Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #372… THE WEATHER ALTERNATIVE… best described by LT STEVE GRAY, RAMPANT RAIDER… but first…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO of a return to the air war over North Vietnam (and other exciting scenes in Southeast Asia) fifty years ago…
12 MARCH 1967…HEAD LINES AND LEADS from The New York Times on a nice Sunday in Central Park…
Page 1:”Johnson Will Go To Guam In Week”...”President Johnson will go to Guam next weekend for strategy meeting discussions on the war…He will meet with General Westmoreland and Ambassador Lodge…From other sources in Washington there were indications of one subject might that be to bring further military pressure on North Vietnam. It was said that this was the trend of Administration thinking on the war, following the breakdown of efforts to arrange a diplomatic settlement earlier this year. There were also indications that the Administration would urge greater military effort by the South Vietnamese Government. This will be President Johnson’s third trip to the Pacific.”… Page 1: “Technology Gap Upsets Europe”…”A rich, powerful and expanding American is confronted today by a Western Europe where a series of lags and a complex of fears, suspicions and frustrations have produced a problem called the ‘technology gap.’… the technological gap has eluded both a simple definition and a solution. But it is imposing a strain on United States-European relations. ‘Unless we are careful, our concept of the Atlantic partnership can be eroded by the fear and concern about the power of American capital and technology,’ Vice President Humphrey said in an interview in Washington. What is the technological gap? Defense Secretary McNamara said in a recent speech that the Europeans ‘complain’ is that we are so surpassing them in industrial development that we will eventually create a technological imperialism…the British have lost 400 aerospace technicians to American industry in the last year…France has made its own color television, but some of its parts are made in the USA…European complain about the proposed non-proliferation treaty because it would force the have-nots to live on the nuclear crumbs of the super-powers…These are some of the manifestations of the technological gap–the lag that the Europeans see in their capacity to keep up with a nuclear powered, computer-calculated, space rocketing world.”… Page 1: “Severe Drought A Mounting Peril to Winter Wheat”... threatening much of the nation’s winter wheat in the major wheat-growing regions in Kansas and Oklahoma. The top soil is dry and powdery exposing the poorly rooted plants to the March winds.”
Page 2: “Israel Troubled by Unemployment”...”Premier Levi Eshkol met last week with Hebrew University students to widen contacts with an increasingly troubled recession that has driven unemployment figures to the highest level in the nation’s 20 year history 96,000 of a labor force of 953,000 are unemployment.”… Page 10: “Navy Sets Inquiry on Pilot Who Asks War Declaration”...”Publicly calling for a declaration of war against North Vietnam. Commander Laurence Baldauf, Jr. His Commanding Officer has ordered an investigations into his conduct and will determine what action to take . Commander Baldouf was refused permission to resign last August because of need for airman. He is from Coronoda, California.”… Page 10: “Yesterday afternoon a Navy C-47 twin-engine transport ‘disintegrated in the air’ and crashed on the coast about 170 miles north of Saigon…20 to 30 persons were onboard and all are presumed dead…” (reported in yesterday’s blog)…
Page 17: “An appeal to End Vietnam War Signed By 6,766 Educators”…”A large group of teachers and educators from across the country appealed yesterday for an end to the Vietnam war and accused the Government of withholding information about the conflict from the American people. Names are in an advertisement in today’s New York Times. A few of the demands: End the bombing. Declare a cease-fire. Adopt realistic position for inclusion of the National Liberation Front and implementation of the Geneva accords. Call a halt to the killing of American youth…more than 7,500 already dead protecting a corrupt military dictatorship against the wishes of the Vietnamese people. No teacher, no American citizen, can in good conscience sit idly by in the face of this illegal, immoral and senseless war.”…
12 MARCH 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (13 March reporting 12 March ops) Page 1: “U.S. Loses 4 Jets”… “The United States lost four jet fighter-bombers over North Vietnam yesterday, three of them on the raid on the iron and steel complex at Thainguyen. Earlier the Hanoi radio said that Vietnamese gunners had shop down seven American jets. this brought to 484 the number of jets lost over North Vietnam since 1965.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 12 March 1967…
(10) CAPTAIN EDWIN RILEY GOODRICH and 1LT JOHN WALTER CLARK were flying an RF-4C on a photo reconnaissance mission in the mountainous area 60 miles west of Hanoi when hit by ground fire requiring they abandon the Phantom. CAPTAIN GOODRICH was severely injured and Fulton Recovery System was dropped for an extraction attempt. The effort failed and CAPTAIN GOODRICH, with 90 missions in his log book, died on the scene 50 years ago. Killed in Action. His remains were returned to the United States in 1988. 1LT CLARK was captured and imprisoned as a POW until released in 1973.
(2) A C-130E of the345 TCS and 314th TCW crashed while taking off from An Khe. The crew of five escaped safely from the crash.
(3) An RF-101C of the 20th TRS and 432 TRW crashed at Udorn. The pilot survived.
(4) CAPTAIN JOSEPH DANIEL ADRIAN was flying an F-100D of the 308th TFS and 31st TFW out of Tuy Hoa on a close air support mission. He inexplicably flew into the sea during the initial rendezvous with his flight leader. CAPTAIN ADRIAN perished fifty years ago on this day. As is the case with almost all at-sea aviation fatalities, the bodies are unrecoverable and rest in peace forever where they fell…
RIPPLE SALVO… #372… During the dog days of the Northeast Monsoon –mid November to mid March– ROLLING THUNDER missions from Yankee Station had an even chance to be diverted to a back-up mission where the weather was better and the need was about as great. The profile for this back-up alternative is best described by Steve Gray in his superb journal of his experiences as a Naval Aviator, including his combat cruises with the VA-212 “Rampant Raiders.” His book: “Rampant Raider: An A-4 Skyhawk Pilot in Vietnam,” is a great set of stories told from the perspective of a first tour junior officer –a nugget– and told with feeling and the gusto of a warrior with words as well as deeds. He was there, and his telling takes you there. So here is the way Steve would explain what a Yankee Air Pirate does with six MK-82s, two Mk-81s and a tank of gas on a rainy day at Yankee Station… I quote intermittently from pages 172-175 from “Rampant Raider”… STEVE GRAY writes…
Finally, on the last day of February 1967, I was airborne on my first combat mission. The weather over North Vietnam was still stinko, so we would be heading directly for Da Nang to make ourselves available for whatever Hillsborough could find for us. The XO, Commander (Marv) Quaid, would be leading our flight… the rendezvous point was sixteen thousand feet on the 180-degree radial off Rocket (USS Bon Homme Richard) TACAN at 20 miles. As I reached the fix and began the orbit turn, I could see the other three airplanes in my division far below and behind me in trail, three dots leaving thin black smoke trails ( A-4Es–J-52 engines) against the pure white of the undercast. “Eagles, go tactical,” the XO’s voice came over the radio. I reached down and selected channel 20, the squadron’ tactical frequency, on the channel selector dial. “Eagle check,” transmitted the XO. “Eagle Two,” I responded, and “Eagle Three” and “Eagle Four” came in quick succession as the second section checked in. “Eagle Two, head two-two-zero and fly two-fifty, we’ll do a running rendezvous. I’ll join on your port side.” a few minutes later, Commander Quaid called, “Push it up to three-fifty and check seven o’clock, Eagle Two.” glancing over my shoulder, I could see the XO’s airplane closing rapidly, speed brakes out as he slowed from four hundred knots to keep from overrunning me too far. As he slid up my port side the XO’s helmeted and visored visage turned toward me. He tapped his helmet with two gloved fingers and pointed to himself, signaling that he was taking the lead. As I settled into position on his right-wing, the second section, having already joined, slid into position on the left side We had already traveled half the distance to Da Nang and the XO signaled us to switch to Hillsborough radio.
“Hillsborough, Hillsborough, Flying Eagle, over,” the XO called.
“Flying eagle, Hillsborough, go ahead, over”
“Hillsborough, flying Eagle Leader with four A-4s, twenty four Mark-82s, eight Mark-81s, banded Snake-eyes… one hour station time, over.” the XO had just told Hillsborough what we were, what ordnance we had and how much time we had for whatever target assignment Hillsborough could give us…
“Flying Eagle Lead, Hillsborough, orbit the Da Nang zero eight zero for twenty-five. We have nothing for you at present. Will keep you informed, over. Apparently it was a slow day in I Corps–the military designation for the northern part of “South Vietnam and the southern part of Laos. The bad weather extended south as far as we could see; we were still flying on top of a solid undercast.
Other flights were also checking in for target assignments. Soon a number and variety of airplanes were flying holding patterns all around the Da Nang TACAN. After about thirty minutes of holding, Hillsborough called, “Eagle Lead, Hillsborough, fly to the Da Nang two-nine-zero for sixty miles and contact spotlight for a combat sky spot mission. You will be joined by all available Hillsborough control flights, over.” Commander Quaid acknowledged and headed us for the Spotlight vector. spotlight was a ground-controlled intercept radar site whose mission had been modified to direct radar-controlled bomb drops. they claimed a one-hundred-foot circular error probable accuracy, meaning at least 50 percent of the bombs they directed would hit within one hundred feet of the intended target. Spotlight normally controlled the big B-52 bombers on their high-altitude “Arc Light” bombing missions. Essentially we would be performing an Arc Light mission today….
Other flights joined us as Commander Quaid led us to the Spotlight vector. By the time we contacted Spotlight we were a formation of five divisions. VA-76’s division of A-4Cs, the “Spirits” (off USS Bonnie Dick), had joined us first, being very close to us in the holding [pattern. A division of A-6 Intruders from the USS Enterprise joined on our right, and a division of Marine F-4Bs from D Nang joined on our left. The last four plane division to join was a flight of F-105 Thunderchiefs from their base in Thailand. I was struck by the novelty of flying in a formation of so many different airplanes as I glanced around the flight.
Spotlight began giving Commander Quaid small heading corrections transmitting distance to drop information. A few thousand meters from the release point, spotlight gave us the command to arm our switches. I reached down, flipped the stations select switches to the armed position, and turned the master arm switch to “arm.” The bomb release button on the stick was now “hot’– bombs would fall if I pressed it–so I made sure to keep my thumb clear of it until the right time….
As we approached the radar calculated point in space to drop our loads, Spotlight gave one final course correction to the XO and then transmitted “Eagle flight, stand-by…stand-by…stand-by…hack, hack, hack.” My airplane jumped as the bombs rippled off my wings. “Bombs away,” called the XO as the flights peeled away from the formation to return to their various bases. Glancing back and down I could see the last of the dark bomb shapes disappearing into the clouds below. “Thank you for your assistance, Eagle Leader, have a nice day,” Spotlight bade us farewell. We didn’t even get to see the bombs explode.
Back aboard the Bonnie Dick, I pondered the anticlimax of my introduction to war. The instrument approach and landing were the most exciting part of the whole experience. I had been expecting maximum SAMs, MiGs, and antiaircraft fire, and not a shot had been fired at us. Such is war–full of surprises and never quite what you expect. My second mission would prove to be a bit more exciting.
Thanks, Steve, for a great contribution to the history of Rolling Thunder –just one of many from your dynamite journal, “Rampant Raider.”
CAG’s QUOTES for March 12: “CLAUSEWICZ: “The commanders psychology greatly influences his actions. A man acts boldly not from reflection but because he happens to be bold.”… PATTON: “Of course, our men are willing to die, but that is not enough.”…
Lest we forget…. Bear
