RIPPLE SALVO… #794… 8 MAY 1968 MESSAGE FROM VADM HORACE H. EPES, JR. to HELICOPTER COMBAT SUPPORT SQUADRON SEVEN… “For the second time in two days, our SAR forces have successfully rescued a downed aircrew under hostile fire. The recovery of the pilot of Champion 406 from deep within enemy territory in an unbelievable short time was the result of the prompt, cool and professional actions of the scene commander, the RESCAP, the downed pilot and most of all the intrepid crew of Big Mother 70. You have the admiration and appreciation of all for scoring on this tough one. WELL DONE. EPES.”… THE STORY, but first….
GOOD MORNING… Day SEVEN HUNDRED NINETY-FOUR of a trip back through the years of the air war that was the principal bargaining chip in America’s search for an honorable end to the Vietnam war…
8 MAY 1968… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Wednesday, 8 May 1968…50 Years Ago Today…
THE WAR: Page 1: “FIRES SWEEPING SAIGON OUTSKIRTS AS FIGHTING EASES–THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS FLEE TOWARD CENTER OF CITY–FOE’S CASUALTIES HIGH–Racetrack Battle Site–U.S. Command Believes the Enemy Has Been Unable to Reinforce Attackers”… “Flames swept along the southern and western edges of Saigon this morning as enemy forces renewed their rocket and mortar attacks on the capital. entire blocks were ablaze of smouldering and thousands of civilians were fleeing toward the heart of the city. although most of the fires were ignited by fresh outbreaks of fighting yesterday, some appeared to have been set by the rocket and mortar shells, which began falling at about 3 A.M. and continued to hit the city sporadically until dawn. Residential areas were hit with casualties….United States, Korean, and South Vietnamese forces say they have killed more than 1,500 enemy troops since Saturday in III Corps area, which includes Saigon. The allies continued to describe their casualties as light.”…Page 4: “U.S. GENERAL SAYS FIGHTING IN A SHAU VALLEY FALLS SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS–Not As Extensive As Had Been Hoped”… “…Lieutenant General William Rosson, the Commander in South Vietnam’s two northernmost provinces indicted th he considered the offensive a success because the large amount of enemy equipment and supplies that had been seized… Among the weapons and equipment found i the Ashau Valley have been Soviet-made antiaircraft guns , machine guns, mortars, rockets, rifles, flamethrowers, bulldozers, trucks an ammunition….The fighting in the rugged jungle valley about 25 miles west of here (Phu Bai) has generally been light and sporadic. General Rosson also disclosed that 121 Americans had been killed and 610 wounded in the A Shau campaign. The North Vietnamese losses were said to be 654 killed.”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 3: “GROUP FROM HANOI IN PARIS FOR TALKS–HIGH OFFICIAL AMONG THE 23 DELEGATES VOICES OPTIMISM ON PRELIMINARY SESSION.”… “The second ranking member of the North Vietnamese delegation arrived from Hanoi today for the preliminary United States-North Vietnamese talks. Asked at Le Bourget Airport how he felt about the talks, Col. Ha Van Lao answered: ‘I am optimistic.’ He added only that he has come a few day ahead of the conference, due to start Friday or shortly thereafter. Colonel Lao, who flew in from Moscow aboard a Soviet airliner with 22 members of the North Vietnamese delegation, will be the advisor to the head of the delegation, former Foreign Minister Xuan Thuy.”… Page 5: “THAI IS DOUBTFUL OF VIETNAM TALKS–PREMIER, HERE ON VISIT, SEES PEKING AS HANOI MENTOR”… “Thailand sees little hope for a real and lasting peace in Southeast Asia regardless of the outcome of talks between the United States and North Vietnam scheduled to begin in Paris this week, Premier Thanom Kittikachorn declared here (New York) yesterday.”… MEANWHILE THE PRESIDENT WAS PREPPING THE AMERICAN DELEGATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE… Read the Notes of the meeting at:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d227
Page 1: “KENNEDY WINS IN INDIANA–BRANIGIN LEADS McARTHY–NIXON DRAWS STRONG VOTE”… “Senator Robert F. Kennedy won his first Presidential test last night in the Indiana primary. His margin in what appeared to be a heavy vote was smaller than many of his supporters had wished, but the New York Democrat describe himself as well pleased with the results. Senator McCarthy ran third behind Governor Roger D. Branigin, the Hoosier Favorite son. But the Minnesota share of the Vote, more than a quarter of the total, was hailed by his followers as a good showing…. “… Page 1: “LAUSCHE DEFEATED IN OHIO BY LABOR SUPPORTED JOHN GILLIGAN”… “Senator Frank J. Lausche, Ohio’s vote-getter extraordinary for 46 years, met defeat yesterday in the Democratic primary in Ohio by John Gilligan. Cincinnati City Councilman and former House member.”…
8 MAY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times (9 May reporting 8 May ops) Page 1: “In the air war, the military command reported that United States aircraft carried out 114 missions on Tuesday over southern North Vietnam and had destroyed or severely damaged 114 trucks, 13 bridges and five weapon sites… Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 8 May 1968… an A-4E of VA-56 embarked on USS Enterprise… See Ripple Salvo below…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) ON 8 MAY FOR THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION…
1965… COMMANDER JAMES DAVID LA HAYE, USN… (KIA)… CAPTAIN RUBEN CARL WISTRAND, USAF… (KIA)…
1966… 1LT JAMES EDWIN RAY, USAF… (KIA)…
1967… CAPTAIN MICHAEL K. McCUISTION, USAF… (POW)… LTJG THOMAS JACK STEIMER, USN… (KIA)…
1968… NONE…
Humble Host flew #157… Led a division on armed recce with pods of Zunis Route IA south from Ha Tinh and followed another flight from Enterprise on a truck kill they got started…They got the trucks, we got the flak and the shooters… For first time, the intel brief included MIGs and SAMS possible in Route Pac II…
RIPPLE SALVO… #794… This one is for HC-7… During the nearly six years the squadron’s Detachment 110 was on duty 24/7 at Yankee Station and the Gulf of Tonkin. The “Sea Devils” rescued 263 downed Navy aviators, including 29 from North Vietnam and 33 from the jungles of Laos. In addition, the squadron picked up another 7 Air Force aviators from the North and about 53 others from the Gulf… This is the story of one of those rescues. 8 May 1968: Champion 406, LT DENNY LAWRENCE…
LT DENNIS A. LAWRENCE was flying an A-4E of the VA-56 Champions embarked in USS ENTERPRISE and leading a section on an armed reconnaissance mission in Route Pack II. The flight found and attacked a small convoy of trucks 12 miles south of Ha Tinh with pods of 2.75 rockets. As LT LAWRENCE pulled off from his first run and climbing through 3,500-feet he was hit by ground fire. The engine began losing power, began vibrating and erupted on fire. LT LAWRENCE was forced to eject about 20 miles inland from the Gulf of Tonkin. He was rescued by the crew of BIG MOTHER 70.
BIG MOTHER 70 was a SH-3A and was backed up by an UH-2A, also in the area. The BM70 crew utilized M-16 rifles, a M-60 machine gun and a M-79 grenade launcher for the 41 minutes ingress and pick-up and the 20 minute egress over very hostile territory. BM70 was piloted by LT GARY D. McCONNELL and LTJG JOHN W. NICHOLS III. The crew was ATN-2 JOHN R. CULLIVAN and AX-3 ALAN K. NOBLES.
AX-3 ALAN NOBLES: “We received a SAR alert while on the North SAR ship nd proceeded until feet dry to the area where the pilot was believed to be–the flight was long. I recall a lot of radio chatter from RESCAP while scanning the deep and thick jungle below. The downed pilot radioed that he could hear us, then that we were closer and closer. We slowed almost to a hover (all hell broke loose) at that time still looking when the downed pilot said we were being fired upon from the right side of the aircraft and to spray the area. As I lay down several hundred rounds, the downed pilot radioed that my shell casings were falling directly on him as we were now directly above him. (Helo pilot could not get his M-16 to operate, crewman showed him that the safety was on) I still had no visual; the downed pilot had left his pistol with tracers on the ship. Somehow, we had left without our forest penetrator so I attempted to lower the sling through the canopy, after a few tries it made it through the tall (150-200 feet) trees. I added a tiedown chain for added weight. At that point, I continued to lay down suppressive fire waiting tor the downed pilot to radio that he was hooked up and ready to the hoist. Nothing. Still nothing. Finally, he yelled that he was ready to come up. Apparently, by other accounts he was pressing the wrong button instead of the transmit button. ATN2 CULLIVAN hoisted him up as I continued suppressive fire. When the downed pilot was clear of the canopy (tops of the trees), I told our pilot to get out of there.” (From: “Young Crewmen: 10-Feet Tall and Bullet Proof”)…
FROM the MAY 1968 issue of “The Big E,” the USS ENTERPRISE monthly newsletter edited by the fleet’s number 1 Public Affairs Officer NED CONGER … the first person story of LT DENNY LAWRENCE, CHAMPION 406…
“THEY’RE EITHER GOING TO GET ME OR PICK ME UP”
ED: When he drove down to make a rocket attack on a North Vietnamese storage area May 8, LT. Dennis A. Lawrence, an A-4E Skyhawk pilot for VA56, had no idea that within the next thirty minutes he was going to be as close to death as any man would ever want to come. After he was safely back aboard the “Big E” he had an unnerving story to tell…
“When I pulled up the engine started chugging,” he remembered. “I started to head for the beach, but soon I realized that I’d never make it. I was losing altitude, so I turned back toward the mountains. I was in a thirty degree bank when the engine flamed out”
“Another pilot was with Lawrence when he was hit and stayed over him until he was rescued. ‘There was a flash of fire around the aft section of the plane just forward of the tail assembly. The tail was about to wrench off, so I told Denny to eject.’
“When the planes started down,” continued Lawrence, “I was hanging in the straps, so I reached down and pulled the secondary ejection handle–that ejection is some kind of ride! I was doing cartwheels in the air, and then felt what I thought was the seat separating and then a jolt when the chute opened. The jungle canopy was about two-hundred feet beneath me. As I came into it my chute caught in a tree and banged me up against it. I was left hanging about five feet from the ground. I released myself and fell into a mud bank on the side of a steep hill I started up the side of the hill when I heard a chipping noise. I went a little further and lay down beside a tree and saw a little Vietnamese about three hundred yards away. All he had on was a light blue shirt with no sleeves, shorts, and he was swinging a machete. I only had my survival knife. He was on top of the hill and I could only make him out every so often through the trees. It looked like he was heading down to where my plane was. i waited until he was gone and followed a small dry creek bed leading up to the top of the mountain.
“About three-quarters of the way to the top. I ran into a little camp. There it was with a beautiful lean-to and a died-out fire in the middle of a ten foot clearing. Maybe it belonged to the little guy I had seen earlier. I do not know. I just made a beeline right through the camp and into the woods on the other side. There were high vines all about the trees and I kept getting caught up in them. I did not think I had a chance because I could not find an area where the helo could come to pick me up. Every where I looked all I could see was trees.
“I could hear the planes above me, but I couldn’t see a thing. I gave myself about a five per cent chance of being picked up. All of a sudden, I saw the sun coming through a spot in the jungle. There was a little hole about fifteen feet in diameter. When I got to the clear area. I just sat down. I put my feet out, put m,y back against the tree and held my radio. I figured, ‘Well this is as far as I am going. I’m in a clear area. They’re either going to get me or pick me up.’ The North Vietnamese were getting closer. I could hear them hacking at the jungle a short distance away. They would not talk, they just hacked. It sounded like they were whistling back and forth. It might have been a bird but I think now that it was them, because I would hear it from one direction and then the other. I thought, ‘Oh God, I’ve had it.’ Then about two minutes later, I heard the helo. I could see that it was the ‘Big Mother” because of the long shadow that was rippling over the trees not far away. It came right over me going about 100-knots and I yelled through my radio, ‘Hey, you got me. You are right over me!’ Then I heard firing on top of the hill. They were shooting at the helo. When it came over a second time and started hovering I could hear the North Vietnamese start yelling. I asked the helo pilot if he had me in sight and I saw him nod his head, and I said, ‘Open up with the machine guns and spray the area.’ Empty shells began to fall all around me.”
“They lowered the sling, and it kept getting caught in the trees. I kept telling the helo to come right. Finally, the sling came down and blew into another tree. I grabbed it, twisted it off the tree and pulled it to me. I kept slipping down the hill, trying to hook the sling up and dropping my radio. When I finally got hooked up it was about six feet away. I wanted the helo to raise me, and I was trying to wave to him, but he would not start the cable, so I tried to scramble up the hill to my radio but the helo kept pushing me down
“Finally got the radio and told him to pull me up but he still wouldn’t. I was pressing the receive button and he couldn’t hear me. It must have been a minute or so before I realized what I was doing and he started pulling me up. The sling was twisted around a tree, and I just sort of went around the tree and up through the branches. When I got above the trees, it sounded like guns were going off everywhere, and I was just cringing, waiting for a bullet to come plowing through me.”
The rescue was successful. Lawrence was quickly flown back to the ship by the SAR helo.”… FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS DAY…
Humble Host is beholden to RON MILAM, HC-7 Historian. who compiled the above…
LT GARY D. McCONNELL, USN, was awarded the SILVER STAR, and the other three members of the Big Mother 70 crew the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS for their extraordinary guts and skill on this deep penetration pickup… oohrah…
“SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE”
Lest we forget…. Bear