RIPPLE SALVO… #693… THE PRESIDENT GETS ON THE TUBE with USS Pueblo and a bad week on his mind; a short and serious address to the nation…but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED NINETY-THREE of a return to the Sixties and Rolling Thunder, among other historic events…
27 JANUARY 1968… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a very pleasant Saturday in the middle of the winter…
GROUND WAR: Page 1: “FOE BEGINS TRUCE BUT ALLIES REPORT ATTACK ON A POST–Saigon’s Cease-Fire Begins On Monday–Hanoi Plans to Release Three POW Fliers In Observance of Tet”... “A week-long cease-fire proclaimed by the Vietcong began early today, and a half-hour later, South Vietnamese spokesmen said, enemy guerrillas attacked a Government militia post near Saigon…. they fired rockets into a United States airfield in the northern war zone… and an American military hospital and a South Vietnamese headquarters in the Central Highlands were also hit. The Vietcong called the cease-fire for Tet, the Lunar New Year. But the prospect was for little, if any, lessening of the fighting that has marked the last week. Tet begins Tuesday. Shortly before the cease-fire began enemy gunners fired 70 rounds of 140mm rockets into the new United States airfield near Quangtri, a province capital 19 miles south of the demilitarized zone…Three Americans were killed and seven wounded… the attack on the hospital at Pleiku was light but one American was killed and one wounded… The war activity yesterday in the critical Khesanh sector in the northwest corner of the country was reported relatively light.”…
Page 1: “U.S. ASKS U.N. TO OBTAIN THE RELEASE OF SHIP AND CREW HELD IN KOREA; JOHNSON, ON TV, TAKES GRAVE VIEW–U.N. Security Council Convenes–Goldberg Urges Quick Action To Avoid Shift To Other Remedies”… “The United States appealed to the United Nations Security Council today to obtain the safe return of the American Intelligence ship Pueblo and her crew from North Korea and to restore the Korean armistice agreements to full effectiveness. Arthur J. Goldberg, the United States representative, told the Council that the seizure of the Pueblo by North Korean patrol boats last Tuesday was ‘no case of mistaken identity, no case of mistaken location,’ but ‘a deliberate premeditated armed attack on a United States vessel on the high seas.”… Page 1: “President Bids Korea Reds End Course of Aggression”... “…’recognize the gravity of the situation which you have created.’ …”… Page 1: “A SOVIET TRAWLER TRAILS ENTERPRISE–Intelligence Ship Sailing In Midst Of Carrier’s Task Forces Off South Korea”... “Defense Department officials said tonight that a Soviet intelligence-gathering vessel was shadowing the nuclear powered aircraft carrier Enterprise off the coast of South Korea. The Soviet vessel identified as the Gidrolog was said to be sailing in the midst of the Enterprise’s task force, which includes a guided missile cruiser and several destroyers.” (Humble Host was aboard Enterprise and on the 27th flew two 2.0 sorties (in a MK-5 Exposure Suit) to get acquainted with the area and overfly South Korea, then provide a BARCAP in my trusty A-4F with a MK-4 Gunpod and one AIM-9D. Weather: snow flurries and low clouds, a moving deck and water temp of the Sea of Japan in the low 40s)...
Two State Department Historical Documents are attached that are of interest. Document 230 is a telegram from Russia’s Kosygin to the President in response to one LBJ sent him on the 26th. LBJ was soliciting Soviet assistance in getting the Pueblo and the 82 sailors (and one body) returned. Kosygin’s comeback is blunt: “you got yourself into trouble, be careful how you get yourself out of trouble.” Document 231 is from the American Ambassador in Moscow passing some advice from the Swiss on how to deal with the Soviets… This is significant exchange between Super-Power leaders in the middle of a crisis… read at…
230. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v29p1/d230
231. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v29p1/d231
27 JANUARY 1968… The President’s Daily Brief… NORTH VIETNAM: Hanoi to Release Three US Pilots. Hanoi’s domestic radio service broadcast the announcement this morning that the North Vietnamese army, “on the occasion of Tet,” had decided to release three US “aggressor pilots” captured in North Vietnam. These pilots, the broadcast went on, had displayed a repentant attitude”during the period of their detention. … More Hanoi Comment on the Pueblo Seizure: Hanoi party daily Nhan Dan, in an editorial broadcast internationally on 26 January, condemned as “a new act of war provocation” the sending of a US “spy ship” into North Korean waters and praised the Koreans for ‘neatly capturing the whole US gang of spies and their ship.” In keeping with other Hanoi comment on the incident, there was no effort to tie the seizure of the Pueblo to the situation in Vietnam…. NORTH KOREA: About 75% of North Korean territory was covered in yesterday’s Black Shield mission, which was carried out in generally excellent weather. A quick look at the pictures in the field shows the Pueblo in Wonsan Bay with no apparent damage…A total of 54 MIG fighters was observed at the nearby airfield, according to preliminary analysis. The Wonsan surface-to-air missile site was occupied, as were numerous antiaircraft artillery sites in the area. Seven Komar class guided missile boats were seen at or near the Wonsan naval base and some of them armed with missiles. At least 17 other assorted small combat vessels were at the base or patrolling offshore….there was no sign of salvage operations in the area where the Pueblo is thought to have jettison some of its special equipment. The photographs are expected in Washington tonight and work on them is to get underway immediately…
The North Korean regime meanwhile, shows no sign of modifying its adamant stand. In a domestic broadcast early today, Pyongyang radio carried a government statement declaring strong opposition to any debate by the UN Security Council in response to a US request. The announcement stressed that Pyongyang would proclaim null and void any resolution “rigged up to cover the US imperialistic aggression.”
27 JANUARY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times…No coverage on the air war in the north… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 27 January 1968…
(1) MAJOR R.W. PHILLIPS and 1LT B.R. CORE of the 390th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang were flying and F-4C in a flight attacking a lucrative target on the coast three miles north of Dong Hoi when they were hit by 37mm antiaircraft fire. MAJOR PHILLIPS had Danang in sight when the Phantom became unflyable and both aviators were forced to eject at sea east of Danang. Both were rescued by USAF helicopter to fly and fight again…
RIPPLE SALVO… #693… On the afternoon of 26 January 1968 the President addressed the nation on the seizure of the USS Pueblo and her crew of 83 sailors under the command of Commander Lloyd M. Bucher…Transcript from NYT 27 Jan 68, page 5…
“Over the past 15 months the North Koreans have pursued a stepped-up campaign of violence against South Korea and the American troops in the area of the demilitarized zone. Armed raider teams in very large numbers have been sent into South Korea to engage in sabotage and assassinations. On January 19, a 31-man team of North Korean raiders invaded Seoul with the object of murdering the President of the Republic of Korea. In many of these aggressive actions Korean and American soldiers have been killed and wounded. The North Koreans are apparently attempting to intimidate the South Koreans and are trying to interrupt the growing spirit of confidence and progress in the Republic of Korea. These attacks may also be an attempt by the Communists to divert South Korean and United States resources, which together are now successfully resisting aggression in Vietnam.
“This week the North Koreans committed yet another wanton and aggressive act by seizing an American ship and its crew in international waters. Clearly this cannot be accepted. we are doing two things: first, we are very shortly today taking the question before the Security Council of the United Nations. The best result would be for the whole world community to persuade North Korea to return our ship and our men and to stop the dangerous course of aggression against South Korea. We have been making other diplomatic efforts as well. We shall continue to use every means available to find a prompt and a peaceful solution to the problem.
“Second, we have taken and we are taking certain precautionary measures to make sure that our military forces are prepared for any contingency that might arise in this area. These actions do not involve in any way a reduction of our forces in Vietnam.
“I hope that the North Koreans will recognize the severity of this situation which they have created. I am confident that the American people will exhibit in this crisis, as they have in other crises, determination and unity. Thank you, very much.”
Commander Bucher, his 82 sailors and the body of fireman Duane Hodges were repatriated a few days before Christmas 1968. The USS Pueblo remains moored port-side-to in a river in Pyongyang as a national monument, a source of pride for North Koreans, and a fifty-year embarrassment for the United States, and counting…
RTR Quote for 27 January: PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON, 1969: “When a war can be decided in twenty minutes, the nation that is behind will not have time to catch up.”…
Lest we forget…. Bear