Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #392… MAJOR H.R. McMASTER’S “DERELICTION OF DUTY”… but first…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED NINETY-TWO of a daily journal of an air war fought fifty-years ago…
1 APRIL 1967… HEAD LINES and LEADS from The New York Times on a beautiful Saturday in Central Park…
Page 1: “NATO Command Opens its New Home in Belguim”…”The Atlantic alliance formally opened its supreme military headquarters in Belguim today with one minor mishap–the pulley cane off the NATO flag pole at a crucial point in the flag raising ceremonies. It was 4:45 pm in the biting cold of southwestern Belgium when General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe declared his headquarters operational here after its expulsion from France…Fifteen fighter-bombers–Phantoms, Starfighters and Hunters (what? no Etendard IVs?)–swooped 0ver the Headquarters in a deafening crescendo, and then a British band struck up a regiment march. General Lemnitzer made no mention of the expulsion from France in his brief remarks to about 300 guests who had assembled for the ceremony.”... Page 1: “Wallace Considers Entering Primary in New Hampshire”… “Former Governor George Wallace said today that he was thinking of entering the New Hampshire primary next March.”… Page 1: “British Buy More F-111s In Bid to Keep World Role”... “The British Government decided today to go ahead with its purchase of the American F-111, the controversial swing-wing attack plane. Officials signed an order for 40 of the planes. Ten were ordered a year ago with an option for 40 more. The option was to expire tonight. The decision has weighty consequences for British defense planning, indeed for her whole position in the world. It symbolizes Prime Minister Wilson’s determination to retain a ‘world role’ for Britain…The F-111 price is $11 million.”… Page 1: “Johnson Ratifies Counsular Treaty”… “Without comment President Johnson ratified today a counsular convention with the Soviet Union. It is the first bilateral treaty with Moscow since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution….Ratification by the Soviet Union, a mere formality, is expected soon.”…
Page 1: “Maoists Step-Up Attacks On Foes: Showdown Seen”... “Supporters of Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s Cultural Revolution used their heaviest artillery today in opening what appears to be a showdown battle in the struggle to strip all authority from Liu Shau-chi, the Chief of State, and two other leaders accused of opposing the Mao line. Hung Chi, the policy journal of the Communist party’s cultural committee, described as ‘eyewash’ Mr. Liu’s major work on revolutionary theory and called for stringent criticism of it as an important part of a struggle against the bourgeois reactionary line.”… Page 1: “Saigon Promulgates a New Constitution”… “South Vietnam’s new Constitution written by an elected assembly in the midst of a war, was promulgated this morning. at colorful ceremonies on the porch of Independence Palace, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thieu, the Chief of State, offered his signature and then held the red leather bound document over his head in his right hand for the crowd to see.”… Page 2: “Saigon Backs Plan in Principle”… “South Vietnam’s observers at the United Nation’s made public today Saigon’s agreement in principle with the main points of Secretary-General U Thant’s peace proposals, Saigon added some suggestions of its own. the reply, as presented by Nguyen Duy Lieu of South Vietnam, was more conciliatory than re[ports from Saigon had indicated. Diplomats who have studied it have expressed the view that the reply, together with that of the United States, gave the Secretary-General points to try to negotiate with Hanoi.”…
Page 2: “Big U.S. Force Repulses Foes’ Attack”... “Four Vietcong battalions–totaling 2,000 men– were repulsed today in their attempt to smash a big United States force pushing toward a vital enemy hideout in the jungle. Assaulting the jungle fox holes of a major American force, Vietcong troops came in behind a heavy mortar barrage at dawn….The battle raged over a jungle complex of logged and concrete bunkers near the Cambodia border northwest of Saigon. The Vietcong were said to have lost several hundred dead. One U.S. Army dustoff helicopter, of many that were removing American casualties from the battlefield, was downed.”… Page: 2: The “small box”– DOD announcing the names of 18 more American servicemen Killed In Action…
1 APRIL 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… The New York Times (2 Apr reporting 1 Apr ops) Page 2: “Over North Vietnam United States fliers struck at storage areas, bridges, trucks and cargo barges yesterday but the raids were curtailed by low clouds and rain. American pilots flew 101 missions over North Vietnam Friday. A United States spokesman announced the loss of the 499th plane shot down over the North. The plane, an Air Force F-105 Thunderchief, was hit by groundfire 50 miles northwest of Vinh. (Captain H.J. Hennigar 421st TFS: see RTR for 31 Mar) With other pilots providing cover a helicopter crew rescued the pilot. The spokesman announced that a total of 2,039 aircraft had been lost from all causes in the war. He said 499 planes and 5 helicopters had been lost in the North and 767 planes and 768 helicopters in the South. (Bear#49mk82RPIItrucks)
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) There were two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 1 April 1967…
(1) CAPTAIN GEORGE HENRY JOURDENAIS and 1LT ROBERT WILLIAM STANLEY were flying an F-4C of the 557th TFS and 12th TFW out of Cam Ranh Bay on an in-country mission to destroy enemy bunkers. On their third pass they were hit by groundfire and flew into the ground. CAPTAIN JOURDENAIS and 1LT STANLEY were Killed in Action on this day fifty years ago and are remembered with admiration and gratitude for their sacrifice for our country. They rest where they fell–left behind (bodies not recovered)… ??? Why?
(2) MAJOR DAVID RICHARD WILLIAMS and MAJOR ROBERT ALLEN GOVAN were flying a T-28D of the 606th ACS and 634th CSG out of Nakhon Phanom on a night reconnaissance mission 35 miles west of the DMZ. They went down in an attack on a truck on Route 911 and a follow-on SAR failed to find either the crew or the aircraft. MAJORs WILLIAMS and GOVAN were Killed in Action and rest in peace where they fell on the battlefield. Perished.
Our somber thoughts are with the families of four gallant aviators who went to war for God and country and never returned.
RIPPLE SALVO… #392… Humble Host has a suggestion– dig out and dust off your old copy of “DERELICTION OF DUTY” by Major H.R. McMaster. As a Major in 1997 McMaster published his PhD dissertation as a very popular book that spared no criticism of the generals and admirals, along with LBJ and McNamara and the rest of the guys who made Tuesday lunches with LBJ.
The NYT review of the book was published 20 July 1997 under the headline, “Cooking Up a Quagmire”... “This is well-trodden territory. It has been intensively, one might even say obsessively, explored by such writers as Larry Berman, Robert Dallek, Lloyd C. Gardner, David Halberstam, Michael H. Hunt and Brian VanDeMark. Readers of these earlier authors will be familiar with McMaster’s picture of Lyndon B. Johnson as a President chiefly concerned about keeping Vietnam from becoming a political issue, and with his portrayal of Johnson’s advisers as men possessing a distinctive combination of arrogance, deviousness and disdain for expertise different from their own.”
The Major is now Lieutenant General McMaster and the nation’s National Security Advisor. The shoe is on the other foot. And that foot, in fact both feet, are now taking our country on an interesting set of adventures. While we sustain and expand wars in Afghanistan and Iraq where more troops, ever more troops, is the call, we now have the first thousand, and counting, troops as advisors in Syria, troops in Libya, Yemen, and this week Somalia. Then there are Iran and North Korea chomping at the bit with the big world leader wannabes of Russia and China leaning forward getting ready to push forward. Never fear, Superpower is here…
Of course, the truth is our national defense forces are in the poorest state of readiness, modernization and war fighting ability in a century. The ranks of warriors have been thinned and the consequences of two decades of cultural experimentation remains to be tested. Deterrence isn’t working anymore and the bad guys of the world know it. Our society is in decay and disarray and our economy is dependent on borrowed money.
General McMaster was especially tough on General Maxwell Taylor in his book. In fact, he was sparing of good words for anybody. Now, it’s his turn in the barrel. Good luck, General…. One bit of advice from an old NavCad: “First the circumspect defense THEN the audacious attack.”… Your new job is National Defense, not national offense… Our perimeter is expanding and our forces are dwindling… IMHO contraction is in order… National survival is your first priority and right now we are in grave danger as a nation of united States…
CAG’s QUOTES for April 1: MAO: “Courage in battle, no fear of sacrifice, no fear of fatigue and continuous fighting.”… PATTON: “I believe in war, the good of the individual must be subordinated to the good of the Army.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
