Bear Taylor 
COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973)…
LEST WE FORGET… THE NEW YORK TIMES, 20 June… ALLIED CASUALTIES RISE… “United States combat deaths in Vietnam rose by one-third last week… The week’s casualties… were the highest in a month… 335 United States soldiers were killed in combat during the week… South Vietnamese dead were put at 516… and Vietcong and North Vietnamese losses were reported at 4,360.”… FREDERICK DOUGLAS: “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.”…
GOOD MORNING. Humble Host remembers the Vietnam War and Week Thirty-Two of the interdiction campaign called COMMANDO HUNT, the war against the North Vietnamese trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos.
I. HEAD LINES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES for 16 through 22 June 1969…
A. THE WAR… (16 June) FIFTY-ONE OF ENEMY KILLED IN RAID ON U.S. BASE… “North Vietnamese troops struck at a United States artillery base in the Ashau Valley today but were hurled back with heavy losses before they could break into the camp itself….the 101st Airborne Division said 51 of the enemy had been killed. Seven Americans were wounded.”….(17 June) VIETCONG MAULED IN ATTACK ON BASE–212 of 500 Reported Killed In 3 Assaults On Thai Camp… “A 500-man Vietcong force, attacking a Thai Black Panther Division base 20 miles east of Saigon, was mauled yesterday in a six hour battle that brought United States warplanes, helicopters and artillery into play. Allied spokesmen said tht 212 enemy soldiers had been killed in the battle. Six Thais were reported killed and seven wounded. No American casualties were reported… In the Mekong Delta, United States participation in the canal-and-paddy war is ending after 30 months. The decision to turn the war in the Delta over to the South Vietnamese troops was underscored by the United States command’s announcement that 1,200 Navy men will be among the 25,000 troops to leave South Vietnam during July and August.”… (18 June) NEW OFFENSIVE AT ASHAU… “Military spokesmen reported today that 21 American soldiers had been killed and 130 wounded thus far in a combined offensive operation called ‘Montgomery Rendezvous’ in and around the Ashau Valley, 25 miles southwest of Hue.”… (19 June) U.S. BASES REPULSE FOE’S ATTACKS… “Enemy troops attacked two American installations near Laos and Cambodia today but were thrown back with heavy losses.”… (20 June) SIX ATTACKS MADE BY FOE ON TAYNINH–One Breaks Through Into a Village Near the City… “…a three hundred man enemy force broke through in one sector and fought allied troops in village streets…about 1,000 Vietnamese civilians had fled their homes…the allied commands reported that 146 enemy soldiers were killed in the fighting. American casualties were listed at three killed and 13 wounded.”... (21 June) G.I.’s ARTILLERY BASE REPULSES NEW ATTACK BY ENEMY TO THE NORTH OF TAYNINH… “An enemy force estimated at 600 stormed a United States artillery support base and landing zone north of Tayninh early this morning, killing 7 Americans and wounding 18 in the second day of an upsurge in enemy assaults in and around the provincial capital (that sits astride the road between Laos and Saigon)… Enemy losses in the past two days were put at 194 killed.”… (22 June) INTENSE FIGHTING ERUPTS NEAR THE DMZ–Upsurge Below Zone, Quiet For Six Months, Worries Allies–Pullout Is Due There… “…Allied infantrymen have fought a series of battles below the once neutral buffer strip. United States dive bombers and artillery, striking at enemy fortifications built up in the southern half of the six-mile-wide demilitarized zone have added to the toll of North Vietnamese dead… infantrymen alone killed 237 of the enemy…air and artillery killed 13 more North Vietnamese regulars in the last 24 hours…Over the last five days 30 Americans were killed in these battles and intensified fighting south of the buffer zone.”…
B. THE PARIS PEACE TALKS… (16 June) VANCE BACKS CALL FOR CEASE FIRE BY ALL SIDES IN VIETNAM… “Cyrus R. Vance, former United States representative at the peace talks in Paris, broke his silence on President Nixon’s negotiating strategy today and called for a ‘standstill cease-fire’ by all sides in Vietnam. Mr. Vance, who was deputy to W. Averell Harriman, the senior negotiator for the Johnson Administration, thus joined Mr. Harriman in urging a deliberate reduction of the level of combat as a means to move the peace talks forward.”… Vance: ‘To be realistic we cannot expect the Vietcong to stop their attacks as long as we are exerting maximum military pressure on them. I do not believe we can make substantial progress in talks in Paris unless the tempo of the fighting and violence is reduced by both sides.”…. (19 June) CLIFFORD URGES NIXON TO CURTAIL VIETNAM FIGHTING–Ex-Defense Chief Calls For Pull-Out Of Ground Combat Forces By End Of 1970–Spur To Saigon Sought–Former Johnson Aide Says Thieu’s Regime Must Be Forced Into a Larger Role… (20 June) PRESIDENT HOPES PULLOUT WILL TOP 200,000 BEFORE 1971–Cut Conditional On Progress At Talks And In Training of South Vietnamese–Rebuttal to Clifford–Nixon at News Conference Says He Hopes To ‘Beat’ Timetable Suggested By Critics…”… ‘I would hope that we could beat Mr. Clifford’s timetable, just as I think we’ve done a little better than he did when he was in charge of our national defense,’ said Mr. Nixon.”… HANOI PRESSED AT PEACE TALKS ON MUTUAL TROOPS WITHDRAWALS… “The United States pressed North Vietnam at the peace talks today for an agreement on mutual troop withdrawals. ‘All we got in reply was theology,’ Harold Kaplan, the American spokesman, said at a news conference after the 22nd session of the expanded peace talks. What Col. Ha Van Lau of North Vietnam specifically replied came in the form of a standard question: Was the United States ready to withdraw all forces unconditionally from South Vietnam and end its acts of violence?… Sources close to the Vietnamese delegation said that Mr. Clifford’s appeal, in the current Foreign Affairs quarterly, was cited by Colonel Lau as evidence that mounting pressure in the United States would force the Nixon Administration to make ‘massive’ withdrawals unilaterally.”… (21 June) PRESIDENT’S AIDES DENY HE PLEDGED A PULL-OUT BY 1970–Upset By Impact Of What They Insist Was Merely An Expression of Hope–Distortion Discerned–Senate Doves Said To Give A Hardened View to Stand On Troops In Vietnam… NORTH VIETNAM’S STAND IN PARIS HELD ROADBLOCK–U.S. Aides Note Demands For Ouster Of Thieu–Thieu Meets With Aides… (22 June) U.S. SHAPING PLAN TO GIVE VIETCONG A SHARE OF POWER–Terms for Political Accord Still Being Formulated By Nixon Administration–Formula Offers Insurgents Some Local Authority And A Firm Minority Role… REMARKS BY NIXON ON PLAN OF THIEU ANGER SAIGON AIDES… HARRIMAN BIDS U.S. REDUCE WAR LEVEL… NIXON IS ACCUSED OF OVERREACTING–Mansfield Attributes Remarks On Troop Cuts To Anger… “W. Averell Harriman says the United States ‘should take a more defensive military posture,’ shifting its forces to the cities as President Nixon withdraws American troops. ‘This course would cut the casualties,’ Mr. Harriman said, ‘and there’s a reasonable prospect the other side would respond and de-escalate.'”…
C. THE REST OF THE NEW YORK TIMES HEAD LINES… (16 June) POMPIDOU CHOSEN AS FRENCH LEADER WITH 57% OF VOTE–He Succeeds de Gualle As President–Poher Weakened As 31% Abstain In Drive Led By Communists… APOLLO 11 ASTRONAUTS PRACTICE MOON LANDING… U.S. AND CITY FORCES PLAN JOINT FIGHT ON NARCOTICS… (17 June) BACKING FOR BILL TO CURB CAMPUS DISORDERS FADES IN HOUSE COMMITTEE… 37 ARRESTED, 13 POLICEMEN WOUNDED IN SACRAMENTO–Violence Erupts In Utica 3rd Time–Fist Fights Break Out After Whites Invade Negro Areas… POLICE ADDING 100 TO NEW YORK NARCOTICS FORCE–And State to Help City Attack Illegal Drug Traffic… (18 June) U.S. INTELLIGENCE DOUBTS SOVIET FIRST-STRIKE GOAL… “…have concluded that the Soviet Union is not now striving for the capability to launch a first-strike nuclear attack against this country but is probably seeking more parity with the United States in missile strength.”… WORLD REDS END MOSCOW PARLEY–Some Parties Balk at Signing Text Of Message… “The meeting of most of the world’s Communist parties, convened among much discord, ended today with a communique hailing it as ‘an important stage on the road of strengthening the cohesion of the Communist movement.’ However the editor of a leading newspaper from a Communist country, commenting on the 13-day series of speeches said, ‘The circus is over, and it was a bad one.'”… MANDATORY STAYS IN DRAFT UPHELD–U.S. Appeals Court Backs Case For Graduate Students… WAR PROTESTERS EJECTED FROM PENTAGON–Read List of Vietnam War Dead… BRITAIN WANTS TO START TALKS ON SEAT IN COMMON MARKET AS SOON AS POSSIBLE… (19 June) HOUSE ACTS TO BAR HEALTH WARNING IN CIGARETTE ADS–Votes Six-Year Ban Aimed To Block F.T.C. Edict–Senate Hearings Set… 22 IN G.O.P. WARN ON CURB ON CAMPUS DEMONSTRATIONS–House Members Report Nixon Opposes Ban… ISRAELI JETS POUND JORDANIAN AREA FOR FIVE HOURS…SOVIET SUBMITS DETAILED REPLY TO U.S. PROPOSALS ON MIDEAST… S.D.S. BARS ‘CAPITALIST PRESS’ AS IT OPENS ANNUAL CONVENTION IN CHICAGO… (20 June) .U.S.S. EVANS WITNESS DIFFERS ON CARRIER LIGHTS–Briton Tells Inquiry He Saw No Navigation Lights on Australian Carrier Melbourne… (21 June) SOVIET REPLY ON MIDEAST DISAPPOINTS U.S. OFFICIALS… “… But they indicated that the two-power talks at the United Nations would continue.”…JOHNSON’S FRIENDS ASSERT HE IS HAPPY AS A RANCHER…”… He is actively resisting public attention, perhaps for the first time. He has refused to see or talk with any reporter, except for a few social or accidental encounters, always off the record since a news conference at the LBJ Ranch on January 23.”… (22 June) S.D.S. LEADERS OUST MEMBERS OF PROGRESSIVE LABOR FACTION… “The national officers of Students for a Democratic Society read the Progressive Labor faction out of the organization early today, then walked out of the national convention. The break came after four days of bitter fighting, as the National Office Collective group accused the Progressive Laborites of being counterrevolutionary. The walkout came in a tense emotion filled scene as Bernadine Dohrn, the S.D.S. inter-organizational secretary read the statement expelling the Progressive Labor group from S.D.S.”… ASTRONAUTS TO GET A MILLION IN YEAR FOR THEIR STORIES… “The astronauts stand to share $1-million in the coming year by the sale and syndication of the personal accounts of their exploits… The 55 astronauts and 8 widows of astronauts sharing equally in the proceeds…” (About $16K each??)…
II. COMMANDO HUNT II…(April-November 1969)… On 1 November 1968 President Johnson stopped the bombing of North Vietnam. But OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER remained– the reconnaissance operations never stopped and the photo recce birds were always escorted by strike fighters to counter any enemy reaction to the photo aircraft. These operations were reported in the monthly air operations summaries of PACAF… The following is the report for June 1969…
NORTH VIETNAM…SUMMARY…ROLLING THUNDER…JUNE 1969
“There were 275 reconnaissance missions scheduled over North Vietnam in June. Of these 205 were flown, for an effectiveness rate of 74.5%. The USAF flew 121 of 139, or 87% effective; the USN flew 60 of 96, or 62.5% effective; and the USMC flew 24 of 40, or 60% effective. In addition to the missions flown over land the U.S. Army flew 134 OV-1 SLAR/IR missions along the coast of RP I. The 205 missions flown in June compare with 272 flown in May. Although scheduling effectiveness dropped 7% overall in June, target coverage was generally better due to the more favorable weather associated with the southwest monsoon. More targets were covered per sortie, therefore 7AF continued the reduced frag rate of six sorties per day initiated 12 May.
“One RF-4C was lost to 57mm near Dong Hoi on 5 June. The crew maneuvered the aircraft over water prior to ejecting and were recovered by SAR forces. The North Vietnamese reacted five other times with AAA and three times with SAMs to reconnaissance overflights. In all but one of the AAA incidents the escort aircraft expended their ordnance on the firing guns (“Protective Reaction”). In one incident in which no ordnance was expended weather prevented the escort aircraft from visually acquiring the guns. The three SAM incidents all occurred in the vicinity of Vinh. Three Shrike missiles were launched against the active sites by Navy Iron Hand aircraft. No results were observed, but in one case the Fan Song radar ceased emitting signals at the approximate time of AGM-45 impact.
“The primary targets for the reconnaissance effort continue to be LOCs, with truck parks, storage areas and SAM sites also being covered. Analysis of photographs reveals that the major North Vietnam emphasis on moving supplies in RP I appears to have shifted southward from Route 15 toward Quang Khe and then down routes 1036 and 1032. The shift is probably due to the monsoonal rains in Laos which have made the roads south of both Mu Gia and Ban Karai passes virtually impassable. As has happened in the past during this season, traffic moves toward the coastal routes and to cross DMZ access points to South Vietnam.
“Quang Khe (a few miles north of Dong Hoi on the coast) continues to be the major port in southern North Vietnam. Large coastal shipping continues to be observed there, including recent sightings of POL ships capable of carrying 250 metric tons. Supplies and POL are moved southward from Quang Khe to routes 1036 and 1032. Route 1036 truck counts have increased appreciably. Evidence of the enemy intention to use this route heavily is the discovery of pipes stacked along this road in apparent preparation for the construction of a pipeline similar to the one observed earlier paralleling Route 15. Route 1032 is well within the DMZ. FAC sightings of trucks and personnel on this road within the DMZ confirm it’s use.
“Truck sightings per reconnaissance mission averaged 28 for June. This average has been maintained since mid-April. All indications are that the North Vietnamese are maintaining their effort to infiltrate supplies into the RVN at approximately the same rate as previous months. LOC construction and repair activity continues with the gradual improvement and extension of routes further south, thereby making the movement of supplies to storage areas abutting South Vietnam less difficult.”… End quote…
III. AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: 16-22 JUNE 1969… References include Chris Hobson’s VIETNAM AIR LOSSES: United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps Fixed Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 1961-1973. This source is now online in it’s entirety at https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com … During the week ending 22 June 1969 the United States lost five fixed wing aircraft and five intrepid aviators…
(1) On 16 June and F-105D of the 354th TFS and 355th TFW out of Takhli piloted by 1LT J.L. DEVOSS was part of a flight of Thunderchiefs assigned to strike a 14.5mm gun position near Ban Ban in northern Laos (Barrel Roll). 1LT DEVOSS was hit by enemy gunfire as he was rolling in on his first strafing pass. He was able to keep the Thud flying but was forced to eject 35 miles north of the Thailand border. He suffered a broken leg and and arm on ejection but was rescued by a USAF SAR HH-53 from the 40th ARRS.
(2) On 16 June an F-4D of the 389th TFS and 66th TFW out of Danang piloted by MAJOR G.G. FULGHOM with WSO 1LT HARMON POLSTER in the rear cockpit was downed by AAA while attacking a firing gun position– dueling with a flak site?– fifteen miles south of Quang Ngai. After being hit MAJOR FULGHOM headed northeast and both aviators ejected about ten miles off the coast near Chuy Lai where they were rescued by an Army helo to fly and fight again. Unfortunately, fate struck young 1LT POLSTER a month later and he was killed on a Phantom flight fragged to strike a 37mm site in COMMANDO HUNT territory…
(3) On 19 June an O-2A of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG out of Bien Hoa piloted by Kenny FAC CAPTAIN JAMES DEAN HOAG with 1LT GEORGE RICHARD DOVER, USMC, flying as observer, was downed by ground fire while controlling strikes on a Vietcong rocket and mortar position 15 miles north of Vung Tau in South Vietnam. Neither aviator was able to exit the aircraft before it crashed. The incident was witnessed by an Australian trooper who left this comment as a remembrance… “These were brave men doing an incredible job. The area in which they were spotting that day was an area that caused a lot of grief. The flatlands were peppered with M-16 mines and the hills were filled with caves. My troops and tanks went immediately to the scene but both men were killed in action. We couldn’t get to the scene without encountering a lot of booby traps and strong opposition from troops occupying the high ground and enjoying maximum protection.” The Australian unit was engaged in protecting ongoing mine-clearing ops. They observed the twin tail of the O-2A break off and the aircraft crash. They were on the scene quickly but could do no more than recover the bodies of CAPTAIN JAMES DEAN HOAG–who was in his 67th day of combat– and 1LT DOVER, USMC… CAPTAIN HOAG rests in peace at Arlington National Cemetery. 1LT DOVER is buried at Wilmington National Cemetery…
(4) On 22 June an O-2B psychological warfare aircraft of the 9th SOS and 14th SOW out of Nha Trang was downed on mission to drop leaflets or make loud speaker broadcasts in an area reported to be occupied by enemy troops 20 miles north of Nha Trang. The aircraft, piloted by MAJOR ERICH CARL ENGELHARD and observer 1LT MICHAEL ANTHONY SEAGROVES, SR.,went down near Ninh Hoa, killing both men. A SAR mission failed to locate the wreckage and the two aviators and they were initially declared MIA. The wreckage and bodies were located and recovered in 1974. COLONEL ENGELHARD is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and CAPTAIN SEAGROVES, SR., is buried at Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside, Cook County, Illinois… Among the many remembrances left for these two fallen warriors is from Doctor Paul Kelley for his O-2 Classmate at Hurlburt Michael Seagroves… “We both ended at Nha Trang for combat training. During the two weeks there, we shared supper, our memories of pilot training, lots of thoughts about our families and again, chess. The night of June 21st Mike and I ate and watched “Camelot’ together at the little outdoor theater there on base. He told me that ‘Camelot’ was very special in that it was during that movie that he proposed to Fran. I don’t believe he knew she was carrying his baby. We said goodnight and made plans to have lunch at the O’Club the next day. His last flight was his combat check ride. Mike, you passed. … Mike, dear friend, you are a hero. Your country and your friends and family treasure your memory and will always be thankful for your sacrifice…”… CAPTAIN SEAGROVES, SR., is survived by a son who he never saw…
(Webmaster note: Michael Anthony Seagroves Jr. passed away 22 September 1996 in DuPage County, Illinois age 27. He and the father he never knew during his mortal life are now together)
(5) On the night of 22/23 June an A-4E of the VA-144 Roadrunners embarked in USS Bon Homme Richard piloted by LTJG LELAND CHARLES COOKE SAGE was lost on a FAC controlled COMMANDO HUNT mission 15 miles west of the Mugia Pass. LT SAGE made one successful dive attack on the target but failed to get a bomb release. He advised his wingman and the FAC that he was making a second run to drop his ordnance. The FAC observed the Skyhawk roll-in and dive on the target and continue into the ground. While there was opposing AAA in the area, the presumption was LT SAGE was making every effort to get his bombs on target, lost situational awareness, and flew into the ground. SAR efforts failed to establish visual or aural communication with LT SAGE and he was subsequently reported Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered. Fifty years later LT SAGE’s status remains the same and the young tailhooker rests on his shield where he fell on the battlefield. He is memorialized with a headstone at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego…
ON 20 JUNE 1965 an F-4C of the 45th TFS and 15th TFW out of Ubon was downed in North Vietnam. Humble Host cranked up RollingThunderRemembered in March 2016 and started the remembrances with action in March 1966. When opportunity presents, the earlier events will find their way to RTR. The “fight-to-survive” experiences of CAPTAIN PAUL ANTHONY KARI and CAPTAIN CURT BRIGGS that began on 20 June 1965, fifty-four years ago, are highlighted in the post of 20 June 1968…
IV. HUMBLE HOST END NOTE… The following 40-page document–“Viet-Nam Documents and Research Notes” is available online from the expanding collection of Vietnam War literature and documentation at the Texas Tech Vietnam Archives in Lubbock, Texas. Two extraordinary speeches by General Vo Nguyen Giap, one presented 50 years ago on 22 June 1969 to “a congress of antiaircraft and air forces, and one in July 1969 to an audience of the Third Military Sector. Humble Host offers a few paragraphs from the 22 June document as a teaser for your further interest. You will be rewarded by accessing and perusing the entire 40-pages of General Giap’s review of the first four years of fighting America in the air over North Vietnam and on the ground in South Vietnam. Access the document at:
https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/reports/images.php?img=/images/F0313/F031300020147.pdf
Quotation from the concluding paragraphs of Giap’s 22 June 1969 speech– I quote…
“The determination-to-win emulation congress of the antiaircraft and air forces has cited many good fighting and building examples of units and individual soldiers. To develop great effect for the congress, we must recapitulate the experiences of exemplary units more practically and thoroughly and turn these experiences into principles and guiding lines, further enriching our party’s military ideology and further developing our fighting methods. This is a very good basis for continuing to build an increasingly firm and strong antiaircraft force and air force, for improving units’ combat quality, and for helping our antiaircraft force and air force become an army service that will fight very well and defeat all enemies in order to steadily protect our heroic country’s beloved skies.
“Comrades, our people nationwide are faced with a very great and difficult task: striving to annihilate the enemy in order to bring the anti-U.S. national salvation struggle to complete victory. The heroic southern compatriots and PLAF are advancing vigorously. They have waged relentless attacks against the enemy, scoring great military exploits and driving the U.S. imperialists into an increasingly serious defeated and passive position.
“For the liberation of South Viet-Nam, national reunification, socialism, and the lofty international obligation, all our soldiers and people in the north are doing their best to fight and stand combat ready (words indistinct) while accelerating socialist construction in order to fulfill the sacred duty as the great rear to the great frontline. Never have the Vietnamese people been faced with such a glorious historic task. Never have our people developed their militant strength with such a great impetus.
“Under the leadership banner of our party led by beloved and respected President Ho, let all cadres and combatants of the people’s armed forces in general and of the antiaicraft force and air force in particular, heroically and bravely advance and, together with our people nationwide, fulfill their glorious mission, and the most brilliant exploits of our people’s history of struggle against foreign aggression, and completely defeat the U.S. aggressors in order to liberate the south, protect the north, and advance toward reunifying the fatherland.”… End Giap quote…
Humble Host Final Note: “KNOW YOUR ENEMY AS YOU KNOW YOURSELF.” (Sun Tzu)… Best book on Giap is Cecil B. Curry’s VICTORY AT ANY COST: The Genius of Viet Nam’s Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap (abebooks.com for $11, free delivery)… General Giap died in 2013 at the age of 102…
Lest we forget… Bear
