COMMANDO HUNT 1-7 SEPTEMBER 1969

COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973)…and WISHING ALL a THANKSGIVING WEEK OF GIVING THANKS AND COUNTING BLESSINGS…

LEST WE FORGET…  For the week ending 30 August 1969: The United States command in South Vietnam reported that 185 Americans were killed in battle and 1,057 were wounded. That was fewer than the previous week… From the pen of the great Ernie Pyle…”…to the fighting soldier that phase of the war is behind. It was left behind after the first battle. His blood is up. He is fighting for his life, and killing now for him is as much a profession as writing is for me.”… War is a killing business… Lest we forget…

GOOD MORNING. Humble Host remembers the FORTY-THIRD week of the hunt for trucks and North Vietnamese activity in the jungles of Laos. The hunt focused on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the network of hundreds of miles of roads and trails through the beleaguered “neutral” nation of Laos that linked the passes exiting North Vietnam with the invasion routes into the heart of South Vietnam. The COMMANDO HUNT interdiction campaign begun in November 1968 continued into 1972.

I.  HEADLINES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES for 1 through 7 September 1969…

A.  U.S. and WORLD NEWS… (1 Sept) CAMPUS VIOLENCE ACROSS THE NATION SPURS NEW LAWS–But States Show Restraint Despite Pressures For Tougher Legislation…”Students returning to college this month will find that new laws have been passed in more than half the states by legislatures angered over last spring’s campus disruptions…. This apparent national awareness that college in 1969-70 is a sociological experience and not merely books and ivy, football games, and pretty girls, is further reflected in the fact that nearly every state legislature in the country has at least debated what to do when the students rise up against the colleges and universities.”… ROCKY MARCIANO KILLED WITH TWO IN PLANE CRASH–Undefeated Heavyweight Champion, 46, Was On Visit to Des Moines… BRAZILIAN LEADER COSTA E. SILVALS SUFFERS STROKE–Military Ruling–Ministers of Army, Navy and Air Force Say Take-Over Will Not Be Permanent–Vice President Barred–Banks and Markets Closed… IRAQIS OBEY ORDERS TO LEAVE LEBANON–15,000 Expected To Heed Command By Baghdad…  (2 Sept) PRESIDENT URGES GOVERNORS TO AID NEW FEDERALISM–Goal Of ‘Strategy For the ’70’s’ Is To Gain Greater Control Over Problems–Partnership Stressed… DREW PEARSON DIES–Columnist Was Often At Center Of Controversy… A JUNTA IN LEBANON OUSTS MONARCHY–Sets Up A Republic–Military Council Proclaims Socialist State After Coup Without Bloodshed… JORDAN BOMBED BY ISRAELI JETS–Raid Is Termed Retaliation For Attack On Kibbutz… (3 Sept) KOPEKNE INQUEST PUT OFF BY JUDGE ON KENNEDY PLEA–Court Will Decide If The Procedure Violates Senator’s Rights… GOVERNORS URGED TO TAKE OVER ALL RELIEF COSTS–Adopt Rockefeller Proposal For Reforms In Welfare… (4 Sept) HO CHI MINH DEAD AT 79–North Vietnam Expected To Hold To War Policies–Has Heart Attack–He Won Independence For Nation And Led War Against United States… STENNIS CHARGES ARMS FUND CUTS ENDANGER NATION–Answers Pentagon Critics As Senate Resumes It’s Debate After Recess–Fears 2nd Rate status–Senators Defense of New Giant Transport Plane Challenged by Proxmire… EX-POW’s CHARGE HANOI WITH TORTURE… “Two American prisoners of war recently released by the North Vietnamese gave a picture today of brutality at the hands of captors and of torture of their fellow prisoners.”… (5 Sept) VIETCONG DECLARE THREE-DAY TRUCE IN MEMORY OF HO CHI MINH–U.S. Indicates Acceptance If Hanoi Agrees… BIRTH CONTROL PILLS SAFE–Drug Agency Report Says… NEW YORK CITY RAIN WORST SINCE 1944–Subways, Busses and Trains Slowed By Downpours… (6 Sept) ISRAEL CONTINUES RAIDS ON LEBANON IN TACTICAL SHIFT–Air Attacks Followed By A Ground Assault Across Border In Response To Shelling–Guerrilla Area Target–Previous Policy Has Been A Limited Reply By Planes and Artillery… NIXON AIDE AFFIRMS U.S. WILL PRESS FOR CHINA TIES… .PRAGUE INDICATES PURGE HAS BEGUN–Party Discipline Unit Says Liberal Opportunists Are To Be Called To Account… CHOU EN LAI REASSURES NORTH VIETNAM OF BACKING IN WAR–Then Returns to Peking Avoiding Meeting Kosygin At Ho Chi Minh Funeral…TRUCE EXTENSION SEEN UNLIKELY–U.S. Aides See No Effect On Withdrawal Of Troops… (7 Sept) U.S. RECOGNIZES THE LIBYAN JUNTA THAT OUSTED KING–Timing Of Action Linked To Delivery Of First Group of F-4 Jets To Israel–Britain, France, Italy Also Extend Diplomatic Ties To Revolutionary Council… DEFENSE BUILDING IN U.S. IS CURBED–Laird Imposes A Temporary Freeze On New Projects…

B.  THE VIETNAM WAR… (1 Sept) MEN OF COMPANY A DEFEND BEHAVIOR UNDER FIRE  (Complete story at end of this post) … NAVY SHELLS FOE IN DMZ… “United States land and naval guns shelled North Vietnam’s half of the demilitarized zone yesterday for the first time in 37 days after the enemy fired on an American scout plane…”… TROOPS ON ALERT… “…troops in 11 provinces around Saigon were on alert as a precaution on the 24th anniversary Tuesday of the proclamation of Ho Chi Minh’s government in North Vietnam.”… (2 Sept) U.S. COMPLETES MEKONG PULLOUT–VIETNAMESE TAKE OVER AT BASE–HEAVY FIGHTING NEAR SAIGON… “The United States command today completed its pullout from the Mekong River Delta region–often called the rice basket of Asia–as it turned over the Ninth Infantry Division headquarters at Dongtam to the South Vietnamese Army…. Continuing the American policy of handing over an increasing share of the fighting to the South Vietnamese… the big air base at Nhatrang on the eastern central coast soon would come under complete South Vietnamese control.”… “South Vietnamese commandos led by American Special Force troops were reported in heavy fighting today with troops of a North Vietnamese regiment near the province capital of Songbe, 80 miles north of Saigon.”… (3 Sept) CHINA LABOR UNIT BELIEVED OUT OF NORTH VIETNAM–Withdrawal of 40,000 Who Maintained Transport Net Reported Completed–U.S. Aides Say Move Also May Reflect Displeasure Over Hanoi’s Policies… G.I.’s FLOWN TO AID ALLIED UNITS NEAR SONGBE– Fail to Find Foe… (4 Sept) B-52s POUND AREA TO BLOCK ATTACK–Strike Near Cambodian Line To Smash Threat To Song Be… (5 Sept) HEAVY SHELLING BY VIETCONG REPORTED–66 Villages and Bases Are Reported Hit In Vietnam With 26 Rated Significant… CLASH IN CAMBODIA… “United States command said today that American and South Vietnamese troops fought a skirmish in Cambodia Monday after a helicopter had been attacked and crashed in Cambodia…. The command also reported that 185 Americans were killed and 1,057 were wounded in the week ended last Saturday (30 Aug)…”… (6 Sept) ENEMY’s ROCKETS POUND AT DANANG AND NEARBY BASES… “Vietcong gunners blasted Danang and nearby military installations with nearly 100 mortar shells and rockets early today… at least 13 civilians were killed…Sharp ground fighting also raged in a jungle area about 60 miles north of Saigon. In one battle, troops of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment fought with an enemy company near Anloc and killed 40 of them. Two United States soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in the engagement.”... 83 BASES STRUCK… “In the largest number of attacks since their fall campaign opened August 12, Vietcong and North Vietnamese gunners rained rockets and mortars on 83 allied bases and towns early Friday. Enemy ground forces attacked nine allied bases but on a far smaller scale than at the beginning of the campaign. Incomplete reports from the field said 140 enemy soldiers, about 20 Americans and 30 South Vietnamese had been killed… (7 Sept) 3 BATTLES ARE REPORTED… “Three battles raged in the jungles north of Saigon today on the second day of heavy enemy attacks across South Vietnam. The bitter-fighting came after enemy gunners shelled 40 allied bases and towns overnight, including the year’s heaviest rocket and mortar attack against Danang and 15 U.S. military installations around Danang…In the overnight shelling at least 140 enemy rockets and mortars rounds were fired. At least 16 persons (3 Marines) were killed and 155 wounded (12 Marines).”… U.S.-AIDED LAOTIAN DRIVE ON REDS REPORTED BEGUN… “Reliable sources said today that Laotian Government forces supported by American air power had opened an offensive into the Plaine des Jarres, apparently in an effort to cut North Vietnamese supply routes and forestall attacks by rebel forces.”…

C.  THE PARIS PEACE TALKS… (3 Sept) HANOI WANTS U.S. TO SPEED PULLOUT–Delegate Indicates In Paris Such A Move Would Mean Progress In Talks… “Xuan Thuy, the chief delegate of North Vietnam’s delegation in Paris indicated today that some progress could be made at the peace talks here if the United States accelerated its withdrawal of troops from South Vietnam. He said his side would ‘take into account’ such action by Washington, although he continued to speak of total and unconditional withdrawal of American and other non-Vietnamese forces as ‘legitimate demand of the Vietnamese people… The United States must accept the principle of withdrawal, then put it into practice…It is evident that if withdrawals occur at the present rate, we cannot make a judgment. On the other hand, if Mr. Nixon withdraws forces in a considerable and rapid way, we will take account of that.'”... (4 Sept) NO EFFECT SEEN IN PEACE TALKS IN PARIS–U.S. Officials Say Death Of Mystical Leader Ho Chi Minh Won’t Alter Peace Outlook…

II. COMMANDO HUNT II (APRIL-NOVEMBER 1969) Source: Headquarters PACAF AIR OPERATIONS SOUTHEAST ASIA Summary for August 1969, held by HRA, Maxwell AFB… (Rolling Thunder–North Vietnam–portion of August ops: see CH/RTR Week 42 post of 18 November 2019). This post covers the operations in Laos, including both BARREL ROLL to the north and STEEL TIGER (COMMANDO HUNT) in the panhandle…

“Attack sorties flown in Laos during August decreased 7% from the previous month. Sharply reduced air operations in Steel Tiger reflect diminished enemy logistics movement across routes made virtually impassable by record monsoon rains and repeated cratering by strike aircraft. Operations in Barrel Roll increased substantially to support friendly ground offensive activity and to interdict troop and supply movements from North Vietnam. The southwest monsoon dominated the weather pattern during the first half of the month resulting in poor to marginal flying conditions in Steel Tiger and Barrel Roll more than 80% of the time. In mid-month, a strong high pressure ridge disrupted the southwest wind flow reducing cloud coverage and precipitation. Favorable conditions (greater that a 5,000-foot ceiling and 5 miles visibility) predominated during the period 16-31 August signaling the advent of a shifting weather pattern.

“ARC LIGHT sorties decreased to 145 from last months 417. This reduction was caused by a decrease in total ARC LIGHT effort with no concomitant decrease in in-country utilization of the B-52s. Strikes were primarily directed against truck park/storage areas, logistic complexes, bunkers and bivouac areas in the vicinity of Base Areas 610 and 611 (Operation Menu). Reconnaissance aircraft flew 861 successful sorties in Laos, 535 in Steel Tiger and 326 in Barrel Roll. 108 sorties were unsuccessful primarily due to weather. Two of the three night sorties being flown daily were fragged into Barrel Roll to support the increased activity in that area. The laser system remains the primary night sensor. 452 ECM/ELINT/ARDF sorties supporting operations in Laos were flown by EB-66 and EC-47 aircraft.

“USAF attack sorties totaled 8,265, an increase over last month’s total of 8,123. Additionally, USAF flew 6,078 combat support sorties in Laos. This included FAC, SAR, command and control, reconnaissance, tanker and flare missions. The USN flew 1,971 attack sorties and the USMC flew 530. Combat support missions flown by the USN and USMC were 115 and 211 respectively… Pilots and Roadwatch Teams sighted 2,893 vehicles (398 and 2,495 respectively). Average daily sightings were 93, the same as July 1969.

“The enemy Anti-Air Order of Battle in Laos now stands at 136 automatic weapons, 367 37/57mm guns, and two 85mm guns, a 13% decrease in the total number of weapons reported last month. These figures include only those weapons that are photo confirmed. During August, attacks on gun positions in Barrel Roll resulted in a reported 39 weapons destroyed and 3 damaged. In Steel Tiger 16 weapons were destroyed….

“The combination of cumulative weather damage and air strike activity has severely limited enemy logistic capability in the Laotian panhandle. Some road repair activity was noted but the LOC structure cannot presently support and sustain logistic drive. Route 8 north of Nape Pass was not being used to transport goods southward. Routes 12F, 1201 and 1201 south of Mugia Pass were impassable. Route 912 south of Ban Karai Pass was used only on isolated segments. The only input into southern Laos from NVN occurred in the DMZ area where supplies were portered from the border and then floated down the Se Bang Hieng River.

“Special munitions used in Steel Tiger during August were 52 Paveway I missions, 910 MK-36 Destructors, and 131 AGM-12C (Big) Bullpups.

III. AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: 1-7 SEPTEMBER 1969… References include the report of Chris Hobson, VIETNAM AIR LOSSES, which is available on line at  https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com (Thanks David Lovelady and Chris Hobson for making this possible) and the PACAF SOUTHEAST ASIA Air Ops Monthly Summary Report for September 1969. During the week ending 7 September three American fixed wing aircraft were lost and twelve American warriors perished in the incidents…

(1) On the night of 1/2 September an AC-47D Spooky Gunship of the 4th SOS and 14th SOW, call sign Spooky 71, crewed by eight American air warriors, responded to support friendly troops in contact with enemy troops 20 miles east of Bien Hoa. After taking hits in the right wing the aircraft started for home at 6,000-feet. Shortly thereafter radio and radar contact with Spooky 71 was lost. The aircraft crashed at the 500-foot level of a hill approximately 7 miles west of Xuan Loc. Chris Hobson reported the incident this way: “The aircraft arrived at the scene and started firing but it was hit in the starboard wing by ground fire and the aircraft crashed in Long Khanh Province. (All aboard were killed) This was the last USAF Spooky lost during the war. The 3rd SOS was inactivated on this day and its aircraft passed on to the VNAF and the 4th SOS followed suit by the end of the year. A total of 19 AC-47s had been lost during four years of service with the USAF. While the aircraft had its limitations and was too vulnerable for employment in daylight or over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the AC-47 had certainly proved the value of the gunship concept and the pioneering work done by the Spooky crews was greatly developed by the AC-119 and AC-130 units.”… Killed in Action on this fatal flight were: CAPTAIN ROBERT PAUL ACHER; CAPTAIN JAMES SUTHERLAND PITCHES; 1LT RAY COLON WILLIAMS; MSGT HARRY HERR WECKER; TSGT WILLIE WARNIE ALLEY; TSGT LESTER MELVIN CAVALLIN; TSGT ALBERT CARL McBRIDE, and SSGT FRED WINSTON SMITH.  Today they rest in peace at cemeteries across their homeland, and they are forever memorialized in Washington on The Wall. Humble Host suggests readers visit each of these warriors for a few minutes of remembrance at:

https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces

(2) On 3 September an F-4D of the 25th TFS and 8th TFW out of Ubon piloted by COLONEL D.N. STANFIELD and WSO 1LT C.E. DORN, call sign Nash 02, was damaged by ground fire while conducting a LORAN calibration flight at 1,500-feet over Northern Laos (Barrel Roll) ten miles south of Sam Neua. COL STANFIELD was able to fly the bleeding Phantom back into Thailand before an ejection was required about five miles from the airfield at Udorn. Both he and WSO 1LT DORN were rescued by an HH-43 from Udorn… Hobson notes: “The 215th TFS flew many unarmed cross-country sorties code named Operation Diogenes in order to re-calibrate the LORAN ground stations distributed throughout Southeast Asia.”…

(3) In the early morning hours of 6 September an EC-121R Bat Cat of the 554th RS and 553rd RW out of Korat went down while executing an instrument approach in a heavy rainstorm to the runway at Korat. Hobson: “The aircraft took off during the afternoon of the 5th for a 13-hour mission, much of which was flown in poor weather which deteriorated further as the aircraft approached Korat. The pilot aborted the first attempt to land due to poor visibility in driving rain and was given vectors for another approach. The second approach appeared normal until about one mile from touchdown when the aircraft suddenly lost altitude and crashed into the approach lights about 3,000-feet short of the runway. The fuselage broke into three sections, which then caught on fire. Within minutes a HH-43 from Detachment 4 of the 38th ARRS arrived with a fire suppression kit but the rescue was hampered by poor visibility caused by smoke and the torrential rain, while flooded streams and concertina wire impeded ground movement. Eventually 12 of the 16 crew were rescued from the wreck, four of them by the HH-43. Unfortunately, the navigator and three others of the crew died and four local Thais on the ground were also killed when the aircraft hit them…. this aircraft had previously flown from Barbers Point NAS, Hawaii, with a Navy AEW squadron until it was converted into an EC-121R for the Air Force in 1967.”… Four brave airmen perished on this mission in support of combat in Southeast Asia. They are: MAJOR JOYFUL J. JENKINS; SSGT GUNTHER H. REHLING; SGT ARNOLD NOEL JACO; and, SGT JULIUS C. HOULDITCH. Humble Host suggests you drop by the VVMF, Wall of Faces memorial pages for MAJOR JOYFUL J. JENKINS, USAF, and read a few of the remembrances for MAJOR JENKINS, including one that provides an eyewitness account of the final moments of the flight, and this one from a young lady named MYLISA JENKINS, WHO WROTE on 2 October 2008: “HI GRANDPA… Although I was not blessed with your presence, I am reminded of you everyday… your daughter, my mother is a spittin’ image of you, your mannerisms and your will. Love you!”…

IV. HUMBLE HOST END NOTE… Two previous posts included extensive coverage ot COMPANY A and their “balking” at going forward after five consecutive days of hard fighting and suffering many casualties, both killed and wounded. This note presents the take of James Reston on the incident that was a national page-one story for two weeks of August 1969. As you read Reston and the dilemma of President Nixon fifty years ago, ponder the similar situation that President Trump is faced with in 2019. The Reston OpEd is from page 42 of The New York Times on 27 August 1969. I quote…

A WHIFF OF MUTINY (behind NYT paywall)…

“In every American war there have been isolated incidents of mutiny among the troops. It is the tragic human pattern. There is a breaking point where discipline, duty and even loyalty to the men at your side are overwhelmed by fear and death in a paralyzing feeling of the senselessness of the whole bloody operation. And now we are getting a glimpse of it in Vietnam. Horst Faas and Peter Arnett of the Associated Press, two of the most courageous reporters of the Vietnam war, have now reported such an incident by men of Company A of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade’s battle weary Third Battalion in the Songchamp Valley, and the surprising thing is that there has not been more of this sort of thing under the present circumstances.

“Consider  the position of the men of Company A. Most of them were nineteen and twenty-year-olds, drafted into the Army. For five days they had obeyed orders to move down a jungled glen against an enemy concealed in underground bunkers. Most of their squad and platoon leaders had been killed or wounded. In the repeated attacks on the bunkers, Company A was down to sixty men, half the assigned combat strength, some of them in the last days of their year’s tour of duty in Vietnam. This is not, of course, a typical situation. Yet it must give President Nixon something to think about as he plans his Vietnam policy.

THE PRESIDENT’S WORRIES…

He has been worried about revolt of the voters against the war, and even about a revolt of the generals if he humiliates them by pulling out too fast, but now he also has to consider the possibility of a revolt of the men if he risks their lives in a war he has decided to bring to a close. This is a devilish problem for everybody concerned, but particularly for men who find themselves in the position of Company A. The President is no longer saying that military victory in Vietnam is ‘vital’ to the national interest. He is not claiming that a defeat in Vietnam would result in the ‘loss’ of Southeast Asia. In fact, he is not only withdrawing troops from Saigon but opening talks for the withdrawal of troops from Thailand. Accordingly, battles for bunkers in the Songchang valley (Now called “Death Valley” in the history books) are tactical moves in the President’s strategy of retreat. He is asking Company A to fight for time to negotiate a settlement with Hanoi that will save his face but may very well cost their lives. He is also carrying on the battle in the belief, or pretense, that the South Vietnamese will really be able to defend their country and our democratic objectives when we withdraw, and even his own generals don’t believe the South Vietnamese will do it. It is a typical political strategy and the really surprising thing is that there have been so few men, like the tattered remnants of Company A, who have refused to die for it.

“At some point, the President is going to have to recognize that there is a fundamental difference between his policy of withdrawing gracefully from the war, and ending the war. The difference between what is graceful and what is decisive in ending the war is a great many lives of young men like the men in Company A, and while this may not produce a revolt among the Young Americans in the army in Vietnam, it almost certainly will produce a revolt among their contemporaries in the universities at home.

“The President is now said to be delaying the withdrawal of another 25,000 or 50,000 men from Vietnam because the enemy is pressing the battle and not negotiating seriously in Paris. The suggestion is that unless Hanoi cuts the fighting and starts making concessions at the peace table, he will keep the Americans there, and may even increase the level of the fighting. But nobody should be fooled by this. He is delaying his announcement about withdrawing more troops from Vietnam, according to our information, not to influence the American university students just before the start of a new school year, but to influence the peace negotiations. And the irony of this is that it won’t work for long.

PROPAGANDA AT HOME…

“For the more the President says he’s for peace, the more troops he withdraws from Vietnam and Thailand, the more he concedes that Southeast Asia is not really vital to the security of the United States, the harder it is to ask for the lives of the men in Company A. They may be typical, but they are a symbol of his coming dilemma. He wants out on the installment plan, but the weekly installments are the lives of one or two hundred American soldiers, and he cannot get away from the insistent question: Why? To what purpose? The breaking point comes in politics as it came to Company A. And it is not far off. What will now be gained by this increased killing? And how will the President or anybody explain it or excuse it?”…End NYT James Reston OpEd…

HUMBLE HOST STINGER… I have gone “long” on the saga of “Balky Company A.” Accounts of the intense and bloody fighting in August 1969, including one in FIGHTING BACK by Pittsburg Steeler Rocky Bleier with Terry O’Neil, abound. Great story. The full story is found in Keith William Nolan’s DEATH VALLEY: The Summer Offensive, I Corps, August 1969 (Great Grunt book)…

There was no discipline meted out to Company A. Lieutenat Shurtz assumed other duties and visited his wounded troops in the hospital in Saigon. Company A went back to the fight that same morning and took more casualties before returning to Danang after 12 days under fire to drink cold beer and tell their story. And the war went on for more than three years. 20,000 more young American men died in vain…

Lest we forget…Bear