Bear Taylor 
COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973)…
LEST WE FORGET… FOR THE WEEK ENDING 3 MAY 1969 A TOTAL OF 204 BRAVE AMERICAN FIGHTING MEN GAVE “THE LAST FULL MEASURE” FOR OUR NATION IN THE WAR IN VIETNAM. ANOTHER 973 WERE WOUNDED AND HOSPITALIZED. NORTH VIETNAMESE AND VIETCONG LOSSES WERE PUT AT 3,414 FOR THE WEEK OF COMBAT… On Memorial Day, 2019, President Donald Trump said of our fallen warriors: “We can never replace them. We can never repay them. But we can always remember (them).”… Thanks for joining me in this remembrance…
Good Morning. It’s Monday, 29 July 2019. Humble Host remembers the Vietnam War and WEEK TWENTY-SIX of the interdiction campaign that followed Operation Rolling Thunder, the week of 5 through 11 May 1969… Commando Hunt I was ending and Commando Hunt II (… of seven consecutive six-month campaigns lasting into 1972, when the North Vietnamese launched a massive offensive that led to Linebacker I and II and the resumption of the bombing of North Vietnam) was beginning…
I. OPINION EDITORIALS and HEAD LINES from The New York Times (14-20 April 1969)… Humble Host goes back to pick up two excellent opinions passed over by previous posts…
A. WAR and PEACE…
(1)…. (16 April) A Letter to the Editor of the NYT from Robert Timbers of Hanover, N.H.: FUTILE WAR… “To the Editor: Patriotic Americans everywhere decry the lack of chauvinism in our young dissenters against the war. But, I ask, who are the real patriots? What kind of love for one’s country blindly backs a war that is void of reason and only wreaks havoc? This war covets among its ruins drastically needed, but now impoverished, national social programs. Patriotic Americans are starving to death in our own country. National cities are like powder kegs with short fuses. And these patriots are relieved that war deaths recently reached a record ‘low’ of 222 (news story of April 11). Allow me the audacity to point out that if the rate of this record ‘low’ continues, we will permit 11,544 patriotic Americans to die in (each of) the forthcoming year(s). Contemplate the agony of a family who has lost a son; now increase it several times. If patriotic Americans continue not to voice chauvinistic dissent against the war, our country will gain velocity in our present direction of losing world respect, integrity, nationalism, and happiness. To fight for a reason and die for one’s country is admirable; but to be forced to fight for no reason and die for no reason is pathetic.”….
(2)…. (16 April) An Opinion Editorial by C.L. SULZBERGER writing from Hong Kong for the NYT:
“FOREIGN AFFAIRS: HANOI’S BET“… I quote…
“United States policy in Vietnam has so far been too much and too late. From the start of our commitment, during the Eisenhower Administration, we have underestimated our enemy and overestimated ourselves. Today we are increasingly successful militarily but politically irresolute and all mixed up. In a series of lurches we have overreacted on the battlefield while failing as a nation to comprehend just why we are in Vietnam, how a series of related undertakings brought us in, or what we are fighting for.
“In one sense what we are fighting for is time, not space. We have never intended to de-Communize North Vietnam or to overthrow its Government and we are committed to an eventual withdrawal from South Vietnam, once it can be shored up.
STRATEGIC VICTORY
“The greatest strategic victory gained by the U.S. commitment has been the smashing of a Communist take-over of Indonesia by coup in 1965. Had South Vietnam already been subject to Hanoi there is little doubt the Indonesian military would have knuckled under. Nevertheless, inside Vietnam itself, the outcome remains uncertain. As explained in a previous column, the enemy is determined to triumph regardless of the cost in blood.
“He is prepared to stake innumerable lives in a protracted offensive on the assumption that wavering U.S. public opinion will drive Washington–and in turn push Saigon–to settle at a disadvantage. Hanoi has no public opinion problem of its own to recon with.
REVOLUTIONARY WARFARE
“Militarily the United States has learned much on the difficult South Vietnamese battlefield; but politically it has not begun to understand the implications of Revolutionary Warfare which aims with brilliant effectiveness at American public opinion. Hanoi fights and negotiates simultaneously but the two approaches are in tandem. It is Clausewitz reworded–politics becomes the continuation of war by other means. This novel approach is just as audacious as the Communist military strategy of pre-positioning arms, ammunition and food in battlefield areas chosen in advance–and then sending reinforcements to those caches by different routes. For the first time in history we see an army’s supply lines marching ahead of the troops.
“The U.S. command has finally caught on to this method and is upsetting its efficacy. The price paid by the enemy mounts steadily but one can almost detect a proportional decline in American public support for this unpopular conflict. One might almost say this is war in the fourth dimension, a dimension variously described when Einstein first announced its discovery. In some senses it was depicted as time, and in this respect U.S. strategy has reacted efficiently if not always with comprehension.
“In another respect it was depicted as the dimension through which a glove passed when turned inside out. We are now turning South Vietnam inside a paradoxical phenomenon. Our essential problem in opposing the Communist intrusion is to rely upon a status quo system while simultaneously revolutionizing it from within–against the will of its own power elite.
CHINESE EXPERIENCE
“This self-contradictory approach was attempted by the United States in China during the nineteen-forties when efforts were made to reform the Kuomintang Government while helping it against the Communists. In that instance the reform was blatantly inadequate and therefore the vast amount of help was wasted. The efforts concentrating on reform are showing signs of positive effect and the present Thieu Government in Saigon is undoubtedly the best South Vietnam has known since it became independent fifteen years ago. But whether the momentum is sufficient in force through needed improvement, massive reconstruction and, above all, to eliminate erosive corruption at the higher echelons remains an open question.
VIETNAMIZING THE WAR
“On the military level there is now a cogent American pattern. The Vietcong main force and North Vietnamese units are being so severely chewed up that the cost to Hanoi is increasingly cruel. And at last South Vietnam’s own army is sufficiently trained and equipped to play a mounting role in defending its own country. The war is being ‘Vietnamized’ more and more, both militarily and politically. But the big question remains whether that process was begun soon enough to compensate for a parallel decline in U.S. national will power. Hanoi’s bloody bet is that the answer is no.”… End Sulzberger OpEd…
3. HEAD LINES from The New York Times for the week of 5 to 11 May 1969… (5 May) NEW FIGHTING IN LAOS PRODUCES VICTORY AND LOSS ON BOTH SIDES… “All along the shifting unmarked line that separates Government-controlled areas in Laos from those controlled by the Pathet Lao, small scale fighting has broken out in the last month. The fighting has produced advances and setbacks for both sides.”… QUAKER GROUP URGES NIXON TO PULL U.S. OUT OF VIETNAM WAR… BLACK MILITANT HALTS SERVICE AT RIVERSIDE–Reparations Are Asked–Lindsay is Shocked… “About 1,500 parishioners, Negro and white, looked on in bewilderment yesterday as a black militant, James Foreman, took over the altar area in the nave and forced cancelation of the 11 A.M. communion service….Mayor Lindsay issued a statement expressing ‘shock’ at the incident… Foreman demanded that ‘churches and synagogues pay reparations to Negroes… contending that white religious institutions are part of a capitalist system that has ‘aided and abetted’ in the exploitation of Negroes.'”… FOUR COPTERS LOST IN WAR IN 2 DAYS–2 Craft Collide Killing 8–Enemy Shoots Down 2… ISRAELI JETS RAID GUERRILLA BASE IN SOUTH JORDAN–Arab Units Shell El Hamina–Mortar Fire Reported Near Allenby Bridge… BILLY GRAHAM IN CRUSADE–Warns of Revolt… “His right hand sliced the air like a meat cleaver and smacked into the podium… an index finger pointed at some anonymous sinner in the balcony, and the voice–with a tone of urgency that has been heard from the Bible Belt to the Fiju Islands–warned that ours is a time of ‘revolution and amnesty and rebellion.’“… (6 May) JOBLESS RATE UP FOR NEGROES–Overall April Total 3.5%–Labor Force Rises But is Below Seasonal Average…BRITAIN TO RENEW EFFORT TO JOIN COMMON MARKET–With De Gaulle Gone, Wilson Says He Will Press Drive Toward European Unity… AIDES SAY NIXON WEIGHED SWIFT REPRISAL ON NORTH KOREAN SHOOTDOWN OF EC-121… QUAKERS STAGE SILENT VIGIL–Protest War at White House… HOPE HAS LITTLE MEANING FOR BLACKFOOT INDIANS… CELTICS CONQUER LAKERS BY 108-106 AND CAPTURE NBA CROWN–Take 7th Game of Series… (7 Feb) NAVY’S HEAD BARS ACTION AGAINST BUCHER OR CREW–Pueblo Board Overruled By Secretary–Trials Rejected–Panel of Admirals Proposed Move Against Skipper and Crew… NIXON PROPOSES $1-BILLION TO FIGHT HUNGER– Would Broaden Food Stamp Plan… 34 KILLED IN VIETNAM AS A U.S. HELICOPTER FALLS… U.S. VIETNAM FORCE STEADY AT 541,000… G.I.’s BURY 101 NORTH VIETNAMESE– Beat Off Blitzkrieg Assault… CONCERN GROWING ON SUEZ TENSION–Diplomats See Hardening of Positions By Both Sides–U.N. Talks Continue… (8 May) NORTH VIETNAMESE PULL BACK TO JUNGLE HAVEN–15,000 Believed In Staging Area Near Cambodia… CCNY SHUT DOWN–RACIAL CLASH INJURES 7 WHITES–Club Swinging Negroes Cap Violent Day With Battle on South Campus… LEW ALCINDOR DRAFTED BY MILWAUKEE BUCKS… (9 May) VIETCONG PRESENT 10-POINT PROGRAM AT PEACE TALKS–Proposed Calls For Coalition Government in Saigon and Free Elections–U.S. Pullout Demanded–Hanoi’s Withdrawal Vague–Desire for Negotiations Appears to be Indicated… U.S. SEES OPENING IN VIETCONG PLAN–Paris Proposal Seems To Be First Offer To Collaborate With Saigon Leaders… RAIDS BY U.S. IN CAMBODIA UNCHALLENGED… U.S. DEATHS IN WEEK SET AT 205… ISRAEL DENIES REPORT SHE HAS 5-6 A-BOMBS… (10 May) ROGERS CAUTIONS ON VIETCONG PLAN–Close Study Set–Some Points In Foe’s Terms Are Found Unacceptable, Others Worth Exploring–Policy Shift Detected– Administration Impression Is That Enemy Is Moving Toward Deal Bargaining… SAIGON RECEPTIVE ON NLF PROPOSAL–Ready For Talks On Aspects of 3 of 10 Points In Latest Terms For Peace… (11 May) U.S. TROOPS REPORT KILLING 129 IN DANANG BATTLE–American Losses Put At 6 Dead and 12 Wounded–Marines Trap Enemy With Artillery and Aircraft Fire… NIXON NAMES WALT FOUR-STAR GENERAL…
II… COMMANDO HUNT I transitioning to COMMANDO HUNT II as the seasonal monsoon swaps good weather on the southwest side of the Annam mountain range for the start of the wet season that will last from May to November 1969. Meanwhile on the northeast side of the Annams, the Route Packages of North Vietnam will see clearing skies and good weather. The following clip is from the PACAF SOUTHEAST ASIA AIR OPERATIONS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 1969 issued in May 1969. (Thanks HRA, Maxwell AFB)… Quote…
STEEL TIGER AIR STRIKE ACTIVITY (Commencing in May 1969 the COMMANDO HUNT AREA was expanded to include all of Southern Laos)…
“USAF attack sorties decreased 16% to 6,989. 6% of these sorties delivered ordnance using the COMBAT SKYSPOT system (Milky). 12 sorties used COMMANDO NAIL procedures (all-weather A-6 radar strikes in Mugia Pass). Continuing emphasis is being placed on the use of special munitions packages in the traffic control area program. High priority areas are attacked with air-to-ground missiles or conventional bombs to cause road cuts or landslides. Time delay and area denial munitions are then seeded to hinder repair activity. To limit the effects of adverse weather on flying operations, aircraft programmed to deliver the special munitions, as well as SAC tankers, have been placed on alert status. This procedure allows aircraft to be launched quickly when the weather is satisfactory for visual ordnance delivery.
“AC-130 and AC-123 gunships were used effectively to strike truck traffic along the most active route segments in Steel Tiger. They flew 77 and 32 sorties respectively and accounted for a significant portion of the enemy vehicle attrition. During the first half of April, gunships sighted over 550 trucks, attacked 536, destroyed or damaged 326 and caused over 700 secondary fires and explosions.
“Special munitions used by U.S. forces in Steel Tiger include the MK-36 Destructor (8,159), time delay bombs with FMU-72 fuzes (877), and laser guided Paveway I bombs (196). MK-36 usage increased 177% over the previous month reflecting the increased emphasis on area denial subsequent to road interdiction.
“The town of Ban Thateng, north of the Bolovens Plateau, was lost to the enemy on the night of 3/4 April. Land mines and WAAPM were air seeded to maintain FAR defenses while tactical air strikes, FAC, flare and gunship support helped thwart initial enemy advances. Continuous enemy mortar and rocket attacks however, made conditions within the garrison untenable and friendly forces exited the area.
“Continued use of Loran all-weather munitions delivery has had some success. As trucks were identified moving through selected sensor strings, F-4s used their Loran equipment to deliver CBU24/29 munitions in near real-time response to intelligence.
“Intentions for May in Steel Tiger include daily strike effort by 240 Air Force, 150 Navy and 45 Marine aircraft. Day sortie packages will be flown primarily against Traffic Control Areas. At night AC-130s will perform armed reconnaissance on the most active LOCs. Marine A-6s will use their self-contained bombing equipment to seed MK-36s at validated interdiction points.”… Unquote…
STEEL TIGER OPERATIONS;
TOTAL SORTIES VEHICLES BLDGS R.CUTS AAA
USAF 6,989 (2,230) 1,402 562 1,239 157
USN 3,255 (1,171) 630 28 141 7
USMC 913 (UNK) 64 21 42 2
III. AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: 5-11 May 1969… References include Chris Hobson’s VIETNAM AIR LOSSES. During the week ending 11 May 1969 the United States lost eight (8) fixed wing aircraft and nine (9) gallant warriors.
(1) On 6 May a Marine Corps O-1G of VMO-6 and Mag-39 (Seaworthy 37) out of Quang Tri piloted by 1LT NORMAN KARL BILLIPP, USMC, and Aerial Observer 1LT JOHN ROBERT HAGAN, USMC, disappeared while conducting a visual reconnaissance mission along Route 9 along the Laotian border and east of Tchepone, extremely hostile areas. Massive thunderstorms covered the area and there had been a general recall of all aircraft. The Bird Dog FAC aircraft and crew were assumed to have been downed by ground fire, but no voice or beeper calls were heard or parachutes seen. The wreckage could not be found after extensive SAR efforts. 1LT BILLIPP and 1LT HAGAN were declared MIA and the status changed to Presumed Killed in Action in 1976 (BILLIPP) and 1978 (HAGAN). The wreckage of the O-1G was found by a joint U.S. and Vietnamese search team in 1996 and the remains of CAPTAIN BILLUPP and CAPTAIN HAGAN were recovered and later identified. … oohrah for the DPAA and recovery teams… “No man left behind.”…. (More on MAJOR HAGAN in Humble Host End Note below)…
(2) On 6 May an A-4E of the VA-94 Mighty Shrikes embarked in the USS Bon Homme Richard skidded off the flight deck into the sea after completing a COMMANDO HUNT mission. The pilot was rescued to fly and fight again…
(3) On 8 May an F-4C ( Boxer 31) of the 559th TFS and 12th TFW out of Cam Ranh Bay crewed by MAJOR WILLIAM JAMES BRASHEAR and 1LT HENRY GERALD MUNDT, II, was downed by enemy ground fire while seeding a section of road on the Ho Chi Minh Trail 40 miles west of Kham Duc in the COMMANDO HUNT area of southern Laos. The flight of Phantoms was operating under a low overcast and the aircraft of MAJOR BRASHEAR and 1LT MUNDT was seen to be hit and burst into flames. MAJOR BRASHEAR was able to climb the flaming Phantom to 7,500-feet before the two ejected. One good parachute was seen and the second chute was a streamer all the way to the ground. Search and recovery aircraft, including an HH-3E of the 37th ARRS piloted by ANTHONY F. ARGO, were quickly on scene, but heavy enemy fire forced retirement from the area. One emergency beeper was heard and voice contact with MAJOR BRASHEAR was made. He reported that he was badly burned and had injured a leg. The transmission was cut off abruptly and no further contact was made. The SAR was terminated without further contact with either of the crew. They were listed as MIA…. In 1972, a rallier who was assigned to a Communist unit identified as Infiltration Group QL3030 reported seeing an injured American major on 19 May 1969 at a station in Attopeu, Laos. The major was in the custody of medical personnel from Hospital 65. There was further evidence that MAJOR BRASHEAR was alive and in custody on that date. (re: POW Network). Both MAJOR BRASHEAR and 1LT MUNDT remain missing and are listed as “Presumptive Finding of Death.” Killed in Action. …Left behind, but remembered with admiration and respect as warriors who gave their all for our country…
(4) On 8 May an F-8J of the VF-51 Screaming Eagles embarked in “BONNIE DICK” (Bon Homme Richard CV(A)-31) piloted by LCDR R.G. SNOW hit the ramp and was lost at sea. LCDR SNOW ejected and was rescued to fly and fight again. This was the fifth Bon Homme Richard aircraft lost in a two week period… “There are no easy days.”
(5) On 9 May an F-100D of the 90th TFS and 3rd TFW out of Bien Hoa piloted by 1LT J.V. WILLFORD was part of a flight scrambled to strike an enemy force engaged with friendly troops 30 miles northeast of Bien Hoa. 1LT WILLFORD was making his fourth pass dropping napalm when hit by enemy ground fire. He was able to fly the Super Sabre nearly halfway home before having to eject. An Army helicopter made the rescue…
(6) On 9 May an O-2A of the 20th TASS and 504th TASG out of Danang lost an engine and crashed near the base destroying the aircraft. The pilot survived to fly and FAC again…
(7) On 10 May a B-52 of the 509th BW operating out of Anderson AFB, Guam crashed into the ocean after takeoff killing CAPTAIN JAMES I. SIPES, 1LT LARRY IVAN BROADHEAD, CAPTAIN RUSSELL I. PLATT and 1LT MAURICE E. LUNDY… The Brothers-in-Arms rest in peace where they perished in the service of our country…
(8) On 11 May a Marine F-4B of the VMFA-115 Silver Eagles, call sign “Manual 42,” and MAG-13 out of Chu Lai piloted by 1LT GARY I. BAIN, USMC, and RIO, 1LT WILLIAM CORNELIUS RYAN, USMC, were part of a flight of Phantoms attacking a storage area on a COMMANDO HUNT mission near Ban Kate when hit and downed by ground fire. Only 1LT BAIN was able to eject from the aircraft and he was rescued by a HH-3E of the 37th ARRS piloted by CAPTAIN JOSEPH R. HALL, Jr.,and MARTIN E. RICHERT. 1LT BAIN suffered a broken arm in the incident, which was his 213th and final combat mission. 1LT RYAN did not eject from the aircraft and was declared Killed-in-Action on 11 May 1969…. From January 1990 until May 2012 the joint U.S. and Lao team conducted interviews with numerous witnesses to the crash leading to six excavations of a crash site near Ban Alang Noi, recovering life support items, aircraft wreckage and human remains that were subsequently identified as those of 1LT RYAN. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on 10 May 2017, forty-eight years after his final flight… oohrah for the DPAA headquarters, field and lab folks who refused to “leave this warrior behind.”…
IV. HUMBLE HOST END NOTES… A tribute to the two Marines who perished in the VMO-6 O-1G Bird Dog on 6 May. The aerial observer on the flight was buried as MAJOR JOHN R. HAGAN, USMC. He was a “grunt.” And an extraordinary one, at that. MAJOR HAGAN’s valor in combat is a matter of record for posterity as the citation for his SILVER STAR attests…
GENERAL ORDERS: CITATION…
“The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the SILVER STAR to Second Lieutenant JOHN R. HAGAN, United States Marine Corps for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as Platoon Commander with Company G, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, THIRD Marine Division in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 19 April 1968, Second Lieutenant HAGAN’s unit was dispatched to a bridge site between Ca Lu and Khe Sanh to assist elements of his company which were heavily engaged with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force employing mortars, rockets, small arms and automatic weapons. Earlier in the day a security force and a convoy had been ambushed at the bridge and were pinned down and sustained numerous casualties. Upon arrival at the site, Second Lieutenant HAGAN unhesitatingly advanced to the point of heaviest contact and deployed his men to recover casualties from the bridge area. Repeatedly exposing himself to intense enemy fire, he moved from one position to another aiding the wounded while directing their evacuation to covered positions. On one occasion when he became pinned down by the heavy volume of heavy fire along both sides of the narrow road, he crawled to a tank and directed the movement of the vehicle into the hazardous area, aiding in the evacuation of the casualties from the fire-swept battle area. During the night, Second Lieutenant HAGAN disregarded the dangers of numerous booby traps and mines as he maneuvered throughout the difficult, mountainous terrain to ensure that all casualties had been recovered and evacuated to the relative safety of the company perimeter. The following day and night, he refused to return to the command post and remained in the area to direct mortar fire against the enemy positions and assist a reinforcing company which was pursuing the fleeing enemy. His heroic actions undoubtedly saved several Marine lives and were instrumental in the subsequent defeat of the enemy force, resulting in twenty-four North Vietnamese soldiers confirmed killed. By his extraordinary courage, indomitable fighting spirit and selfless devotion to duty, Second Lieutenant HAGAN upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.”… oohrah…
Among several remembrances left for MAJOR HAGAN on VVMF Wall of Faces was this from Dr. William B. Wheeler who wrote: “Bob was a great example of selfless love. He lived in our neighborhood in Chattanooga and was a great example of character for us younger boys in the neighborhood. His mother was our Boy Scout den mother. We were always following Bob Hagan in word and deed… We were all saddened to hear of his death in Vietnam, but no one doubted his bravery or courage. It was expected, given his prior example. ‘Greater love has no one than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends.’ Matthew 15:13“… MAJOR HAGAN’s son William left this note on 25 May 2017: “… three words about my father would be integrity, honor and loyalty They just don’t make men like my father anymore”…
Lest we forget… Bear
