Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #770… (1) HUMBLE HOST COMMENTS ON THE ATTACK ON SYRIAN WMD TARGETS….and…
(2) COLUMNIST HENRY J. TAYLOR: “THE OVERWHELMING QUESTION IS THE PRACTICAL EFFECT OF THE PRESIDENT’S ACTION ON THE HOPE FOR A SECURE PEACE IN VIETNAM IN THE FACE OF OUR STALEMATE. AND THIS, IT SEEMS TO ME, IS UTTERLY UNPROMISING.” (Ogden Standard-Examiner, Page 6)… but first…
GOOD MORNING: Day SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY of a review of a war that provided a myriad of lessons for the conduct of the nation’s affairs–domestic and foreign–that American leadership prefers to ignore and relearn the hard way, to the detriment of the nation’s survival…
HEAD LINES from the OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER on Sunday, 14 APRIL 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “YANKS TAKE EASTER BREATHER AS GROUND WAR ENTERS LULL–RITES HELD IN RUINS OF CHAPEL”… “A lull in ground war gave Americans and allied soldiers a chance to gather Sunday for Easter sunrise services in tents and chapels across South Vietnam. Only a few scattered clashes and Viet Cong mortar shellings were reported. Easter services were held in a variety of settings. At Tan Son Nhut air base, an Air Force chaplain conducted a Protestant service in ruins of a chapel destroyed by a Viet Cong racket attack. LAUNCH OPERATIONS… The U.S. Command announced, meanwhile, that 10,000 U.S. paratroopers launched April 1 Operation Carentan II, a drive against Viet Cong forces menacing the northern cities of Hue and Quang Tri. Headquarters said the Americans have killed 503 of the enemy so far, with U.S. casualties at 57 killed in action and 276 wounded…. Involve in the operation centered nine miles northwest of Hue are the 101st Airborne Division and three brigades of the 82nd Airborne division. The enemy is believed to have from 25 to 30 battalions in the area of Hue, perhaps 15,000 to 18,000 men… Air Force B-52s have been mounting to five missions a day against enemy truck parks, gun positions and bunkers in the A Shau Valley.”… Page 1: “JOHNSON SPENDS EASTER AT RANCH, WAITS TALKS” … “President Johnson with members of his family scattered all the way from Vietnam to Washington, was well launched as a quiet Easter weekend at his ranch home Saturday. Johnson, of course, was being kept advised about diplomatic fencing with Hanoi on arrangements for preliminary talks on Vietnam. And he had to cope with the usual batch of paperwork that follows the President wherever he goes.”… Page 1: “U.S. WAITS FOR REPLY”… “U.S. Officials remained hopeful Saturday of agreement with Hanoi on a site for preliminary talks, but they cautioned that the current hard bargaining is only a foretaste of the difficulty in any future peace negotiation.”… Page 1: “HANOI RAKES U.S.–CLAIMS STALL ON TALKS”… “North Vietnam charged Sunday that the United States was ‘deliberately delaying’ preliminary peace talks on the Vietnam war by its reluctance to accept Phnom Penh or Warsaw as the site for the initial contacts.”… Page 1: “
Page 1: “NEW ANGLE IN KING ASSASSINATION RISES–MORE THAN ONE INVOLVED IN DEATH”… “Investigators appeared Saturday to be re-examining the possibility that more than one person was involved in he assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thus they seemed puzzled about conflicting reports on the number of get-away cars involved and about police radio transmissions detailing a high-speed chase–which apparently never took place–through northeast Memphis 30 minutes after a sniper killed King with a single shot.”… Page 1: “KANSAS CITY STAYS CURFEW UNTIL 11 P.M.”… “A shortened curfew but with no reduction in National Guardsmen, police or other law enforcing agencies, was announced Saturday as the Kansas City area went into its fifth night of racial tension. The new hours permitted people in th street until 11 p.m., but ordered taverns and other liquor establishments closed at 7 p.m.”… Page 1: “MORE TROOPS LEAVE CAPITAL”… “The Army withdrew more riot-control troops from the nation’s capital Saturday and by nightfall the number remaining was less than half of the peck strength of last weekend.”… Page 4: “PUBLIC OPINION POLL–KENNEDY OPENING GAINS IN DEMOCRAT SURVEY“… “Senator Robert Kennedy leads both Vice President Hubert Humphrey and senator Eugene Mc Carthy in the first full-scale survey of Democratic voters since President Johnson’s withdrawal from the race. Kennedy currently wins the support of 35 percent of democrats, with Humphrey not far behind with 31 per cent of the vote. McCarthy wins support of 23 per cent of Democrats.”… Page 5: “ROBERT KENNEDY TRODs PATH OF JFK”… “Senator Robert F. Kennedy followed his late brother’s footsteps through the mountains an coalfields of West Virginia Saturday. He sipped a homebrew on a mountain road from a glass that ha been unused since John F. Kennedy drank from it eight years ago.”… Page 5: “POOR TO GET ADDITIONAL HOUSING AID“… “The Senate housing subcommittee expects to complete work soon on a new housing plan containing the most generous government subsidy ever granted it help poor families to buy homes.”…
Page 2: “WEST BERLIN’S POLICE CHARGE MOBS IN THIRD DAY OF PROTEST”…”Free-swinging police charged demonstrators blocking the city’s main streets Saturday in a third day of protests over the shooting of Red Bull Dutschke, the radical student leader. About 350 persons were seized, including the son of West German Foreign Minister Willy Brandt.”
14 APRIL 1968…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… OGDEN S-E… (15 Apr reporting 14 ops) Page 1: “SECOND LARGEST: U.S. bombers flew 143 missions over the North Sunday, the second largest number this year and one less than the 144 flown January 6… U.S. bombers struck a highway bridge and a railway bridge 169 miles north of the demilitarized zone. The U.S. Command said it was the 11th straight day that U.S. fighter-bombers stayed below the 19th Parallel in the curtailed air campaign against North Vietnam… a total of 16 bridges were attacked and three were reported down or damaged. U.S. pilots also reported destroying 12 trucks and three radar sites and touching off three sustained fires. North Vietnam charged that U.S. planes ‘repeatedly violated’ air space near Hanoi and other areas north of the 19th parallel Sunday. It apparently referred to reconnaissance flights. When President Johnson announced the ban on bombing curtailment above the 20th Parallel on March 31, military sources in Saigon said that U,S. planes would continue reconnaissance and photographic missions all over North Vietnam up to the Chinese border. But civilian sources in Saigon said today that Johnson also halted all U.S. air reconnaissance above the 20th Parallel shortly after and the ban was in effect for 10 days.”…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 14 April 1968…
(1) CDR DON PRINGLE and LTJG G.E. ROSE were taking off on a ferry flight from Cubi Point, P.I. to their home carrier, USS RANGER in a F-4B of the VF-154 Black Knights when the aircraft burst into flames and the pair of aviators were forced to eject as the aircraft impacted in the base weapons storage area. Both were rescued to fly and fight again…
FROM THE COMPILATION: “34 TFS/F-105 History” by Howie Plunkett: 14-Apr-68: “The 388th TFW at Korat RTFB, Thailand, passed the 100,000th combat flying hour mark. This represents ‘the flying equivalent of 11 years and five months, in just two years of combat operations in SEA.’ The wing started flying F-105 combat missions on 8 April 1966.”… Honors to the milestone flight went to the wing’s 34 TFS. The flight was led by 388th TFW Commander Paul P.Douglas, Jr., who is assigned to the 34 TFS for flying duties; Squadron Commander LCOL Robert W. Smith, 39, Albuquerque, N.M.: Major Spence M. ‘Sam’ Armstrong, 33, Columbia, Tenn; and, Major Donald W. Hodge, 37, Panama City, Florida. On this flight LCOL Smith, Major Armstrong and Major Hodge each achieved their 100th combat mission over North Vietnam.”
Major Armstrong kept a log of his 100 missions. This is from that log for the flight on 14 April 1968: “This was a big occasion being the 100th for Bob Smith, Don Hodge, and myself and the celebration of the 100,000th combat hour for the wing. Our target was down in Laos just outside Khe Sanh. The three of us put our bombs right in the FAC’s mark. Col Douglas leading the flight didn’t have a sight so subsequently his bombs were way off. We had already coordinated with 7th Air Force to assume that our flight would be cleared into Pack I of North Vietnam (for a segment of armed recce) so we buzzed through the Pack at altitude over the clouds and came back to the field for a diamond flyby and VFR landing pattern. Unfortunately, Col Douglas taxied his aircraft off the taxiway coming in and had to shut down his aircraft. It was great to be finished.”
“We each got the usual treatment (for 100 counters): champagne from a hollowed-out pineapple, a Thai ornament around the neck and a squirt down from the fire truck. Then we mounted the Snoopy trailer for the parade to the club. They tossed us into the swimming pool and we managed to take a few squadron mates with us. Dripping wet we went into the bar and each rung the bell signifying that the drinks were on us. Then we had a formal cutting of the cake to commemorate the 100,000th combat hour of the wing. We celebrate into the wee hours. (An Easter Sunday to remember)…
Major Armstrong flew 283 combat hours during his tour at Korat. He arrived home on 8 May 1968 and was assigned to Edwards AFB where he became deputy commander at the Aerospace Research School. In subsequent assignments he was base commander at Randolph AFB, Commander of the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard AFB. Assistant Deputy for Operations of Air Training Command, DCS for R&D at Hq USAF, Commander of the Military Training Center at Lackland AFB, the senior defense representative in Saudi Arabia, Vice Commander of MAC, and Vice Commander of Air Force Systems Command. He was promoted to Lt General on 28 August 1985 and retired on 1 April 1990. After retiring he became head of NASA’s four aeronautical research centers….
14 April 1968…Humble Host flew #141, a section lead to Steel Tiger as the sun was setting… Milky control with a radar drop of our 6 Mk-82s (each) through the clouds on “troops”… Controller called me 20-feet below assigned altitude of 14,000-feet on the run-in at 300 knots. He was right…20-feet low… 3rd night trap in a week…
RIPPLE SALVO… #770… On this day, 14 APRIL 2018, our nation delivered a wide variety of weapons on a third world nation backed by the Soviet Union in retaliation for a crime against humanity. The unintended consequences of our bombing of Syria remain to be seen… This we know: it is easy to get in, and almost impossible to get out. With this intervention and offensive action the United States has opted to escalate American involvement in the Syrian civil war and we are now in deeper… President Trump came to a cross-roads and chose to continue policies of intervention, globalism and nation building, while rejecting an opportunity to fulfill a campaign promise to put America first and make nationalism a foremost policy for the future. That’s my opinion, what’s yours…
On 4 APRIL 1968 columnist and author Henry J. Taylor commented on President Lyndon Johnson’s approach to securing peace in Vietnam…
“LBJ’s VIETNAM PEACE PLAN CALLED UTTERLY UNPROMISING…
“On March 18 (1968) this column stated: ‘If President Johnson would simply quit plying politics for a while, and let the country see him doing his level-best in his immense and heartbreaking job, and let the country would rally behind him in a way that is otherwise totally impossible.’
“Well, by his withdrawal the President went too far, far beyond that. Now we can only hope and pray for the rally that Mr. Johnson is trying to make possible. Much that I read and hear about the President’s motives is too cynical for me. And perhaps it is refreshing to remember that there are always motives that cynics do not see for being too ‘clear-sighted.’
AN UPHILL FIGHT…
“Obviously, Mr. Johnson would have had an uphill fight, not for the Chicago nomination but for his reelection. However, Mr. Johnson is by nature a political fighter and the fact remains that he did withdraw. I believe he did what he did because he was simply and honestly convinced that his self-removal from politics at this time is in the best interests of the United States.”The overwhelming question now is the practical effect of the President’s action on the hope for a secure peace in Vietnam in the face of our stalemate. And this, it seems to me, is utterly unpromising.
“The President stated: ‘Peace can be based on the Geneva accords of 1954, under political conditions that permit the South Vietnamese to chart their course free of any outside domination or interference.’
“I was present in Geneva for these accords. At 3:42 a.m. on July 21, 1954, I saw the covenant signed by North Vietnamese Defense Minister Ta Quang Buu and French Brig. Gen. George Deltell.
“Here are the specifics: In this cease-fire agreement with the French to which Mr. Johnson refers the Communists agreed to withdraw all red forces north of the 17th parallel within 100 days. Deltell and Buu designated a narrow, iron-girdered bridge over the Benhai River to serve as a crossing-point between South and North Vietnam. But the Reds never withdrew any of their forces. While the Geneva talks had gone on for three months the Communists had merely dug in deeper and deeper.
“The accord established a buffer zone. But the Reds refused ‘on site’ inspection exactly as they did later in Cuba and in limited nuclear test treaty. And they never got out of the buffer zone.
“North and South Vietnam, which resulted from the Geneva accord, must forego military alliances. But the Communists did not need an alliance. Ho Chi Minh’s forces were, as today, an integral part of the Red plunge into Southeast Asia. Free elections must unite the nation by July 1956. These would be supervised by Polish, Indian and Canadian observers. Four months from today these elections will be 12-years overdue. Britain, the Soviet Union and Red China all participated in the cease-fire conference I attended in Geneva. All endorsed the accord to which President Johnson referred. Not one of the provisions was ever carried out. Instead, the Communists next mounted a full-blown offensive into the area that became Laos.
ANOTHER CONFERENCE…
“Washington arranged another cease-fire conference, the July 1954, cease-fire accord not having ceased the fire. President Kennedy’s representative, Averell Harriman, again referred to by President Johnson, brought 14 countries into these talks, again at Geneva, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk flew to Geneva to sign the accord as if the 1954 agreements were not already in existence.
“This agreement ‘guaranteed’ Laos’ ‘independence and neutrality’ but it was so apparent that it did nothing of the sort that at the end Mr. Harriman even stated (incredibly) in Geneva, ‘Laos isn’t too important after all.’ Well, we see what we see today in Laos.
“When Delsell and Buu scrawled their names on the document named in President Johnson’s statement Red China pronounced that cease-fire accord ‘a tremendous success.’ So did Ho Chi Minh. When the re-agreement was signed the second time in Geneva they both said the same thing, all over again. And, of course, they were right both times. Fundamentally, our problem is not how to get still another–a third cease-fire– agreement. The problem is to have it mean anything. President Johnson”s withdrawal does not change this difficulty one bit.”… End quote…
RTR Quote for 14 APRIL: GEN DOUGLAS MacARTHUR: “The soldier above others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
