Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO…#370… RFK STIRS THE POT AND KICKS SOME CAGES… but first…
SPECIAL POST: MIGHTY THUNDER’S …THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF “PARDO’s PUSH…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY of sifting through the ashes of an air war fought fifty years ago…
10 MARCH 1967… HEAD LINES and LEADS of the New York Times on a sunny Friday in NYC…
Page 1: “Johnson On Kennedy’s Views On Vietnam Talks”… “President Johnson turned the other cheek to Senator Robert F. Kennedy and other critics of his negotiating tactics in Vietnam, granting them ‘the same sincerity that I reserve for myself. I have no particular fault to find or criticism to make of others.’ “… Page 1: “Johnson Acts to Restore 7% Credit For Business: Still Wants July Surtax”…”President Johnson is acting swiftly in the face of adverse economic news asked Congress today for an immediate restoration of the tax incentives for business investment what were temporarily repealed only five months ago. At the same time Mr. Johnson…said that he saw no reason to abandon his proposals for a 6-per cent general surtax effective in July and all but low-income individuals…Businessmen quickly praised the President…His request met with an immediate and friendly response in Congress.”… Page 1: “26 Dead As Two Planes Fall After Accident Over Ohio”… “A jet airliner exploded in flames after an accident with a light plane today. It was the second air liner crash in this west-central area in fiver days. The TWA DC-9 with 21 passengers and a crew of four was just nine minutes from landing at Dayton…when it plunged to earth. The other plane, a two engine Beechcraft piloted by a businessman fell to the ground two miles away. A mid-air collision is suspected but there are no eyewitnesses to the accident.”… Page 1: “President Hails Humphrey As An Ideal Running Mate”...”President Johnson virtually assured Vice President Humphrey today of renomination as his running mate in 1968– if he runs again. ‘I have never known a public servant that I worked better with or for whom I had more admiration or who I thought was more entitled to the public trust than the Vice President.’ “… Page 1: “Stalin’s Daughter Apparently Defects and Consults With U.S. Aides in India”… “Svetlana Stalin, the 40-year old daughter of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin has apparently defected from the Soviet…she went to India as a tourist and told U.S. aides she did not intend to return to Russia…she said she believed she was in danger…”
Page 1: “U.S. Casualties For Week at 1,617. Highest Of The War”... “American combat casualties were higher last week than for any other week of the war. The spokesman said 232 Americans were killed, 1,381 were wounded and 4 were reported missing, a total of 1,617 casualties…(the only record not broken was a total one week KIA of 240 for the Iadrang Valley battle in the fall of 1965. Previous high one week casualty total was 1,194 for the week of January 14, 1967–five weeks earlier)…Saigon listed 199 South Vietnamese troops Killed in Action. Enemy deaths for the week were listed as 1,736 KIA…During the week there were 15 to 18 very intense operations and engagements underway. Page 1: THE LITTLE BOX: The Defense Department announced the combat deaths and names of 32 American servicemen.”
10 March 1967… The President’s Daily Brief…CIA (TS sanitized) SOUTH VIETNAM: Saigon is beginning to experience a short-term economic crisis because of the temporary rice shortage. Stocks in Saigon are way down. Moreover, deliveries from the delta to the capital last month were 12,000 tons short of the February 1966 figure…SOVIET UNION redacted…COMMUNIST CHINA: The situation continues to stabilize both in the cities and the provinces. Peking is quiet; the army now performs most of the police functions. Hong Kong press reports of disturbances in Canton cannot be substantiated…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…HEROIC AND EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT… COMMANDER RONALD JACKSON HAYS…UNITED STATES NAVY… 10 MARCH 1967…
“The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting a Silver Star in lieu of the SIXTH DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS to COMMANDER RONALD JACKSON HAYS, United States Navy…
“For heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a pilot of a jet aircraft while serving as the Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron EIGHTY-FIVE embarked in USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) during a strike against a strategic Hon Gai Thermal Power Plant complex in North Vietnam on 10 March 1967. COMMANDER HAYS, as the strike leader, skillfully planned and executed a daring coordinated 30 plane attack through formidable enemy defenses consisting of known radar controlled anti-aircraft artillery, automatic weapons and several active surface-to-air missile sites. Despite the severe intensity of anti-aircraft fire and evasive maneuvers required to counter the threats he bravely led the strike force into the target area and perfectly positioned his flight for the attack. COMMANDER HAYS then executed a flawless dive bombing run which resulted in direct hits on his assigned segment of the power plant. Subsequent photographs revealed that his specific target received major damage. By his exceptional courage, remarkable leadership and unerring accuracy in the face of enemy fire, COMMANDER HAYS significantly contributed to the success of the mission. His actions and exemplary performance were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.” oohrah….
10 March…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (11 Mar reporting 10 Mar ops) Page 1: (Lead Article) “U.S. Jets Extend Attacks in North To a Steel Plant”... “American war planes struck a major industrial installation in North Vietnam today in the first of such bombing of the Vietnam war. United States air Force F-105 Thunderchiefs based in Thailand rained 750-pond bombs on the Thainguyen iron and steel complex at 4 o’clock this afternoon…the huge plant is 33 miles north of Hanoi. The Hanoi regime began building the iron and steel complex there in 1959 with the help of the Chinese. When completed, according to American intelligence sources it is to be the most modern plant of its kind in Southeast Asia. The F-105s, flying through rain squalls to carry out the raid, fought with North Vietnamese MIGs…and shot down one enemy jet, probably destroyed a second and seriously damaged a third. ‘All bombs were squarely on target,’ the spokesman said. American sources described the attack on the steel plant as an escalation of the war. They said the raid was the first in which the United States aircraft had bombed a target that was not directly involved in infiltration of men and supplies into South Vietnam. The Administration attempted to relate the raids to the interdiction campaign in the South. It said,’the iron and steel mill produced bridge sections, cargo barges and petroleum drums.’ Unofficial sources said these products accounted for a very small percentage of the plant’s output.’ “… “Vietnam: Air Losses”(Hobson) Four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 10 March 1967… (see RTR post for 6 March and Ripple Salvo #366 for earlier mention of the following F-105 and F-4 losses…
(1) MAJOR DAVID EVERSON and CAPTAIN JOSE DAVID LUNA were flying an F-105F of the 354th TFS and 355th TFW out of Takhli on a 72 plane strike on the Thainguyen iron and steel plant 33 miles north of Hanoi. They were the lead Wild Weasel and were shot down on their initial attack. both aviators were captured and interned as POWs for the rest of the war. CAPTAIN MERLYN HANS DETHLEFSEN (Medal of Honor) and CAPTAIN KEVIN L. GILROY (Air Force Cross) took the lead and executed the flight described in RTR of 6 March. MAJOR EVERSON and CAPTAIN LUNA came home in March 1973.
(2) CAPTAIN EARL D. AMAN and CAPTAIN ROBERT W. HOUGHTON were flying an F-4C of the 433rd TFS and 8th TFW out of Ubon on the strike to Thainguyen and were hit by ground fire in the target area.
(3) CAPTAIN J. ROBERT PARDO and 1LT STEVEN A. WAYNE were also flying an F-4C of the 433rd and hit in the target area. The two aircraft joined for the flight from North Vietnam across Laos back to their base in Thailand. The rest of the one-of-a-kind story was sketched in RTR for 6 March and is again told in today’s Mighty Thunder post. It is called “Pardo’s Push”–an event that happened 50 years ago today…
(4) “In one of the worst aviation accidents to happen to a U.S.Navy aircraft during the war in Southeast Asia, all 25 passengers and crew perished when a Navy C-47 crashed on an administrative flight from Cam Ranh Bay to Saigon. The cause of the accident is not known.”(Hobson). LCDR LEO CLAUDE HESTER, LCDR ROBERT GEORGE KERR, AIRMAN FRANCIS RAYMOND FERRELL, and PETTY OFFICER SECOND CLASS CECIL LEROY CHAPMAN crewed the Navy Support Activity Saigon, Tan Son Nhut based aircraft. Twenty-one passengers also perished in the accident. Twenty-five good men went to war in the service of their country and did not come home to tell about it. Gone 50 years ago… to rest in peace…
RIPPLE SALVO… #370… On 2 March 1967 Senator Robert F. Kennedy took the floor of the Senate to take a stand on the war in Vietnam and called for an immediate and unilateral halt in the American bombing and then an offer to North Vietnam to get on with peace talks. The President was not pleased. RFK’s position shook up the Tuesday lunch bunch and a flurry of conversations followed between the players. Walt Rostow, the President’s Special Assistant sent the President a memo on 10 March 1967 that does a good job of describing what Rostow and Secretary McNamara were thinking. The document is worth the read. At one point it appears McNamara was ready to go for broke and pound Ho into a rice paddy… That, of course did not happen, nor did a bombing halt get a vote. So, more of the same with approval to add a few more targets to the Rolling Thunder go list. A continuation of “gradual defeat.” Read the Rostow to the President Memorandum of 10 March 1967, Document 105 in State Department Office of Historian, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-68, Volume V at:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d105
CAG’s QUOTES for 10 March: CLAUSEWITZ: “To preserve is easier than to acquire.”… PATTON: “Always have a man trained to take over in case you are killed. The test of your success is whether you could be killed and nothing would be lost.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
