RIPPLE SALVO… #602… Opinion and advice for LBJ from Nixon and Gore, Sr. on the war AND a last word from this old blogger… but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED TWO of living in the past and loving every minute of it… historic events and gallant brothers in arms…
29 OCTOBER 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a beautiful 55-degree Sunday in New York…
Page 1: “Mexico’s Diaz and Johnson Formally Settle Boundary Dispute–Two Chiefs Arrive at Jaurez To Transfer 437-Acres of Territory to Mexico–Agreement is Hailed–U.S. President Terms Pact an Example of How Nation Honors Commitments”… “President pledged to honor all U.S. commitments throughout the world even though ‘the price is high and the going is rough.’ “… Page 1: “Congress Rushing to Adjournment; Johnson Balked At Leader’s Target of November 18 May Defer Action on Bulk of President’s Program–Some Benefits Noted–White House Backers Hope Rising Pressure to Recess Will Push Key Measures”… Page 1: “Plan to Reshape Detroit Outlined–Mayor’s Group Urges Overhaul of Agencies and Many Ghetto Reforms”... “The Blueprint calls for a major overhaul of the city’s government criticizes various poverty programs and agencies and makes hundreds of recommendations aimed at changing the life of ghetto Negroes.”… Page 9: “Police In Saigon Crush Protest–Disperse Buddhists As City A Waits Vice President Humphrey Visit”… Page 43: “Goldwater Hits G.O.P. Soft Line–Assails ‘Weak Men’ Who Would Quit Vietnam”…”Western States Republican Conference theme of party unity discouraged the subject of Vietnam where there was room for honest disagreement. But Goldwater minced no words in his support and clear-cut call for a total victory in Vietnam.”… Page 45: “Wallace Derides War Protesters–Cry of Pseudo-Intellectuals Wins Him Applause in Portland, Oregon”…
Page 60: “Newsmen To Meet With Riot Panel–Sessions Next Month Will Discuss Race Coverage–National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders–Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois is Commission Chairman”…”The purpose of the meeting is to answer one of the fourteen questions posed by President Johnson at the time he named the commission: What effect does the mass media have on riots? The discussion will center on more than a dozen topics the commission believes are related to the cultural question.”... Page 68: “Black Power Rise Laid to U.S. Acts–New Book Alleges Failure to Enforce Voting Rights– ‘Climbing Jacobs Ladder: The Arrival of Negroes in Southern Politics.’ “…
29 OCTOBER 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times (30 Oct reporting 29 Oct ops)…Page 1: “…an Air Force spokesman announced that two more United States planed had been shot down in North Vietnam raising the total lost in the North to 722. Both planes were Air Force F-105 Thunderchiefs. Both pilots were listed as missing in action. The spokesman added that 16 American planes were shot down in North Vietnam during the last week, equaling the record number of losses in a single week set in August….
In the Hanoi area, United States pilots continued heavy raids for the fifth day, striking at two bridges carrying rail and road traffic to the city: the Paul Doumer Bridge over the Red River on the eastern edge of the city, and the bridge over the Canal des Rapides, northeast of the city. The attacks were primarily intended to hamper re[pair work, the spokesman said. Both bridges have been damaged in the last five days. Navy pilots from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin bombed the Phasco barge yard, 13 miles north-northwest of Haiphong, reporting that 10 storage buildings had been destroyed or damaged. Four kilns used to dry wood for barge construction were also hit, a spokesman said, but heavy black smoke over the target prevented a full assessment of the damage. Carrier pilots also attacked the Vanhdanh army barracks 18 miles north-northeast of Haiphong, and the Domgdu highway bridge, 23 miles east-northeast of Hanoi.”… Page 9: “Jets Hammer Hanoi Again”... “United States planes bombed the Hanoi and Haiphong areas of North Vietnam yesterday for the sixth day in a row. They struck the Kienan barge repair yard near Haiphong and at a MIG air base, a railroad bridge and other installations. The pilots encountered a MIG-21, but a United States spokesman said that there had been no damage on either side. The Yenbai airfield, 65 miles northwest of Hanoi, and a railroad bridge in the same area were also attacked, the spokesman said.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 29 October 1967…
(1) MAJOR DANIEL J. CARROLL and CAPTAIN JAMES J. HARE were flying an F-4B of the VMFA-323 Death Rattlers and MAG-13 at Chu Lai on a strike on a target north of Conthien and on the second dive on the target the Phantom was hit by small arms fire. Engine failure followed and MAJOR CARROLL was able to fly the dying aircraft over the Gulf where the two aviators ejected for a successful USAF SAR helicopter pickup.
(2) CAPTAIN G.L. NENNINGER was flying an O-1E Bird Dog of the 21st TASS and 504th TASG 70 miles northeast of Saigon below a 600-foot overcast and was downed by small arms fire. CAPT NENNINGER survived the resultant crash landing and was rescued by a USAF helo.
RIPPLE SALVO… #602… Humble Host begs your indulgence while I converse with the three gentlemen sharing bar stools and beers with me in my dreams… Their words, however, are quoted from The New York Times, Sunday, 29 October 1967…
“Mr. President, thank you for taking my question. What’s our exit plan from the Vietnam quagmire?”
Bear, I’m glad you asked. “Our desire to negotiate peace, through the United Nations, or out, has been made very, very clear to Hanoi–directly and, many times, through third parties. As we have told Hanoi time and time again, the heart of the matter really is this: The United States is willing to stop all aerial and naval bombardment of North Vietnam when this will lead promptly to productive discussions. But Hanoi has not accepted any of these proposals. So it is by Hanoi’s choice–and not ours, and not the rest of the world’s–that the war continues.”
Then I turned to Richard Nixon, a candidate for the Republican ticket to the White House. “Sir, you heard the President. He has all our eggs in a basket he can’t sell. Hope is his plan. What’s your answer?”... The former Vice President frowned, cocked his head and spoke slowly in a low voice: “A strategy for the future must be devised that will increase the military, economic and diplomatic pressure on the aggressors to end the war and will guarantee peace without surrender throughout Asia. The United States should step up its war effort and not gear that effort to the intensity of the Communist fighting, thus letting the enemy call the shots. I advocate greater use of air and sea power. In my opinion, the proposal to halt bombing, as well as talk about the proposal to halt the bombing, simply has the effect of prolonging the war by encouraging the enemy. They are led to believe there is a division in the United States and they can win by waiting.”…
Wow, sez, I, thinking the President’s path is more of the same, but this Nixon guy is all-ahead full. I wondered how the guy on the other bar stool felt about the war and if he had any advice for the President. “Senator Gore, (Father of Little Al), sir, do you have anything to add, or some advice for the President?” The Senator from Tennessee didn’t hesitate…
“We have stumbled into a morass in Vietnam, and we are damaging our national interests. We must decide–decide definitely and irrevocably–to negotiate disengagement from Vietnam–not from Asia but Vietnam–honorably and honestly, which means, in my opinion, on condition that Vietnam be neutralized. This neutralization of Southeast Asia would represent something less than past American objectives in Vietnam. But that neutralism is the best we can hope to achieve under present circumstances. We should be willing to accept less than what is and has been our real objective in Southeast Asia in return for a cessation of the conflict.”
Then I woke up in a real world knowing that none of the three, or anybody else, was able to get us out of the morass that was Vietnam until another 44,000 American men (Total: 58,000+) would be killed in the war without end.
I drew a cup of coffee, sat down with my tablet and sent the question to President Trump. Really.
Dear Sir… History is the teacher. Vietnam was both a morass and a quagmire: 58,000 guys gave their lives to imprint that national experience as a lesson, never to be forgotten. It deserves your immediate attention. In addition, you now have on your plate quagmires in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Niger, Somalia, and who knows where else. Oh yeah–North Korea.
Sir, you are being advised that you have many options. Choose the one that adheres to the sage advice of Sun Tzu: “The acme of skill is to win without fighting.”… In the case of North Korea, that path will best be to advise North Korea and the world, the United States will allow North Korea the first move of aggression outside its borders, conventional or nuclear, but thereafter the United States will employ dozens of nuclear weapons to obliterate North Vietnam…We will respond, we will not turn the other cheek…
In this age of nuclear proliferation the world needs to know that the United States can out-nuke anybody (and perhaps everybody), and will, if fired upon. Further, the world needs to know that our second strike capability is both secure and unsurpassed in destructive potential. (It is, isn’t it?) The American people have to know that one or even dozens of nuclear weapons can be absorbed by our great country as the risk and cost of this strategy, but will fight tenaciously to obliterate the nation(s) that dare fire that first nuclear weapon. Let the world know the United States will not turn the other cheek.
Humble Host won’t lose any sleep waiting for a response… Unless it comes from RTR readers with a better idea…
RTR Quote for 29 October 1967: John Armstrong: “Distrust yourself, and sleep before you fight. ‘Tis not too late tomorrow to be brave.”
Lest we forget… Bear