Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… INVINCIBLE …but first …
Good Morning: Day FORTY-FIVE of a review of the “air war” with North Vietnam fought 50 years ago …
15 APRIL 1966 (NYT)… ON THE HOMEFRONT… A fair and seasonable Friday in New York…Page 1: “BUDDHISTS DRIVE AGAINST KY JUNTA APPEARS TOUGHER,” Monks promised a ballot indicate they’ll demand a new cabinet at once. More than 20,000 Buddhists marched in Saigon applauding the endorsement of the dissident Buddhist program by the political congress… Ky’s junta, apparently unable to stem the Buddhists feel of power, yielded to pressure to grant amnesty to everyone involved in the widespread government demonstrations. Neil Sheehan was the Times reporter in Saigon on the political unrest… Also on page 1: “Vietnam Bomb Shortage is Denied by McNamara,” who declared that the U.S. was maintaining a bomb inventory of 331,000 tons of inventory and that the March consumption for SVN defense was 50,000 tons. He noted that bomb production will be increased from 40,000 tons to 50,000 per month in June 1966. Republican Minority Leader Jerry Ford charged that the support of the war effort was fraught with “shocking mismanagement.”…Page 1: “GI Dead Greater than SVN for First Time,” with 95 Americans killed in the previous week versus 67 ARVN KIA…the analysis concludes that the shift reflects the let-up by SVN due to political turmoil… In the “air war” the Air Force and Navy carried out 44-missions in the lower threat areas and the B-52s hit a target 15 miles west of Hue…it was disclosed that the B-52 attack on Mugia Pass included tons of time delay bombs with fuses for actuation delays that varied from minutes to days… Headline: “Distributor of LSD Recalls All Supplies,” and a story that LSD distribution for scientific experiment began in 1943, but became a college psych lab favorite… Also: the Air Force announced a new basing plan for NATO with concentration of F-100s at Torrejon for deployment to Turkey and Italy from the Spanish base…
15 APRIL 1966… ROLLING THUNDER… CAPTAIN JOHN A. McCURDY, 469th TFS based at Korat, was Killed in Action when his F-105D engine failed while conducting an armed recce mission… no further information… Otherwise an uneventful day of Operation Rolling Thunder …. Opportunity to revisit a tough day for USS Independence in October 1965…
17 October 1965… The Navy executed a major Alpha Strike on the Thai Nguyen road bridge 30 miles north of Hanoi. The thirty plane strike group went feet dry northeast of Haiphong using Thud Ridge to cover their ingress to the target from due east. The first of three F-4Bs to be lost on the attack was downed by ground fire while at high speed at 2,000 feet of altitude. The aircraft took a hit in the cockpit disabling or killing the pilot, LCDR STANLEY EDWARD OLMSTEAD, Killed in Action. The Naval Flight Officer, LTJG PORTER ALEXANDER HALYBURTON, ejected from the uncontrollable aircraft and was captured and interned as a POW until his release 12 February 1973. Subsequent to a successful strike on the target bridge, two more F-4Bs were downed. The return route retraced the ingress route staying well north of Hanoi, Hai Duong and Haiphong concentrations of air defenses. Unfortunately, another VF-84 F-4 , piloted by ENSIGN RALPH ELLIS GAITHER and LTJG RODNEY ALLEN KNUTSON, NFO, was shot down 65 miles north of Thai Nguyen within the Chinese border 15-mile buffer zone. Both ejected when the aircraft, on fire, became uncontrollable. ROD KNUTSON was seriously injured in the ejection, with injuries to his neck and backbone. He was discovered by NVA troops and in a gunfight he killed two (OOHRAH) before he was wounded, overwhelmed and subsequently interned for the war as a POW. He would return to duty and complete his career as a Navy Captain. The third F-4, from sister squadron VF-41, piloted by LT RODERICK ELLIS MAYER and LTJG DAVID ROBERT WHEAT, NFO, was shot down while in low cap orbit by small arms fire. The aircraft became uncontrollable and both aviators ejected at a location within ten miles of the loss of the first F-4. LT MAYER was Killed in Action and LTJG WHEAT was captured and interned. On 12 February 1973 LTJG HALYBURTON, ENSIGN GAITHER, LTJG KNUTSON, and LTJG WHEAT were among the POWs returned home from the war, with honor intact.
On the same day, USS Oriskany lost an F-8E from an embarked Marine Detachment from VMF(AW)-212 on a night ramp strike. The aircraft was stricken, but the pilot survived the landing. Not very many tougher flying chores than a night landing in an F-8 Crusader on a 27 Charlie when the deck is heaving in two or more planes…
RIPPLE SALVO… INVINCIBLE… “Incapable of being conquered, overcome or subdued”…. “BULLETPROOF”… When your duty is war fighting and you are obligated to attack, attack and keep on attacking a determined and well prepared, trained and equipped enemy composed of men of equally brave heart and fighting spirit, a mortal man requires a well developed individual defense system to conquer apprehension, fear and panic. Courage is the product of self-confidence and habit, said George Patton. Realistic and demanding training is root to this outcome. Redundant and challenging training and real experience leads to confidence and the abundance of the requisite “brave heart and spirit of attack” (Adolph Galland) necessary to go forward and engage the enemy with courage and determination. Not so fast. There is another step that the “fearless” achieve by will, and will alone. In order to deal with the presence of violent and sudden death in combat for a sustained period of time, a warrior must believe he is invincible. He knows this is false armor, but accepts the relief from constant concern for his personal safety and his responsibilities to his family. He chooses to be fearless even though he is not. He puts on the “whole armor of God,” carries a talisman, grows a mustache, or does whatever is required to become “bulletproof” in his own mind. Unburdened of concern about personal safety he is able to do his duty and bring his brave heart and fighting spirit into full play when he meets the enemy. This final quality of indomitable courage defines the warriors of Rolling Thunder, who rode forward into the guns a hundred times or more on a tour of duty, then returned to do it again. And again. Unless of course, they had a day when they weren’t “bulletproof” and left the battlefield on their shield or in chains.
War is a killing business. “It is them or me. Not me, I am invincible!”
Tonight, I remember my fallen brothers and all Rolling Thunder warriors who were invincible until they weren’t. Join me, if you will…. Lest we forget… Bear ………… –30– …………
