RIPPLE SALVO… #326… THEN AND NOW: LBJ and DONALD TRUMP–same dilemma… but first…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX of a remembrance of an unmarked and forgotten battlefield that claimed the lives of hundreds of great American warriors…
25 JANUARY 1967… HOME TOWN HEADLINES from The New York Times on a nice Wednesday in NYC,,,
Page 1: “Johnson’s $169.2-Billion Budget Provides $73-Billion for Defense and Limited ‘Great Society’ Rises”… “…The budget, again dominated by defense and swollen by the cost of war in Vietnam, set new goals without new costs for space exploration and provided moderate increases for Great Society programs at home. The President’s message emphasizing for the first time the comprehensive ‘national income accounts’ budget, showed expenditures of $169.2-billion…and receipts of $167.1-billion…Sharp cuts are expected in non-defense spending by both Democrats and Republicans as President Johnson’s proposed budget reached congress…Increasingly sobered by the growing cost of the Vietnam war, Congress now appears in a mood for domestic belt-tightening. But the unanswered question is: Where to cut?”… Page 1: “Pentagon Forecasts Peak of 500,000 in Vietnam”… “The Johnson Administration’s new $73.1 billion defense budget does not provide for any significant increase in the ground war in Vietnam over the next year and a half. One of the most explicit examples is over-all military manpower strength. This is scheduled to rise from the current level of 3,334,000 men to 3,464,000 by June of 1968, an increase of 130,000 as opposed to a growth of about 681,000 men between June 1965 and present.”… Page 1: “$25.6-Billion Aid to Poor”… “Federal payments to the poor will rise to $25.6-billion, according to administration calculations of the proposed new budget. That would mean an increase of $3.6-billion, or 16% above the figure for the present year.”… Page 1: “Filibuster Curb Loses in Senate”… “A bipartisan drive to weaken the Senate filibuster rule was abandoned for two more years today after proponents were unable to summon a 2/3 majority needed to bring it to a vote.”
Page 1: “Troops Increased in Central Peking After Mao’s Call”… “…military guards, some of whom wore the Red Guards arm band, were strengthened outside Communist party headquarters and Central Telephone Office…The growing military presence seems to be a direct result of a directive to Defense Minister Lin Piao from Mao Tse-tung, the party chairman, that called for the direct participation of the army in the ‘cultural revolution.’ “… Page 2: “Britain is Urged to Disavow War” by 1,475 scientists and university teachers ‘to withdraw its support for United States policy in Vietnam…such a step would make it possible for the British to fulfill a special responsibility that attends role as co-chairman with the Soviet Union of the 1954 Geneva conference. Siding with the United States prejudices this role.’ “…
25 January 1967…The President’s Daily Brief…CIA (TS sanitized)…VIETNAM: Our roadwatchers near the Mu Gia Pass and in the Laotian panhandle have been sighting large numbers of southbound trucks. During one 15-day period this month, the number of trucks seen going through the Pass was as high as any reported during last year’s dry season. In the panhandle, nearly 225 trucks were seen during a five-day period…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM… COLONEL MELVIN JOSEPH KILLIAN, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE… AIR FORCE CROSS…
The President ot the United States takes pride in presenting the AIR FORCE CROSS (Posthumously) to COLONEL MELVIN JOSEPH KILLIAN, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force while serving as Pilot of an F-105 aircraft of the 334th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, SEVENTH Air Force, in action over North Vietnam on 30 September 1965. On that date, COLONEL KILLIAN led a flight of F-105 aircraft against a highly significant military target. COLONEL KILLIAN proceeded on an unerring course to the target area. Arriving ahead of the main flight, he began an aerial survey of the area in order to give final navigational assistance to the incoming flight. Although subjected to intensive hostile ground fire, COLONEL KILLIAN flew his aircraft over the gun emplacements while giving encouragement and directions as each pilot braved the withering ground fire. His overwhelming desire for successful mission completion, and his concern for the safety of each pilot forced him to disregard his own personal safety while continuously flying within range of the ground fire. His outstanding dedication to duty, superior initiative, and mission performance resulted in the destruction of numerous hostile ground positions of vital significance to the Viet Cong. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, COLONEL KILLIAN reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”…
25 January 1967… New York Times… (26 Jan reporting 25 Jan ops) Page 2: “In air action over the North the American spokesman reported only 41 missions about 1/3 the number made on a clear day. Some of the strikes were made through cloud cover by electronic guidance (“Milky”)… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) there was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 25 January 1967…
(1) MAJOR WILBUR THOMAS STAIR and an unidentified observer were flying an O-1F of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG out of Bien Hoa on a VFR reconnaissance mission and had a mid-air collision with another aircraft near Bien Hoa. MAJOR STAIR was Killed in Action and the observer survived the collision and crash.
RIPPLE SALVO… #326… “Dividing the Pie” is what a budget does. Fifty years ago LBJ faced the same dilemma our new President has this year. Who gets what when there is not enough pie to satisfy the appetites of claimants of federal monies– scarce resources. James Reston wrote a piece for the 25 January 1967 New York Times that addresses the perennial problem of funding national priorities and national interests. Humble Host presents as an appropriate think piece for 1967 and 2017. I quote…
Washington, 25 January 1967: “Johnson’s Military Priority”…
Nothing illustrates the power and sweep of American interests and responsibilities in the world better than the annual budget of the United States. Regardless of the controversies over Vietnam, it is impossible to wade through this formidable document without wondering what people in history ever attempted to do so much for equality and freedom, or also without doubting that even so powerful a nation do so many astounding things in so many places in so short a time.
This is the real issue about its new budget. The question is not whether peace abroad and the transformation of urban life at home are desirable, and whether these laudable ends are attainable, but whether the means proposed are dependable.
The aspirations are even more staggering than the figures. It is not only that the President is fighting two wars, against military aggression in Southeast Asia and against poverty and ignorance at home, but that his priorities and even his language in dealing with these two wars are so markedly different.
In his President’s Budget Message to the Congress the President was quite moderate and even cautious in defining the basic considerations in his domestic programs. On these, he said, “We will continue to press ahead, at a controlled and reasoned pace.”
On the question of meeting aggression, however, he was much more dogmatic. In Vietnam, as throughout the world, we seek peace, but will provide all the resources needed to combat aggression.
This is quite a statement and, if it means what it says, this basic consideration of American Policy is likely to dominate quite a few budgets to come. For he did not limit his commitment to Vietnam or to all of Southeast Asia or even to all the other places where the United States is treaty bound to do what it can to maintain peace.
He left the impression that the United States “will provide all the resources needed to combat aggression… throughout the world.”…
…without the $22.4-billion bill for Vietnam in Fiscal Year 1968, the opportunities to get on with the major war in the world against poverty and ignorance would be very great indeed. In fact, almost the only way the Communists can avoid this embarrassing contrast with the booming Western industrial nations is to involve us in these wars one after the other. end quote…
President Johnson said of his budget: “This budget represents a careful balance of our abundant resources and our awesome responsibilities.” What will President Trump say of his first budget? The two wars of LBJ have had 50 years to metastasize… War #1: aggression, radical Islamism, terrorism, the world is on fire, and as for the other War #2: poverty and ignorance run rampant on the home front…
CAG’s QUOTES: FREDERICK the Great: “Unless every man is trained beforehand in peacetime for that which he will have to accomplish in war, one has nothing but people who bear the name of a business without knowing how to practice it.”… PATTON: “When a surgeon decides in the course of an operation to splice an artery or to cut deeper, he is not making a snap judgement, but one based on knowledge, experience and training.”…
Lest we forget…. Bear