RIPPLE SALVO… #786… “THE HORRORS OF WAR”…
WHEN GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE MADE THE DECISION TO CROSS THE POTOMAC IN JULY 1863 HE, IN PART, JUSTIFIED THE MOVEMENT BY DECLARING THAT THE SOUTH NEEDED TO TAKE THE WAR TO THE NORTH TO LET ALL IN THE NORTH SEE AND FEEL THE “HORROR OF WAR.” HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT A VICTORY AT GETTYSBURG WOULD CHANGE PUBLIC OPINION AGAINST THE WAR –DESTROY THE WILL TO RESIST–AND THE SOUTH WOULD PREVAIL…
One hundred years later the United States made a similar decision to “take the war to the North” with the same idea. Almost the same idea. When we went North to execute the one and only offensive campaign of the Vietnam war, an air war, it was called Rolling Thunder, and the Rules of Engagement were to AVOID THE HORRORS OF WAR. Extraordinary measures and practices were imposed on the fighter-bomber pilots of Rolling Thunder in order to avoid civilian casualties, even at the increase of risk and exposure to the vicious gauntlet of defenses protecting the North’s industrial and military targets. The pilots of Rolling Thunder were hung out to dry. A case has been made that this cardinal rule of engagement included leaks from Washington to the enemy alerting our foe where the next strikes would be made in order to minimize civilian deaths…. “Loose lips and State Department leaks down American warriors?” Perhaps… Thus, Rolling Thunder was an air campaign to minimize the horrors of war and therefore proved ineffective from the start… It was the new way of American war fighting… No hitting where it hurts… Meanwhile, in South Vietnam the enemy fought a no-holds barred war of extreme brutality as this 30 April 1968 Associated Press post reports…
“U.S. REVEALS RED ATROCITY–1,000 VICTIMS FOUND IN 19 GRAVES AT HUE”… “Communist forces executed more than 1,000 persons during the February offensive in Hue, the U.S. Embassy reported today. The embassy made its atrocity charge as the U.S. Command reported hard fighting around Hue, the former imperial capital, and U.S. B52 bombers extended their raids into Laos to protect American troops sweeping the A Shau Valley gateway to the northern city. The embassy said its report was based on information from allied sources and the South Vietnamese national police. It said the victims were found in 19 separate graves.
HANDS BOUND
“‘Many had been shot, some beheaded,’ the report said. ‘A number of bodies showed signs of mutilation. Most were found with hands bound behind their backs. ‘Evince also discovered of victims having been clubbed unconscious before being buried alive.’ The report said one South Vietnamese political warfare officer who helped investigate the executions estimated that almost half of the victims were buried alive.
“‘Many were found bound together in groups of 10 to 15, eyes open, with dirt or cloth in their mouths,’ the embassy said. One of the larger mass graves was uncovered near the imperial tombs. the report said 201 bodies were found in there.
TWO PRIESTS
“‘Victims included Father Urbain, 52, and Father Guy, 45. french priests from the nearby Benedictine mission at Thaien An,’ the report said. ‘Father Urbain was bound hand and foot and buried alive with 16 others. Father Guy was forced to kneel and shot through the head.’ One Buddhist monk told investigators there had been nightly executives during the Communist occupation of the city, which U.S. and South Vietnamese forces retook after weeks of hard fighting…”… continued below, but first…
GOOD MORNING: Day SEVEN HUNDRED EIGHTY-SIX of a look-back of fifty years to remember the events and participants in the chapter of American history called Rolling Thunder (OK, it wasn’t a chapter, but it was a lot more than just a footnote!!!…Especially for the families who lost a Rolling Thunder warrior in the North…
HEAD LINES from the OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER (for last day–go back to NYT tomorrow) on Tuesday, 30 April 1968…
Page 1: “AILING IKE EISENHOWER FLOWN TO HOSPITAL”… “Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, suffering ‘some chest discomfort,’ was flown to the March Air Force Base hospital in California Monday night for treatment. ‘We are not calling this a heart attack,’ his military aide said. The 77-yer old general played golf Monday at Palm Springs near his winter home, but a short time later called his personal physician. the temperature reached 100 during the day…”… Page 1: “STUDENTS ROUTED FROM 5 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS”… “Police moved in force onto the Columbia University campus at the administration’s request early today and routed student demonstrators–sometimes violently–from five barricaded campus buildings to end a week-long sit-in. More than 100 youths were injured and 638 were arrested, including bout 180 women, in the 75-minute police action that began at 2:45 a.m. Fifteen policemen were injured, and one of them was hospitalized with a heart attack….The demonstration, which began as a protest over the construction of a gym on a park adjacent to nearby residents, ha faded into one of a rebellion against Columbia disciplinary procedures after the students won initial concessions. …University President Grayson Kirk declared that granting the protester’s key demand of amnesty from punishment ‘would have dealt a near fatal blow not only to this institution but to the whole of American higher education.’… Page 1: “RUSSIAN CRAFT CIRCLING THE MOON”… “The Soviet Union, breaking a long silence, reported today that the Luna 14 unmanned spaceship is continuing to circle the moon and send back scientific information.”…. Page 1: “PRESIDENT URGES CONGRESS TO OK PAPER GOLD”… “President Johnson asked congress today to approve what he termed a landmark plan to create new international money–paper gold–and coupled his request with another plea for higher taxes.”…
THE WAR: Page 1: “ACROSS SOUTH VIETNAM FROM HUE, AMERICA’S BIGGEST BOMBERS ATTACKED NORTH VIETNAMESE TROOP CONCENTRATIONS MONDAY AND TODAY… Their aim was to scatter sizable enemy forces reported just across the border from the A Shau Valley, the major Vietnamese staging area based in the northern part of South Vietnam where allied intelligence officers believe the enemy has been readying a new attack on Hue and other cities in the northern provinces.”…
30 APRIL 1968…THE PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEF…(CIA TS-SI) … SOUTH VIETNAM: There are signs of continuing Communist battle preparations over much of South Vietnam., but these preparations still appear incomplete in several areas, including Saigon. Allied spoiling operations may have upset the Communist schedule… NORTH VIETNAM: Hanoi has warned again that the US “must bear full responsibility” for the delay in opening bilateral talks. On 29 April, a statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesman takes the usual line that the US has raised one condition after another in delaying selection of a site. This statement is aimed specifically at Assistant Secretary Bundy’s remarks of 218 April. … The statement concludes by charging that the US is using this time to step up the pace of the war. The statement is being broadcast in Vietnamese and English…. HANOI ON U.S. ANTIWAR DEMONSTRATIONS IN US: North Vietnam’s news agency carried a roundup of US antiwar demonstrations in English on its international service on 29 April… noted that “huge demonstrations” demanding an end to the war were held recently in several US cities as part of the current ten days of resistance organized by the “National Mobilization Committee.” The broadcast reported antiwar meetings in Washington and New York, and various student boycotts protecting the war. On 28 April the North Vietnamese carried a similar item, also in English, focused on student strikes at some 26 universities and colleges…
STATE DEPARTMENT. OFFICE OF HISTORIAN. HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1964-68. VIETNAM… Three documents of interest concerning the back and forth of all players in sorting out a site for the peace talks. Of interest since our country and North Korea are currently engaged in the same sort of back and forth on a site for the meeting of the President and Kim, the Rocket Man of North Korea… Document 216 is the notes on the Tuesday Lunch Meeting, the targeting lunch, 216 is an interesting read 4 Stars …. Note the role the bombing of the North is playing in the effort to find compromise and understanding with the North. Rolling Thunder was THE bargaining chip… Read or peruse at:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d214
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d215
https://history state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d216
30 APRIL 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… Ogden Standard-Examiner (AP/UPI) No coverage of the air operations north of the DMZ… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) there were three fixed wing aircraft downed in Southeast Asia on 30 April 1968…
(1) CAPTAIN J.S. PAYNE and SSGT J. APPLEBEY were flying an O-1G Bird dog of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG out of Bien Hoa on a mission to control a close air support mission when shot down by small arms fire 5 miles west of Cao Lanh on the Mekong River. They evaded the enemy after a forced landing to be rescued by an HH-43… to fly and FAC again…
(2) CAPTAIN ROBERT EDWARD PIETSCH and CAPTAIN LOUIS FULDA GUILLERMIN were flying an A-26S of the 609th ACS and 56th ACW and went down on a night armed reconnaissance mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. They were making their second attack with napalm on trucks on the trail near Bao Boung, 35 miles west of the DMZ. The aircraft was hit by 37mm AAA and crash immediately killing both CAPTAIN PIETSCH and CAPTAIN GUILLERMIN. No Man Left Behind?… The remains of both CAPTAIN PIETSCH and CAPTAIN GUILLERMIN were recovered in 2006 and positively identified in 2013… Good on you Joint Recovery troops… oohrah… They are remembered on this day, the fiftieth anniversary of their last mission taking the fight to the enemy. They perished on the battlefield with great honor…
(3) The USS KITTY HAWK lost a VF-114 F-4B on an attempted barricade landing. The plane engaged the barricade but went over the side. Both the pilot and the RIO ejected at deck level and were rescued by the carrier’s helo squadron…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) ON 30 APRIL FOR THE FOUR YEARS OF OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… WE REMEMBER…
1965…NONE…
1966…NONE…
1967… MAJOR LEO KEITH THORSNESS, USAF… (POW)…CAPTAIN HAROLD EUGENE JOHNSON, USAF… (POW)… 1LT ROBERT ARCHIE ABBOT, USAF… (POW)… CAPTAIN JOSEPH S. ABBOT, USAF… (POW)…
1968… CAPTAIN ROBERT EDWARD PIETSCH, USAF… (KIA) … CAPTAIN LOUIS FUKLA GUILLERMIN, USAF… (KIA)… (Humble Host suggests clicking on these two warrior’s names and “Leave a Remembrance” on this the 50th anniversary of their last flight)…
RIPPLE SALVO… #786… Ogden Standard-Examiner, 30 April 1968, Page 4…
“CONG EXECUTIONS A NIGHTLY HORROR”… Saigon (Associated Press)…
“Almost every night that the Communists held Hue, the Buddhist monks heard shots and cries for mercy from a field behind their pagoda. The U.S. Embassy said today the North Vietnamese troops and the Viet Cong executed more than 1,000 persons while they occupied the former imperial capital during their February offensive, the embassy reported, based on information from allied sources and South Vietnamese police, and one South Vietnamese political warfare officer estimated half the victims had been buried alive.
MASS GRAVES
“‘Many had been shot, some beheaded,’ said the report. ‘A number of bodies showed signs of mutilation. Most were with hands behind their backs The victims were unearthed in 19 separate mass graves.
210 BODIES
“… The embassy said one of the largest graves, near the imperial tombs, contained 201 bodies. Others were found ‘bound together in groups of 10 to 15, eyes open, with dirt or cloth in their mouths.”… Among the executed in the field behind the pagoda was Nguyen Ngoc Ky, a leader of the Vietnamese Kuomintang (Nationalist Party). In another grave containing 77 executed persons, were the bodies of three South Koreans and a Hong Kong Chinese, a British subject. All had been tied and shot through the head. At the Gia Hoi high school, another 200 bodies were found, about half of them apparently buried alive…
INVITED LEADERS
“On the night of February 26, the Viet Cong invited selected local workers to a so-called political meeting. The bodies of nine of those invited were found in a grave more than one month later…. another eight bodies, all buried alive, were found in another grave. Enclosed with the body of a 60-year old teacher and father of nine children accused of having a son in the South Vietnamese army…The bodies of 40 to 50 women were found in one mass grave.
“Twenty bodies in a grave in a hamlet outside Hue were reported to be those of civilians seized by enemy troops from their refuge in the Redemptorist church of Hue on February 8 and taken on what the embassy called a death march. “They were interred alive with their hands bound. The victims included Tran Vien, one of the first elected senators from Hue in the national assembly.” An embassy spokesman said the report of the mass executions was two months in the compilation because officials wanted to make sure it was accurate.”…
Humble Host has extreme difficulty ruling out “waterboarding” when opposed by an enemy that practices the brutal behaviors exhibited in this short report. War is a killing business and it’s time for the United States to realize “nice guys finish last.” The argument that “if we waterboard, we’re no better than the enemy is” presents our enemies an advantage in a contest–war–where destroying the emeny’s will to resist is the objective. Waterboarding is a relatively humane and good place to start “destroying the will to resist.” … The issue of waterboarding will be front and center this week with the CIA Director Nominee Gina Haspel answering questions from Democratic Senators about her personal experience with the practice…
RTR Quote for 30 April: GEORGE W. BUSH, Decision Points, “Three people were waterboarded and I believe that decision saved lives… Their interrogations helped break up plots to attack American diplomatic facilities abroad, Heathrow airport and Canary Wharf in London, and multiple targets in the United States.”…
Lest we forget… Bear