RIPPLE SALVO… #966… HUMBLE HOST WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO THE TAIL END YANKEE AIR PIRATES OF ROLLING THUNDER MIGHT BE. WHO HAD THE HONOR AND PRIVILEGE OF DROPPING THE LAST RACKS OF MK-83s ON A BRIDGE ON HIGHWAY 1A, OR COMPARABLE CONTRIBUTION TO MAKING LIFE MISERABLE FOR OUR ADVERSARIES NORTH OF 17-00 NORTH, BEFORE THE CESSATION OF OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER AT 9PM ON FRIDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 1968? (8AM EST)… Dig out your log book and let me know if you were in the last bunch that put the stinger on the 44-months of the great air campaign… I have stumbled on a top candidate for the honor. I’m looking for challengers for a footnote in the history of Rolling Thunder…. but first…
GOOD MORNING… Day NINE HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX of a backward look at a page of history written in blood and guts fifty years ago…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times on 27 October 1968…
‘THE WAR: Page 1: “U.S. BASE REPELS A MAJOR THRUST–First In A Month–About 500 Of Enemy Attack Near Cambodian Border–Breaks Lull In War”… “An enemy assault force charged an American position today, in the first such attack in about a month, but wa turned back after hours of bitter fighting. The major enemy thrust toward Julie, a nearby support base which lies 50 miles north of Saigon and only two miles from the Cambodian border, came at 3 A.M….the enemy continued harassing the encampment throughout the day and into the night with rocket grenades, mortar shells nd occasional rifle fire. ‘They hit us with between 500 and 600 men, but our guys killed at least 89 of them,’ said Major Leonard Phillips of Manhattan, a brigade staff officer with the First Infantry Division. US casualties were 8 killed and 33 wounded. The camp is astride a major enemy infiltration route in the northeastern corner of Tayninh Province with the object of inviting attack.”… “Ground activity elsewhere in South Vietnam also increased over the last 24 hours…In a 30-minute attack last night enemy gunners fired about 10 rockets at Bienhoa Hoa Air Base, some 15 miles north of Saigon. There was no damage. At Anhoa near Danang United States marines swept down upon an enemy force and killed 22 of the enemy without casualties. In the same general area near Tamky, South Vietnamese troops killed 14 enemy soldiers…In the Mekong Delta, South Vietnamese troops killed 90 enemy soldiers in Kienhoa Province, about 45 miles southwest of Saigon.”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 17: “HANOI BROADCASTS SCORN ON U.S. STAND–Insists On Unconditional Halt Of Bombing Raids”…”North Vietnamese and Viet Cong broadcasts continued today to attack President Johnson for not ordering an unconditional halt in American bombing raids over North Vietnam. But State Department officials maintained that the negative sounding broadcasts should not be regarded as the final word from Hanoi. They said that the diplomatic efforts to achieve a breakthrough wre continuing but that no definitive response had yet been received. There was no sense of urgency in Washington, despite rumors that there would be a major break in the Vietnam situation this weekend.”…
STATE DEPARTMENT. Office of the Historian. Historical Documents. Seven documents dated 26-27 October 1968 concern the conversations and communications addressing the pursuit of meaningful talks about cessation of Rolling Thunder and de-escalating the Vietnam war (Document 124 through 130). If you have been reading these documents in the last few months, you don’t want to quit now. The President is getting nervous. Progress is barely perceptible and LBJ is losing confidence in his Wise Men. He is being encouraged to give up the bombing for next to nothing– the inclusion of Thieu and the South Vietnamese “at the table.” The 7 documents, 15 pages are in sequence: Access 124 then mouse the right margin carrot to access 125, etc. Document 130 is a letter from LBJ to Premier Kosygin…Access 124 at…
124. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v07/d124
HEAD LINES: Page 1: “SOVIET ASTRONAUT IN ORBIT–FLIES NEAR UNMANNED SHIP–SOYUZ 3– Pilot, 47, First Russian In Space Since April 1967″… Page 1: “HUMPHREY SURGE IS OFFERING AIDES A HOPE FOR UPSET–Rise In Political Fortunes And Gains in Gallup Poll Brighten Party Chances–McCarthy Move Is Due–Some Democrats Believe Nixon’s Attacks Hint He Starts To ‘Run Scared’ “… Page 1: “JOHNSON CAUTIONS ON G.O.P. VICTORY–In A Trip To Appalachia He Assails Opposition And Defends His War Policy”… Page 1: “Poll of Executives Puts Nixon Ahead”… Page 1: “Nixon Vows Effort To Seek Arms Control –Stand Seen Eased”… Page 1: “ISRAEL BOMBARDS SUEZ REFINERIES–Reports Facilities Burning–Shelling From Both Sides Kills 14 Along Canal”…
27 OCTOBER 1968…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times: No coverage of operations north of the DMZ… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were three fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 27 October 1968…
(1) LCOL V.J. COLE was flying an A-1H of the 6th SOS and the 633rd SOW out of Pleiku in a flight fragged to hit a storage area in Steel Tiger 15 miles northeast of the southernmost tip of Laos and making his first run when hit by enemy ground fire. LCOL COLE was forced to eject in the target area but was able to evade the enemy until he could be rescued by a USAF helicopter…
1LT ROBERT CLIFTON EDMUNDS was flying an F-105D of the 34th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat on a night armed reconnaissance mission in truck country about 25 miles northwest of Dong Hoi when hit and downed by enemy ground fire. 1LT EDMUNDS was in the diving attack on a target about 2 miles east of Route 137, the primary road running into the Ban Karai Pass when hit in the fuselage and it is presumed that he did not have time to eject as the aircraft continued into the ground. Other pilot witnessed his aircraft as it was struck by the ground fire. They also saw it catch fire, go into a dive and crash. They saw no parachute or heard a beeper. Due to the intensely hostile area the search operation was limited. 1LT EDMUND was immediately listed as Missing in Action. This was the 350th F-105 to be lost during the Rolling Thunder operations.
In 1988 remains possibly associated with 1LT EDMUNDS’ loss were turned over to personnel from the Joint Casualty Resolution Center. Those remains in turn were identified as those of MAJOR EDMUNDS and returned to his family for burial. On this day, 50 years after MAJOR EDMUNDS’ final flight he is remembered with admiration and respect…
(3) CAPTAIN WILLIAM HARRY STROVEN and CAPTAIN KENNETH ARNOLD STONEBRAKER were flying an RF-4C of 11th TRS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn on a night Sea Dragon mission along the coast of North Vietnam and failed to return from the mission. The aircraft was presumed to have been lost at-sea east of Dong Hoi. An extensive search failed to develop any information. Both aviators are listed as “XX”–Presumptive Finding of Death (Killed in Action) and on this night fifty years after their last flight they rest in peace where they fell…
For those of us who came home, remembrance of those who “gave all” is a never ending duty… Among the many remembrances posted on VVMF’s Wall of Faces for these two perished pilots is this one from Kenneth Stonebraker’s daughter Cynthia: “Daddy. I remember the day my daddy left. I was five. I remember helping him roll his ties and putting them in a suitcase. I remember the summer before he left, riding horses at Grandpas. There is not a day that passes that I don’t think about my daddy, and wishing he had been with me while I was growing up, my first dance recital, my graduation, my wedding. My mother says I’m a lot like my dad, and I think that is a compliment. I miss my daddy dearly, but I know he was doing what he wanted to do, and what he was good at. My daddy is my hero.” (12/5/2001)…
Humble Host is a little confused on this loss. The Hobson story is recorded above. The alternative report is that the mission was a photo recce mission in Route Pack 6A (“An ammunition supply dump near Hanoi. As the aircraft was over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, it was lost from radar. No trace was ever found of the aircraft or its crew.) Bombing ops north of the 19th Parallel was prohibited, but recce was always on the schedule. The ambiguity requires a little attention.
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 27 OCTOBER DATES OF THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1965… LT DENNIS ANTHONY MOORE, USN… (POW)… Nearly eight years– 2,666 Days– of honorable duty in Hanoi…
1966… MAJOR DALE ALONZO JOHNSON, USAF… (MIA…Killed-in-Action, Body Not Recovered)…
1967… COLONEL JOHN PETER FLYNN, USAF… (POW)… and… CAPTAIN JON DAVID BLACK, USAF… (POW)… and… CAPTAIN LORENZA CONNER, USAF… (KIA)… … and… MAJOR ROBERT J. STIRM, USAF, … (POW)… and… CAPTAIN RUSSELL EDWARD TEMPERLY, USAF… (POW)… Humble Host suggests readers refer to the RTR archive entry for 27 Oct 67 for the details on these losses in the Red River Valley. In addition, four awardees of the AIR FORCE CROSS for missions flown that day are included in the 27 Oct 1967 post. The heroic exploits of COLONEL JOHN FLYNN, CAPTAIN PAUL HENNING, CAPTAIN ROWLAND SMITH, JR, and CAPTAIN DAVID WILLIAMS made for an Air Force record day for the AIR FORCE CROSS… Their AFC citations are quoted…
1968… 1LT ROBERT CLIFTON EDMUNDS, USAF… (KIA)…and… CAPTAIN WILLIAM HARRY STROVEN, USAF… (KIA)… and … CAPTAIN KENNETH ARNOLD STONEBRAKER, USAF… (KIA)…
RIPPLE SALVO… #966… HOBSON: “On 31 October President Johnson, under growing pressure from public opinion at home and with no signs that the North Vietnamese were about to back down, announced that the bombing of North Vietnam would cease the following day. The Rolling Thunder bombing campaign against North Vietnam had started on 2 March 1965 but during the 44-month history its overall effectiveness was severely restricted by political limitations and the resourcefulness of the North Vietnamese.”… “The last missions of Rolling Thunder were flown on the afternoon of 1 November 1968.”…
The New York Times, 1 November, page 1, had this to report about the last afternoon of Rolling Thunder: “RAIDS END”… “American warplanes bombed targets in North Vietnam today and then in the evening, returned to their bases and carriers as President Johnson’s order to halt the bombing went into effect. The allied military command said it would be until tomorrow morning to give the total number of missions flown over the North during the daylight hours of the last day. The allied military command said that 114 multi-aircraft missions were flown against North Vietnam during the daylight hours, about the usual daily average. The order ending the bombing went into effect at 9 P.M. (8 A.M. Friday, Eastern standard time). Three hours and 45 minutes earlier, a Marine Corps F-4 Phantom was shot down over North Vietnam, three miles north of the demilitarized zone. The aircraft crashed at sea and the two-man crew was rescued by the Australian destroyer Perth. NEW ACTION PREDICTED… Though the bombing over the North has ended, the runways and carrier decks were not expected to remain quiet long. Military strategists were said by highly placed sources to be preparing to increase the bombing of supply and infiltration routes in Laos. Military sources also said that the freeing of warplanes from daily missions over North Vietnam would also allow for the increased air strikes in the South.”
By my count there were more than 300 sorties flown north on 1 November 1968 before the 9 P.M. cutoff. Out of curiosity, and the never-ending-search -for-truth, your Humble Host is seeking the tales of the last guys on the last day that took the fight to enemy in his burrow. Please speak up. Where were you on the late afternoon, early evening of 1 November 1968…
Current top candidate for consideration is BRIGADIER GENERAL ED HAERTER who volunteered this account… “Right at dusk, on 1 November 1968, two of us, F-100s out of Phu Cat, flew Flak suppression for two F-4s that were laying mines into the river at Vinh. Also had two Thud Weasels doing SAM suppression for us. We were briefed about SAMs, 85mm, 57mm, 37mm, 23mm and small arms fire. The F-4s flew down the river quite low dropping the mines, and we flew a hundred yards inland, also very low dropping CBUs and two 500lb Hi Drag bombs. As you might imagine, all hell broke loose as we approached and flew down the river. Fortunately, we all got out of there with only a few small arms hits in the tail of my bird and one of the F-4s. One pass and haul ass! The Thuds had two SAMs fired at them, but evaded and went after the site that fired them.”…. oohrah… audacious…
I await your testimonials and tales from the afternoon of 1 November 1968…
RTR quote for 27 October: GEN. WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, Personal Memoirs II… “I would define courage to be a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to incur it.”…
Lest we forget… Bear