RIPPLE SALVO… #152… A LITTLE POETRY TO SOOTHE THE HEART…
Good Morning: Day ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO recognizing the air war that was fought fifty years ago in the skies over North Vietnam…
31 JULY 1966…THE FRONT PAGE OF THE HOME TOWN PAPER…New York Times…A sunny Sunday in the Bronx…
Page 1: “United States Warplanes Bomb The Demilitarized Zone For The First Time”… “The attack had been ordered because North Vietnamese troops had used the six mile wide buffer strip as an avenue of infiltration and as a sanctuary. No American troops have fought in the zone. The bombing was intended as a warning to North Vietnam against further infiltration through the buffer area but did not necessarily portend extension of the ground war into the zone. In today’s attack, 15 eight engine B-52s swept over the target at 5:10 AM and each dropped 60,000 pounds of explosives. The largest North Vietnam area in the zone is a complex of ammunition dumps, gun positions and weapons storage areas from which American planes have been fired on in recent days. It is about 15 miles in-land from the South China Sea and less than a mile south of the Benhai River which forms the demarcation line of North–South Vietnam.”…
Page 1: “47 Congressmen Bid U.S. Rebuke Ky”…”Forty seven Representatives called upon the Johnson Administration to disassociate itself from the ‘spirit of escalation’ advocated by Premier Nguyen Cao Ky of South Vietnam.”…The group also urged the administration to take new initiatives to reach a negotiated settlement. ‘The spirit of escalation now being advocated by General Ky must be opposed and new initiatives attempted for negotiated settlement. The danger that the war will spread is increasing daily. Extension of the conflict may embroil the major powers of the world in a destructive and brutal confrontation that would shatter all hopes for world peace.'”…. Page 2: “Chief of North Vietnamese Army Not Seen In Public Since May”… “General Vo Nguyen Giap, commander of the North Vietnamese Army, has not been seen in public since May 10. On that date the General attended a dinner for a delegation. General Giap who is also Deputy Premier of North Vietnam, was also reported to have spoken in April (28) at a meeting of the National Assembly in Hanoi. Unconfirmed reports are that the General in discussing the war in South Vietnam during his speech argued that conventional warfare against the United States was futile. He is said to have suggested a reemphasis of guerrilla methods.”
Page 1: “Britain Captures World Soccer Cup”… “George Hurst scored twice in overtime as England defeated West Germany , 4-2, and captured the World Cup soccer championship yesterday at Wembley, England. More than 100,000 attended, including the Queen, witnessed England’s first World Cup Championship.”
31 JULY 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (1 Aug reporting 31 July ops) Page 1: “More US Raids On Buffer Zone In Vietnam Likely”…”Informed military sources said here tonight that bombing raids in the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam were likely to continue …One military man said: ‘You can believe we are not going to go in there and just give them a love tap. There are troops and supplies in there and we are going to get them. They have been using the place for a long time. There is no reason we should not be bombing there’…The ICC views with concern the most recent developments”…”In another development, an Air Force C-47 has been missing since Friday over North Vietnam on a classified mission. A crew of eight is MIA.”…”In the second raid on the DMZ, as in the first, 15 B-52s, carrying up to 60,000 pounds of ordnance each, dropped their bombs by radar 12 and 18 miles inland from the Gulf of Tonkin and 1/2 mile south of the Benhai River.”… “In North Vietnam yesterday Air Force, Navy and marine pilots flew 116 multi-plane missions against POL depots, highways, bridges, rail lines and small vessels. An Air Force A-1 Skyraider was shot down about 30 miles west of Donghoi. The pilot (LESTER) bailed out and was rescued by helicopter after two hours of evasion from enemy searchers.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses”(Hobson): Three aircraft downed in Southeast Asia on 31 July 1966…
(1) CAPTAIN D.W. LESTER was flying an A-1E of the 14th ACW out of Udorn on an armed reconnaissance mission 25 miles west of Donghoi when hit by ground fire. He bailed out in a mountainous area and was rescued by an Air Force HH-3…
(2) MAJOR WILLIAM DAVID BURROUGHS was flying an RF-101C of the 20th TRS and 460th TFW out of Tan Son Nhut on his 99th mission obtain photographs of various targets North of Hanoi, including the road bridge at Bac Ninh, where he was hit by ground fire and forced to eject. He was captured and imprisoned for the duration of the war. MAJOR BURROUGHS was released in March 1973 and returned to complete his Air Force career, eventually retiring as a Colonel…
(3) An A-4C of the VA-172 Blue Bolts embarked in USS Franklin D. Roosevelt was lost on a training flight when the engine failed. The pilot ejected and was rescued. This was he first aircraft loss for FDR, which had relieved Ranger on 25 July, and in a 95 days of subsequent combat operations would lose a total of 15 aircraft…
RIPPLE SALVO… #152…. “The Soldier’s Grave”…. by Pearl Rivers …(check her out on Wikipedia… my kind of woman…no shrinking violet, she)
Tread lightly, ’tis a soldiers grave,
A lovely mossy mound
And yet to hearts like mine and thine,
It should be holy ground.
Speak softly, let no careless laugh,
No idle thoughtless jest,
Escape your lips where sweetly sleeps
The hero in his rest.
For him no reveille will beat
When morning beams shall come.
For him, at night, no tattoo rolls
Its thunders from the drum.
Tread lightly! For a man bequeathed
Ere laid beneath the sod
His ashes to his native land,
His gallant soul to God.
Lest we forget…. Bear ………. –30– ………..
PS… For an eulogy or condolences this tender little poem is easily modified by slipping in warrior, airman or sailor in place of “soldier.” Apologies to Ms. Pearl Rivers…