ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED 28 AUGUST 1967

RIPPLE SALVO… #540… SECRETARY McNAMARA DEFENDS THE ADMINISTRATION DECISION TO RESTRICT ATTACKS ON THE HAIPHONG PORT AND HARBOR… but first…

Good Morning: Day FIVE HUNDRED-FORTY of a return to the air war over North Vietnam fought fifty years ago…

28 AUGUST 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a partly cloudy Monday in New York City…

VIETNAM: “House Unit Warns Saigon Over Need For Wide Reform–It Questions Advisability of Continuing Support By United States Unless Action is Taken–Economic Aid Studies–Rusk Told of Concern About Pacification, Bureaucracy, Inflation and Elections”... “A Congressional watchdog committee said today that there could be a ‘reassessment’ of the United States position in South Vietnam unless the Saigon Government made a basic commitment to social and economic reforms. Sweeping revisions in overall economic arrangements between the two government were demanded… The deeper concerns of the House Committee on Government Operations…’the lack of meaningful progress and reform in the lagging and floundering pacification program in dealing with problems of refugees, inflation and land reform; in the conduct of elections, and in overall administration with its entrenched and inefficient bureaucracy.” ... Page 1: “China Tells Of Displaying Captured American Pilot”... “Communist China has paraded in public a Untied States pilot who was one of four Americans shot down in China last week, Hsinhua, the Chinese Communist press agency, reported today. The pilot was brought before a mass meeting in Nanning, in Kwangsi Chuang Autonomous Region in South China…He was reviled as an American pirate responsible for bombing the Vietnamese towns and massacring the Vietnamese people. Two United States A-6A attack planes with four American fliers were shot down last Monday (21st) and one airman was captured…On Wednesday the Pentagon identified the four aviators as Jimmy L. Buckley and Robert J. Flynn, LCDRs, and Dain V. Scott and Forrest G. Trembley, both LTJGs. Among other prisoners held by Communist China are Captain Philip E. Smith, USAF, who was believed shot down and captured near Hainan on 21 September 1965.

VIETNAM: Page 1: Vietcong Attacks Kill or Wound 355–Most Victims Are Civilians–Foe Stages Series of Widespread Assaults”... “Vietcong guerrillas in a series of coordinated attacks from the Northern provinces to the Mekong Delta, killed or wounded 355 civilians. The heaviest attack was a 10-minute mortar and rocket assault against Can Tho, the largest city in the delta. Forty-six residents were reported killed and 222 wounded, including 5 U.S. servicemen… Another assault at Hoian, 15 miles South of Danang… United States intelligence officers in Saigon disclosed that captured Vietcong documents dated since early July show plans for a concerted campaign of terror, harassment, and road cutting before, during and after the presidential election. Other assaults: Quangda and Dienban, both near Dnang.”… Page 8: “Thieu Says He Would Meet With Vietcong Front– Vague Offer Is Interpreted as Campaign Gesture—Saigon Has Held That Hanoi Is Key to Peace Talks”...remark surprised Ky… Page 9: “Ky Opposes Halt In Raids In North–Says Hanoi Must First Give Indications of Goodwill”… “Premier Nguyen Cao Ky said in a U.S. television interview today that he did not favor a pause in the bombing of North Vietnam after the South Vietnamese presidential election, even though his running mate, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thieu has raised the possibility of such a gesture. KY: ‘In the past we have had many pauses in the bombing. We saw no result. Why do we have to pause again? I think we must accept a pause in the bombing of the North only if we see some goodwill from the other side to respond, because what happens after the pause–are we going to continue to fight or meet together? What happens?’ “… Page 9: William Bundy, also on TV (Meet the Press): “I think we would want to go over with them what was expected in the way of any indication from Hanoi about what actions it might take, so that they couldn’t take advantage of the situation–what the realistic possibilities were that it would contribute to the opening of some kind of useful discussions.”… Page 12: “Rockets Kill 7 Marines, Wound 79 in enemy attack on Marine helicopter base at Dongha, seven miles south of the DMZ.”…

SUMMER IN AMERICA 1967: Page 1: “2 Dead, 14 Missing as 18 Skydivers Fall Into Lake Erie”... “Fourteen of 18 skydivers who parachuted from 20,000-feet today from a converted World War II bomber were missing after plunging into Lake Erie… A total of 23 persons were scheduled for the flight but only 20 made the jump. Two of the 20 made their jump on a second pass by the aircraft and landed safely in the target area.”… Page 1: “Congress Opens Two Inquiries Today On Airway Safety–Panels Seeking Solutions to Problems Of Congestion Aloft and At Airports”...”House subcommittee will concentrate this week on safety on the airways. a Senate subcommittee will focus on the bottlenecks in the airways system and the crowded airports. Powerful lobbyists representing almost every segment of civil aviation but the passenger himself, are prepared to agree that urgent solutions are needed each is prepared to suggest that the other fellow pay.”… Page 1: Home TV Adapted To A New Film Use–CBS Device Shows Pictures Recorded In Cartridge–Plays Up to An Hour”... Involves use of a seven-inch cartridge. The system is scheduled for world-wide marketing in 1970.”…

28 August 1967… The President’s TS Daily CIA Brief… SOVIET UNION: The Soviets seem to have cut back on use of the cross-China route for supplying the North Vietnamese with non-military goods. (Why not? The harbor at Haiphong is wide open and the port never gets bombed…Humble Host sez)

28 AUGUST 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (29 Aug reporting 28 Aug ops) Page 3: “In the North clearing skies permitted Air Force F-105 Thunderchief pilots to bomb targets near Hanoi…at least 15 boxcars had been destroyed at the Vuchua railroad yard 43 miles north-east of Hanoi. Other F-105 pilots bombed the Caonung railroad yard 55 miles northeast of Hanoi and reported numerous rail cuts.”…  Page 3: “16 PLANES DOWN IN WEEK”… “The United States lost 16 planes in North Vietnam last week, the largest loss of the war…the report of the loss of the 16th plane Sunday-a Marine A-6 Intruder jet-was delayed while a search was conducted for its two crew members (MAJOR V. BACIK and CAPT P. BOGGS), who were not recovered and are listed as missing in action. A total of 663 American planes have now been lost in North Vietnam since the air war began in February 1965 the previous high lost in one week was 15 recorded last May 14 to 20.”…Humble Host counts 22 aviators killed or captured in the loss of 16 aircraft…

“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 28 August 1967…

(1) MAJOR CHARLES FRANKLIN WALLACE, USMC, was flying an A-4E of the VMA-211 Avengers and MAG-12 out of Chu Lai on a armed reconnaissance mission just north of the DMZ and attacking an antiaircraft site when hit by ground fire. MAJOR WALLACE was able to fly the aircraft the few miles to the east over water but was not seen to eject as the aircraft crashed at sea on this day fifty years ago. MAJOR WALLACE remains where he fell fighting for his country…glory gained, duty done… and remembered on this day…

RIPPLE SALVO… #540…  The Stennis Hearing: Secretary McNamara defends the decision to restrict bombing of the port of Haiphong and the mining of harbors…

At the August 25, 1967 hearing Secretary McNamara was called on to defend the decision to prohibit the bombing of ports and mining of harbors as a part of the effort to stop the infiltration of men and material into North Vietnam for further movement to the south and the war in South Vietnam. He made the case that these efforts would not appreciably impede the flow. He presented CIA analysis that the total tonnage required to fight the war in the south was 15 tons per day and with 5,500 tons of support arriving every day, the mining and closure of the ports would contribute little to reducing the flow to the requirement of 15 tons. He pointed out that the rail, road and waterway systems were delivering 8,400 tons per day. He contended that even if air attacks could cut the 8,400 in half, the NVN fighting requirement would still be met. He used the NVN ability to lighter POL from tankers during the June campaign to destroy the NVN POL system of storage and transportation as a work-a-round that kept POL flowing at a rate that met the enemy requirements. His point–the enemy would work-a-round the loss of the port and mining of the harbor. The Secretary said that “the limited objectives and the restrained nature of the bombing campaign should be maintained as is.”

McNamara: “A selective, carefully targeted bombing campaign, such as we are presently conducting, can be directed toward reasonable and realizable goals. This discriminating use of air power can and does render the infiltration of men and supplies more difficult and more costly. At the same time, it demonstrates to both South and North Vietnam our resolve to see that aggression does not succeed. A less discriminating bombing campaign against North Vietnam would, in my opinion, do no more. We have no reason to believe that it would break the will of the Vietnamese people or sway the purpose of their leaders. If it does not lead to such a change of mind, bombing the North at any level of intensity would not meet our objective. We would still have to prove by ground operations in the South that Hanoi’s aggression could not succeed. Nor would a decision to close the port, by whatever means, prevent the movement in and through North Vietnam of the essentials to continue their present level of military activity in South Vietnam.”

Here is the “Pentagon Papers” (Gravel Edition) assessment of the Secretary’s appearance and testimony (page 203)

“The Secretary spent the day on the witness stand, answering questions, rebutting charges, and debating the issues. His use of facts and figures and reasoned arguments was one of his masterful performances, but in the end he was not persuasive. The subcommittee issued a report on 31 August which castigated the Administration’s conduct of the bombing campaign, deferred to the authority of the professional military judgement it had heard, accepted virtually all the military criticisms of the program, and advocated a switch-over to escalating ‘pressure’ concepts.

“The Secretary had emphasized the inability of the bombing to accomplish much more, given the nature of U.S. objectives and of the difficult challenges presented by the overall military situation.”…

Humble Host will present the 31 August 1967 report of the subcommittee –the Secretary gets ripped–in a series of nine short Ripple Salvos starting September 3 and running through my excursion to Tailhook 17 and a few days with old warriors, including a handful of old VA-113 Stingers who can still travel….

RTR QUOTE for 28 August: CICERO, De Officiis: “An army is of little value in the field unless there are wise counsels at home.”