Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #772… IT WAS ONE OF THOSE TIMES, APRIL 1968, WHEN OUR COUNTRY MET THE STATE OF INTERNAL DISCORD THAT LED ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO WARN IN HIS DAY, 1858, “THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF, CANNOT STAND”. The Editorial Board of the Ogden Standard-Examiner, was one of thousands of American groups that raised a plea for National Unity in the wake of the 100’s of demonstrations and riots that swept the nation in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In their plea for “Unity, Now!” they created a clarion call for all generations of Americans… Including those 21st century Americans standing, or not, for the United States today… but first…
GOOD MORNING: Day SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO of a return to the pages of American history written in blood in Vietnam and Operation Rolling Thunder fifty years ago…
HEAD LINES of the PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEF (CIA TS/SI) for Tuesday, 16th of April 1968… VIETNAM: The Vietnamese Communists are reviving the claim that they exercise administrative control over large areas of South Vietnam. A recent Viet Cong broadcast for example, boasts that 1.6 million more people and 600 more hamlets and villages have come under their control since Tet. …Revival of this claim is thought to relate to the prospect of US-North Vietnamese talks… CANADA: Unless something gives soon., Ottawa will be under strong pressure to break diplomatic relations with Paris early next week… Trudeau, who takes over next week, feels even more strongly than Pearson that something must be done to keep Quebec from whittling away at Ottawa’s prerogatives…. WEST GERMANY: Leftist youths continued their violent demonstrations yesterday for the fifth straight day…Use of federal troops being considered… HANOI ON US AIR ATTACKS: Hanoi continues to report routinely on alleged violations fo North Vietnamese airspace by US aircraft and to complain about bombings in the southernmost provinces. Broadcasts pointedly complain of violations “at the 211st and 22nd parallels,” and near Hanoi, presumably referring to US reconnaissance flights… AMERICAN GROUP TO MEET NORTH VIETNAMESE: A “mixed bag” of Negro radicals, civil rights workers, and war critics were scheduled to leave New York Saturday for Stockholm.
16 APRIL 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER (17 Apr reporting 16 Apr 68) Page 1: “President Johnson spent much of Tuesday at the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Command, from which Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp directs over-all military activity between here and the Asian mainland, including both Vietnam and Korea. The President was briefed on the situation in both countries… Although officials declined to give details, it seemed evident he had explored with military leaders the impact of limited bombing of North Vietnam and, perhaps, the potential effect should bombing be further curtailed in the event of negotiations.”
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 16 April 1968…
(1) A C-130A of the 35th TAS and 374th TAW out of Naha… made a hard landing at an airfield at Bunard and was damaged beyond repair…
FROM THE COMPILATION “34 TFS/F-105 History” by Howie Plunkett. 15-Apr-68 Continued from 15 April RTR and the unsuccessful attempt to rescue MAJOR JIM METZ… “A mission report from Crown 4 summarized Major Metz’s rescue attempt. ‘Crown 4 received a Mayday call from Poncho 2 at 1635 that Poncho Lead had bailed out with a good chute and beeper. The position was given as XE-485-525. Misty 31 who was also over the scene, reported that a parachute was visible in the trees halfway up a wooded mountain just east of a river and railroad. He gave his position as 17-47N and 106-25E and stated that Poncho Lead had been hit by triple-A ground fire. The weather was reported as clear in the area at that time. Jolly Green 07, 25 and Spads 11/12 were launched but were kept feet wet while electronic and visual searches were conducted in the area. The Navy helicopters Big Mother 72, 73 and Clementine 2 were dispatched and held at a safe distance off the coast… There was a report of possible smoke coming from the survivor at 1703. His chute disappeared from the tree at 1718. Many flights were used for the search including Locust, Hammer, Champ, Tomcat, Green Fighters, and BATTLE CRY. The Spads and Jolly Greens were return to base at 1845 with the electronic search continuing until all forces were given RTB at 1845…Positive contact with Poncho Lead was never at any time established.”…..
Humble Host flew #143. Led a BATTLE CRY section to Steel Tiger to work with FAC, “Hit my Smoke” with six MK-82s, target was a small bridge. FAC called BDA on the bridge “damaged.”… Good weather, no opposition, no excuse…
RIPPLE SALVO… #772… “THE UNITED STATES NEEDS UNITY, NOW!”…
“If ever there was a time when the United States of America needed to live up to our first name–united–it’s right now. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will have aftermaths that will put an unprecedented strain on our unity.
“President Lyndon B. Johnson and the best brains in America’s military and diplomatic leaders are trying to assess the current status of negotiations with North Vietnam about the possible cessation of hostilities in Southeast Asia. They’re dealing with a tricky enemy, to put it mildly.
“If there is a glimmer on the U.S. home front that the President and his staff are representing a divided country–one that won’t back up our authorities–we’re in trouble, deep trouble.
“If Ho Chi Minh & company realize that the President, no longer a candidate to succeed himself in the White house, is speaking for the entire nation, then maybe–just maybe–the Communists will play less tricks. The memory of what happened in Korea while the “peace talks” were in progress there, is all too painful. More than 12,000 of our servicemen died in combat while the negotiations droned on and on and on.
“We can’t repeat this in Vietnam. The less that the doves and the hawks in and out of Congress, on and off the political platforms, squabble right now, the better chance our negotiators will have for success,
“We’re not suggesting that there should be a permanent end to any criticism of the Johnson style foreign policy. We can never go that far. But for the present, a moratorium on dissension is definitely in order. This applies to domestic problems as well. Any time there’s a race riot in the U.S.A. there’s rejoicing in all Communist capitals. A divided America is right up their alley!
“When a draft card is burned in our country, the flickering of the flame shines in Ho Chi Minh’s eyes.”
RTR Quote for 16 April: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 16 June 1858: “I do not expect the Union to be dissolved–I do not expect the house to fall–but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
