ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED 25 MAY 1968

RIPPLE SALVO… #811… FROM SECRETARY CLARK CLIFFORD’S MEMOIR COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT…and State Department Historical Document #241 of 21 May 1968 “Notes of Meeting”… I quote Secretary Clifford… “The Tuesday Lunch on May 21 was grim. Rusk began by suggesting again that we resume bombing up to the 20th parallel, while I continued to argue strongly against expansion of the bombing: ‘If we escalate again,’ I said, ‘It will diminish the chance of success in Paris, and it would be catastrophic if Paris broke up and we had to go back to a purely military policy.’… ‘Why is that so bad?’ The President asked… ‘It’s bad,’ I replied slowly, ‘because we will lose more boys than ever before and because I don’t think we can win the war by military means.’…The President seemed annoyed: ‘What do you mean?’

“This was neither the place or the ideal time nor place to open a discussion of such basic questions, but I no longer had any choice; the dispute with Rusk over the bombing had forced me into areas of discussion I had originally planned to discuss only in private. I had to reveal the depths of my doubts to the President in front of three powerful opponents–Rush, Rostow and Wheeler: With the limitations now placed on our military, which I do not oppose–no invasion of the north, no mining of the harbors, no invasion of the sanctuaries–we have no real plans or chance to win the war. Our hopes must go with Paris… In the fall of 1967, the North Vietnamese decided that their earlier plans were no good. They put in their stack, that was Tet. They didn’t win, but they can still control the situation in the South: they can hit and run, they can attack the cities, they can control the level of casualties. Now, they may have concluded it is a good time to have the political settlement. They can’t win the war militarily. But we can’t win the war militarily.

“‘I disagree,’ said President Johnson, turning to General Wheeler for a comment. Quietly, Wheeler said, ‘I disagree to some extent.’ Rusk, showing greater emotion than I had ever seen before, turned toward me; ‘We sought to keep North Vietnam from overtaking South Vietnam with force. We have succeeded. We win when they know they can’t win.’… Determined not to yield, I replied: “Hanoi cannot win the war militarily–they know that, we know that. But that doesn’t mean we win it. If Paris does not come off, we will be back where we were before. The CIA says they are not running out of manpower. They can continue at their present rate indefinitely. The Soviets and Chinese will continue to help them. Can anybody here tell me what our plan is if the Paris talks fail? If Paris fails, we have no alternative but to turn back to the military–and they have no plan to bring it to an end.”Listening wearily to the arguments between Rusk and me, The President finally said, ‘I will put it (the expansion of the bombing to include up to the 20th parallel) off again, against my better judgement.’ Looking at me, he added grimly, ‘You’re just carrying me along week-to-week on this one.’ … End quote… To be continued, meanwhile read the historical record of this meeting and five more during the week of 21-26 May 1968 at Ripple Salvo #811 below…   but first…

Good Morning… Day EIGHT HUNDRED ELEVEN of a look back at the past with the benefit of access to documents hidden from the public for decades…

HEAD LINES from THE NEW YORK TIMES for Saturday, 25 May 1968…

THE WAR: Page 1: “U.S. MARINES SEEK OUT FOE NEAR DANANG–AIM IS TO FORESTALL ATTACK ON BASE AN AIRFIELD– ENEMY TOLL PUT AT 76″… “…marines have opened up an offensive aimed at driving the enemy away from Danang , South Vietnam’s second largest city. The operation is centered in the foothill country 24 miles away from Danang, the large military complex in the northern part of the country. The offensive began on Sunday, but announcement was delayed for security reasons. It is being conduct by several battalions of the First Marine Division. In the five days since the drive began, the marines are reported to have killed 76 of the enemy. The heaviest fighting so far came on the first day, when 46 were killed. Twelve marines were killed and 41 wounded. Since the first day, action has been light and scattered, sixteen marines have been killed and 82 wounded since the operation began. In recent weeks, the military command here has said on several occasions that it feared a major attack in the Danang area, which is the headquarters for the Third Marines amphibious force. It also has a large military airfield and a deep water port. …EARLY MORNING ATTACK ON SAIGON… Parts of Saigon were rattled by small arms fire and rocket grenade bursts when an enemy force estimated at a platoon struck at a bridge some four miles southwest of the heart of the city. The attack came at 12:40 A.M. when the force attacked a platoon of the United States Third Brigade, Ninth Infantry Division and a group of South Vietnamese national policemen who were guarding the bridge. After a brief exchange of gunfire, the enemy withdrew to the south and walked into a national police ambush. Fourteen guerrillas were killed. American casualties were one killed and five wounded….. THIRD MISSILE ATTACK ON B-52s… This morning a B-52 mission striking at targets near the DMZ returned to their base on Okinawa afer dropping just part of their bombs because of an attack by a surface-to-air missile. The high-flying bombers avoided the missile successfully. It was only the third time that missiles have been directed at the eight engine aircraft. Near Tamky, south of Danang, a Marine F-4 Phantom was struck by enemy ground fire. The two-man crew ejected and was rescued. The aircraft was destroyed….”…

PEACE TALKS: Page 1: “HANOI SCORES U.S. AS BEING EVASIVE ON BOMBING HALT–Foe Also Says Americans Intensify Ground War–Accusations Are Denied”… “A North Vietnamese spokesman here accused the United States negotiators today of dodging Hanoi’s demand for a cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam. At the same time, he charged that American forces in the field were intensifying the war. Both charges were rejected by an American spokesman at a press briefing. For the first time, representatives of the North Vietnamese press agency attended the briefing. The exchange took place indirectly through news conferences during a four dy recess in the official conversations. The next session between United States and North Vietnamese negotiating teams will be held Monday morning.”…William J. Jorden, the American delegation’s spokesman, denied charges that the United States hd been intensifying the war or avoiding the bombing questions, or  had reached any understanding with Hanoi on a halt of the bombing. He contended the enemy hd stepped up combat activity recently around Saigon and Danang. ‘We are very hopeful,’ Mr. Jorden said, ‘that we can get along in discussing this question in its entirety–the cessation of the bombing and the kind of restraints we would like to see on the other side.’…”

Page 1: “GOLDWATER AWARDED $75,000 IN DAMAGES IN HIS SUIT FOR LIBEL”… ‘…by a federal Court jury early this morning in his libel suit against Ralph Ginzberg, the publisher and FACT magazine. A jury of nine men and three women decided that the 1964 Republican Presidential candidate had been subjected to deliberate character assassination in the October 1964 issue of FACT, devoted to ‘The Mind of Barry Goldwater.’ The issue sold 100,000 copies.”… Page 1: “DE GAULLE SETS A REFERENDUM–PROMISES TO RESIGN IF HE LOSES–ASKS CALM, BUT FIGHTING FLARES–Reform Planned”… “President de Gaulle asked the French people last night to give him a personal vote of confidence and said he would resign if he did not get it. In a seven-minute televised address, the President announced that the Government would carry out a referendum next month on the principal issues underlying the revolt by students and workers.”… Page 1: “HUNDREDS ARE HURT IN CLASHES IN PARIS”… “A student demonstration that started peacefully yesterday evening turned into the most violent and widespread battles with police since the student revolt began more than two weeks ago.”… Page 14: “UNREST IS SPREADING TO PRESS IN FRANCE”… Page 14: “FARMERS IN FRANCE IN MASSIVE PROTESTS”… Page 3: “SPOCK JURY SHOWN 357 DRAFT CARDS–Defendants Pushed Bag At Him, Justice Official Says”… “The jury in the conspiracy trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and four co-defendants was shown today a blue plastic zipper bag that four of the defendants allegedly tried to shove into the hands of an Assistant deputy Attorney General at the Justice Department Oct 20. The bag contained 357 draft cards and the purported ashes of 67 other cards. This is a key  piece of evidence in the government]s charge that …Spock and five others… conspired to ‘counsel, aid and abet young men to evade or resist the draft.”… Page 1: “Two Get 6-Years For Defiling Draft Cards”…

25 MAY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (26 May reporting 25 May ops) Page 2: “In the air war over the North, Air Force pilots struck 11 surface-to-air missile sites yesterday, an unusually large number for a single day. The sites were in the southern or panhandle area of the North. (Humble host notes: this seems like a reaction to one of those 11 sites as the source of the SAM that chased the B-52 that day)… Air Force pilots also struck trucks, barges, roads and bridges in the panhandle area. Navy pilots from the Kitty Hawk struck an ammunition storage area six miles southwest of Vinh. No bomb damage reported.”… “VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 25 may 1968…

(1) CAPTAIN J.D. ANKENY and 1LT A.A. TURNER were flying an F-4D of the 455th TFS and 8th TFW out of Ubon on a flak suppression mission in the area of the Mu Gia Pass and were shot down at Xom Duong Quan on the north side of the pass. The aircraft was hit at 6,500 feet in the port engine, which CAPTAIN ANKENY shut down as he flew toward Thailand. Unfortunately, the crew had to eject near Ban Sappeng in southern Laos. They were rescued with injuries to fly and fight again…

SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) ON 25 MAY FOR THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERTION IN THE SKIES OF NORTH VIETNAM…

1965… NONE…

1966… 1LT ROBERT GERALD HUNTER, USAF… (KIA)

1967… ENSIGN RICHARD CAMPBELL GRAVES, USN… (KIA)…

1968… NONE…

RIPPLE SALVO… #811… Humble Host recommends a reading, or at least a scan, of the State Department, Office of the Historian, Historical Documents, Foreign Relations, 1964-68, Vietnam, documents cited here. Document 241 is especially worth the read for the Rolling Thunder participant. In addition, this series of documents makes it crystal clear that the offensive operation, the bombing of North Vietnam called Rolling Thunder, was inextricably linked to the peace process. The bombing was THE good guys most precious Blue Chip… A final thought: at the same times our leaders were wrestling with the bombing options, and the peace negotiators were dawdling in Paris, the “Vietcong” were lobbing rackets and mortar rounds down on the heads of innocent civilians the length and breadth of South Vietnam. Civilians were being killed every day, yet there was no mention or talk about these atrocities in either discussion group. Why wasn’t retaliation an immediate reaction to these incessant terror attacks?… We had every reason to skip the peace process and go Linebacker-in-spades in June 1968…

241.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d241

242.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d242

243.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d243

244.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d244

245.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d245

246.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d246

247.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d247

248.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d248

249.     https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d249

RTR quote for 25 May 1968: SECRETARY of DEFENSE CLARK CLIFFORD: “With limitations placed on our military, we have no real plans to win the war.”

Lest we forget…        Bear…