RIPPLE SALVO… #854… ON 7 JULY 1966 CAPTAIN JACK HARVEY TOMES MADE HIS LAST STRIKE SORTIE INTO THE HEARTLAND OF NORTH VIETNAM. IT WAS A ONE WAY TRIP. AN 85-mm ROUND INTO HIS THUNDERCHIEF WAS HIS TICKET TO 2,413 DAYS OF INCARCERATION AS A PRISONER OF WAR IN HANOI… Colonel Tomes retired from the Air Force in 1983, glory gained and duty done. He passed away in 1984 at the age of 51. He left an inspiring message… See RS below… …but first…
GOOD MORNING… Day EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY-FOUR or a remembrance of the event and warriors of Rolling Thunder. No, not the Harley motorcycle guys– the cadre of military aviators who carried the war into the Red River Valley in the air war of 1965-1968 called Operation Rolling Thunder…
HEAD LINES from The Sunday New York Times of 7 July 1968… (a 900-page paper!!!)…
Page 1: “NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE DIRECTOR WHITNEY YOUNG EMBRACES BLACK POWER IDEA–Reversing Position, He Says, Not To Change Is Fatal–Hailed At CORE Parley”… Page 1: “NIXON SAYS WAR HURTS ECONOMY–Views Conflict As Widened By stealth” amid Promises of Guns and Butter”… Page 1: “Police Violence: A Changing Pattern”… Page 1: “U.S. WILL RESUME SENDING ISRAEL’S DEFENSE MISSILES–Sale Of Hawks Is On Credit Transaction–Is First Since Last Year’s War”… Page 5: “Pcification Program Failure Denied By Komer”… Page 6: “WING BREAK CITED IN TEST OF F-111A–Pentagon Makes Public Data Told senate In April”… Page 1: “CASSIUS CLAY TAKES DRAFT CONVICTION TO HIGH COURT–Assails Lilly White System For Denying On Basis Of Religion.”… Page 1: “CHINA SAID TO LET WAR AID THROUGH FROM SOVIET UNION–Halt to Shipments to North Vietnam Reported Over”… Page 11: “ANTIWAR GROUP SETS RALLIES IN MAJOR CITIES FOR JULY 22-26″…
7 JULY 1968…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (AP): No coverage of air operations over North Vietnam… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 7 July 1968…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) ON 7 JULY FOR THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1965… NONE…
1966… CAPTAIN JACK HARVEY TOMES, USAF…(POW)… see Ripple Salvo below…
I967… NONE… HUMBLE HOST recalls two days of tragic operations for the B-52 warriors from Anderson AFB, Guam. On 7 July a B-52D of the 22nd Bomber Wing, the lead aircraft in a cell of three, made a steep turn to the IP for a run on a target in the A Shau Vallly near the DMZ and collided with the number three aircraft in the formation, a B-52D of the 454th BW. The tragedy occurred over the South China Sea and six of the twelve airmen perished and six survived.. Among the KIA: MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM JOSEPH CRUMM, MAJOR PAUL ANDREW AVLESE and CAPTAIN DAVID GRITZ BITTENBENDER, all of the 22nd BW; and, CAPTAIN CHARLES HERMAN BLANKENSHIP, 1LT GEORGE EMERSON JONES and MSGT OLEN BURKE McLAUGHLIN of the 454th BW. On the following day a B-52D of the 22nd BW suffered multiple engine and electrical failures. The pilot MAJOR GENE WESLEY BROWN, elected to attempt an emergency landing at Danang but the landing touchdown was late, the drag chute failed and the aircraft went into the overrun and exploded killing all aboard. Killed in the tragic accident were: MAJOR BROWN, CAPTAIN JAMES THOMAS DAVIS, CAPTAIN ANTHONY KENT JOHNSON, CAPTAIN WILLIAM HENRY PRITCHARD, AND CAPTAIN DONALD J. REYNOLDS. On this 51st anniversary of their passing in the service of our country they are remembered for their unsurpassed sacrifice for our country…
1968… NONE…
RIPPLE SALVO… #854… REMEMBERING COLONEL JACK HARVEY TOMES, USAF (1933-1984) on the 52nd anniversary of his last flight in Rolling Thunder, and the date he began his arduous service as a POW…
AMONG THE BRAVE… GALLANTRY AND INTREPIDITY IN COMBAT… COLONEL JACK HARVEY TOMES, USAF…
the SILVER STAR…
“For the period September 1966: … distinguished himself by gallantry and intrepidity in action in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force during the above period while a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. Ignoring international agreements on treatment of prisoners of war, the enemy resorted to mental and physical cruelties to obtain information, confessions, and propaganda materials. CAPTAIN JACK HARVEY TOMES, United States Air Force, resisted their demands by calling upon his deepest inner strengths in a manner which reflected his devotion to duty and great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”…
A WEEK EARLIER than his capture as a Yankee Air Pirate he was a participant in the Air Force and Navy attacks on the North Vietnamese POL resources. The Citation for CAPTAIN TOMES’ DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS for 29 June 1966…
“The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS to CAPTAIN JACK HARVEY TOMES, United States Air Force for heroism while participating in aerial flight as an F-105 Pilot near Hanoi, North Vietnam on 29 June 1966. On that date, CAPTAIN TOMES was a member of a flight assigned to destroy the heavily defended Hanoi petroleum products storage facility. Despite encountering defensive fire of intensity unparalleled in this conflict, CAPTAIN TOMES fearlessly pressed his attack, placing his ordnance precisely on his assigned target. The resulting fireball contributed to the ensuing firestorm that totally destroyed the complex, crippling Hanoi’s petroleum-fed industries and transportation system. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by CAPTAIN TOMES reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”…
JACK TOMES was released on 12 February 1973 having endured 2,413 days of POW duty. Upon release he submitted the following to Captain and Mrs. Frederick R. Wyatt, USNR, Retired, for inclusion in their book WE CAME HOME… I quote Colonel Tomes…
During a survival training course in the early days of my Air Force career, our class was discussing the subject of prisoners of war and political prisoners of earlier periods of conflict. We were attempting to identify the things that enabled them to endure their long periods of confinement and in turn, find what might help us should we ever find ourselves in a similar situation. The idea of faith was brought up. Not only faith in oneself, one’s ability to endure, but faith in something higher than that, whether it be God, country, family, or all of these.
I recalled at that time a passage in the Bible that said,”Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” I reflected on this verse many times during my captivity in North Vietnam and I believe that faith, whether conscious or unconscious, that we had as POWs gave us the strength and hope that we needed to overcome the anxieties, frustrations and uncertainties that we faced.
As all of us here in America continue to have faith and trust in God as head of our country, in our leaders, in our government process and in our way of life, and meet our responsibilities as American citizens, we will continue to live in a great and powerful country. End quote…
Humble Host remembers Colonel Tomes, a fellow warrior and American, with highest respect and admiration as he rests in peace having lived a life of heroic and noble service for his God, country and family. What more can a man do?…
RTR quote for 7 July: HEBREWS 11:1, King James Version of the Holy Bible: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”…
Lest we forget… Bear