RIPPLE SALVO… #581… On 7 October 1967 the 34th TFS of the 388th TFW removed a “new” target in one fell swoop… oohrah… but first…
Good Morning: Day FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY-ONE of a return of fifty years to the battlefields of Operation Rolling Thunder…
8 October 1967… Head Lines from The New York Times on a Sunday in NYC under threatening skies…
Page 1: “DEMOCRATS PICK CHICAGO AS SITE OF ’68 CONVENTION–$900,000 BID EXCEEDS THAT OF MIAMI BEACH–SELECTION IS SURPRISE–INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATER SESSIONS BEGIN ON AUGUST 26–SIX MILES FROM LOOP”… “The G.O.P. convention opens in Miami Beach on August 5.”... Page 1: “Medical Scientists Differ on Safety of Marijuana”... “As far back as 1893 the Government of India appointed a commission to study the controversial use of marijuana-like substances throughout that country. The commission recommended that the substances be regulated but not banned, commenting in it report: ‘So grand a result, so tiny a sin.’ “… Page 1: “ST. LOUIS WINS 6-0, TAKES LEAD IN WORLD SERIES–BOB GIBSON CHECKS RED SOX ON 5 HITS FOR SECOND TRIUMPH–ROGER MARIS DRIVES IN 2 RUNS FOR CARDS”... Page 2: “Representative Jerry Ford Scores the Other War–Says U.S. Is Americanizing the South Vietnam Economy”… Page 2: “57% in Survey Now Disapprove Of Johnson’s Handling of War”... “Twice as many people now disapprove of President Johnson’s way of handling the war in Vietnam according to a survey by George Gallup reported yesterday in the Washington Post. Mr. Gallup said this was the highest point of disapproval yet registered. In his latest survey, 28% approved, 57%disapproved and 15 % had no opinion… This compared with 33%, 54% and 13% in his August survey…”… Page 3: “Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Asks Shift on Vietnam–Says Escalation Has Failed–Asks For a Slowdown”… “…called on the Johnson Administration today to concede what he views as the failure of a policy of escalation in Vietnam. He asserted that the Administration should free itself from ‘obsession’ with military victory and turn instead to slowing down the war.”… Page 3: “2000 Japanese Leftist Students Protest”... “Two thousand leftist Zengakuren students opposing Premier Eisaku Sato’s plans to visit South Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries clashed today with policemen at the three bridges leading to the Tokyo airport.” (Humble Host will have a run-in with the Zengakuren mob in Sasebo in January during the short USS Enterprise port visit. In 1967-8 the Japanese were still nervous about nuclear power. Enterprise was the first American Nuc to make a call in Japan.)… Page 3: “75 War Protestors Walk Out at Williams College as First Lady Prepared To Talk About the Beautification of America”…
8 OCTOBER 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (9 Oct reporting 8 Oct ops) Page 1: “MAJOR MIG FIELD IN HAIPHONG AREA RAIDED FOR FIRST TIME–Runway Damage Reported–Strike Leaves Only 2 Big Bases Untouched”... “United States pilots thrust deep into North Vietnam yesterday and bombed a major MIG airfield near Haiphong for the first time, a military spokesman announced this morning. In bombing the base at Catbi, four miles southeast of Haiphong, the United States took one more airfield off the restricted list of targets in North Vietnam. Of the six MIG airfields in North Vietnam, four have now been attacked by United States warplanes. (The North Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that the United States was ‘angrily intensifying the war throughout Vietnam, accumulating innumerable, hateful crimes against the civil population,’ Agence France-Presse reported)... The two airfields that have not been struck so far are at Phucyen, 15 miles north of Hanoi, and at Gialam, a mile east of Hanoi. The airfield at Gialam is also a commercial passenger terminal.
“The strike on the base at Catbi was reported to have left three craters in the runway and two craters in the aircraft parking ramp. A spokesman said that there had been no evidence of MIG’s on the ground during the strike. He added that one plane, a small Soviet-made utility aircraft, had been hit and possibly destroyed.
“As the new bombing target in the North was disclosed, a spokesman announced that 17 paratroopers had been killed and 4 wounded in a ground battle near Anhos, 18 miles southwest of Danang. The action occurred yesterday afternoon when members of the 101st Airborne Division began sweeping a valley 12 miles south-southwest of Anhos. The spokesman said the paratroopers had been struck with mortar fire, then assaulted by a reinforced North Vietnamese company of about 220 infantrymen. Official reports indicated that 60 enemy soldiers had been killed in the four-hour battle.
“Earlier a military spokesman announced that three United States planes were shot down over North Vietnam on Saturday as American pilots tangled with enemy MIGs and heavy missile fire. United States fighters bombed railroad facilities, bridges, storage areas and airfields. A spokesman reported that during the raids Air Force planes had destroyed six Soviet-built helicopters in an area 30 miles west of Hanoi. The spokesman said it was the first time in the war that Russian helicopters, which had been discovered by reconnaissance photographs, had been bombed and destroyed.
“The helicopters were two large twin turbine MI-6’s, each capable of carrying 14, a spokesman said. Both MI-6s were left in flames with smoke curling up to 300-feet. ‘They just seemed to melt where they were sitting,’ said one of the pilots, Colonel Robert M. White of Fairborn, Okla.
“The downing of the three planes was the biggest loss for a single day in the North since August 23, when five planes were shot down during a massive raid against a railroad yard near Hanoi. American planes lost during the raids in the North now total 694. The four airmen aboard the three aircraft were listed as missing in action.”…
“Vietnam: Aircraft Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 8 October 1967 and THIRTY American airmen perished in the losses…
(1) LTJG ANDREW GILBERT ZISSU, LTJG NORMAN LEE ROGGOW, LTJG DONALD FINDLING WOLFE, ATC ROLAND ROBERT PINEAU and SEAMAN RAUL ANTONIO GUERRA were aboard a E-1B of the VAW-111 Hunters aboard USS Oriskany that crashed into the face of a cliff on Monkey Mountain near Danang in extremely bad weather. There were no survivors and the crash site was not excavated until 2005. Remains of three of the five were found and returned to the United States and identified in 2007 for burial at home in the land they loved and served so gallantly. LTJG ZISSU and SEAMAN GUERRA, who was in the process of being promoted to Journalist Petty Officer, Third Class, and was apparently on board the aircraft to write a story for Navy news, remain where they fell fifty years ago this day… Left behind but remembered…
(2) LTCOL CHRISTOPHER BRAYBROOKE, MAJOR ROBERT WILLIAM ANDERSON, CAPTAIN SCOTT McCELLAND BURKETT, A1C TERRY MICHAEL REHM, A2C RONALD PAUL RUYF and 19 crew and passengers, names unknown, perished in the crash of a C-130B of the 773rd TAS and 465th TAW out of Clark AFB, P.I. was en route to Danang, in the same stormy weather that claimed the Navy aircraft and crew, and flew into a mountain 15 miles out of Phu Bai 150-feet below the 1,850-foot ridge line. There were no survivors among the 24 aboard killed in the accident.
(3) 1LT DAVID E. WIELAND and LCOL E.G. WEAVER were flying an F-4C of the 557th TFS and 12th TFW out of Cam Ranh Bay and suffered a double flameout due to a fuel system malfunction. Unable to get a relight, the pair of aviators ejected. 1lt WIELAND did not survive the accident.
(4) An F-4C of the 433rd TFS and 8th TFW out of Ubon was on a CAP mission and was involved in a mid-air collision. The aircraft was unflyable and the crew ejected. They were subsequently recovered to fly and fight again…. Chris Hobson: “The crew was probably Captain D.R.Calvert and Lt J.V. Macnab.”
RIPPLE SALVO… #581… On 7 October 1967 the 388th TFW out of Korat struck devastating blows to two target in the heartland of North Vietnam: the Kep railroad yard and the POL storage area at Cu Van, which had never been hit before. Humble Host is beholden to Howie Plunkett for his 300-page compilation of the 34TFS and F-105 History for the following “tales from Cu Van.”
“The Cu Van POL storage area was located about 30 miles north of Hanoi in a heavily defended area of the Red River Valley. The 388th Wing’s F-105s hit the Cu Van POL complex on 7 October ‘leaving it in flames with smoke billowing more than 5,000-feet in the air.’ MAJOR DONALD W. REVERS from the 34th TFS was mission commander. The target had been authorized for strike for the first time by the President just a few days before the mission. A 388th TFW press release described the mission: ‘Today was a relatively easy mission. I feel that we did a good job on this one. I feel the force did a tremendous job.’ That is how the mission commander, Major Donald W. Revers, 34TFS, described the attack against the Cu Van petroleum products storage area in North Vietnam.’….
“He went on to say, ‘Upon ingress into the target, we had numerous MIG warning, which posed no immediate threat to the strike force. the weather was a prime factor today. On ingress into the target we were on top of an overcast until about four minutes from the target. after breaking through the undercast, the visibility was down to a couple of miles. Consequently target acquisition was very poor. I didn’t notice too much antiaircraft activity as I rolled into the target area. As my bombs exploded on the target area, I had a chance to look back and notice black, billowing smoke coming out of the petroleum area. The column was rising to about 1,000-feet and there were numerous fire balls in the area. This is the first time this target had been hit. On egress from the target, we had a little SAM activity. We observed one launching and explode quite a ways from the target area. It did not affect the strike force in general.’ “…
“MAJOR GEORGE G. CLAUSEN, commander of the 34th TFS, was also on the mission against the petroleum storage area. ‘On our way up today, we were quite a bit hampered by weather. the visibility was rather poor and most of our route was undercast. However, we were able to acquire the target and roll into it. We were the lead flight in and the bombs observed as we pulled off looked like they had several secondary explosions and had done quite a bit of damage. The other flights following us confirmed this and reported numerous other secondary explosions. I think all-in-all today we had a rel good mission. The defenses were actually light today. this is something that has been unusual in the past. Normally, we have been met by intense antiaircraft fire. However, today was a relatively easy mission. We saw numerous fireballs and dense black and grey smoke pouring out of the target after coming off. We also noted some possibility in the distance of some SAMs being launched. However, they were not launched against our force. They were observed bursting some distance away. The smoke was probably as high as 1500-feet above the target area. However, I’d say the fireballs were 3-400-feet in diameter. I feel that this is one that we’ve really done a good job on.’ “
MAJOR REVERS was awarded the Silver Star… “MAJOR DAVID W. REVERS distinguished himself by gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing force over North Vietnam on 7 October 1967. On that date, MAJOR SEVERS was the force commander of twenty-four aircraft ordered to strike a heavily defended storage facility located seven miles northwest of Thai Nguyen. In spite of hostile aircraft, severe weather conditions, and intense antiaircraft fire, MAJOR SEVERS led his force through a highly successful attack and destroyed the storage facility. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, MAJOR REVERS has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”… Major Severs would also be awarded the “Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak clusters, among other awards for valor in combat, during his F-105 tour with the 34th TFS… oohrah…
7th Air Force Commander General William Momyer cabled the following to the 388th TFW on the Cu Van POL mission: “I wish to add my own note of congratulations for the outstanding success in the execution of this mission. The professional manner in which the mission was carried out reflects outstandingly on the skill of all involved. Pass my ‘well done’ to all.”…
RTR QUOTE for 8 October: HORATIO NELSON, his last words: “Thank God, I have done my duty.”…
Lest we forget… Bear