and Thanh Hoa: 270, 175 and 90 miles south of Hanoi. The area around Thanh Hoa was most severely battered with 67 targets hit. They included: 10 highway and railroad bridges, 6 petroleum depots and six groups of barges. Two of the targets were within one mile of Thanh Hoa. The bombers struck once near Hanoi and twice near Haiphong. There was no explanation for the level of intensity of the raids except possibly it was Washington’s way of making the war more costly to the North Vietnamese. As usual the reports of the air action over North Vietnam were delayed one day.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson).. Two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 25 August 1966– both from USS Oriskany…
(1) LTJG WILLIAM HENRY BULLARD was flying an A-4E of the VA-164 Ghost Riders embarked in USS Oriskany on an armed reconnaissance mission and after a successful night catapult shot, the aircraft was observed to start a climb and subsequently settle into the sea. No trace of LTJG BULLARD was ever found. Fifty years ago on this day a young warrior perished in the service of his country. He is not forgotten though he has rested in peace for five decades.
(2) An A-1H Skyraider of the VA-152 Wild Aces embarked in USS Oriskany was launched on a combat mission but failed to get a full catapult shot and settled into the sea just ahead of the carrier. The pilot escaped the sinking aircraft and was recovered by helicopter.
RIPPLE SALVO… #177…. THE POL CAMPAIGN REVIEW… In late June Rolling Thunder 51 shifted to an all-out campaign to cut off North Vietnam’s oil supplies as part of a strategy to “strangle’ the flow of men and material down the funnel into South Vietnam. On 8 August 1966 the 8 July list of targets in RT 51 was updated and the campaign continued. The following paragraph was published in the New York Times on 25 August 1966 (page 1) under the headline: “Oil Bombing Called Effective”…”American air strikes have had what United States officials described today as very substantial and very serious effect on North Vietnam supplies. Since the first United States attacks on the Hanoi-Haiphong fuel facilities (June 29), no major tanker has discharged petroleum into shore facilities. As a result, North Vietnam oil inventory is said to be substantially lower than it was before the summer strikes began.” …
… the rest of the story…”The Pentagon Papers” (Gravel Edition, vol. 4, pages 109-10)…
“While CINCPAC and his subordinates were making every effort to hamstring the DRV logistical operation through the POL attacks, the Secretary of Defense was keeping tabs on results through specially commissioned reports form DIA. These continued through July into August. By July 20, DIA reported that 59.9% of North Vietnam’s original POL capacity had been destroyed. By the end of July, DIA reported 70% of NVNs large bulk (JCS targeted) POL storage capacity had been destroyed, together with 7% of the capacity of known dispersed storage sites. The residual storage capacity was down from 185,000 metric tons to about 75,000 tons, about 2/3 still relatively vulnerable large storage centers–two of them, those at airfields, STILL OFF LIMITS–and 1/3 in smaller dispersed sites. This still provided, however, a fat cushion over NVN’s requirements. What became clearer and clearer as the summer wore on was that while we had destroyed a major portion of North Vietnam’s storage capacity, she retained enough dispersed capacity, supplemented by continuing imports (increasingly in easily dispersed drums, not bulk), to meet her on-going requirements. The greater invulnerability of the dispersed POL meant an ever mounting U.S cost in munitions, fuel, aircraft losses and men (aircrew). By August we were reaching the point at which these costs were prohibitive. It was simply impractical and infeasible to attempt any further constriction of North Vietnam POL storage capacity.
“As the POL campaign continued, the lucrative POL targets disappeared and the effort was confined more and more to the small scattered sites. Finally, on September 4, CICPAC (probably acting by direction although no instructions appear in the available documents) directed a shift in primary emphasis of Rolling Thunder strikes. Henceforth they were to aimed at, ‘…attrition of men, supplies, equipment and … POL…’ Stressing the new set of priorities CINCPAC instructed: ‘POL will also receive emphasis on a selective basis.’ By mid-October, even PACAF reported the campaign had reached the point of diminishing returns.”…
“It was clear in retrospect that the POL strikes had been a failure…”
The LBJ/MAC “Strategy of Gradual Failure” was working…
Lest we forget… Bear ………. –30– ……….