RIPPLE SALVO… #210… TIMIDITY HAS A PRICE… but first…
Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED TEN of a return to Operation Rolling Thunder and the air war fought fifty years ago…
27 SEPTEMBER 1966… FRONT PAGE NEWS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES… A fair and cloudy Tuesday, rain is coming….
Page 1: “Hanoi Move Hinted If U.S. Sets A Pullout Timetable”…”The North Vietnamese government might accept the opening of peace negotiations in exchange for a United States commitment to a scheduled withdrawal of forces, according to a French cabinet minister. This could be interpreted as a concession. In its original four points for peace, Hanoi’s first condition for negotiations was the withdrawal of all American military forces, the dismantling of all bases, and end to the ground war in South Vietnam, and an end to the bombing in North Vietnam… In Washington, hopes that Hanoi might respond to the latest American peace proposal faded. Hopes had been raised after reports on a speech by Premier Pham Van Dong of North Vietnam. But an analysis of the text of the speech indicated no discernible change of Hanoi’s position…American officials did not see much promise in the suggestion of the French minister (Sainteny). Meanwhile, the White House, Department of State and Department of Defense all denied reports published in the New York Daily News that the United States intended to suspend its bombing of North Vietnam to give Hanoi time to consider the American peace proposal…. The North Vietnam’s Premier had included this in his speech: ‘If the United States ruling circles really want peace and seek a peaceful solution they must recognize the four point stand and show their good will by acts. That is, to put a definitive and unconditional end to their air strikes. They must recognize the National Liberation Front as their interlocutor to solve questions in South Vietnam.’…”
Page 1: “Johnson Is Likely To Join Six Allies In Manila Parley”…”President Johnson is expected to accept tomorrow an invitation to meet in Manila next month with the leaders of six nations allied in the military effort in South Vietnam. It would be Mr. Johnson’s first visit to a country outside the Western Hemisphere since he became President three years ago. According to the Asian sponsors of the conference, it will be held on about October 18 bringing together the heads of state or government of South Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The participants would review the military situation and the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the war, but they would also give special attention to programs of economic, social and political development in South Vietnam.”… Page 1: “Erhard Confers With President On Defense Cost”…”President Johnson began some tough bargaining with Chancellor Ludwig Erhard of West Germany today, but soothed his politically troubled guest by arranging to show him around Cape Kennedy tomorrow. The bargaining was about ways to share the burdens of European defense. A two hour meeting this morning showed that the two leaders would not settle the issues for many months…Mr. Erhard came to Washington with a candid appeal for help. In response, Mr. Johnson offered much tribute, but not much financial relief.”
Page 1: “Public Indifference Holding Up Drive For Cleaner Air”…”In a large city in the Midwest a few weeks back a nationally respected air pollution official concluded a disquisition on the nation’s mounting smog problem by abruptly sweeping aside his slide rule, charts and tabulations and exclaiming: ‘That’s the official story. Now do you want to hear the truth? The truth is that the critical ingredient in smog simply is politics. By that I mean people and their instruments of government and their attitudes toward a community problem. We know how to cure smog. It is not unduly difficult of expensive. The problem is getting the people in the community to support a cleanup program. The most important part of a program is not technical expertise. It is having a wheeler-dealer who can put it across to the political establishment in a community. We’ve been long on engineering and short on wheeler-dealers. That’s why our air is a mess.”… Page 1: “Democrats Unite On Poverty Bill”…”Fearful that their bickering might have endangered the $1.75 billion anti-poverty bill, Democrats sought to close ranksw today as the embattled bill reached the House floor.”…
27 September 1966…The President’s Daily Brief… CIA (TS sanitized) North Vietnam: A blank…Still classified after 50 years…
27 SEPTEMBER 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT (28 Sept reporting 27 Sept Ops) Page 5: “Supply Lines Pounded”…”American fighter-bombers continued to pound North Vietnamese supply lines yesterday. They struck near Hanoi, the North Vietnamese capital, and Haiphong, the major port, and through the long slender panhandle region in 121 multiple plane missions. One United States plane was lost. An Air Force F-105 Thunderchief jet crashed and the pilot was listed as missing. Returning pilots reported they had destroyed five bridges, two of them on the vital rail line leading northwest out of Hanoi for China. Air Force Phantom pilots said they sunk seven barges in a convoy about 10 miles from Donghoi and damaged three others with 750-pound bombs and rockets. Further north near Thanh Hoa Navy A-1 propeller driven Skyraider and A-4 Skyhawk pilots said they had smashed six barges and damaged seven. In other operations Air Force F-4 pilots bombed targets in the DMZ and B-52s bombed infiltration routes near the DMZ.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) Page 75: One fixed wing aircraft was lost in Southeast Asia on 27 September 1966… An O-1E Bird Dog from the 21st TASS and 14th ACW out of Pleiku was destroyed in a landing accident… the F-105 reported downed in the NYT article was reported as a 26 Sept loss by Hobson (CAPTAIN ART BALLARD, 13th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat, POW)…see RTR 26 September.
RIPPLE SALVO… #210… GOING DOWNTOWN GETS TOUGHER AND TOUGHER… The Washington decision to allow North Vietnam to operate a growing force of MIGs out of Kep and Phu Ly, for whatever reason, began to make “going downtown” ever more challenging with significant costs in efficiency and lives. The NVN defense system was maturing and the defenders were learning quickly– gunners, missileers, radar controllers, and a building cadre of MIG pilots. By late September 1966 the Red River Valley was an integrated bastion of skilled defenders. A page (102) out of John T. Smith’s “Rolling Thunder: The Strategic Bombing Campaign, North Vietnam 1964-1968” (1994) summarizes the development… I quote…
“The North Vietnamese Air Force…continued to expand. During the second half of 1966, under pressure from the American raids, North Vietnamese MIGs were attacking American strike aircraft on average twelve times a month. By the end of the year eleven American aircraft had been shot down by MIG pilots. The North Vietnamese aircraft ground controllers had now become experienced in the understanding of American tactics, types of aircraft, routes in and out of North Vietnam and the types of targets attacked. The MIG-17s were normally kept at low level, where their lack of speed was less marked and the American radar coverage was poor (BIG HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE). They were then directed onto American strike aircraft from astern and below. The MIG-17s were more maneuverable than the F-105s and the Phantoms and used this advantage to good effect. The first Phantom shot down in air-to-air combat was lost to three MIGs on the 21st of September. This was an F-4 of the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron attached to the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing (CAPTAIN R.G. KELLUMS and 1LT J.W. THOMAS–rescued). Although the MIG pilots clearly wanted to shoot American aircraft down, their main tactic was to disrupt the raids by forcing the strike aircraft to jettison their bombs to escape. During late 1966, these tactics were forcing many strike aircraft to drop their ordnance and turn back. The MIG-21s were used at higher altitude, where they were nearly as fast as F-4s and considerably more maneuverable. By the end of 1966 the North Vietnamese Air Force was estimated to number 70 aircraft, fifteen MIG-21s and 55 MIG-17s. They were also expanding the airfields capable of taking jet aircraft (Phuc Yen and Kep were the main bases) with revetments, bunkered fuel storage and were building new airfields. The airfields used by the MIGs were not yet on the list of targets that could be attacked and American fighter pilots were forced to watch MIGs taking off and landing from Phuc Yen with impunity.”
Why is this important fifty years after the fact? That’s easy. The rules written in Washington that limited our Rolling Thunder operations with restrictions and rules of engagement that forfeited our advantages and enhanced the enemy’s were a lesson that remains unlearned today. War is a killing business and if you can’t fight with EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, you better stay out of the fight. The American reluctance to do whatever it takes to destroy the will of the enemy to resist is well known and is used by our enemies then and now to our detriment and their advantage. The Washington decision to allow the North Vietnam time to reinforce their defenses and to use their air fields “with impunity” is a lesson ignored. The sad fact is, our nation has become a bastion of pusillanimous peaceniks mired in self-deception. There is only one way to win without fighting and to enjoy the fruits of peace — that is to gain and maintain the greatest power, position and resolve on earth. As a consequence of decades of misadventures and failure to put the lessons of Vietnam to work, we now lack the POWER, are out of POSITION, and are nursing a severe deficit in RESOLVE. Our ability to deter THE AMBITIONS OF OUR ADVERSARIES is fading fast because our enemies have also concluded our leaders are pusillanimous. History is the teacher… Winchester!
Lest we forget… Bear ……… –30– ……….