Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO … #735… “WESTMORELAND REQUESTS 206,000 MORE TROOPS STIRRING DEBATE IN ADMINISTRATION–FORCE NOW 510,000–SOME IN DEFENSE AND STATE DEPARTMENTS OPPOSE INCREASE”… That was the headline in very large, bold type on The Sunday New York Times on the morning of 10 March 1968. The President’s Special Assistant Walt Rostow gulped twice and banged out a quick “Information Memorandum” that was immediately delivered to the President. I quote the memo…
“Mr. President: Herewith my judgment on today’s New York Times article on troops.
1. The materials were mainly gathered from medium-level officials in both State and Defense, who oppose the sending of more troops to Vietnam.
2. These officials either made available, read, or summarized–probably the latter–from one of the working papers prepared for the Clifford Committee, which made the argument against more troops.
3. I find no evidence that officials who worked directly on the Clifford Committee spoke to the writers of the article, and some indication that they did not. I regard the article as the product of dangerous insubordination which can only be met by an early decision by the President and a full account of where we stand in the winter-spring enemy offensive and what we intend to do.
“Incidentally, my impression of the Westmoreland counteroffensive, described in a dispatch, March 3, to General Wheeler, is that it is going well in I Corps and around Danang. Thang has taken hold in the Delta. He deserves all the support we can give him. In III Corps we have engaged the divisions near Saigon; but I presume this is imminent.”… End quote…
The Rostow memo was footnoted by the State Department, Office of the Historian as the document was released to the public. I quote… “There was some indication that these reporters (Neil Sheehan and Hedrick Smith assisted by Max Frankel and Edwin L. Dale, Jr.) were on the trail of the story 2 days earlier. Smith told his friend Richard Ullman, who worked in Warnke’s office, that, ‘a comprehensive account of what had been happening within the U.S. Government since the ‘Tet Offensive’ would soon be published (Memo from Ullman to Warnke 8 March)… In a note to Clifford, March 8, Goulding wrote ‘Nick Katzenbach called me this afternoon to say that Neil Sheehan–who covers the Pentagon for the Times–had been calling various State people with the 206,000 figure. But without the detail that Smith apparently has. That indicates how they are operating–the State men for the Times are working this building, and the Pentagon men (for the Times) working the State Department. Paul (Nitze), Nick (Katzenbach) and I (Philip Goulding) are all surprised that it has taken this long for something to surface. I see nothing constructive we can do about it.'”
The New York Times Archives posts an article titled “Mounting Pressure” that reports the reaction of the President to the “leak.”
“On March 10, The New York Times published the first repast, from Washington, about General Westmoreland’s request for 206,000 troops.‘The President was reportedly furious at this leak,’ the Pentagon study says.’The publication of the troop-request figure provided a ‘focus’ for political debate and intensified the ‘sense of public dissatisfaction,’ the study adds.’
GOOD MORNING: Day SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE of an extended dip in the history of the Vietnam war and a remembrance of the events and gutsy participants of Rolling Thunder.
HEAD LINES from The Sunday New York Times on 10 March 1968..
Page 1: WESTY REQUESTS MORE TROOPS: “General William C. Westmoreland has asked for 206,000 more American troops for Vietnam, and the request has touched off a divisive internal debate within high levels of the Johnson Administration. A number of sub-Cabinet civilian officials in the Defense Department, supported by some senior officials in the State Department, have argued against General Westmoreland’s plea for a 40 per cent increase in his forces ‘to regain the initiative.’ There are about 510,000 American troops in Vietnam and the President has authorized a level of 525,000 by next fall. Many of the civilian officials are arguing that there should be no increase beyond the movement of troops now under way. The contention of these high-ranking officials is that an American increase will bring a matching increase by North Vietnam, thereby raising the level of violence without giving the allies the upper hand.
GROUND WAR and KHE SANH: Page 1: “ENEMY HAMMERS 7 SITES ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF SAIGON”...”The Vietcong made coordinated attacks early yesterday against seven targets on the southern edge of Saigon. The district police headquarters and the militia post at Caykho, about three miles from the capital, repelled ground assaults. Two police substations, a housing compound for families of policemen about a mile and a half from the United States Embassy, and two military outposts were struck in the 30-minute mortar and rocket barrage….At Khe Sanh: The Navy reported that planes from the carrier Bon Homme Richard had escorted transport planes into Khe Sanh the Marine outpost in the northwestern corner of South Vietnam, to suppress antiaircraft fire that has claimed three cargo aircraft and damaged many others. Because of the increasing accuracy of the enemy bombardment of planes on the ground, supplies were being dropped by parachute…The pilots reported that the North Vietnamese trenches had been dug within 500 yards of the runway. Lieutenant Commander Thomas E. Shanahan of Flushing, Queens, who led one air strike, said that he had knocked out an enemy antiaircraft position less than a mile from the outpost. Three hundred rounds of enemy fire struck the Khe Sanh stronghold yesterday.”… “The United States Embassy said today that the Vietcong killed more than 400 civilians during their 26-day occupation of the city of Hue…Those killed included local officials and their families.”… Page 1: “SAIGON GENERAL (Maj. Gen. Nguyen Duc Thang) SAYS FOE HAS REPLACED HIS LOSES”… “One of South Vietnam’s key generals said today that the enemy had already conscripted enough troops to offset the ‘severe losses’ suffered during the bloody Lunar New Year offensive… Some were kidnapped and thus may not be loyal to the Vietcong and others are 12,13,14 years old, the general said. …he called in his major unit commanders today and instructed them to ‘attack the enemy everywhere. Today we are found in an either-die-or-survive situation with the VC. The coming months will be decisive for the fate of our nation.’ “…
10 March 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times and AP no coverage of ops to the North…”Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft losses on 10 March 1968… Humble Host flew #116: a night section to get in line to drop via radar on “troops” south of Khe Sanh, total of 8 MK-82s through the clouds with eerie flashes of explosions briefly lighting the undercast. Then back to Enterprise watching the sun come up and a dawn landing. The dreaded night cat shot without the night landing… Also flew #117. Led a division of A-4Fs back to Khe Sanh to drop 4X5 Mk-82s on FAC control to get a “road cut.”…No shortage of aircraft stacked awaiting an opportunity to destroy or kill something… 34 TFS Major Sam Armstrong logged his 84th with a radar drop in Laos…
Happy Hour… early secure for a little brandy and Beethoven by the fire … life is good…
RTR Quote for 10 March: PRESIDENT JOHNSON: April 1964: “I’m the only President you’ve got.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
