Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO…#344… A matter of more WAR or a chance for PEACE… but first…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR of a return to North Vietnam and the air war called ROLLING THUNDER…
12 FEBRUARY 1967… The Headlines from the New York Times on a cloudy Sunday waiting for more snow…
Page 1: “U.S. Fails to Raid in North Vietnam As Truce Expires”… “The United States appeared today to be holding up any resumption of air attacks in North Vietnam at least temporarily in the aftermath of the 96-hour truce that marked the end of the lunar New Year celebration in South Vietnam. American and South Vietnamese troops resumed operations at dawn as the truce expired. The Hanoi regime has stated repeatedly in the last few weeks that it would give serious consideration to peace negotiations if the United States ceased bombing raids over North Vietnam unilaterally and unconditionally. Senior American officials in Saigon were instructed by cablegram early this morning to reply ‘no comment’ to all inquiries about the air war in the North. {Informed sources in Washington indicated that the failure to resume the bombing immediately was an effort by the United States to keep the door open briefly to see if Hanoi would signal a willingness to make a reciprocal step to reduce hostilities.”… Page 1: “Softer Hanoi Line Hinted By Soviets”…”Investia, the Soviet Government paper, appeared to suggest tonight that a halt in United States bombing of North Vietnam would bring a reciprocal response from Hanoi and a curtailment of its military action in South Vietnam. President Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk insisted this week that the bombing could not be stopped until North Vietnam gave some indication that it would take reciprocal action. Investia, criticizing the United States rebuffs in recent peace gestures from Hanoi said the escalation of the Vietnam struggle began with the opening of American bombing of North Vietnam two years ago this month, and went on: ‘The ending of American raids on the territory of North Vietnam would give the signal for the reverse process — the limiting of the scope of operations and finally, the complete cessation.’ “… Page 1: “Kennedy Signal Echoes in Capital”…”The diplomatic hub-bub over what was called peace message given in Paris last week to Senator Robert F. Kennedy has faded, but the domestic backlash lingers on. Both in Congress and the Administration officials believe the incident has had more impact on domestic politics than on the search for peace in Vietnam. They feel it has added another strain in the already taut political relations between President Johnson and Mr. Kennedy. ‘My God,’ one Democrat exclaimed, ‘Think about what might have happened if Bobby opened the way to settle the war in Vietnam, after Lyndon has been struggling and suffering all these years.’ “…
Page 1: “Power Elite in China is Being Shattered by Purges”… “China’s power elite, once a highly unified group tied together by common experience and shared sacrifice, has been shattered by the prolonged Chinese power struggle. The attempt by Mao Tse-tung, Communist Party Chairman to reassert his authority and to transform the party into a more militant body has divided into those who strongly support the purge and those who view it as a threat to themselves and China.”… Page 1: “Red China’s Army Given Broad Control in Capital”…”The Chinese Army further extended the scope of its authority over Peking tonight…The purge is to crush those who favor ‘the capitalist road.’ “… Page 1: “Mao Said to Warn of Soviet Build-Up”... “Chairman Mao Tse-tung has warned that the Soviet Union is mobilizing ground troops along its border with the Chinese province of Sinkiang…A correspondent from the Japanese news agency Kyoda reported that leaflets distributed in Peking said the leader of the Chinese Communist Party had alerted frontier troops against other anti-Chinese moves by the ‘internationalists and revisionists.’ “
11 Feb Page 1: “Pentagon Restricts Burials in Arlington”... “The Army announced today that almost all veterans would be barred from burial in Arlington National Cemetery. The order becomes effective next Friday…unless action is taken Arlington will have no more grave sites available in another year…under the new rules Arlington will be limited to winners of the Medal of Honor, members of the armed forces who are on active duty or retired, and honorably discharged veterans who have held high positions in the Government. Their wives and minor children can also be buried in the century old cemetery…Veterans are distinguished from retired servicemen, who are men who made the service their careers. They remain eligible…142,000 are buried there at an annual rate of 7,000 with 6,437 grave sites remaining on the 420-acre cemetery… The barring of veterans will last three years while Ft. Myer land and other land acquisition proceeds, which will provide 60,000 more sites by December 1969.”... Page 1: “25th Amendment, Presidency Plan Has Been Ratified”… “The 25th Amendment to the Constitution deigned to assure clear lines of presidential succession and continuity of power in case of disability became part of the Constitution today when it was ratified by the 38th state. It enables the Vie President to act as President when the President is physically or mentally unable to carry out the duties of his office and it authorizes the President to appoint a Vice President if the number two office becomes vacant.”…
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT Office of the Historian… The Tet truce ended and the United States unilaterally extended the four day period for two days to give peace a chance. On 12 February 1967 there was one last desperate exchange of communications between Prime Minister Wilson in London, who was doing the talking for the United States with Premier Kosygin, who purportedly was representing Ho Chi Minh. Five pertinent documents are briefed and identified here.
(1) #65… TELEGRAM FROM PRIME MINISTER WILSON TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON... in which Wilson tells the President that he presented a proposal to Kosygin for transmittal to Ho Chi Minh that required the North Vietnamese, in response to a cessation of bombing by the U.S., to promise they will reciprocate with an appropriate cessation of further infiltration. Future tense. Whereas, at the same time Washington told Ho Chi Minh that the cessation of infiltration must be assured before the bombing would be stopped. Wilson felt “hung out” and the trust of Kosygin destroyed. Wilson wants to know what happened and what to do now… Telegram: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d65
(2) #64… TELEGRAM FROM PRIME MINISTER WILSON TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON…a companion telegram to #65 in which the Prime Minister provides a blow-by-blow explanation of what was said and done in London to get an agreement to talk peace at some future time, i.e. peace negotiations. Telegram:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d64
(3) #71… TELEPHONE CONVERSATION BETWEEN PRESIDENT JOHNSON AND SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MCNAMARA... This is a must read for anybody who wonders what the heck they were doing in Washington while we were dropping bridges and ducking heat… this is verbatim, talking out loud, brainstorming between the two principals in the Rolling Thunder decision-making. The dynamic duo put their heads together to respond to Wilson’s two telegrams… Telephone conversation:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d71
(4) #66… TELEGRAM FROM PRESIDENT JOHNSON TO PRIME MINISTER WILSON...this is the product of the conversation between the President and McNamara in response to Wilson’s two telegrams. Good reading… Telegram:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d66
(5) #67… TELEGRAM FROM PRIME MINISTER WILSON TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON... in which the Prime Minister sys thanks for the message that preps him for the last conversation with Kosygin on the evening of 12 February 1967… Telegram:
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d67
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM… LIEUTENANT COLONEL DEAN ANDREW POGREBA, United States Air Force… AIR FORCE CROSS…
“The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the AIR FORCE CROSS (Posthumously) to DEAN ANDREW POGREBA, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as Pilot of an F-105D aircraft while serving on temporary duty with the 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan, SEVENTH Air Force, in action in Southeast Asia on 5 October 1965. On that date, Lieutenant Colonel POGREBA participated as a pilot and mission coordinator for a strike against a highly significant military target. Despite the extreme difficulty of overcast cloud layers, haze, and rain showers, Lieutenant Colonel POGREBA flew at low level through mountain passes to the target area while encountering devastating automatic weapons and anti-aircraft artillery fire. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Lieutenant Colonel POGREBA climbed to 9,000-feet into over hanging clouds, which made him highly vulnerable to the hostile ground fire, and delivered his ordnance directly on target. Lieutenant Colonel POGREBA then emerged from the clouds and subjected to intensive ground fire, assisted the other members of his flight in their weapons delivery, assuring complete destruction of this vital target. His courageous actions and determination are in keeping with the highest traditions of the American fighting man under attack by an opposing armed force. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness, Lieutenant Colonel POGREBA reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”
Among LIEUTENANT COLONEL POGREBA’s combat awards: Air Force Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross (2), Air Medal (5), Purple Heart, and Air Force Commendation medal(2)… LCOL Pogreba had been shot down previously on 22 August 1965 twenty miles west of Thanh Hoa. His remains have never been found. Colonel Jack Broughton’s “Going Downtown” includes a great “Pogie” story . Broughton on Dean Pogreba: “Pogie was a guy you couldn’t overload. Since he was a major, we could and did make him everything from squadron commander to wing ops to squadron ops to flight leader to strike leader. Whenever there was a hole in the dike, we plugged Pogie in and he loved it…”
Read more about Dean Pogreba in the RTR post of 5 October 1968.
12 FEBRUARY 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER...New York Times (13 Feb reporting 12 Feb ops) Page 2: “Ground and air activity resumed in the South minutes after the end of the cease fire, but action was scattered. An Air Force F-100 Supersabre crashed while dropping napalm on an enemy base camp 25 miles Southeast of Saigon killing the pilot…Page 2: “Hanoi says two planes were downed over North Vietnam . One of the planes crashed in a suburb of the port city of Haiphong and the other in Namha province south of Hanoi. The broadcast did not say whether the American planes were bombing.”
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 12 February 1967…
(1) 1LT PETER JOEL YEINGST was flying an F-100D of the 510th TFS and 3rd TFW out of Bien Hoa on a strike mission dropping napalm on a Vietcong base camp about 25 miles Southeast of Saigon. On his second pass he hit by ground fire and went in with the aircraft. 1LT YEINGST was Killed in Action fifty years ago this day… so young, so brave, and gone… and remembered…
(2) CAPTAIN COURTNEY EDWARD WEISSMUELLER was flying an F-100D of the 306th TFS and 31st TFW out of Tuy Hoa on a strike on river traffic at the southern tip of Laos. He was hit on a napalm attack and did not eject from his aircraft before it crashed… CAPTAIN WEISSMUELLER was Killed in Action in the service of his country fifty years ago and died on his shield on the battlefield… a warrior’s death…
(3) COMMANDER C.H. JARVIS and LTJG P.M. ARTLIP were flying an RA-5C of RVAH-7 embarked in USS Enterprise on an unarmed photo reconnaissance mission off the coast of North Vietnam northeast of Haiphong when hit by enemy antiaircraft fire. The aircraft became uncontrollable and the flight crew of two ejected and were rescued. COMMANDER JARVIS was picked up by an Air force HU-16 and LTJG ARTLIP was rescued by a Navy SAR helicopter. The rescue operation was opposed by a North Vietnamese patrol boat which was driven off by the RA-5Cs F-4 escort…
(4) LCDR MARTIN JOSEPH SULLIVAN and LTJG PAUL VICTOR CARBON were flying an F-4B of the VF-96 Fighting Falcons embarked in USS Enterprise on a radar intercept training flight over the Gulf of Tonkin. During an engagement with another VF-96 F-4 LCDR SULLIVAN was observed to enter a large cloud bank in an unusual attitude from which the F-4 did not emerge. A search by air and sea failed to find anything beyond a small oil slick in the area of the missing aircraft. LCDR SULLIVAN and LTJG CARBON died in the service of our country…
RIPPLE SALVO… #344… SUNFLOWER was the code name for the February 1967 attempt to get North Vietnam to come to a table to talk peace… I am convinced from the documents now available for study that with a little more attention to detail, and a hair more give, that peace talks could have, should have, been initiated at that point in the Vietnam war. The United States used the “Gulf of Tonkin” incident to justify going North with bombs. Subsequently, it was learned that the GOT incident on the second night did not happen. There was no cause for the air war. In February 1967 LBJ had an opportunity to right that wrong and in the course of the SUNFLOWER exchanges should have agreed to an immediate and unconditional cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam… Whatever it took to get negotiations going.
Why is it important to think about Vietnam now in February 1967 — fifty years after the fact? Because this is a history lesson that applies to the world we live in today. Our country is bogged down in another quagmire and been there for 15 years with no apparent way out without a change in foreign policy that puts America and American interests first. Bold action was required from LBJ in February 1967. He failed. Bold action is required from Trump in 2017. Duty as the world’s policeman is an impossible dream — we have gone broke pursuing this policy. At this point, we are out of gas and need to put “a circumspect defense” in place for the decade ahead. As it is, we are thin in every forward area and vulnerable to challenge. This is our opportunity to fall back and match policy with resources and the will of the American people. “First, the circumspect defense.” That’s my opinion, what’s yours.
CAG’s QUOTES for 12 February: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: “Let us have faith that Right makes Might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.”… PATTON: “Someone must win the war and also the peace.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
