RIPPLE SALVO… #89… IN MEMORIAM II…but first…
Good Morning: Day EIGHTY-NINE of remembering that “all gave some, some gave all”… in the Vietnam air war…
27 MAY 1966…(NYT)…ON THE HOME FRONT… A warm and fair Friday in The Big Apple…
Page 1: “Casualties Of U.S. Set Mark”… with a total of 146 American troops killed in action and 820 wounded in a one week period, the heaviest battle casualties of any week of the war. Enemy killed totaled 1235 in the week ending 21 May. While there were no major battles, 24 battalions were active and engaged with the enemy in search and destroy operations in six different areas of South Vietnam. South Vietnamese casualties were 236 KIA and 510 WIA… Page 1: “President Indicates Boom Is Cooling Off” and stated he didn’t know whether he should recommend a tax increase to combat inflation, but thought government actions might have done enough to cool off the business boom. Among those actions: the government pulled back $13 billion of budgeted but unexpended funds, speeded tax collections and activated approved tax increases. The President also said, “Maybe we ought to take out more.”…The house voted to raise the minimum wage to $1.60 and hour from $1.40 but will take two years to get there…
\Page 3: “Washington Hints At Possibility U.S. Jets Have Been Over China”…The U.S. stated that “there is a possibility that, on occasion, American war planes have been over China. China says that this has been the case five times in the past 13 months. The U.S. has not confirmed this. The Chinese tally goes like this: 12 May 1966 American fighters intruded and shot down a MIG; 9 April 1965 a Navy F-4 tangled with MIGs over Hainan and one MIG and one F-4 were shot down (Navy said this occurred over international waters); 20 September 1965 an Air Force F-104 intruded, lost and out of gas, and ejected –the pilot was captured and taken to Hainan; 5 October 1965 the Chinese reported downing an Air Force F-105 after intruding in Chinese air space– Air Force said an F-105 was missing after a strike on a railroad bridge 45 miles northeast of Hanoi; and, 12 April 1966 a Navy A-3 erred in navigating from the Philippines back to Yankee Station, was shot down over China by MIGs, and the crew perished in the resultant crash–Navy concurred with this report… The article also said: “The United States has imposed a 20-30 mile buffer south of the Chinese border in the rules of engagement to be adhered to by U.S. pilots. An Air Force officer explained: “Once the planes are shot at, the pilots kick in afterburner and accelerate to supersonic speeds of 1200 to 1600 miles per hour. Experts do not exclude the possibility that in such circumstances a pilot could lose his bearings and pass over Chinese territory by mistake.”…
Page 16: “Johnson Calls U.S. Totally Committed To Vietnam War” … “President Johnson said today that the United States had never pulled out of a fight in which it believed and would not start in Vietnam. We shall see this through.” His remarks were part of a Memorial Day Proclamation. “Yet as we protect freedom by courage in arms we shall every day continue the search for an honorable peace. Americans will be fighting and dying in Vietnam this Memorial Day 1966 in fulfillment of our commitment to freedom. Our own liberty was won in struggle against tyranny. In two World Wars and in Korea brave Americans and their allies gave their lives that men might live and prosper in freedom. We shall not forsake their sacrifice. We shall–because we must–persevere.”
PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEFING… 27 May 1966… CIA (TS sanitized)..South Vietnam: Very early reports from the meeting between Ky and Thi at Chu Lai say that it went well. Ky is said to have agreed to give Thi and General Dinh unspecified Jobs in the Army. Later Thi met with Generals Cao and Dinh. Hue and Saigon are quiet. North Vietnam: A definite stiffening of security and morale was noticeable following the bombing of the missile site in the Hanoi suburbs in late April. Children and wives are again being sent to the country and camouflage activities are being intensified. Electric power in Hanoi has periodically been reduced by as much as two thirds during the past month because of damage to nearby plants. Trolley buses are running only part of the time and much of the northeast part of the city is without lights. Ho Chi Minh looks spry, but he recently switched from Lucky Strikes to filtered Salems for reasons of health. Communist China: Two key figures have apparently been toppled as the power struggle among Chinese leaders continues. The Mayor of Peking and the Army Chief of Staff have been replaced. The power struggle is not over.
27 MAY 1966… ROLLING THUNDER OPERATIONS… NYT (28 May reporting ops for 27 May) “Monsoon storms over North Vietnam again limited air operations. Approach roads to the Mugia Pass were targets of two Air Force missions. Carrier based Navy planes flew 19 missions along the coast. American pilots flew 382 sorties and South Vietnam flew 257 sorties in support of ground operations in South Vietnam. There were no losses of U.S. fixed wing aircraft in Southeast Asia on 27 May 1966. Your Humble Host therefore takes this opportunity to report the loss of one aircraft and a warrior leader on 27 May 1965… “Vietnam Air Losses” by Chris Hobson, page 21…
CDR DOYLE WILMER LYNN was Killed in Action.
Hobson: “One of the most frequently hit targets in the southern part of North Vietnam was the city of Vinh and on 27 May the Navy flew a strike against the railway yards at Vinh. CDR DOYLE LYNN, CO of VF-111, was attacking an AAA site near the target when his aircraft was hit by ground fire. CDR LYNN radioed that his aircraft had been hit by ground fire and the F-8 was seen to go out of control and hit the ground before an ejection could take place. CDR DOYLE LYNN had been one of the first Navy pilots shot down in Southeast Asia when his Crusader was shot down on 7 June 1964 over the Plain of Jars. He was rescued on that occasion by an Air America helicopter, but on 27 May 1965 CDR LYNN’s luck … ran out.” …FIFTY ONE YEARS AGO TODAY… RIP…
RIPPLE SALVO…#89… IN MEMORIAM #2… This post continues to honor and remember the service and death in combat in Southeast Asia of those who carried the fight to the enemy. The fight began for the United States in March of 1961 in the new nation of Laos. A 1954 Geneva agreement created Laos as a pro-western nation. Unfortunately, the Soviets and North Vietnam seized the opportunity to challenge this fledgling country and the communist force to press this little war was the Pathet Lao. The United States entered the conflict on the side of the Royal Laotian government and created an air force to support the Laotians. Today RTR honors the first American, USAF aviators to give their all…
(1) 23 March 1961… USAF…1LT RALPH WAYNE MAGEE, 1LT OSCAR BRANCH WESTON, 2LT GLENN MATTESON, SSGT ALFONS ALOYCE BANKOWSKI, SSGT FREDERICK THOMAS GARSIDE, SSGT LESLIE VERNE SAMPSON, and WO1 EDGAR WILKEN WEITKEMP (U.S. ARMY) were Killed in Action while flying in a 315th AD C-47B based at Osan, Japan but flying out of Vientiane on 23 March and headed for Saigon, via the Plain of Jars to gather intelligence. The aircraft was hit by Pathet Lao ground fire, a wing was blown off, the aircraft crashed and with it seven Americans perished to become the first American casualties of the war. In 1991 the remains of the crew were recovered from the area of the crash site, only four of whom were identifiable. An eighth member of the crew was MAJOR LAWRENCE ROBERT BAILEY, USA, who always wore his own parachute and was able to exit the aircraft and successfully parachute free to survive the downing. He was captured by the Pathet Lao and was a POW until released in 1962 with the signing of the Geneva Accords on Laos. (now, there’s a story…anybody have a clue about “the rest of the Major’s story”)
(2) 2 February 1962… USAF… CAPTAIN FERGUS COLEMAN GROVES, CAPTAIN ROBERT DARREL LARSON, and SSGT MIKE BRUCE COGHILL were Killed in Action in a C-123B assigned to the 464th TCW and the Special Aerial Spray Flight based at Tan Son Nhut. This was the first U.S. aircraft lost in South Vietnam. The flight was on a practice spraying mission over dense jungle between Bien Hoa and Vung Tau. There was no explanation for the crash but the plane was destroyed by fire at the crash site. After the crash all Ranch Hand aircraft were escorted by fighters.
(3) 11 February 1962… USAF… CAPTAIN EDWARD KNELL KISSAM, CAPTAIN JOSEPH MICHAEL FAHEY, 1LT STANLEY GERALD HARTSON, 1LT JACK DATE LE TOURNEAU, TSGT FLOYD MILTON FRAZIER, A1C ROBERT LEE WESTFALL, and 2LT LEWIS METCALF WALING, USA, SP4 GLEN FREDERICK MERRIHEW, USA, and an unidentified VNAF observer, were Killed in Action while flying a leaflet drop mission in an SC-47A assigned to the 4400 CCTS at Bien Hoa. The aircraft was on an early morning sortie from Saigon to Danang and went down without explanation. All on board were killed.
(4) 28 August 1962… USAF…CAPTAIN ROBERT LEWIS SIMPSON and a VNAF observer were leading a flight of two T-28Ds on a Farm Gate mission in support of an ARVN attack on a Vietcong stronghold. The FAC called for fire suppression and CAPTAIN SIMPSON led his flight into the attack. He was shot down on his second run by small arms fire. He was Killed in Action. This was the first American aircraft lost while engaging in offensive action in the war. CAPTAIN SIMPSON and his VNAF observer perished in a swamp 17 miles south of Soc Trang and every effort to recover remains has failed. CAPTAIN SIMPSON died while fighting in the van of our war in support of South Vietnam. He had flown 67 missions in F-80s in the Korean War and had flown the F-89 and F-102 prior to his assignment with the Air Commandos.
(5) 15 October 1962… USAF… CAPTAIN HERBERT W. BOOTH and TSGT RICHARD L. FOX were flying a U-10A Helio Courier, a rugged STOL aircraft used for a variety of missions by Air America. The aircraft was assigned to the 1st ACS out of Bien Hoa. The aircraft was probably shot down on a leaflet drop mission in the Darlac province in the central highlands. The names of these two warriors BOOTH and FOX are included in the list of FAC heros memorialized at Hurlburt Field in Florida.
Today’s remembrance goes way back to the very front end of a long war… these were the men who went first and who died bravely doing their duty, and I suspect every one of them was a volunteer to go in Harm’s Way. They earned and deserve our sincere respect and admiration every day, and especially on this Memorial Day week in 2016, more than 50 years after they gave their all…
Lest we forget… Bear ………. –30– ……….