ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED 9 OCTOBER 1966

RIPPLE SALVO… #222…  SWITCH TO MIGHTY THUNDER…where the good stuff is… BELLINGER gets a MIG and a SS…

Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO of the long look back to the air war over North Vietnam fifty years ago… 

9 OCTOBER 1966… THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES… On a cloudy Sunday waiting for the rainy Monday…

Page 1: “British Again Ask Soviet To Agree To Geneva Talks”…”Britain has again asked the Soviet Union to join her in reconvening the 1954 Geneva conference on Indo-China as a step toward ending the Vietnam War. Foreign Secretary George Brown repeated the proposal to Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Foreign Minister, during a 90-minute meeting yesterday…at the U.N….A British source said afterwards that there was little chance that the proposal would be acceptable. Britain and the Soviet Union are co-chairmen of the conference, which was convened to end the eight year colonial war France had been fighting in Indochina. The 1954 meeting was attended by Communist China and the United States. The agreement partitioning Vietnam was signed by the Chinese and representatives of what was to become North Vietnam. It was not signed by the United States or representatives of the emerging nation of South Vietnam.”… Page 1: “G.O.P. Threatened In South By Loss Of Backlash Vote”…”White backlash is threatening the prospects of some of the South’s most promising Republican candidates this fall only two years after it helped carry the Deep South for Barry Goldwater. This could thwart Republican hopes of electing a Southern Governor for the first time in more than 40 years and contribute to holding the party to token, if any, gains in Congress. The party is better organized and is fielding a larger number of candidates in the South this year than in the past, however, and the general drift continues to be a two party South.”…

Page 1: “Soviets Big Crop To Spur Economy”…”The Soviet Union’s record grain harvest this year, called amazing, raises important implications, not only for the health of the country’s economy, but also for its foreign policy and the future of its leadership.”…. Page 2: “Senators To Send A Team To Vietnam To Check Shortages”…”The Senate Preparedness sub-committee will send a team of investigators to Vietnam next week to look into the supply and manpower requirements of American military forces there.”…  Page 2: “Vietnamese Off To A Slow Start In Drafting Charter”…”The drafting of a new Constitution for South Vietnam is getting off to a slow start. A 117 member constituent assembly elected September 11 to draft a constitution as a first step toward a return to civilian rule has been absorbed in procedural business and side issues (backstage politicking, credential checks, resolution writing, etc.).”

Page 1: “Orioles Beat Dodgers, 1-0″…”The Baltimore Orioles continued their surprising rush toward a World Series Title yesterday by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers for the third straight time. Paul Blair hit a 5th inning home run and pitcher Wally bunker limited the Dodgers to 6 hits.”… Football Scores: Syracuse-28 Navy -14; Notre Dame-35 Army-0; Nebraska 31 Wisconsin-0 (for you Brownbear); Georgia Tech- 6 Tennessee-3; Alabama-26 Clemson-0; Oklahoma-18 Texas-9….”

9 OCTOBER 1966…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (10 October reporting 9 October ops)…Page 5: “…MIGs showed up as several flights of F-105s struck Nguyen Khe oil storage site 15 miles south of Hanoi. The first flight after sighting 3 MIG-21s briefly exchanged fire with no reported damage. The second flight of F-105s sighted 2 MIG-21s but was attacked by 2 MIG-17s who made a single sloashing attack then departed. No damage. A third flight of F-105s attacking the same oil storage target was jumped by two MIG-21s that flew thfough without firing. A fourth F-105 flight in sthe same area reported sighing numerous MIG-17s but may have been seeing many of the same aircraft.”… Page 5: “The Navy, Marines and Air Force flew 35 missions in the day over North Vietnam. Despite poor weather and moderate to heavy anti-aircraft fie the aircraft struck the usual pattern of targets–oil depots and radar sites around Hanoi and Haiphong and trucks, barges, and staging areas near Thanh Hoa and Donghoi. All of these missions were above the 17th and demilitarized zone. In these operations one Skyraider ws downed by enemy fire. The pilot was listed as missing in action. In south Vietnam another American aircraft was lost–an O-1 Birdog. The pilot died as he made a crash landing at Da Nang after being hit.” (These two losses reported by Hobson on 8 October: LT FELDHAUS, KIA and CAPTAIN SCHULTZ, KIA)…

“Vietnam: Air Losses”(Hobson) Two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on Sunday, 9 October 1966…

(1) A Birdog O-1E of the 21st TASS and 14th ACW was lost in a pilot error accident. No injuries. (pride?)

(2) LCDR CHARLES NEILS TANNER and LT ROSS RANDLE TERRY were flying an F-4B of the VF-154 Black Knights embarked in USS CORAL SEA…

Quoted from Hobson… Two Phantoms were assigned flak suppression duties during a major air strike on a railway bridge at Phu Ly, 30 miles south of Hanoi. The lead aircraft was hit in the rear fuselage by a 100mm anti-aircraft shell as it started its roll-in to attack the target. Engine warning lights started flashing and the electrical system and hydraulics began to fail as a fire burned through the aircraft’s structure. The aircraft quickly became uncontrollable and the crew ejected at a speed of MACH 1.3 with the aircraft inverted in a 60-degree dive. They landed about seven miles northwest of Ninh Binh and were captured. The pair were severely beaten for giving misleading information under torture that was later repeated by the North Vietnamese in a press briefing in Paris. The two fliers claimed to be Clark Kent and Ben Casey!

LCDR TANNER was on his second tour in southeast Asia and had flown 125 missions, whereas LT TERRY was a relative new comer and was only on his 20th mission when he was shot down. both men were released on 4 March 1973 and both eventually retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain. In at least one reference the loss of the Phantom is attributed to an Atoll missile fired by a MIG-21. During the rescue attempt for these two airmen a dogfight developed between four A-1H Skyraiders of VA-176 and four MIG-17s with the result that one of the MIG-17s was shot down.”  unquote…

RIPPLE SALVO… #222… SHORT POST FOR ME ON THIS SATURDAY EVENING …PLEASE CHECK OUT THE 9 October “MIGHTY THUNDER” POST and enjoy CAPTAIN BROWN BEAR SCHAFFERT’s retelling of COMMANDER DICK BELLINGER’s brushes with NVN MIGs and the Secretary of Defense. 

Lest we forget…          Bear                ……….  –30–  ……….