RIPPLE SALVO… #460… ON A CLEAR MOONLIT NIGHT, A LITTLE SOUTH OF HAIPHONG…here we come!… but first…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY of a return to the battlefields in the skies over North Vietnam…
8 June 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a warm and sunny Thursday in NYC…
MIDEAST: ISRAELIS ROUT THE ARABS, APPROACH SUEZ; BREAK THE BLOCKADE; OCCUPY OLD JERUSALEM; AGREE TO UNITED NATIONS CEASE-FIRE; EGYPT REJECTS IT; AQABA GULF OPEN…“Dyan Asserts Israel Does Not Intend to Capture Canal”… “Israelis Weep and Pray Beside the Wailing Wall”… “Major Middle West Developments”...”Israel claimed victory in Sinai Desert after three days of fighting. Sharm el Sheik, guarding the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, fell after paratroops attack and the Israelis said the blockade of the gulf was broken. Other Israeli units were within 20 miles of the Suez Canal, and for the first time in 19 years Israeli Jews prayed at the wailing wall and their troops occupied the Old City. Israeli troops have taken control of the entire West Bank.”…
Page 1: “Eban Sees Thant”... “The Security Council unanimously adopted a Soviet resolution today calling on the combatants in the Middle East to ‘cease-fire and all military activities by 4 p.m., New York time.’ The government of Israel thereafter announced that she had accepted the call of the Council for a cease-fire provided her Arab neighbors agree.”... Page 1: “U.S. Vows To Seek a Durable Peace”... “President Johnson pledged today to do his best to help translate the new Middle East situation into a more lasting settlement between Israel and her Arab neighbors.”…
Page 1: “Rise in Debt Ceiling rejected in House”… “Johnson Rebuffed”... “The House of Representatives dealt the Johnson Administration a sharp setback today by rejecting a bill to increase the ceiling on the national debt $29-billion to high limit of $365-billion. The vote was against passage 210 to 197 with Republicans voting solidly to kill the bill. Enough Democrats, mostly Southerners, voted with them to turn the tide.”… Page 1: “Johnson Will Use Cabinet to Court State Officials”... “…aides will seek to tighten ties between Governors and White House. President Johnson has decided to use the members of his cabinet as diplomatic agents and approved a plan where each cabinet member will be signed four or five states as his personal responsibility with instructions to maintain personal contact with the Governor and White House.
Page 1: “Conferees block a Draft Settlement”... “Senate and House negotiators reached agreement today on a new military draft bill that rules out, for the present, any lottery-like random selection system to determine the order of induction. The bill was a compromise of differing bills that the Senate and House passed. It would guarantee the continuance of educational deferments for college undergraduates and students enrolled in apprentice and job training programs. This will shift current first to go from the 26-year olds to the 19 year olds.”… Page 2: “Red China’s Army gets Wider Power”... “Peking wall posters noted by Japanese newsmen reported today that the Chinese Army had been ordered to take ‘appropriate measures’ against civil strife. Other wall posters said 30,000 anti-Maoists had killed 266 Maoist soldiers and injured 1,000 in clashes in Kumming, capital of Yuman Province. It was in the aftermath of the fighting that party leaders in Peking issued the new order to the People’s Liberation Army.”…. Page 3: “Flood of V.I.P. Visitors Harries Saigon Officials” “…briefings by Westmoreland and Bunker are much in demand. Anyone who was trying to see General Westmoreland was out of luck for 90 minutes one recent morning. The generals busy briefing Ann Landers. This was in line with Government policy. Washington has encouraged officials and private visitors to come here and see for themselves. The buildup in visitors matches the buildup in troops–9,865 advisors in 1962 to 455,000 war fighters this week. Visitors numbered 20 in 1962, 400 in 1965, 600 in 1966 and 700 in the first half of 1967.”…
8 June 1967… The President’s TS Daily CIA Briefing…ARAB STATES-ISRAEL: As of 5:30am…The Israelis have just announced (according to the press) that Egyptian armored forces have counter attacked “in force” in an effort to fight their way out of the Sinai Peninsula. This could refer to Egyptian troops trapped in the rapid Israeli advance…. The UN’s cease-fire order is being disregarded. Egypt has officially announced it will not comply, and Nasir has personally so informed most other Arab governments. The Israelis may have broken their cease-fire agreement at Jordan…NORTH VIETNAM: Shipping figures for May show a new monthly high for seaborne deliveries to North Vietnam–147,000 tons. bulk foodstuffs accounted for nearly half, and petroleum for about a quarter…North Vietnamese exports were lower in May than at any time in the past two and a half years. this is primarily because of bomb damage to the Haiphong cement plant and coal facilities at Cam Pha.
8 JUNE 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (9 June reporting 8 June ops)… Page 1: “U.S. Planes Batter MIG Base in North Vietnam”… “American fighter-bombers knocked out a MIG base near Hanoi yesterday and wrecked a surface-to-air missile storage area 50 miles southwest of the capital…Navy carrier planes attacked the Kep airfield 37 miles northeast of Hanoi for the seventh time since April 24…a Spokesman said: ‘The airfield is closed temporarily as a result of the air attack.’ …Navy pilots from the Constellation and Enterprise joined forces to attack the Kep airfield with 500-pound bombs. Pilots reported seeing seven MIGs of which they destroyed or damaged four on the ground. Returning pilots reported heavy anti-aircraft fire over the airfield and said surface-to-air missiles had been fired at them, all of which missed. Pilots from the carrier Enterprise blasted the Hoabinh missile storage area starting fires that sent columns of multi-colored smoke five thousand feet in the air. Pilots reported destroying nine loaded SAM missile transporters, a radar van and several trucks as well as several of the missiles burning on the ground… (#95… the Bear was there and what fun we had!)…
“Vietnam: Air Losses”(Chris Hobson) There were three fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 8 June 1967…
(1) CAPTAIN VICTOR JOE APODACA and 1LT JON THOMAS BUSCH were flying an F-4C of the 389th TFS and 366th TFW out of Da Nang on a night armed reconnaissance mission about 25 miles north of Dong Hoi when hit by ground fire.They were instructed by the flight lead to turn toward the sea. Shortly there after a single SAR beeper was heard and after that nothing more was heard and a SAR failed to locate the aircraft or crew. In 1988 evidence was found and the remains of both CAPTAIN APODACA and 1LT BUSCH were returned and identified, 1LT BUSCH in 1988 and CAPTAIN APODACA in 2001… Good job, US Army Lab in Hawaii…
(2) MAJOR C.A. COLTON and 1LT R.D. FRANKS were flying n F-$C of the 480th TFS and 366TH TFW out of Da Nang on an armed reconnaissance mission in Route Package I about 10 miles north of the DMZ and was hit by 37-mm AAA while strafing an NVN storage area. They Turned tosea and ejected as the aircraft became uncontrollable. they were rescued by n Air Force helicopter… to fly and fight again…
(3) CAPTAIN ELWIN HARRY BUSCH and 1LT PETER WHITCOMB MORRISON were flying a B-57B of the 8th TBS and 405th FW attached to the 35th TFW out of Phan Rang on a night armed reconnaissance mission. they were hit by small arms fire about ten miles from Phan Rang and failed to eject from the aircraft. Somewhere they rest in peace on the 50th anniversary of their last flight. CAPTAIN BUSCH and 1LT MORRISON were Killed in Action…
Lest we forget… Bear