Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #129… GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS…but first…
Good Morning: Day ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE of a visit to a day to remember fifty years ago during OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…
7 JULY 1966…ON THE HOME FRONT… New York Times… A sunny, fair, less humid Thursday in Manhattan…
Page 1: “Wilson Will Visit Soviet For 3 Days; Vietnamese Bid Seen”… “A flurry of diplomatic activity around the world yesterday indicated that new efforts to bring peace to Vietnam might be underway. In London it was announced that Prime Minister Wilson would fly to Moscow next week with Vietnam expected to be on the agenda. In Washington, the Administration told of reports that the North Vietnamese Government seemed frustrated and weary of the war following the bombings near Hanoi and Haiphong. In Hong Kong American officials said another diplomatic approach would be made to persuade Hanoi to negotiate. President Johnson conferred at the Texas White House with Defense Secretary McNamara and other leaders. And Vice President Humphrey when asked in Los Angeles whether he had any information that Hanoi might be willing to negotiate said in a highly qualified reply that ‘there were flickering bits of evidence that the North Vietnamese were seeking some way out.'”...”Gloom Reported Over North Vietnam”… “The Administration said today that observers in Hanoi were reporting a new mood of frustration in the government of North Vietnam and war weariness among the people. Following the bombings of the oil sites at Hanoi and Haiphong with what appeared to be a deliberate campaign of psychological pressure, Under Secretary of State George Ball said ‘the change of sentiment came with little in hard evidence–I am encouraged, but not overly optimistic.'” ….Page 1: “U.S. Feeler Termed Likely after Bombing Furor Ends”… “Senior American officials say that another diplomatic approach will be made to persuade Hanoi to negotiate a settlement in the war in Vietnam. These officials said they expected that the effort would be made after the furor of the United States bombing of fuel depots near Hanoi and Haiphong had subsided. Hanoi’s insistence this week in its official press that it would never go to the conference table under military pressure was not an absolute bar to negotiations. Despite Hanoi’s published pledges to fight on for decades if necessary to compel and unconditional United States withdrawal from South Vietnam, the American officials in Hong Kong remained hopeful that the North Vietnamese leadership could eventually be persuaded to join peace talks.”… Page 1: “Red Bloc Assails U.S. Over Vietnam”… “The leaders of the Warsaw Pact nations ended their conference tonight signing a communique that said they had drafted a statement about the Vietnamese War “in the light of the new criminal action by the American armed forces.”…
Page 1: “Peking Stresses It Is Prepared To Fight”… “The Peking press depicted China today as a nation poised to assist the Vietnamese Communists following the raids by Unite States planes on Hanoi and Haiphong oil installations. The newspapers carried reports of meetings held throughout Communist China to denounce ‘the United States aggressors and pledged Chinese support for North Vietnam.’ Most analysts here doubted the campaign foreshadowed direct Chinese intervention in Vietnam. They said it appeared to be aimed at underscoring the implications of a threat in recent Chinese statements that China might enter the war.”
Page 1: “City Is Negotiating To Take Over BROOKLYN Navy Yard for Industrial Center“… (my stomping grounds in 1979 when Kalamazoo was in the “Coastal Drydock” there and I got my tour in New York City… Feb79 to July79)…nothing like being in the yard to make you appreciate blue water…
Page 1: “Humphrey Backs NAACP In Fight On Black Power”… Vice President Humphrey denounced black racism tonight. He aligned the Federal Government with Roy Wilkins and the NAACP in their struggle against advocates of ‘black power.’… “Yes, racism is racism–and there is no room in America for racism of any color. And we must reject calls for racism of any color, whether they come from a throat that is white or one that is black.”
Page 4: ” Anti-Missile System Hailed”…”An American military spokesman called yesterday’s raid against North Vietnam a dramatic demonstration of the proof of the working of the anti-missile system employed in the raids. ‘We have found a way to nullify the SAM system. It is secret, but it is a combination of technique, tactics and electronics. Our ability to beat the SA-2 SAMs is a significant breakthrough of the war.’ The tactics are still secret.”
Page 6: “Raids Near Hanoi and Haiphong Are Criticized In Vatican Press”…”World public opinion is ‘perplexed and disoriented’ by the American bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong, the Vatican pager says in a critical editorial. ‘These events in the analysis do not seem favorable to the United States. It is sure that the real objectives (oil targets) are efficiently hit, but at the same time American policy is hit, and not only in Asia. This action tends to widen the war.”
7 JULY 1966… PRESIDENT’s DAILY BRIEF…CIA (TS sanitized)…NORTH VIETNAM: The Czech news agency reported this afternoon that trials of captured airmen ‘may’ begin on 20 July, the (12th) anniversary of the signing of the Geneva agreements. The trials will reportedly will be conducted in the provinces in which the airmen were captured. The death penalty will be demanded for some. There has yet been no word on this from North Vietnamese official agencies…
7 JULY 1966… ROLLING THUNDER OPERATIONS… NYT (8 July reporting ops of 7 July)… Page 1: “Hanoi’s MiGs Use Air-to-Air Missiles For The First Time”…”North Vietnamese jets have fired air-to-air missiles against American aircraft for the first time in the war. In an aerial engagement this morning 33 miles northwest of Hanoi, two North Vietnamese MIG-21 jet interceptors fired two missiles at American aircraft–F-105Ds. Both missiles are said to have missed and the American aircraft returnee safely to base. Officials were unable to say whether American fighters returned fire. On another matter, officials estimated that 80 to 90 per cent of enemy petroleum storage facilities and stocks had now been struck and 55 per cent destroyed. Twelve POL targets have now ben struck in June and July.”… Page 3:”Haiphong Oil Struck Again”…‘United States Navy fighter-bombers struck again today at the fuel storage tanks two miles northwest of the North Vietnamese port of Haiphong. The pilots from the aircraft carrier Hancock reported that their bombs exploded within the prescribed target area, setting off a huge fireball and sending a funnel of black smoke 20,000-feet into the air.”… Page 3: “During 80 multi-plane mission in North Vietnam yesterday the United States Air Force jets attacked two petroleum dumps, a fuel tank factory and a surface-to-air missile site, all within 31 to 65 miles of Hanoi. Damage reports are incomplete…” The Associated Press in Washington reported Navy pilots had knocked out two vital pumping stations near Haiphong. If true, this is a significant result. The two stations are the only ones available at the Haiphong oil depot for pumping oil from tankers into land storage facilities.”…
