Bear Taylor 
COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973)…
LEST WE FORGET MEMORIAL DAY 1969… Following weekly Vietnam war battle losses of 184, 430, and 265–a three week loss of American troops of 879–the military command in Saigon reported 261 additional troops killed during the last week of May 1969. MORE THAN 1,000 AMERICANS KILLED ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA IN ONE MONTH…. The New York Times searched for a cause to justify this bloody sacrifice in their Friday, 30 May 1969 OpEd. I quote the lead to that editorial of 50-years ago…
THESE HONORED DEAD…
“As last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, American soldiers are once again losing their lives in combat while the nation observes Memorial Day. World War II engaged the virtually total commitment of the American people. The Korean war was unpopular when it ended in the truce of 1953, but most Americans still regarded it as a war worth fighting, a nasty job that had to be undertaken if Communist aggressors were not to be tempted to venture elsewhere.
“But the Vietnam war, now in its talk-and-fight stage, in which the diplomats bicker and declaim while soldiers fight and die, is drawing to its uncertain but inevitable end, in a miasma of national regret, recrimination and disillusionment. The war still has its resolute defenders; but, beyond dispute, no conflict since the Civil War itself has so deeply divided Americans.
“FOR WHAT PURPOSE HAVE 35,000 MEN DIED IN VIETNAM? WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES DOES THEIR SACRIFICE IMPOSE ON THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS? These are questions which both the critics and the defenders of the war have to ponder on this Memorial Day.”…
The answers below in Humble Host’s End Note…
Good Morning. It is Sunday, 11 August 2019. Humble Host remembers the Vietnam war and Week Thirty of the interdiction campaign called COMMANDO HUNT… (1968-1972)…
I. THE HEADLINES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES for 2-8 June 1969…
A. THE WAR… (2 June) SOUTH VIETNAM TROOPS SHOWING UNEVEN PROGRESS… “The South Vietnamese armed forces appear to be doing a better job in battle now than ever before, but the day when they will be able to stand alone does not seem to be in sight. A three-week examination by The New York Times finds that just days before the Midway conference between President Nixon and President Nguyen Van Thieu, the performance of the South Vietnamese in combat is still spotty ranging from good to abysmal.”... 2 DIE AS ROCKET FALLS IN SAIGON–Marines Repulse attack 20 Miles From DMZ… (3 June) ACTION LIGHT IN ASHAU VALLEY SWEEP… “Paratroops of the United States 101st Division met only scattered resistance today in their continuing sweep through the Ashau Valley near the border with Laos.”… (4 June) ROCKET CACHE FOUND NEAR SAIGON… “Troops of the United States 82nd Airborne Division completed a two-day sweep near Saigon today and turned up a cache of 100-pound rockets. The division reported killing 31 enemy soldiers and capturing four others in scattered fighting during the sweep…”… WITHDRAWAL PLANS ARE IN CONSTANT REVISION… (5 June) FOE’S PAPERS CONCEDE HEAVY LOSSES…. “Numerous captured documents show that the enemy’s documents show that the enemy’s high command in Vietnam is acknowledging grave battlefield reverses, but insists its forces still occupy the most advantageous positions.”…”Instructions carried by courier to many parts of South Vietnam in the last month make future strategy clear: Destroy the belief of the United States in the illusion that the war can be de-Americanized successfully, and that they can attain a superior position in peace talks.”… (6 June) ENEMY BOMBARDS 70 VIETNAM SITES–Raids Heaviest In Weeks–Cause Light Damage… “…the shellings were not accompanied by significant increase in infantry attacks.”… “In the week ended last Saturday (31 May), 261 American soldiers and 323 South Vietnamese soldiers were killed. Enemy losses were put at 2,637. Two weeks ago, allied casualties numbered 678 compared to 3,968 for the enemy.”… (7 June) BASES AT DANANG SHELLED BY ENEMY–40 Missiles Strike City and Near-By Posts Killing 5–Allies Repel 7 Attacks… “…the assaults, among the few in which the enemy has chosen to fight at close range in a month, were countered by well bunkered allied troops who later chased their foe with the help of helicopters and jet fighters. B-52’s bombed enemy fortifications along the path from Cambodia to Saigon, where heavy concentrations of troops on both sides have been battling for weeks.”… (8 June) ELEVEN BATTLES FOUGHT AT CAMBODIAN LINE–Enemy Losses Put At 605 In Two Vietnam Provinces… “United States and South Vietnamese army officials reported having found the bodies of 605 enemy soldiers strewn over 11 battlefields after two nights of sporadic but fierce fighting in Tayninh and Binhlong provinces along the Cambodian border.”…
B. PEACE TALKS IN PARIS… (2 June) NORTH VIETNAM PEACE DELEGATION RETURNS TO HANOI… “Xuan Thuy, head of the North Vietnamese delegation at the Paris talks, arrived in Hanoi last night…During his journey from Paris he stopped in Moscow and Peking.”… (3 June) LODGE WILL GO TO MIDWAY FOR NIXON-THIEU PARLEY… “…the chief United States negotiator at the Paris peace talks will join President Nixon and President Nguyen Van Thieu at their Midway conference Sunday… “... (4 June) THIEU AGAIN BARS COALITION… … “…Thieu returned home tonight after state visits to Taiwan and South Korea and again said he rejected any coalition government with the Vietcong.”… (5 June) VIETCONG REPORTED TO BAR SECRET TALKS WITH SAIGON–But Gap Between Negotiating Positions Of Allies and the Enemy Appears to Have Narrowed In Recent Months… HANOI’s VIEW GIVEN… “The formation of a provisional coalition government in South Vietnam and the withdrawal of American forces appeared more clearly than ever today to be the chief North Vietnamese aims in Paris.” … (6 June) SECRETARY OF STATE ROGERS SAYS U.S. NOT WEDDED TO SAIGON REGIME– He Asserts Commitment Is Only To a Free Choice By South Vietnamese Voters– Enemy Role Discussed–Secretary at News Conference Declares Vietcong Could Serve in Government… FOE’s DEMAND FOR ELECTIONS HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO THIEU–President Also Reported to Be Willing To Consider A Joint Election Commission To Oversee Special Vietnam Vote… (8 June) AT MIDWAY THIEU WILL PRESS FOR CLARIFICATION–Aides Say He Asks to Know More About Nixon’s Peace Plan…
C. THE REST OF THE NEW YORK TIMES HEADLINES… (2 June) ROCKEFELLER VISIT TO VENEZUELA OFF IN PROTEST THREAT— Caldera Asks Postponement–Governor Says ‘Forces’ Seek To Disrupt Tour of South American Nations… POMPIDOU LEADS WITH 44% AND FACES POHER JUNE 15 IN RUNOFF FOR FRENCH PRESIDENCY–Reds Are Strong 31%–France’s Support For Duclas gives Communist Party Major Leverage... (3 June) AUSTRALIAN CARRIER MELBOURNE SLICES U.S. DESTROYER FRANK E. EVANS–56 U.S. Sailors Listed As Missing–Destroyer Bow Sank After Collision With Aircraft Carrier… DIRKSEN DENOUNCES KENNEDY CRITICISM OF TACTICS IN WAR… “The Senate Republican leader, Everett McKinley Dirksen, rebuked Senator Edward M. Kennedy today for has criticism of military tactics in Vietnam, suggesting that the Senate Democratic whip was undercutting field commanders and impairing troop morale.”… POMPIDOU VICTORY IN RUNOFF APPEARS ASSURED–Reds To Abstain–Communist Call To Backers Not to Vote In Presidential Runoff is a Blow to Poher… ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES CHIEF CITES RANCOR OVER U.S.–Confers With Rockefeller–White House Supports Mission Continuation… CASSIUS CLAY DEMANDS THAT U.S. PRODUCE ALL WIRETAP DETAILS OR DROP CASE… (4 June) NAVY GIVES UP HOPE FOR 73 MISSING AFTER COLLISION–Evans Disaster is 7th For U.S. Navy Since 1966… NIXON-THIEU TALKS AT MIDWAY MAY BRING TROOP CUTS–Washington Aides Prepare For A Joint Announcement At Meeting At Midway–Officials Feel Statement on Sunday Would Illustrate A Unanimity Of View… PRESIDENT SAYS CAMPUS RADICALS IMPERIL LIBERTIES–Sees Old Values Challenged by ‘Moral Arrogance’ and ‘Permissive’ Faculties–Assails Use of Force–In Speech At Dakota College He Asserts ‘Free People’ Have Shown Restraint… BURGER APPROVED BY SENATE PANEL FOR SUPREME COURT CHIEF–A Unanimous Vote Follows Friendly Questioning–Protester Removed… (5 July) NIXON DEFENDING POLICY HITS ‘NEW ISOLATION’ PLEDGES A WORLD ROLE–He Chides Critics–Unilateral arms Cut Is Ruled Out In Talk At Air Force Academy… PRESIDENT SPEECH STIRS RESENTMENT IN CONGRESS… TWO YEARS AFTER SIX-DAY WAR OF 1967 IN MID-EAST–Arabs See A New Round of Fighting… FBI AGENT TESTIFIES AT CASSIUS CLAY HEARING–Bureau Tapped Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Telephone For Several Years… (6 June) VIOLENCE REPORT DECLARES NATION IS ‘BLOODY MINDED’– Panel Finds a Tradition of Using Force Obscured by ‘a Historical Amnesia’–Cause Not Pinpointed–Presidential Group Asserts Trouble Persists in the U.S. but Declines Elsewhere… “…22-chapter report, issued on the anniversary of the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was ordered by the commission last August in an effort to help bring about a better understanding of the use of violence in domestic affairs.”… A quote from the report: “Men seeking to seize, hold or realign the levels of power have continually engaged in collective violence as part of their struggles… The oppressed have struck in the name of justice, the privileged in the name of order, those in between in the name of fear.”… (7 June) SOVIETS BID ARABS SHUN USE OF FORCE TO REGAIN LANDS… “Pravda, the Soviet Communist party newspaper, noted the second anniversary of the Arab-Israeli war today with a sharp warning to Arab extremists against the use of force to regain territory now occupied by Israel.”… “…only through political methods could the territory sized by Israel in the six-day war in June 19676 be returned to Arab hands.”… DRAFT REPRISALS BARRED BY COURT–Hershey Rebuffed on Plan to Reclassify Youths for Protests Against War… 11 ARE SENTENCED IN DRAFT PROTEST–2-Year Terms Handed Down By Judge in Milwaukee… PEKING RENEWS BORDER CHARGES AGAINST SOVIET UNION–Note Is Viewed as Attempt To Sway Red Conference… (8 June) NIXON OFF TODAY TO MEET WITH THIEU ON COURSE OF WAR–Six Hour Parley On Midway Will Focus On Tactics At Negotiations In Paris Confers In Honolulu–Says He Expects Talks Will Be One-Step In Direction Of Real Peace in Pacific… BREZHNEV ACCUSES CHINA AT WORLD PARLEY OF REDS…
II. COMMANDO HUNT II… The second of seven campaigns within the 3-year operation. The weather controlled the conduct of the strike operations in southeastern Laos. During CH I, III, V and VII the weather was favorable for VFR bombing. During CH II, IV and VI the weather limited VFR strike ops and required more reliance on less accurate MSQ, Commando Nail and LORAN attacks. This summary of the CH II weather is clipped from the AIRPAC SOUTHEAST ASIA AIR OPS SUMMARY for June 1969…
Weather Synopsis–June 1969… “Climatologically, all of Southeast Asia is under the influence of the southwest monsoon. Weather begins to follow somewhat of a daily regular pattern with afternoon showers occurring over parts of Southeast Asia on almost every day. Cloudiness continues to increase during June and in most locations cloud ceilings are present an average of 60-90% of the time. Low stratus ceilings occur frequently during the early morning hours in most areas… Weather in Southeast Asia during June of 1969 was typical of the southwest monsoon with a few exceptions. During the period of 5-7 June, the polar front moved from South China into the interior Southwest Asia. During the period of the polar frontal intrusion, weather was extremely poor throughout Laos and the mountains of North Vietnam. The polar front again moved into Southeast Asia during the period 18-20 June; however, it did not penetrate as far south as on the previous occurrence, and became stationary cover over northern Laos and North Vietnam. The remainder of the month was primarily influenced by moderate, to strong southwesterly flow causing typical southwest monsoon weather conditions. The prevailing conditions in most of Laos and the mountainous areas of both North and South Vietnam were stratus clouds during the early morning hours and generally clearing during the late evening and early nighttime hours. The coastal areas of both North and South Vietnam experienced predominately good weather conditions during the month with scattered cloudiness for the most part. There was a significant increase in cloudiness and shower activity in the delta region of South Vietnam… …cloudiness over Laos continues to increase during June. Convective clouds and ceilings with bases of 2000 to 3000 feet are frequent during the afternoon. Morning stratus is common in the mountain valleys. Stratus forms approximately 2 to 3 o’clock in the A.M. and dissipates near 10 A.M…. Ceilings greater than 5,000 feet were reported on one day in the A.M. General “no ceiling” conditions prevailed on one day in the afternoon… there were 26 days marked by stratus in the early morning hours… “… The PACAF summary for COMMANDO HUNT Ops reported: “Despite deteriorating weather, attack sorties flown in Laos remained essentially the same level as the previous month. More reliance was placed on non-visual bombing as 13% of the USAF sorties were flown using MSQ, Commando Nail or Loran techniques.”…
III. AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: 2 THROUGH 8 JUNE 1969… References include Chris Hobson’s history of the air war in Southeast Asia, VIETNAM AIR LOSSES. During the weekending 8 June 1969 the United States lost ten (10) fixed wing aircraft and three warriors.
(1) On 2 June an O-2A “Bilk 27” of the 20th TASS and 504th TASG out of Danang piloted by 1LT JAMES ROBSON GILMORE (and an unidentified observer) was lost on a visual reconnaissance mission near Tam Ky. The FAC aircraft was hit by ground fire while controlling fighters against a target on the side of a 4,000-foot mountain. The little, slow, low aircraft crashed in flames before 1LT GILMORE (and the observer) could abandon the aircraft. The wreckage was found by FAC “Bilk 34.” The bodies of both airmen were found in the wreckage by the search and rescue team. 1LT GILMORE rests in peace at Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta, Georgia. He is also memorialized at the USAFA, where he was a distinguished graduate… Then there is this beautiful remembrance to be found forever on the internet… A poem titled “James R. Gilmore, Jr, 1LT” by G. Ready, who wrote: “A young pilot that I was very much in love with died in Vietnam. I would like to leave a poem I wrote when he was killed when his plane was shot down on 6/2/69. I know so many young men who went over there. My heart broke for them all.”… Here is her heartfelt poem… I quote…
There was a war in the year 1969
The year my heart was so alive
There was a war in the year 1969
That is the year in which my love died
…For God and Country he died over there
…Why, oh why, and who does care?
…Everyone says they are so sorry,
…But the next day no one remembers but me.
Please Mr. President, can’t you see
All the men are dying to make history?
Whose to mend the broken hearts
…what have we won
…what have we lost? …
End quote. Poem on line at…
https://www.war-stories.com/poems/poem-t_james-r-gilmore-ready-g-ready-1969.htm
(2) On 3 June an F-100D Super Sabre of the 614th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang flown by 1LT DONALD FRANCIS GINART was downed by automatic weapons fire while strafing enemy troops and VC structures in the Mekong Delta at the southern tip of South Vietnam. It is presumed he was wounded by the gunfire since he did not leave the F-100D before it flew into the ground and exploded. 1LT GINART was thrown clear of the wreckage. An Army helicopter subsequently recovered the body and 1LT GINART rests in peace at Metarie Cemetery in New Orleans, “glory gained, duty done.”…
(3) On 5 June an RF-4C of the 11th TRS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn piloted by COLONEL R.F. FINDLAY and navigator CAPTAIN D.M. MAY was hit by 57mm antiaircraft fire while conducting a photo reconnaissance run down Route 101 (Road Segment D) in North Vietnam near Dong Hoi. The 57mm fire was coming out of six sites… COLONEL FINDLAY was able to turn seaward and keep the photo Phantom airborne long enough to get two miles at sea before both aviators were able eject. They were rescued from the sea snakes by an Air Force SAR helo. This was the first aircraft downed in North Vietnam in six months.
(4) On the night of 5 June an O-1F Bird Dog FAC aircraft of the 504th TASG out of Phan Thiet was destroyed on the ramp at Phan Thiet by a Vietcong 107mm rocket.
(5) On 6 June an OV-10A of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG out of Bien Hoa Blew a tire on takeoff and veered off the runway. Th aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The pilot was uninjured.
(6) and (7) On 6 June two 20th TASS FAC aircraft on the ramp at Danang were destroyed by Vietcong rockets on the night of the 6th… Twelve other aircraft were damaged and four human beings were killed. (See NYT War Headlines above– 70 enemy attacks on the night of the 6th)…
(8) On 7 June an EC-47P of the 362nd TEWS and 460th TRW out of Pleiku with a crew of eight was destroyed after an engine failure. All eight members of the crew survived.
(9) On 8 June an A-7B Corsair of the VA-215 Barn Owls embarked in USS Enterprise suffered an engine failure on a combat mission and the pilot ejected to be rescued by a navy helicopter.
(10) On 8 June and A-1H of the 22nd SOS and 56th DOW out of Nakhon Phanom flown by 1LT LLOYD M. SCOTT, JR. went down in Thailand as a consequence of engine failure. The body of 1LT SCOTT was recovered and he is buried at Blair Memorial Cemetery in Camdenton, Missouri…
IV. HUMBLE HOST END NOTE… The Memorial Day 1969 Opinion Editor of The New York Times asked two questions:
(1) For what purpose have 35,000 men died in Vietnam?
(2) What responsibility does their sacrifice impose on their fellow citizens?
Questions asked, and answered… I quote the NYT OpEd…
“The classic response to these questions, as to so many others, was framed by Abraham Lincoln. At Gettysburg, he said, ‘From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion…. We are highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.’ At first glance the Lincoln response does not seem to fit the conflict in Vietnam. In the Civil War, the political purpose–to preserve the Union, and the moral purpose–to free the slaves, were clear and were deserving of the ‘last full measure of devotion.’ In Vietnam, the political and moral issues are not, at least for most Americans, susceptible of such clean definitions.
But not every war is a crusade. It is perhaps a peculiarly American failure to attempt to turn every war into a morally shining adventure. President Kennedy once defined peace as ‘a process–a way of solving problems.’ In this more pragmatic and prosaic contest, a nonnuclear war can be defined as a temporary breakdown in the process, as an alternative way of solving problems. In this long effort of the free and the Communist societies to learn to live together since 1945 without collapsing in the irretrievable catastrophe of nuclear war, there have been the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, innumerable brush fires and insurgencies and the political and psychological violence of the cold war.
The cause for which men have fought and died in Vietnam is peace–that is, a better understanding of how men can live together despite ideological antagonisms and conflicting interests. From their sacrifices, Americans have gained new wisdom and insight about the limits of power, about the nature of Communist revolutions and guerrilla warfare, and about the character of their adversaries and of themselves. Comfortable illusions have been dispelled and disastrous temptations rebuked.”
“BRAVE MEN HAVE PAID WITH THEIR LIVES FOR THE HARD-WON WISDOM. The responsibility of the living is to act upon that wisdom. If they do, if they have advanced in their understanding of that complex process called peace, then the men who have fallen in Vietnam have won a victory far more profound than the conventional triumph celebrated with bands and parades.”… End quote…
HUMBLE HOST END NOTE #2… Unfortunately, three generations of Americans and our leaders have ignored the wisdom bought with the lives of the 58,400 valiant soldiers sacrificed in the quagmire called the Vietnam war. Involvement in any and all foreign quagmires, large and small, has proven irresistible to our National Security advisors. Nothing makes this more clear than the 19-year war in Afghanistan, from which an exit has proven as illusive as was our exit from the quicksand of Southeast Asia. American involvement in the affairs of foreign nations continues apace and our national survival is now at risk. Apparently, it is the destiny of the United States to destroy itself attempting to defend freedom in every corner of the world, regardless of the proven poor chances for success, and the cost in precious blood and treasure… History is the teacher.
Lest we forget… Bear
