RIPPLE SALVO…#160… REMEMBERING COL JIM KASLER… but first…
Good Morning: Day ONE HUNDRED SIXTY of a journal of reflections on the air war with North Vietnam fifty years ago…
8 AUGUST 1966… PAGE ONE OF THE HOME TOWN NEWS PAPER… New York Times… A cloudy Monday with a chance of rain…
Page 1: “All 42 Die As Jet Falls In Flames In Nebraska Field”…”Sheathed in flames, a Braniff jet liner plunged to earth near the southeast Nebraska town of Falls River late last night killing all 42 persons aboard. Only a little of the scorched and twisted wreckage was visible above the waste high soybeans in the field where the plane crashed. The plane was a Braniff International Airways flight 250 on a run from New Orleans to Minneapolis with five stops between. A Civil Aeronautics Board spokesman said it was the first fatal crash involving the BAC-111, a twin jet rear engine plane capable of carrying 63. It had apparently plunged straight down and remained where it hit. There were no survivors… Page 1: “Nixon Advocates Use of more GIs”…”Former Vice President Richard Nixon said today that he saw no possibility of a negotiated settlement of the war in Vietnam and called for ‘a substantial increase’ of American ground forces in the South and more intensified bombing in the North. Ending a three-day visit to Saigon, Mr. Nixon said at the city airport (Tan Son Nhut): “I am convinced that the war effort will be served by a substantial increased in the numbers of Americans available on the ground and by a substantial increase in the air capability if American casualties, and casualties of the South Vietnamese and other allies engaged in this war, are to be reduced. The most effective way to accomplish this is not just to have a marginal number of troops in order to accomplish objectives, but more than enough, because the more power we have concentrated, the sooner this war can be brought to a conclusion. In the North, now that we have hit the oil supplies, we should not be inhibited by the fiction that targets in the Hanoi area should not be hit. In terms of bringing the war a conclusion, we must use more air power. There is no reasonable possibility of a negotiated settlement–further discussion of a negotiated settlement delays the end of the war by simply encouraging the enemy that we are begging for peace.”…
Page 7: “Navy Jet Strikes In South Halted” (i.e., no more Dixie Station ops)…”United States Navy aircraft have discontinued their combat strikes in South Vietnam in a move that could portend heavier attacks on the North. A spokesman confirmed that Navy planes had not flown any missions in South Vietnam since Thursday when they flew 90 sorties. The Navy started its flights in South Vietnam 14 months ago…”
Page 1: “Whites In Chicago Mob Negro March”…”The police fought back thousands of jeering whites today as civil rights marchers demonstrated against alleged housing discrimination in all white residential areas. Riot control officers fired weapons into the air and used nightsticks to disperse angry whites who were throwing bottles, rocks and firecrackers at both policemen and marchers. It was the fifth time in a week that demonstrators had encountered stiff resistance in their campaign to open all Chicago neighborhood to all races. ‘White power, white power,’ the crowd screamed.”…(500 policemen, 5000 marchers and 5000 in the white crowd over a four mile route that took two hours to cover)…
Editorial Section: “The Politics of Frustration”… “The statement written by members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from which The Times printed sizeable excerpts last Friday is at once a poignant and mischievous document. It provides an intellectual context for the inflammatory statements made in recent days by Stokely Carmichael, the national chairman of SNCC. He has urged Negro youths not to fight in Vietnam, called upon Negroes to stop begging and start taking what belongs to them and declared: ‘We have got to bring the whites to their knees.’ Regardless of other interpretations that could be reasonably offered of the term ‘black power,’ Mr. Carmichael and his SNCC associates clearly intended to mean Negro nationalism and separatism along racial lines–a hopeless, futile destructive course expressive merely on a sense of black impotence. As a practical program, the wretched violence that some Chicago whites have been using in recent days against Rev. Dr. martin Luther King and his Negro followers. The SNCC background paper is very much a young mans statement. The authors express a yearning for identity and status that seems as much personal as racial. There is almost no recognition of the ambiguities and indefiniteness of real life. It cries out that ‘whites should no longer designate roles that black people play but rather black people define white people’s roles. What individuals of every race eventually discover is that one’s role in life is established by a complete interplay between one’s own desires and objective circumstances.”…
8 AUGUST 1966… “BLUE MONDAY”… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…NYT (9 August reporting 8 August ops)…Page 1…”In North Vietnam yesterday two American pilots were rescued, one of them from mountainous country about 100 miles northwest of Hanoi. The names of the pilots were not given. One rescued north of Hanoi had parachuted on Sunday when his RF-101 Voodoo photo reconnaissance plane crashed or was shot down. The pilot evaded capture and called for help. The other pilot was picked up after his F-105 Thunderchief was shot down in North Vietnamese’s southern panhandle… Yesterday the North Vietnamese fired 24 surface-to-air missiles at American aircraft. Although American security rules prohibit the release of information on the effectiveness of enemy missiles, the devices may have accounted for some of the seven aircraft lost over Vietnam Sunday, a record number. The United States has increased firepower brought to bear against the enemy by adding a third attack aircraft carrier to the two previously assigned to undertake raids on the north. On Sunday Air Force and Marine aircraft flew 406 sorties in South Vietnam. The targets of the 107 Air Force and Navy pilots flown over North Vietnam included a surface-to-air site 31 miles north of Hanoi. Bombs hit the missile radar vans and launchers.” …
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson)…Six fixed wing aircraft lost… a bad day after a record bad day… and the downing and cqapture of a great warrior leader… Major Jim Kasler…
(1) CAPTAIN LAWRENCE HERBERT GOLBERG and 1LT PATRICK EDWARD WYNNE were flying a Wolfpack Phantom F-4C of the 555th TFS and 8th TFW on an armed reconnaissance mission 30 miles northeast of Kep and were recovering from an attack on enemy trucks when hit by ground fire and crashing without an ejection. CAPTAIN GOLBERG, a MIG-17 killer, and 1LT WYNNE were Killed in Action. CAPTAIN GOLBERG’s remains were returned to the US and he is buried in his home town of Duluth, Minnesota… No information available on 1LT WYNNE, who rests in peace, somewhere, but is remembered on this, the fiftieth anniversary of his death with honor…
(2) 1LT FREDRICK R. FLOM was flying an F-105D of the 354th TFS and 355th TFW out of Takhli on a strike mission on the wing of MAJOR JIM KASLER in a flight of four and retiring from a successful attack on trucks and barracks buildings northwest of Hanoi. At a point 15 miles northwest of Yen bai his aircraft was hit hard by a round of 57mm ground fire and was forced to eject almost immediately. A valiant effort was made to rescue him, but he came down on a road in the middle of a village and was captured in short order…1LT FLOM was released from captivity on 4 March 1973 and continued his Air Force career retiring in the rank of Colonel… He was shot down on his 88th mission…
(3) MAJOR JAMES HELMS KASLER was flying an F-105D of the 354th TFS and 355th TFW out of Takhli leading the mission described above for his wingman 1LT FLOM. He provided extremely aggressive cover and fire support over and around his downed wingmen holding off enemy until he was at low fuel state and was relieved of his cover orbit. After tanking he returned to provide fire support for inbound rescue helicopters. Unfortunately, 1LT FROM was no longer visible and enemy troops were on the scene in force. MAJOR KASLER was unable to outmaneuver a barrage of enemy AAA as he was departing the orbit over 1LT FLOM’s position and was forced to eject after a few miles of additional flight. He ejected at the last possible moment and in an unusual attitude that resulted in serious injuries as he exited the aircraft. He was captured shortly after landing and imprisoned until March 1973. He was well known to his captors and spared no quarter from them during the six years of his captivity. Upon release and rehabilitation from his injuries he resumed his career and in due course was the vice commander of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing before retiring in the rank of Colonel to own and operate his own golf course… He is recognized as one of the bravest of the brave in other spaces on this website…
(4) CAPTAIN CHARLES MILTON WALLING and 1LT AADO KOMMENDANT were flying an F-4C of the 557th TFS and 12th TFW out of Can Ranh Bay under the control of a FAC in the area 20 miles north of Bien Hoa and after a fourth run against targets as directed by the FAC, the F-4 failed to answer radio calls and perished without a trace in enemy controlled jungles. CAPTAIN WALLING and 1LT KOMMENDANT were Killed in Action and remain where they died fifty years ago on this date. Gone, but remembered as fallen warriors on this and everyday…
(5) 1LT J.R. CASPER was flying an F-105D of the 421st TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat on an armed reconnaissance mission in the southern panhandle of North Vietnam and hit by ground fire while attacking a storage area 25 miles northwest of Dong Hoi. 1LT CASPER ejected near a rescue helicopter and was rescued immediately and returned to fly and fight again (and jump out of another F-105 in September 1966)…
(6) An F-5C of the 10th FCS and 3rd TFW out of Bien Hoa suffered an engine failure. The unidentified pilot ejected and was recovered safely….
BLUE MONDAY…Four warriors Killed in Action and two captured… fifty years ago from today on 8 August 1966…
RIPPLE SALVO… #160… This is JIM KASLER Day on rollingthunderremembered.com…My admiration knows no limits… My partner Mighty Thunder was too young for pre-school on the day Major Kasler went from heroics in the sky to heroics in chains… She is learning what sacrifice and courage is all about as composes the RTR tribute to one of the great warriors of our time… See today’s Mighty Thunder post…to which I add this tribute to “the Destroyer.”
The “Afterword” from “Tempered Steel,” by Perry D. Luckett and Charles L Byler…”The three wars of triple Air Force Cross winner Jim Kasler.”
“As this biography documents, Jim Kasler is an indestructible man who persevered in the face of death through years of wartime combat flying, massive injuries in Vietnam, and vicious, continuous torture at the hands of his captors at the Hoa Lo prison. Colonel Kasler can thank his tremendously strong character for his miraculous survival.
“Jim’s status as a Korean War ace speaks for itself. In Vietnam he was one of the Air Force’s top fliers, lauded by fellow pilots as “the Destroyer” for his effectiveness in the F-105 Thunderchief. Despite being junior in rank to many in his wing, he planned and led the June 29, 1966, Hanoi POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants) strike. It was the most effective major attack of the Vietnam War, save perhaps the great B-52 bombardments that shut down the war.
“The tough breaks ahead would have defeated a lesser person. During his captivity, Jim Kasler was in a painful and hopeless mess, squeezed between the disciplinary arm of the prison and severe needs of his grotesquely wounded body. Several attempted ‘operations’ never repaired him properly, but rather left him with debilitating infections that would haunt him for many years, even after his return. During numerous torture sessions, he suffered a ruptured eardrum, broken teeth, multiple flayings of his buttocks and legs (which left his skin hanging in shreds), and a re-injury of his poor leg when his attackers repeatedly kicked it and jumped on it. Still, Jim refused to cooperate with his torturers, showing spectacular resistance and admirable integrity.
“Insiders said that, had the Cuban program (of torture) not wound down by the end of the summer of 1968, Jim Kasler might have been the other American to die at the Cubans’ hands. But he survived, returned home, and continued serving his country. I greatly admire his courage and tenacity.”
James Bond Stockdale, Vice Admiral, United States Navy (retired), Medal of Honor recipient, NAM-POW
Lest we forget… Bear ………. –30– ……….