Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #679… NYT, 15-Jan-68, Page 3: “LAOTIANS SAY FOE SEEKS A NEW TRAIL–NORTH VIETNAMESE REPORTED TRYING TO SHIFT SUPPLY LINES”… but first…
Good Morning: Day SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY-NINE of a return to the skies of Southeast Asia and the air war fought fifty years ago… the year was 1968 and the day was…
15 January 1968…HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a fair and cloudy Monday in NYC…
(1) GROUND WAR…Page 1: “MARINES AWAITING ATTACK BY ENEMY NEAR BUFFER ZONE–TROOPS BRACE FOR ONSLAUGHT BY NORTH VIETNAMESE AFTER AMBUSH OF TRUCK CONVOY”... Marine units south of the demilitarized zone braced themselves today for a new onslaught after the ambush yesterday of an American convoy in which, according to new figures, 19 men were killed and 70 wounded, 60 of them serious. The attack took place on Highway 9 about 20 miles east of the Cambodian border and 5 miles southwest of the Marine artillery base at Camp Carroll. The area has been relatively quiet since a series of battles for the hills around Khe Sanh last April and May. Intelligence sources, noting that enemy movements of men and supplies ;through eastern Laos have been larger than usual in recent weeks, have been predicting a resurgence of fighting there. According to a military spokesman, the convoy was on its way from the lonely outpost called the ‘Rockpile,’ which commands the surrounding countryside, to Camp Carroll just south of the DMZ, when it was attacked. The convoy consisted of twenty trucks carrying about 200 marines and engineering troops. It was escorted by tanks.
“MINES STOP CONVOY… At the Point of attack, the narrow dirt road winds between the banks of Quangtri River and steep wooded hills to the north. After exploding two mines to stop the convoy, the North Vietnamese fired machine guns, rockets and small arms from concealed bunkers. The spokesman said that the marines, assisted by helicopters and heavy artillery from Camp Carroll, regrouped under fire and drove the attackers from their positions. The bodies of ten enemy soldiers were found after the engagements…Damage to the vehicles in the convoy was described as light. Scattered ground action was reported elsewhere as the lull in the enemy offense went into the second day.”….
Page 1: “Soviet Comeback As Power In Middle East Causes Concern”…“As the aircraft carrier America steamed through the Mediterranean southeast of Crete last summer, a Navy officer squinted in the sun as he explained the political impact of the United States Sixth Fleet in the Middle East. ‘Anybody who makes a move on the rim of the Mediterranean has to figure on us,’ he said. “We run interference for the State Department.’ Gesturing toward rows of white Navy F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers lashed to the gently rolling flight deck, he added: ‘With those we can hit anything in this area in a matter of minutes.’ It was common last summer for Westerners to assert that the Soviet Union had suffered a severe as a result of Israel’s quick and convincing victory over Arab armies that Moscow had equipped, trained and militarily supported…. Now, Western diplomats are increasingly concerned about Moscow’s comeback in the Middle East since the Arab-Israel war in June and the extent to which Washington has been put on the defensive. Moscow, has taken advantage of Washington’s preoccupation with Vietnam to improve its position in the Middle East, the diplomats agree.”... Page 5: “Dirksen Affirms Position On War–He Supports Basic Policy of Johnson In Vietnam”... “Senator Everett Dirksen has reaffirmed his support of President Johnson’s basic objectives in the Vietnam war. The Illinois Republican, Senate minority leader, created a flurry last month when he said in a report on the first session of the 90th Congress that there was ‘no prospect for peace, no promise of stability, no hope for the better’ in Mr. Johnson’s policies.’… ‘I have not changed my position at all,’ he said. ‘I support the President’s basic policy of fighting in Vietnam against Communist aggression. I reserve the right to criticize the methods the President may use but I support the objective. What are we going to do other than what the President is doing right now? We can’t retreat, we can’t pull out and we can’t get the other side to negotiate.’ “… Page 5: “Bombing Halt Urged By Mansfield Again”… “Senator Mike Mansfield,, the majority leader, today repeated his view that the United States stop the bombing of North Vietnam, particularly now that Hanoi seems to have indicated a willingness to open peace talks. ‘Now that the North Vietnamese have shifted from the use of the conditional ;’could’ to the positive ‘will,’ I think we ought to stop the bombing,’ he said on ABC’s ‘Issues and Answers.””... Page 5: “22% Of Seniors Prefer Jail Or Exile to Draft In Harvard Poll”… Page 18: “Senate To Widen Inquiries On Rising Health Costs–5 Committees Plan Hearings On Increases In Charges By doctor and Hospitals”… Sports: Golf: “Johnny Pott beat Billy Casper and Bruce Devlin in playoff to win at Pebble Beach in Bing Crosby Pro-Am and take the $14,000 top money. Nicklaus finished 10th to earn $2,450.”… Pro-Football: Second Super Bowl: Green Bay beats Oakland, 33-14….75,545 at game.”…
15 JANUARY 1968: The President’s Daily Brief…LAOS: The Communists have overrun the important outpost at Nam Bac. It was the culmination of a ten-month campaign to reoccupy an area they lost in August 1966 after having controlled it for nearly a decade. In another development, a small enemy force struck the airfield at the royal capital of Luang Prabang ear;y today. It was a hit-and-run raid, possibly aimed at preventing movements of reinforcements toward Nam Bac. These events do not mean the Communists have launched a bigger offensive. The loss of Nam Bac is more a reflection of poor leadership within the Laotian Army. It may set off a new round of political maneuvering within the military for control of the armed forces…. HANOI PROPAGANDA: North Vietnam’s party daily, Nhan Dan, joined Chinese Communist media yesterday in condemning the alleged air attacks on Chinese territory near the Laotian border. The paper said this was a deliberate provocation against China by the US plan of war-escalation in Indochina. Other aspects of this “plan,” says the paper, including recent bombings of foreign ships in North Vietnam ports, strikes near the Chinese border, threats to invade Cambodia, and stepping up of the war in Laos. Hanoi’s foreign Ministry also issued a statement taking this line.… VIET CONG: Reiterates Tet Cease-Fire: In a communique charging that allied forces “deliberately distorted” Communist policy on holiday cease-fires and tried to limit their duration, the Viet Cong’s news agency on 12 January restated the Communist decision ordering a seven-day “suspension of military attacks” during the Lunar New Year festival beginning 27 January. The communique said there had been consistent violations of the Christmas and New Year truces, and asserted that the US and it’s allies took advantage of the periods to conduct mop-up operations and to stage air attacks. It warned that violations of the forthcoming Lunar New Year truce would be “appropriately punished.”
15 January 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (16 Jan reporting 15 Jan ops)… Page 1: “An Air Force F-105 Thunderchief was shot down by a MIG-21 near Hanoi during radar-guided bombing attacks through low cloud layers. The pilot was reported missing. (This event occurred on 14 Jan, the pilot was MAJOR STANLEY HORNE and he was Killed in Action. See RTR for 14 January)… It was the 786th American plane lost in North Vietnam and the 38th shot down by MIG’s. United States pilots have shot down 103 MIG’s… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 15 January 1968… (1) A U-10D Courier was destroyed by enemy mortar fire in the North Vietnamese diversionary attack on the airfield at Luang Prabang while their operation at Nam Bac was in execution...
From the Compilation “34TFS/f-105 History” by Howie Plunkett: 15-Jan-68: “F-105s from the 388th TFW bombed the Thai Nguyen iron and steel complex (JCS 76) using Commando Club radar. There was no BDA due to weather.”… ” ‘Pistol’ flight from the 34th TFS attacked the Thai Nguyen Army Barracks (JCS 60) in Route Pack 6A. The flight took off at 0630. It’s flight line-up was: #1 Major Sam Armstrong; #2 Captain Carl Lasiter; #3 Major James Daniel, Jr; and, #4 LCOL Robert Smith... This was Major Armstrong’s 55th combat mission.”…Major Armstrong from his 100-Mission Log: “I was Mission Commander again/but the weather in VI was bad so we went first alternate. Our flight , along with 8 F-4s and an Iron Hand flight, went Commando Club to Thai Nguyen Army Barracks. We went in and dropped with no MIG or SAM reaction. An easy red mark. (on the band of the 34th TFS aviator’s bush hat–red marks were for missions to Route Pack VI) … “…
RIPPLE SALVO… #679… The North Vietnamese were ingenious at dealing with our bombing. In the beginning, when we dropped a bridge, we backed traffic up and created lucrative targets. The enemy adjusted and created repair teams and doctrine to get the bridge returned to service. In addition, he mobilized 500,000 workers and developed alternative means and routes to bypass the problem. The same genius was applied in the case of the Mu Gia Pass and the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Our adversary moved more of his lines of communication, supply and support further west by creating a second route from the north to the several exit points in southern Laos into South Vietnam. this required running roughshod over the Laotians and Cambodians, whose turf became paths and sanctuaries for his operations. This required a reaction from us, so more and more of the air war shifted from North Vietnam to Steel Tiger and Barrel Roll targets. The new reality became public with the following front page story from the 15 January New York Times… “
“LAOTIANS SAY FOE SEEKS A NEW TRAIL–NORTH VIETNAMESE REPORTED TRYING TO SHIFT SUPPLY LINE”... Date Line: 14 January, Saravane, Laos: “Laotian provincial and military authorities here say that North Vietnamese troops are trying to extend the Ho Chi Minh Trail to an area west of this town in southern Laos. The Ho Chi Minh Trail, actually a series of trails through the jungles along which North Vietnam sends supplies and reinforcements through Laos to South Vietnam, now runs 20 miles to the east. An official said that the North Vietnamese wanted to move the trail to the west because heavy United States bombing in the last two or three months had made the old route unusable. Reliable sources reported from Saigon yesterday that the main thrust of United States air action had shifted temporarily to Laos because of increased North Vietnamese traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
“Colonel Vang, the Saravang military commander, who is supervising the digging of trenches and construction of bunkers, supported the province chiefs’ report. He said that the objection of a recent enemy drive north of Saravane was to push a new infiltration route to the west around the town. The new route will follow Route 23 as far as Kengsim Village, the Colonel said, then angle southwest to cross the Khong Sedone-Saravane Road near Bungsai, curve around Saravane, then link with old trails on the Se Khong River in the northeast corner of the Boloven Plateau, south of Saravane. the northeast corner of the Boloven Plateau, south of Saravane.
“The Colonel said that the enemy had captured three Government outposts at the end of the year and territory that included part of Route 23, and was now requisitioning rice and buffaloes in the area and recruiting a village labor force. North of Saravane, on Route 23, a Laotian lieutenant said that Communist-supported Pathet Lao insurgents were 1,500 yards north of his position. Along the road, villagers were digging bunkers near their wooden houses. Reliable military sources discounted the Laotian army estimate of enemy intentions around Saravane. They called the advance the usual dry season rice-raiding on a scale slightly larger than usual.”…
From the U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on United States Security agreement and Commitment abroad Hearings October 1969, chaired by Senator Stuart Symington…
Senator Symington: “We made a big thing in the Johnson administration about stopping the North Vietnam airstrikes. But at the same time we were increasing in secret the air strikes against Laos. In fact, as the general just said, which I knew, orders were that if you do not need the planes against Vietnam, used said planes against Laos.”…(Page 713 of the Symington Hearings)…
All this was to have consequences that belong in any journal preserving the war in Southeast Asia, including this “Remembrance of Rolling Thunder”… One of the United Nations advisors in Laos, George Chapelier conducted countless interview with the villagers and refugees of Laos. He recorded this: “By 1968 the intensity of the bombings was such that no organized life was possible in the villages. The villages moved to the outskirts and then deeper and deeper into the forest as the bombings reached its peak in 1969 when jet planes came daily and destroyed all stationary structures. Nothing was left standing. The villagers lived in trenches and holes or in caves. They only farmed at night. All of the informants, without any exception had his village completely destroyed. In the last phase, bombings were aimed at the systematic destruction of the material basis of the civilian society.”…
RTR Quote for 15 January: WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, Letter, 26 June 1864: “All the people retire before us and desolation is behind. To realize what war is one should follow in my tracks.”
Lest we forget… Bear
