Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #490… KEN BURNS, STEVEN SPIELBERG and the director of “RIDE THE THUNDER”… but first…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED NINETY of a one and half million word return to the skies of Rolling Thunder and the history and courage of great human beings–America’s winged warriors…
8 JULY 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a Saturday full of clouds in NYC…
Page 1: “Westmoreland Asks McNamara For More Troops–Says U.S Forces Are Slowly Winning War But Must Step Up the Pressure–They Confer In Saigon–No Specifics Figures Given on Manpower Request–Believed to Be 100,000″… “General William Westmoreland, the United States Commander in Vietnam renewed today his appeal to send him more troops…The General told the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on his ninth visit to South Vietnam, and now is the time to step-up the pressure by reinforcing our mounting successes. ‘The war is not a stalemate. We are winning slowly and steadily. The North Vietnamese are paying a tremendous price with nothing to show for it, said General Westmoreland. …he is known to want between 100,000 and 200,000 more men. About 464,000 American servicemen are now in Vietnam.”... Page 1: “150 of Enemy Die in Vietnam Battle”... “…killed by air and artillery when caught in open yesterday near the demilitarized zone. No American losses.”
Page 1: “Chichester Sails Up Thames And is Dubbed a Knight by Queen Elizabeth (Picture of dubbing)”… “Sir Francis Chichester, home from the seas, was dubbed a knight today by !Queen Elizabeth, II, in a ceremony witnessed by millions on television. In pale sunshine on the grand quadrangle of the Royal Naval college of Greenwich, Sir Francis, looking tanned and fit, received the accolade of knighthood when gently tapped on the shoulders with a sword that was presented to Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I in 1581.” oohrah…. (Humble Host note: For those of us who have encountered swells and heavy rollers that come in above the horizon, drop you into a trough looking into a wall of green water 70-feet high, and keep on coming for a day or two, there is nothing but unbounded admiration for the human who dares to take on Mother Nature and the great waters of the world alone in a ketch … Sir Francis (Chichester)… youdaman!!! … oohrahX2)…
Page 8: “Reagan Tax Bill Gains in Senate”... “The biggest tax bill in California history, reflecting generally the demands of Governor Ronald Reagan was reported to the State Senate today by the Democratic-dominated Finance Committee. Bill is designed to raise $1-billion. The personal income tax raise would be $3 for a family of 4 on an $8,000 income. At $10,000 the increase would be $26/year and at $100,000 the tax would increase by $2,455.”… Page 8: “Hecklers Greet Lindsay’s Tour of Harlem With Shouts for Jobs”… “Mayor John Lindsay walked through a crowd of 500 hecklers who spoiled his plans for a ‘quiet walking tour’ of Harlem. Mayor, ‘No problem,’ as crowd chanted ‘we want jobs, we want jobs.’ “...Page 9: “Romney is Confident On New Hampshire Primary:... “confident he can win the New Hampshire presidential primary next March.”… Page 10: “Restrain Urged In Race Riot News–U.S. Officials Seek Delays Pending Police Action”… “Officials of the Justice Department have been meeting quietly with news media representatives in racially tense cities to urge restraint in reporting racial outbursts…target is local radio and television stations.”… Page 6: “Soviet Assures U.S. On Consuls– Said at Glassboro Meeting it Would Ratify Treaty”... “Soviet Union reluctant to take any bilateral steps toward cooperation as long as the Vietnam war.”…
8 July 1967… The President’s TS Daily CIA Brief… NORTH VIETNAM: Hanoi announced yesterday that Nguyen Chi Thanh–a four star general– and a member of the North Vietnamese Politburo–is dead of a heart attack. Thanh was the Viet Cong commander-in-chief and a noted hardliner in the Hanoi leadership. …CONGO: Mobutu’s troops regained control of Bukavu yesterday. The Congolese apparently have also retaken Kisangani (Stanleyville), and at least one plane load of mercenaries from there has reached Rhodesia…. ISRAEL: Prime Minister Eshkol openly criticized Defense Minister Dayan yesterday and this may well lead to Dayan’s resignation and a more flexible Israeli position on terms for a settlement. Dayan is unlikely to remain silent in the face of Eshkol’s statement that the defense minister’s “self-praise is not honorable.”… MOROCCO: King Hassan is giving every indication that he intends to preserve his country’s pro-western Stance despite mounting criticism of his regime. His choice of new premier on Thursday–a man friendly to the U.S.–is the most recent case in point. All in all, Hassan is clearly stepping up to his responsibilities…
8 JULY 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (9 July reporting 8 July ops)…Page 3: “MIG Base Attacked”... “American pilots attacked the Kep base near Hanoi and blasted more petroleum dumps near Haiphong yesterday. Air Force Thunderchief pilots from Korat Air Base in Thailand bombed the main runway of the Kep airfield, setting off a large explosion…there were no MIGs sighted on the field or in the air. This was the 10th attack on the Kep MIG base since April 24. The Kep base is 38 miles northeast of Hanoi.”… Page 1: “Marine pilots attacked a North Vietnamese surface to air missile site in the DMZ yesterday. It was the first missile site in the zone with more than one launcher. Marine and Air Force pilots attacked a rocket position inside the zone and six artillery positions just north of it. ..Air Force Thunderchief pilots raided the MIG base at Kep for the 11th time and reported all runways and taxiways had been damaged. Other pilots struck petroleum and railroad targets.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 8 July 1967…
(1) A B-52D of the 22nd BW attached to 4135th BW at Anderson AFB, Guam suffered multiple engine failures on an Arc Light mission and diverted to make an emergency landing at Danang. The aircraft landed long, the drag chute failed, and the aircraft entered the overrun and exploded. Five of the six crew members were killed in the accident, only the tail gunner survived. MAJOR GENE WESLEY BROWN, CAPTAIN JAMES THOMAS DAVIS, CAPTAIN ANTHONY KENT JOHNSON, CAPTAIN WILLIAM HENRY PRITCHARD, and CAPTAIN DONALD J. REYNOLDS perished in the service of our country fifty years ago today… They rest in peace…
RIPPLE SALVO… #490… VIETNAM HISTORY by Ken Burns and Steven Spielberg… coming to your living room and a theater near you… I am trying to keep an open mind… not easy, these guys have track records that indicate they march to a different drummer than me… I watched the Burns trailer for his 18-hour PBS series on the Vietnam war today and join Fred Koster the director of the movie “Ride the Thunder” in his skepticism of what’s coming from both the Burns and the Spielberg/Tom Hanks retelling of real history on the silver screen. Humble Host recommends the Ken Burns 25 minute teaser video at:
http://www.pbs.org/video/3001104790/
RTR QUOTE for 8 July: Patrick J. Sloyan (“The Politics of Deception”): “Kennedy’s order to get rid of Diem was the real beginning of the American war in Vietnam.” Humble Host notes that this conclusion is unlikely to be part of the Ken Burn’s version of the Vietnam war….we’ll see…
Lest we forget… Bear
Two comments
First, Tom Hanks’ was involved in the “Return With Honor” production, and I thought it was done well. Hopefully this will be as well.
Secondly, the tail gunner of the B-52 at DaNang survived because one of the firemen ran to the burning plane, which was in the middle of a minefield and pulled him out. When he was asked why he did it, he replied that he just ran in the track the plane had made after the gear came off. Quite a kid, 19 as I remember.