RIPPLE SALVO… #491… Somebody needs to explain to Humble Host how logging 200 strike missions into the full range of well defended targets of North Vietnam cannot be DISTINGUISHED FLYING … but first…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED NINETY-ONE of a revisit of Operation Rolling Thunder, an air war fought fifty years ago…
9 July 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a rainy Sunday in NYC…
Page 1: Hanoi Losses Put at 505 In Two Days–McNamara Continues Talks in Saigon–5 Crewmen Killed in B-52 Crash”… “American Marines killed 505 North Vietnamese in three encounters near the DMZ Thursday and yesterday. Three Marines were killed and one wounded in the actions which air strikes and artillery killed many of the enemy.”… “A SAC B-52 crashed and burned attempting an emergency landing at Danang. Five of the six crewmen were killed (See RTR 8 July for names of crew)… Page 1: “General Westmoreland Contends He Needs More American Troops”… “Other officials insist however, that a bigger share of the war’s burden must be borne by the South Vietnamese Army, which has generally disappointed American military leaders. The South Vietnamese troops outnumbered the Americans by 154,000, but in many cases incurred substantially fewer casualties.”… Page 4: “McNamara Near Buffer”… “Defense McNamara flew within five miles of a firefight between U.S. Marines and North Vietnamese regulars south of the DMZ today. Naval gunfire, artillery and jet bombers could be heard supporting the Marines…four Marine A-4 jet fighters flew cover for the five helicopters used to transport the McNamara party.”… Page 4: “Hanoi Is Said To Set 3 Terms For Talks”… “Lord Brockway said today on his return from the Stockholm ‘Peace in Vietnam Conference’ that representatives from North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front, the political arm of the Vietcong, reiterated that they would be willing to enter into peace negotiations if three conditions were met. They were: (1) Unconditional cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam by the United States; (2) Recognition of direct representatives from the NLF at any peace negotiations; and, (3) Embodiment of the terms of the 1954 Geneva Agreement and settlement.”
Page 1: “Israel And Egypt Clash Once More In the Canal Area–Tel Aviv Says its Jets Cross Canal to Bomb UAR Guns–Cairo Claims Victory–MIG Reported Downed–Planes Clash Over Sinai–Security Council Meets at Request of Both Sides”… “Israel jet fighters crossed the Suez Canal today to knock-out Egyptian artillery positions on the west bank…The Israelis reported downing a MIG-21 in a dog fight to further shatter the fragile peace in the Suez area.” Page 15: “Thant In Security Council Presses For Truce Force For Sinai”...believes an observer force is needed to prevent further breaches of the cease-fire between Israel and the UAR…there is no agreement on the Thant request by either Nation.”… Page 17: “Soviet Says Its New Swing Wing Flies At twice the Speed of Sound”… “The new aircraft, as yet not identified by a code name–was described as able to fold back its wings in flight and break the sound barrier at sea level”…
RACIAL UNREST: Page 34: “Black Nationalism Grows in Watts as Negroes Complain of Lack of Gains”… “In Watts, as in any other Ghetto, there are always youths on the streets and now they no longer attempt to mask their discontent…In Watts the young people have turned to Black Nationalism…Watts has become the black symbol of revolt. It is a badge of prestige…Population inside the curfew area is estimated at between 400,000 and 500,000…Summer in Watts will be long and hot. And already there have been warnings that the conditions to produce another riot still exist.”… Page 35: “New Riot Threat: The Fire Bombers–Cincinnati Police Say They Employ Guerrilla Attacks”... “Fresh outbreaks of violence here this week have focused attention on a new breed of Negro rioter: the hit and run fire-bomber. ‘They are guerrilla fighters,’ police Chief Jacob Schott said. ‘Three or four can take a car, a few pop bottles and a five gallon can of gasoline and bun down half the city. We have had the worst fire year since we started keeping records back in the 1800s. Most of it has come from Molotov cocktails.”…
Page 36: “NAACP Parley Opens Tomorrow”... “The 58th Annual Convention opens tomorrow in Boston and iis confident that it will emerge stronger than ever from the current national crisis in the Civil Rights movement. Roy Wilkins is executive director of the NAACP: discussing the reason for the defeat of the civil rights legislation in Congress for the first time in nine years… ‘The answer depends upon the point of view. The peace advocates attribute the failure to the war in Vietnam. Others blamed the riots on the strident call for black power. And then there was the widely held view that the nation was no longer interested in civil rights. One thing is certain: neither the peace advocates, nor the rioters attempted to mobilize support for the legislation. That burden was carried by the NAACP. Some of the erstwhile supporters of civil rights legislation, both Negro and white, completely abandoned the effort to seek enactment of the vital measures encompassed in the bill.”…
Page 38: “The New Left Convention Next Month Will Seek Strategy to Defeat Johnson”... “About 200 peace, civil rights and New Left student organizations are being invited to devise a strategy aimed at defeating President Johnson for reelection. Called ‘National Conference for New Politics,’ the keynote speaker will be Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”…
STATE DEPARTMENT Office of Historian FRUS, 1964-68, Vol V, Vietnam, 1967… Robert Komer was the man in charge of the “pacification” of South Vietnam. In early July 1967 LBJ was looking for all the help he could get on making a troop level decision and Komer was requested to forward his assessment of progress and requirements moving forward. The Komer response is in a telegram from Walt Rostow to the President on 9 July that was received at the LBJ Ranch… May be of interest as a general sitrep from the point of view of one of the administration’s optimists… Read at:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d234
9 JULY 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (10 July reporting 9 July ops) Page 1: “In Raids Against North Vietnam, Navy pilots reported setting off a large explosion and a giant fireball today when they raided an oil storage area four miles from Haiphong. A spokesman said the pilots also destroyed an anti-aircraft missile site. Two A-4 Skyhawk jets were shot down and both pilots were missing. This brought to 602 the number of American planes lost over the North in Rolling Thunder…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 9 July 1967…
(1) LT CHARLES RICHARD LEE was flying an A-4C of the VA-146 Blue Diamonds embarked in USS Constellation in an air wing strike on the Haiphong POL storage site. The strike group was taken under fire by a volley of SAMs as they prepared to roll-in on the target. LT LEE’s Skyhawk was hit full on by a SAM, came apart and spun into the ground without any chance for an ejection. LT LEE was Killed in Action on the battlefield fifty years ago and is remembered with admiration and respect. His remains were returned by the North Vietnamese in June 1983 and he rests in peace.
(2) LCDR EDWARD HOLMES MARTIN, Executive Officer, VA-34, was flying an A-4C of the VA-34 Roadrunners embarked in USS Intrepid leading an air wing strike on the army barracks at Yen Bay. En route to the target south of Hai Duong the formation was taken under attack by a volley of SAMs. LCDR MARTIN’s aircraft was peppered by shrapnel from an exploding missile forcing LCDR MARTIN to eject 10 miles south of Hai Duong. He served out the duration of the war as a POW returning in March 1973 to resume his distinguished naval career. He commanded USS Saratoga before flag selection. He retired as a four-star in 1989. …oohrah…
RIPPLE SALVO… #491… Napoleon understood the value of a piece of ribbon. He said men would die for such reward. “It is with baubles that men are led.” Unfortunately, the administration of a reward and recognition program is impossible to run 100% fair and equitable. As a consequence, few and far between are the Rolling Thunder warriors who can’t tell a Vietnam award story that will leave you shaking your head. To maintain a level head, I assiduously duck the subject, except for one big beef….the Navy went the whole war shortchanging the junior officers–the wingmen. The JOs went the same places and did the same things, and as often as not scored better hits than the leaders who piled up the Silver Stars and DFCs. Twenty-five Air Medals and a few Green Weenies without a single DFC was a standard issue for a young carrier pilot who logged more than 200 missions over the North in two cruises. The system showed flexibility by creating two Air Medals–one for heroic individual missions, and the Strike Flight Air Medal for 20 points or 10 missions times 2 points for a strike mission. Why not a dual path to the Distinguished Flying Cross? Surely, 200 missions delivering bombs on targets as well defended as were the bridges of North Vietnam rates recognition as being distinguished flying. Extraordinary achievement and heroism are the criteria. Let’s face it, the old guys screwed the JOs…That’s my opinion, what’s yours…
RTR QUOTE for 9 July: Senator William Fulbright to his old friend and former partner in the Senate, LBJ, in a July 1967 meeting in the White House: “The Vietnam War is a hopeless venture. I will not support it any longer.”…
Lest we forget… Bear