RIPPLE SALVO… #613… The New York Times editorial staff questions the Administration’s facts and figures and the optimism based on shaky– “body count” — numbers in a little OpEd “The Clouded Crystal Ball”… … but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED THIRTEEN of a closer look at an air war fought for 40 months five years ago called Rolling Thunder…
9 NOVEMBER 1967…HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a cloudy Thursday on the island between the Hudson and East Rivers…
Page 1: “Both Parties Hail Election Results As Prelude to ’68–John Bailey of DNC Sees Success in ‘The Big One’ and Ray Bliss of GOP Finds New Upsurge–White House is Silent–Ford Stresses Voting Gains In Cities–Humphrey Praises Tate’s Triumph”… Page 1: “Abbu Eban Condemns 2 Drafts In UN on Issue of Talks–Israel Says US And Indian Plans Fail To Support Call For Direct Negotiations–Security Council To Meet Today–Hopes for Advance Toward Mideast Peace Settlement Are Viewed As Meager”… Page 1: “Cairo Says It Guarantees Israel The Right To Exist”… “…Cairo’s strongest public affirmation since the June war that it considered itself bound to not infringe on Israel security.”... Page 1: “Thieu’s Old Aides Get Cabinet Jobs”… “Americans in Saigon voice disappointment at absence of wide representation.”… Page 3: “Johnson Signs Bill for Women Generals–Pins Bronze Star On Army Nurse–Legion of Merit On Another”… Page 24: “Saturn 5 Lift-Off Scheduled Today–Unmanned Lunar Rocket to Splashdown In Pacific–Eight Hour, 40 Minute Test Flight”… Page 6: “Johnson Maps Visit To Military Bases On Veteran’s Day”…
9 November 1967… The President’s Daily Brief… COMMUNIST CHINA: There are a number of signs that militant Peking is having trouble convincing militant Red Guards to abandon violence and return to school. Tensions between opposing Red Guard organizations remain high in many areas and clashes between rival groups appear to have increased recently. The level of violence however is far below that of last summer…. NORTH VIETNAM: Hanoi Reaffirms Terms for Settlement: Premier Pham Van Dong has reaffirmed Hanoi’s standard terms for a settlement of the war and for talks with the US. At a reception honoring a visiting Soviet anniversary delegation on 7 November, Dong told his audience that the basis ‘to settle the Vietnam problem is the four points of the North Vietnamese Government and the political program of the Liberation front–the only genuine representative of the South Vietnamese people.’ He further declared that if the US wants talks with Hanoi, it ‘must act on the 28 January statement of Foreign Minister Nguyen Duy Trinh.’ That statement called on the US to halt unconditionally the bombings ‘and all other acts of war’ against North Vietnam as the conditions for talks. Dong gave no indication that Hanoi is now demanding that such a bombing halt be ‘definitive’ (i.e., final or permanent) as did Party First Secretary Le Duan in a 3 November speech before the Supreme “Soviet in Moscow….
Construction Continuing At Yen Bai Airfield: Photography of 29 October shows construction is continuing to the runway at Yen Bai airfield northwest of Hanoi. Concrete appears to have been laid on part of the runway and the parallel taxiway. Three parking aprons , 13 aircraft revetments, and a dispersal taxiway were also observed. This is the first progress noted at the field since 20 June when it appeared that preparations were under way to surface the runway….
Effects of US River Mining Operations: A correspondent stationed in North Vietnam has told officials that, as of early August, the people of North Vietnam were distressed by the fact that mines had been dropped into the rivers. The mines had not been removed because the North Vietnamese Navy was not familiar with mine sweeping methods. the traffic of river craft carrying rice and vegetables was restrict and river navigation appeared to be greatly obstructed, especially on rivers between Hanoi and Haiphong….
Hanoi On Negro Servicemen: A 6 November Hanoi English language broadcast to US troops in South Vietnam asserts that American Negroes are not only ‘suffering racial brutality and denied their freedom in the ghettos,’ but are also discriminated against in the armed forces and in Vietnam.’ The broadcast claims that few Negro soldiers can get officer’s rank and quotes Senator Edward Brooke as saying that ‘the Negro is not given the authority to attain command’….”…
9 NOVEMBER 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (10 Nov reporting 9 Nov ops)… Page 1: “In the air war, three more American warplanes were added today to the mounting toll of losses in operations against North Vietnam. The losses were disclosed with the publication of the weekly summary by the high command. The total number of planes downed over the North, given yesterday as 732 was increased to 735. No further information was made available as to the types of aircraft, the date on which they were lost or the fate of the aircrewmen. The loss of 40 planes has now been announced in little more than a month, although bad weather during this period has frequently restricted air strikes to the less heavily defended areas south of Hanoi and Haiphong.
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost on 9 November 1967…
(1) LCOL JOHN WILLIAM ARMSTRONG and 1LT LANCE PETER SIJAN were flying an F-4C of the 480th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang on a night interdiction mission in Steel Tiger. Their river ford target was about 25 miles northwest of the DMZ. On the second dive bombing run the aircraft was either hit by active AAA in the area or the premature explosion of one of their own bombs. LCOL ARMSTRONG headed the burning aircraft west toward Thailand but a few minutes later 50 miles short of Thailand, the pair of night warriors ejected… LCOL ARMSTRONG perished and he is presumed to have been killed-in-action in the crash or ejection and rests today, 50 years later, where he fell in the on the night of 9 November 1967… Left behind, but remembered here… The fate of 1LT LANCE PETER SIJAN, one of the bravest of the brave, is another story….
“On the night of 9 November 1967, for his 52nd combat mission, Sijan and pilot Lt. Col. John Armstrong were tasked with a bombing mission to Ban Loboy ford in Laos. As they rolled in on their target to release their ordnance, their F-4C was engulfed in a ball of fire due to the bomb fuses malfunctioning and causing a premature detonation on their release. Sijan managed to eject from the aircraft, and although seriously injured (he could not walk) and likely rendered unconscious in the ejection, his parachute landed him on a rocky limestone karst ridge adjacent to the target. From the night of 9/10 November to the morning of 11 November, no electronic or radio signals were heard from either Sijan or Armstrong. However, early on the morning of 11 November, Sijan made radio contact with a Misty FAC F-100F aircraft that was flying over his crash site. For the duration of that day, the USAF launched a massive effort to locate his position, and soften up the numerous enemy defenses in his area. At dusk, the SAR forces were finally able to position a Jolly Green Giant helicopter near Sijan’s position. (during the overall rescue-operation, over 20 aircraft were damaged by antiaircraft fire, and many had to return to base. One A-1H aircraft was shot down, though its pilot was soon rescued by a SAR helicopter on station. Sijan, refusing to put other airmen in danger, insisted on trying to crawl to a jungle penetrator lowered by the helicopter, and he opposed the helicopter’s para-jumper coming down to find and rescue him. Sadly, the helicopter crew could not see him in the heavy jungle, and strangely they did not deploy the para-Jumper to find and rescue him. After the Jolly Green hovered for 33 minutes , and upon hearing no further radio transmissions from Sijan, the on-scene SAR commander (flying an A-1H ‘Skyraider’ aircraft) suspected a trap, and thus ordered the Jolly Green and the entire SAR armada to withdraw. Search efforts continued the very next morning, but they were called off when no further radio contact was made with Sijan. He was then listed in a Missing in Action casually status.
“During his violent ejection and very rough parachute landing on the karst ridge. Sijan had suffered a fractured skull, a mangled right hand, and a compound fracture of the left leg. He was without food, with very little water, and no survival kit; nevertheless, he evaded enemy forces for 46 days. During this entire period, Sijan was only able to move by sliding on his buttocks and back along the rocky limestone ridge and later along the jungle floor. After managing to move several hundred thousand feet, Sijan crawled onto a truck road along the Ho Chi Minh trail, where he was finally captured by the North Vietnamese on Christmas Day 1967. Very emaciated and in poor health, Siujan was imprisoned in an NVA camp. Soon thereafter, he managed to incapacitate a guard and escape into the jungle, but was recaptured several hours later.
“Sijan was transported to a holding compound in Vinh, North Vietnam, where he was placed in the care of two other recently captured POWs, Air Force Major Robert R. Craner and Air Force Captain Guy Gruters. Although in terrific pain from his severe wounds and brutal beatings and torture from his captors. Sijan had not disclosed any information other than what the Geneva Convention guidelines allowed … Suffering terribly from exhaustion, malnutrition, and disease, he was soon transported to Hanoi, under the attentive care of both Craner and Gruters. However, in his weakened state, he contracted pneumonia and died in Hoa Lo Prison on 22 January 1968.” His remains were repatriated on 13 March 1974 and were positively identified on 22 April 1974. He was buried in Milwaukee with military honors.
Captain Sijan, promoted posthumously, was recommended for the Medal of Honor by his POW cell mates and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, which was received by his parents on his behalf from President Gerald Ford on 4 March 1976…
Quoted from the citation of CAPTAIN LANCE P. SIJAN’s Medal of Honor:
“While on a night flight over North Vietnam, Captain Sijan ejected from his disabled aircraft and successfully evaded capture for more than six weeks. During this time he was seriously injured and suffered from shock and extreme weight loss due to lack of food. After being captured by North Vietnamese soldiers, Captain Sijan was taken to a holding point for subsequent transfer to a prisoner of war camp. In this emaciated and crippled condition, he overpowered one of his guards and crawled into the jungle, only to be recaptured after several hours. He did not divulge any information to his captors. Captain Sijan lapsed into delirium and was placed in the care of another prisoner. During his intermittent periods of consciousness until his death, he never complained of his physical condition and on several occasions spoke of future escape attempts. Captain Sijan’s extraordinary heroism and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty at the cost of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Armed Forces.”…
RIPPLE SALVO… #613… NYT, OPED, November 1967: “A CLOUDED CRYSTAL BALL”…….
“The return of President Johnson’s top aides from Saigon to Washington for consultations has set the stage for a new chorus of official optimism, apparently designed to refute the spreading wave of national pessimism over the prospects in Vietnam.
“Typical is General William C. Westmoreland’s assessment of the situation in Southeast Asia today as ‘very, very encouraging’ and his prediction that a phaseout of United States forces there can begin in two years. Such assurance from an able and gallant soldier who has commanded United States forces in Vietnam for more than three years deserves respectful attention; but, coupled with similarly hopeful statements from the Administration’s civilian spokesmen, it is bound to be searchingly questioned.
“For one thing, the long road the United States has traveled to its present heavy involvement in Southeast Asia is littered with similar expressions of official expectations that were never fulfilled. As but one example, it was on November 1, 1963 that General Westmoreland’s predecessor, General Paul D. Harkins, was quote a saying victory was ‘just months away.’ On that same day the regime’ of Ngo Dinh Diem collapsed, and with it a whole range of American illusions.
“Another cause for skepticism is the persistence of conflicting evidence regarding aspects of the war which officials cite as grounds for hope. Last week, General Westmoreland’s headquarters reported a progressive decline in the fighting efficiency of Communist troops in South Vietnam during the last six months. Military spokesmen said 40,000 enemy troops had been killed during the period and that enemy troop strength had dropped from 285,000 to 242,000.
“These figures require close examination. Saigon’s estimates of enemy casualties are notoriously unreliable, being based on ‘body counts’ that, according to reporters in the field, sometimes do not take place. As to the apparent drop in enemy force levels, it may be recalled that American spokesmen in Saigon last spring were reporting a massive buildup in enemy forces. This happened just prior to submission of a request for additional American troops. After Defense Secretary McNamara had challenged the intelligence estimates, the Saigon command announced that it was scaling down its figures on the basis of new information. The drop reported last week may not represent an actual decline in enemy forces but merely a downward revision in estimates of these forces. Incidentally, a few days after enemy force levels had been pegged at 242,000, United States spokesmen in Saigon estimated enemy strength at 297,000.
“Such contradictions are by no means unusual. Last month, a high State Department official cited an alleged decline in Vietnam recruiting as evidence of turning tide in Vietnam. One of the Senators present thereupon produced a recent classified Defense Department document that showed the number of new Vietcong recruits ‘had gone up noticeably.’
“Even if the military situation in Vietnam is actually improving, this does not necessarily mean that the United States is significantly nearer to the avowed goal of creating a free, state South Vietnam capable of standing on its own feet. Many observers fear that the destruction of rural life that has accompanied military escalation in the South, and the steady Americanization of the war are actually making this goal more difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.
“To be sustained, Washington’s new optimism must be supported by more convincing evidence and reconciled with professed objectives.”…. AMEN
RTR Quotes for 9 November: AMBROSE BIERCE, The Devil’s Dictionary: “Optimist: A proponent of the doctrine that black is white.”… and DEAN INGE, Marchant, Wit and Wisdom of Dean Inge: “The Utopian is a poet who has gone astray.”…
Lest we forget… Bear