Bear Taylor 
GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, 18 February 2019. Humble Host remembers: the VIETNAM WAR of FIFTY YEARS AGO and COMMANDO HUNT, Week TWO (of 177)…18-24 November 1968…
HEADLINES from THE NEW YORK TIMES (18-24 Nov 68)…
THE VIETNAM WAR: 29,350 AMERICAN WARRIORS KILLED IN ACTION to date, and the war goes on. MORE THAN 58,200 WILL DIE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA before it is over. Lest we forget… Add 127 American men killed in action last week and 1,031 wounded in action… (18 Nov) SOUTH VIETNAMESE BEGIN NEW DRIVE TO CAPTURE MOUNTAIN FORTRESSES–Hundreds of Troops Storm Area Long Held By Foe. “Triton, South Vietnam. When Vietcong mortar shells slam into this little Delta town, as they do from time to time, there is never any question about their origin. They always come from the same place: Mount Coto, the rugged, jungle-clad mountain that has been a major Vietcong base for more than a decade. This morning for the second time in five months, hundreds of South Vietnamese troops began a drive to take the fortress.”… ALLIED SOLDIERS KILL 82 IN A SWEEP NEAR DANANG… (19 Nov) ENEMY TOLL AT DANANG PUT AT 250 KILLED… U.S. OFFICERS FEAR HANOI’s STRENGTHENING OF POSITIONS IN DMZ… (20 Nov) ENEMY SHELLS THE DANANG AREA–Assault is 2nd In Five Days–14 Other Cities Attacked… (21 Nov) ARTILLERY SHATTERS ENEMY UNITS KILLING 56 OF 90 NEAR DANANG–Foe Bombards Troops Near Saigon– B-52 Bombers Carry Out Seven Missions… (22 Nov) U.S. ARTILLERY FIRES INTO NORTHERN DMZ… Use Of Cambodian Sanctuaries By Foe Said To Gain In 1968… (23 Nov) ALLIED TROOPS CORDON ENEMY AREA NEAR DANANG–Operation Seeks to Destroy Vietcong Leadership… U.S. Again Warns Hanoi On DMZ Incidents–Takes ‘A Most Serious View’… (24 Nov) U.S. REPORTS LOSS OF PLANE IN NORTH–Downing In Panhandle Area First Since Bombing Halt–Hanoi Reports Capture of Pilot (See Aircraft Losses below)… Signs of Combat Fade at Khe Sanh–Scars of Siege Are Hidden By Encroaching Jungle…
THE PEACE TALKS: (18 Nov) DUAL LEADERSHIP SEEN–AN AMERICAN AND A SOUTH VIETNAMESE WOULD BE CO-CHAIRS OF ALLIES DELEGATION–South Vietnamese Denies–Not Ready To Come To Paris… (19 Nov) LAG IN PARIS TALKS FEARED IF LBJ TEAM IS REPLACED–Harriman and Vance Say They Will Leave At End of Johnson Team… ACCEPTANCE BY SAIGON OF AMERICAN FORMULA ON SEATING… (20 Nov) NIXON UNDECIDED ON TEAM AT PARIS–Early Choice is Not Likely… PRESIDENT ASKS COURAGE UNTIL PEACE IS ACHIEVED… (21 Nov) AMERICAN AND NORTH VIETNAMESE FAIL TO HOLD SESSION IN PARIS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WEEK… Thieu Confident of U.S. Lead…Bunker Sees Thieu and Thuong… (22 Nov) SAIGON AIDE TELLS OF VIETCONG’s BID–Says National Liberation Front Was Rebuffed On Secret Talks in Paris–Talks In Saigon Increase… (24 Nov) SAIGON SPECIFIES BASIS FOR MEETING WITH N.L.F. DIRECTLY–Premier Says Thieu Would Like Bilateral Talks, But He Rules Out Recognition of NLF–Laos Site Suggested–Huong Proposes Discussion of Political Issues and Roll of NLF in Ending War… HANOI ADAMANT ON FULL NLF ROLE--North Vietnam Lead Negotiator Tho Back in Hanoi From Paris, Voices A Hard Line Policy…
OTHER NEWS OF THE WEEK: (19 Nov) SUPREME COURT ASKED TO RULE ON MARCH INVOLVING CONVICTION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING… “The Supreme Court was asked indirectly today to clear the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from conviction in a Birmingham civil rights march five weeks before his slaying.”… SOVIET MOON CRAFT SKIPS TO SOVIET LANDING… MOSCOW UNLIKE WESTERN EUROPE IS TREATING PRESIDENT-ELECT NIXON WITH SKEPTICAL RESTRAINT… GROMYKO SEEKS TO ASSURE WEST–Steps For a Relaxation Urged… (20 Nov) PRESIDENT JOHNSON IN PRESENTING FIVE VIETNAM WARRIORS THE MEDAL OF HONOR PTREDICTS BETTER DAYS–G.I Platoon Wearies of Talks in Paris–President Asks Courage Until Peace Is Achieved… KOSYGIN IS WARNED BY SENATOR GORE OF REACTION IN U.S. TO INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA… SOVIET MANNED LUNAR SHOT MAY PRECEDE APOLLO… (21 Nov) DRAFT RATIO IS UP FOR COLLEGE MEN–Graduates Account for 16% of July-October Call… “The percentage of new draftees who are college graduates has more than tripled since last July when graduate students became eligible for induction. Manpower experts at the Department of Defense estimate that 9,500, or 16%, of the 59,300 men drafted from July to October were college graduates. Before July, the number had been running under 5%…”... (22 Nov) HOPE IS DIM FOR 78 CAUGHT IN COAL MINE FIRE IN WEST VIRGINIA… “Mining company and union officials refused to abandon hope tonight for 78 men trapped here since yesterday in the nearby volcanic inferno of an exploding, burning, gas-filled coal mine in Farmington, West Virginia.”… USE OF CAMBODIAN SANCTUARIES BY FOE SAID TO GAIN IN 1968… JOCKEY BOYCOTT PREVENTS GIRL FROM RIDING… (23 Nov) 107 SAFE AS JAPAN AIR LINES HITS BAY IN SAN FRANSISCO… (24 Nov) DE GAULLE REFUSES TO DEVALUE FRANC--He Will Address France Today–Action Surprises Fiscal Allies–Franc Defended–$2-Billion Pledged At Conference In Bonn Is Still Expected… BARRIERS IN JERUSALEM AGAIN SEPARATE ARABS AND JEWS… SOVIET AND NATO FLEETS CONFRONT EACH OTHER IN MEDITERRANEAN… CRISIS IN EUROPE: a System is Shaken to its Roots…
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT I …Excerpts from PACAF November 1968 Southeast Asia Air Operations Monthly Summary (Declas 1992)…
Operation COMMANDO HUNT, a closely integrated and centrally directed year-round U.S. air campaign against the enemy logistic system, officially got underway on 15 November. The COMMANDO HUNT area… encompasses the main routes of infiltration for enemy troops and supplies moving from North Vietnam through Laos into South Vietnam. Goals of the COMMANDO HUNT operation are to destroy the supplies moving south, tie down enemy forces, and exploit the Igloo White sensor system. Sorties will be flown against (1) Traffic Control Points (TCPs), and (2) Perishable area targets such as occupied truck parks, storage areas, trans-shipment points and troop encampments, (3) fleeting targets, i.e., convoys, and (4) enemy defenses. During the second half of November 1968 (15-30), approximately two-thirds of Steel Tiger sorties were within the COMMANDO HUNT area of operations… The Air Force flew 8,380 sorties with 2,739 at night. They destroyed 316 vehicles, 122 buildings, made 710 road cuts and attacked 77 anti-aircraft sites. They were credited with 669 secondary explosions. Navy strike fighters flew 2,312 sorties in Steel Tiger and destroyed 70 vehicles, 254 buildings, made 183 road cuts, and attacked 27 AAA sites. The Marines flew 833 sorties into Laos and killed 35 trucks…
Enemy traffic moving from RPI in North Vietnam through Laos on the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” must pass through either the MuGia or Ben Karai passes. TCPs south of these passes have been identified at Ben Pha Nop and Ban Laboy for recurring air strikes. The Ban Laboy TCPs have been closed all month. Indications are that an attempt is being made to build bypasses and circumvent the area. The Ban Pha Nop TCP on Route 1202 has been closed all month… Approximately one-half of day and one-third of night Steel Tiger strike sorties are being directed aagainst TCPs. A similar interdiction campaign is being mounted further south in Steel Tiger to close Routes 110/962 from the Cambodia border eastward into South Vietnam…
Steel Tiger weekly truck sightings… Totals: 28 October to 3 Nov= 356; 4-10 Nov= 382; 11-17 Nov= 1,135; 18-24 Nov= 1,514; and, 25 Nov-1 Dec= 1,076, for total of 4,463…. The total number of sightings is up substantially over the previous month and is approximately equal to the heavy amount of traffic seen in the Laotian panhandle in November 1967. 94% of all visual sightings occurred during the hours of darkness.
AIRCRAFT LOSSES 18-24 NOVEMBER 1968… Reference: VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES by Chris Hobson… There were EIGHT fixed wing aircraft lost, 10 warriors killed, and an eleventh aviator who survived the war as a POW… here are their stories from 50 years ago…
(1) On 19 November an F-4D of the 390th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang crewed by MAJOR YALE REZIN DAVIS and 1LT JOHN NORMAN REILLY was hit by automatic weapon fire in the approach to Danang while returning from an escort mission. The Phantom crashed killing both the pilot, MAJOR DAVIS, and the back-seater 1LT REILLY. MAJOR DAVIS left a wife, Elaine, and a 5-week old son, Brian. He lies in peace at Prairie Mound Cemetery, Solomon, Kansas. 1LT REILLY rests at the Maryrest Cemetery in Darlington, New Jersey, glory gained, duty done… and remembered…
(2) On 20 November an F-100F Commando Sabre of the 416th TFS and 37th TFW out of Phu Cat piloted by Misty FACs CAPTAIN FRANK T. KIMBALL and CAPTAIN LAWRENCE K. IRVING were shot down near the village of Ban Pro in southern Laos. They were on a road recce of a section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail when hit. CAPTAIN KIMBALL turned east for home, but had to eject when the engine failed. Both pilots were rescued to fly and FAC again by an HH-3 flown by LCOL JOHN J. DEVLIN, Commander of the 37th ARRS… Pacific Stars amd Stripes, Wednesday, December 11 reported the rescue–the 424th save by the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron based at Danang. LCOL DEVLIN: “When we arrived on the scene, the Spads from the 6th Special Ops Squadron detachment had located and identified the pilots. The Spads made a low level pass through the valley and declared it safe for us to make the pickup. We dropped to about 2,000 feet and started up the valley to where the backseater (Irving) was located on a steep slope in the dense jungle. We found him and lowered our extractor and when he was safely on the penetrator, we lifted him aboard. Then we headed for the second man (Kimball), who was about 1,000-feet from the first downed man. After we retracted him, we headed for Danang.” Fellow HH-3 pilot MAJOR HERMAN STAFFORD JR, added: “Actually, it wasn’t too rough, although we almost hit some tree limbs while we were extracting the men from the slope.”
(3) On 21 November an A-4C of the VA-216 Black Diamonds embarked in USS Coral Sea and piloted by COMMANDER MARVIN JOEL NASCHEK settled into the Gulf of Tonkin a few seconds after a catapult shot. COMMANDER NASCHEK failed to survive the crash. His body was recovered and he rests in peace among fallen warriors in Arlington National Cemetery.
(4) On 21 November an RF-4C of the 14th TRS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn crewed by Misty pilots CAPTAIN P.N. SHIRAISHI and CAPTAIN E.U. LARUE suffered an engine flameout due to fuel exhaustion returning from a mission. The crew ejected and was rescued to fly and FAC again…
(5) On 22 November an O-2A of the 23rd TASS and 504th TASG piloted by MAJOR RICHARD C. SWIFT with CAPTAIN IVAN J. CAMPBELL as observer were lost on a FAC mission. The aircraft inexplicable flew into a forest in Thailand killing both aviators. MAJOR SWIFT lies in peace at Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa and CAPTAIN CAMPBELL is buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville, Texas…
(6) On 23 November an RF-4C of the 14th TRS and 504th TASG out of Udorn, piloted by CAPTAIN BRADLEY GENE CUTHBERT and CAPTAIN MARK JOHN RUHLING in the backseat, was downed by ground fire while on a photo reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. While photographing a SAM site and a road segment 10 miles northwest of Dong Hoi the Photo Phantom was hit in the wing which burst into flame requiring the pair of intrepid aviators to eject near Dong Hoi. CAPTAIN RUHLING was captured almost immediately and was interned as a POW for the remainder of the war. He was released on 14 March 1973. He was downed on his 84th mission. CAPTAIN CUTHBERT was neither seen nor heard from after ejecting. He did not show up at a POW camp and was listed as missing and presumed killed in action by his captors until 1993 when his remains were returned by the North Vietnamese. MAJOR CUTHBERT remains ( “two teeth”) were positively identified on 16 December 1998. He is memorialized at Hillcrest Memorial Park, Fort Madison, Iowa…. POSTSCRIPT: At a postwar Senate Select Committee Hearing Mark Ruhling testified that after the ejection, both he and Cuthbert were on the ground and that he had observed Cuthbert in his chute with both hands on the risers. He was not seen alive again, although the North Vietnamese reported the capture of one pilot of an RF-4C on 23 November… In 1989 the Joint Recovery Center interviewed indigenous North Vietnamese and recovered a dogtag of Cuthbert from local villagers. They also recieved hearsay evidence that Cuthbert had landed safely and was beaten to death by local wood cutters. JCRC was taken to the purported grave site…but it was unrelated to the Cuthbert/Ruhling downing… On 10 July 2003, Shannon (Cuthbert) Sasson made known that she was the daughter of Bradley Gene Cuthbert and suggested that the record be corrected. She contended that “two teeth” were inadequate to postively identify her father and insisted that he was still Missing-in-Action. “He could still be alive over there, but our government has closed the case and stamped him deceased based upon recovery of these two teeth. They are no longer looking for him or for any clues regarding his fate. These veterans deserve far better from the country they gave their all to serve. Shannon (Cuthbert) Sasson”…
(7) On 25 November an RA-5C Vigilante of the RVAH-5 Savage Sons embarked in USS Constellation became the second photo reconnaissance aircraft to be downed near the 19th Parallel. COMMANDER ERNEST ALBERT STAMM and his Attack/Navigator (RAN), LTJG RICHARD COBB THUM, were illuminated and tracked by enemy anti-aircraft defenses. As they maneuvered the Vigilante at high speed at 5,500-feet the escorting F-4 pilot observed the RA-5 get hit by flak, explode and break into four parts. Other aircraft in the area heard a Fan Song SAM radar making the hit a possible SAM. (Which NSA intelligence confirmed was the case). Two parachutes were observed but neither COMMANDER STAMM nor LTJG THUM survived. COMMANDER STAMM lived long enough to be captured, but died shortly thereafter. His remains were returned in March 1973 and identified in April 1974. He rests in peace at Holy Cross Luthern Cemetery, Collinsville, Illinois. LTJG THUM’S remains were returned, identified and presented to his family for burial at Maple Hill Cemetery, Dorset, Vermont.
(8) On 25 November an F-4D of the 555th TFS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn piloted by MAJOR JOSEPH CASTLEMAN MORRISON and 1LT SAN DEWAYNE FRANCISCO was escorting another photo mission and was downed by AAA near the Ban Karai Pass. They both ejected and landed safely, but very close to a North Vietnamese troop encampment. It is known that 1LT FRANCISCO was on the ground as he made brief voice contact with Misty 41, the Forward Air Controller in the area at the time. It is also known that MAJOR MORRISON was able to evade the enemy through the night and spoke to rescue forces the following morning, but weather prevented a pick-up attempt. By the time the weather cleared contact with MAJOR MORRISON was lost and neither of the two aviators was every heard from again. On 26 November the Vietnam People’s Army published news that referenced a shootdown of an American aircraft and the capture of two pilots, although the article did not mention either creman by name… Identity papers and other personal effects of both officers, including MAJOR MORRISON’S revolver, are displayed in the museum of the 28th Air Defense Regiment in Hanoi and an official North Vietnamese photograph clearly shows the body of MAJOR MORRISON, who was promoted to Colonel while listed as missing. 1LT FRANCISCO was promoted to Major. Both warriors are memorialized by stone markers in Arlington National Cemetery… The following remembrance dated 14 June 2014 has been left for MAJOR FRANCISCO on Wall of Faces from his brother: “San was my brother, he was to me the most perfect human being God created, he was kind, sincere and a ‘Gentle Giant.’ I am in Washington, DC this week to get political support and meet with the Accountability Personnel to maintain personal involvement in recovering his remains. San is my Hero and I will do whatever it takes to bring him home. Prayers and Persistence!!!!!!!”
RIPPLE SALVO from the POW NETWORK documentation concerning COLONEL MORRISON and MAJOR FRANCISCO…
“In 1992 a National Security Agency (NSA) correlation study of all communist radio intercepts pertaining to missing Americans which was presented to the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in a classified format, was finally declassified and made public. According to this document, 3 North Vietnamese radio messages were intercepted and correlated to this incident. The NSA synopsis states: ‘Note: downed in immediate vicinity of enemy encampment. Initial voice contact established with both crewmen. Two aircraft shot down, an RF-5C with one crewman dead (Thum) and one crewman captured (Stamm) , and an F-4D with one crewman ‘pick up’ (captured), (Francisco) (or……). The US aircraft that was…in Do Lung (1845N 10518E) area (RA-5C) was shot down by a SAM missile…there were two pilots, one had died (Thum) and the other (Stamm) had been picked up. Further discussion involved the possible use of an An-2 to transport the two pilots from Vinh to Hanoi. An An-2 conducted a roundtrip flight between Bai Thong and Vinh on 26 November. Possibly iovolves the proposed transfer of the two US pilot POWS north from Vinh. DIA preliminary assessment. DIA concurs with the initial correlation for this case. The…. indicates at least one of the crew from the aircraft was rescued. DIA had this information in their files and both individuals were listed by DIA as POWs at homecoming (1973) based on that info. This latest review…did not add anything new to Refno 1329′
“In late 1992, a large number of photographs from the North Vietnamese Central Army Museum in Hanoi were turned over to the United States. In these black and white pictures were five pertaining to the pilot and copilot of Grommet 2 (Morrison and Francisco) Two of the pictures show Major Morrison lying dead on the ground. The nametag on his flight suit is easily readable and confirms his identity. One is a full body photo and the other is a head and shoulders view.
“The other three photos show a variety of gear and aircraft wreckage carefully laid out. That gear includes: both men’s ID cards, 2 pistols and gun belts, one helmet, one survival knife, two survival radios, one watch, both Geneva Convention Cards, Joseph Morrison’s driver’s license, a small gear bag bearing the insignia of their squadron, both the preserver inspection cards, a portion of a shot record belonging to one of the men, a $20.00 bill, a film cartfridge from the aircraft, and the wreckage, to include one of the engines and the tail section.
“The evaluation of these photos by US government personnel concluded Joseph Morrison died in a shoot-out with the North Vietnamese, and that he probably made the decision he was not going down without a fight and/or he was not going to allow himself to be captured. OOHRAH!!!
“Likewise these photographs prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the North Vietnamese killed Joseph Morrison and all the years of claiming they have no knowledge of his fate or whereabouts is a sham. There is no question the communists have his remains and know exactly where they are buried or warehoused.
“The bottom line is quite simple. COLONEL JOSEPH MORRISON has the right to have his remains returned to his family, friends and country he proudly served. For other Americans, including MAJOR SAN FRANCISCO, who most certainly had been captured, who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, their fate could be quite differenct.
“Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government (Webmaster note: see Stoney Beach). Many of these reports document LIVE American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.
“Fighter pilots were called upon to fly in many dangerous curcumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably nebver occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.”
Lest we forget… Bear
