RIPPLE SALVO… #216… BUCKET LIST DESTINATION???… but first…
Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED SIXTEEN of honoring the warriors living and dead who carried the war to the enemy in North Vietnam…
3 OCTOBER 1966… THE NEWS ON THE HOMEFRONT…NYT… A sunny and warm Monday for sitting and gawking in Central Park…
Page 1: “Moscow Reports Missile Advisors Undergo U.S. Raids”…”The Soviet Defense Minister said today that Russian missile specialists had come under attack during United States bombing raids against anti-aircraft sites in North Vietnam. It did not report whether any of the Soviet military men had been killed or wounded…the Defense Ministry’s newspaper described the bombing raids in an article on the experiences of officers and enlisted men who had gone to North Vietnam to instruct Vietnamese soldiers in the use of Soviet supplied anti-aircraft missiles. The Soviet missile experts have returned to the Soviet Union after having completed their training mission. Some U.S. aircraft were shot down while Russians were serving at the launching sites…pains were taken by the newspaper to emphasize that Vietnamese crews had fired the missiles with the Soviets standing by as observers.”… Page 1: “Dodgers Win Race, Will Face Orioles in the World Series”…”Sandy Koufax pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers to the National League pennant by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3, in the second game of a double header on the last day of the season…Sandy Koufax won his 27th game of the season. The World Series opens Wednesday in Los Angeles with the Dodgers opposing the Baltimore Orioles, the American League Champions. The Orioles Frank Robinson won the league triple crown with a .316 batting average, 49 home runs, and 122 RBIs. The New York Yankees finished in last place for the first time since 1912.”… Page 1: “Hurricane Inez heads north from Cuba on a path that will take it between the Bahamas and the mainland”… Page 1: “All 50 States Agree To Set Curbs On Water Pollution”…” All 50 states have decieded to set their own water quality standards rather than have Federal rules imposed on them. Utah was the last state to signify its intention to establish criteria for cleaning up inter-state streams and lakes within its borders…any state that missed today’s deadline would have been placed under rules drafted by the Interior Department. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall said: ‘The program is beginning to roll. Perhaps two or three years from now we will begin to reduce pollution instead of just holding our own.’…”
Page 2: “Indecisive Mood Seen Behind Red Chinese Fete”…”Analysts here (Hong Kong) felt there was an undercurrent of uncertainty beneath the surface self-assurance of the Chinese Communist hierarchy as China celebrated National Day yesterday. In what was said and not said, they saw indecision, especially in regard to economic matters and the role of the Red Guards. They thought that this could indicate despite the purges and power shifts of the last few months, voices of dissent were still being heard among the policy makers. They found the anniversary speeches and even the spectacle something of an anti-climax after the frantic developments that had occurred since the previous National Day. During the last year China has witmessed a vast social and political upheavals in the name of the ‘proletarian cultural revolution.’ An extensive purge begun early this year is still in progress and has reached from the top ranks of the Chinese Communist Party to the lowest member. A new and militant youth group, the Red Guards, has been introduced as a violent instrument of authority. Secondary schools and universities have suspended classes so that the Red Guard can run wild and an education system can be reorganized. In the wake of these changes Chairman Mao Tse-tung continues to be at the top of the pyramidical party structure, but he has acquired a new right hand man, Lin Piao, Defense Minister.”…
Page 1: “110 Enemy Troops Reported Slain”…”Troops of the 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile) reported having killed 110 North Vietnamese and Vietcong soldiers in two engagements today in a valley about 305 miles northeast of Saigon. Helicopters and the division’s reconnaissance unit spotted about 300 enemy soldiers marching west through the valley in the coastal area plain this morning. An Air Mobile commander then sent about 150 men into the valley in the central coastal area this morning. At 9:30AM a fight described as ‘savage’ developed and commanders sent in a second force. Two hours later the enemy troops pulled back and the airmobile troops counted 85 dead. The airmobile companies then pursued the enemy, finding them in the afternoon. They reported killing 25 more in a 30-minute fight. During the early fight the enemy gunners knocked down a UH-1 Huey and 2 smaller H-13 observer helicopters. None of the crewmen were injured or killed.”… Page 8: “Naval Gunfire Proves Effective Against Foe In South“…”The demand for naval gunfire has grown along with the military buildup and the Navy has four destroyers and three rocket ships permanently assigned to Vietnam duty. A cruiser is also available when needed. Destroyers can hit targets 10 miles inland with 5-inch projectiles. As always, the disadvantage of naval gunfire is the straight line trajectory of their projectiles.”
3 OCTOBER 1966…The President’s Daily Brief…CIA (TS sanitized)…North Vietnam: On Monday, Moscow announced the signing of a new economic agreement with Hanoi which provides “fresh, gratuitous assistance” to North Vietnam with a general pledge for support of North Vietnam’s conditions for ending the war…. Soviet Union: Preliminary analysis of the latest satellite photography provides further evidence that the Soviet ICBM deployment program is continuing apace. More than 20 new construction starts for the small silos that house the SS-11 missile have already been discovered, although the mission covered less than half of the known 15 ICBM complexes. Two new large silos for the SS-9 missile were also identified…these discoveries raise the count reported in the 6 September bief to about 340 small silos and 129 large ones.
3 OCTOBER 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT (4 Oct reporting 3 Oct ops)… Page 6: “In North Vietnam United States fighter-bomber pilots flew 113 attack missions of several planes each through the southern region of North Vietnam known as the panhandle and around the key cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. Navy pilots smashed at the Phuly railroad yards 35 miles south of Hanoi with bombs ranging from 250 to 1,000 pounds. They reported having destroyed six warehouses and having cut the tracks in several places. Navy and Air Force pilots who bombed targets near Donghoi along the coast of North Vietnam panhandle said they wrecked 20 to 22 barges. Meanwhile, Air Force and Marine pilots struck more than 12 times in the demilitarized zone and with about the same intensity just north of the six mile wide buffer strip created by the 1954 Geneva accords that ended the Indo-China War. For the fifth straight day yesterday, B-52s bombed areas of suspected troop concentrations and infiltration routes in South Vietnam’s northern most province of Quangtri in support of Operation Hastings.”… Also on Page 6: a little one inch report that the Department of Defense announced the names of 43 troops killed in action. In a “normal” week it takes two or three of these little obscure reports buried on a back page to complete reporting of the average week’s loss of troops in combat of about 100. LEST WE FORGET.
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) …One fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 3 October 1966, fifty years ago today …
(1) MAJOR B.J. CRESWELL was flying an F-100D of the 416th TFS and 3rd TFW out of Bien Hoa on a napalm strike on Vietcong troops near the village of Rach Gia on the west coast of South Vietnam when hit by ground fire forcing his ejection. He was rescued by an Air force helicopter…
RIPPLE SALVO… #216… Your Humble Host is proud to point out that these RTR blogs are ad free… Until today… This is as commercial as I can get...this is a plug for the Texas Tech University’s “The Vietnam Center and Archive.” About five years go our Weber State football team signed up to play Texas Tech in a season opener where a BCS team gets to pound on an FCS lower division squad. I made the trip to Lubbock to0 watch our Wildcats get mauled by the Red Raiders. Coincident with the ball game I spent three days in the University’s Vietnam Center and Archive. I contributed four or five boxes of my best Vietnam War stuff collected over the years of 1963 to 2011. I also took advantage of the Center’s “Oral History” program. Kelly Crager coached me through seven hours of sea stories. I most strongly recommend anybody who did a tour or two in Vietnam or had a role in supporting the war check out this world class archive that is tied into the National Archive system. Start with a google of the Center’s well developed web site. http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu and go from there… Be sure to check out the pages on “Information For Donors.” Especially if you are up to your eyeballs in Vietnam stuff in your basement, attic or man-cave that you “can’t take with you” on your “last flight.” The Vietnam Center wants what you have. They are prepared to keep it for posterity and give it TLC while making everything available to on-site researchers and on the internet as appropriate. This is a first class operation… And I have another suggestion: all you guys with bedrooms on wheels– add a trip to Lubbock, Texas to your “bucket list.” This shouldn’t be too hard to sell a spouse–all you have to do is remind her that the trip is to save her a lot of trouble down the road... I suggest you call Kelly Crager (806-742-9010), who runs the Oral History program and see if what you have to say into a mike for all of time is of interest to he and the Center. If so, schedule a trip and session or two to put your tales from Rolling Thunder or the war on the record…
Meanwhile, if you want to use this RTR site to tell a story you are most definitely encouraged to post what you will or email me with that tale you want or think should be preserved for posterity… As always I am looking for tributes to great leaders and followers from Rolling Thunder ops and missions that YOU believe deserve a mention in the history of the air war. There isn’t a single flight leader who can’t remember a young wingman who didn’t get the recognition he deserved. There isn’t a single wingie who can’t tell a great story about a fearless leader or maybe not so fearless... RTR OFFERs YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY SOMEHTING NICE ABOUT SOMEBODY WHO DESERVES A STROKE. If you are too reserved to tell the tale, send it to me and I’ll get it in the record… Speak now or hold your piece…
Meanwhile, the retelling of Operation Rolling Thunder on the 50th anniversary, day by day, continues…and those who perished carrying the fight to the heartland of our nation’s enemy will be remembered…
Lest we forget… Bear ………. –30– ……….