ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED 18 MARCH 1968

RIPPLE SALVO… #743… “ENEMY TAUNTS…Speculation over where the enemy will strike next in South Vietnam seems to delight the Communists. Last week Radio Hanoi treated itself to a round of horse laughs at the expense of the U.S. command, ‘In the coming days, what area will the Vietcong attack–Khe Sanh, Dakto, Chulai, or Danang?’ taunted one of the enemy’s announcers. ‘Will the Vietcong attack by way of feinting? In some cases, troops must be used with flexibility, and we must make the unreal seem real, and vice versa.’ “… but first…

Good Morning…Day SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY-THREE of looking back and remembering the great sacrifices made by America’s bravest, living and dead, to pursue an unwinnable war executing a “strategy for defeat.”…

HEAD LINES from The New York Times on windy, rainy Monday, 18 March 1968…

GROUND WAR & KHE SANH: Page 1: “FOE HURLED BACK AT KHE SANH BASE–South Vietnamese Halt 600 Believed To Be Testing Defenses At Outpost”… “About 600 North Vietnamese infantrymen attacked the encircled United States Marine base at Khe Sanh early today, but South Vietnamese rangers drove them off before they could penetrate the base’s perimeter…The attack was a strong probe. There was no indication that it was the start of a long-expected all-out offensive against the base below the demilitarized zone in the northwest corner of South Vietnam. The attack followed a 500-shell bombardment of the base yesterday. It was the largest number of mortar, rocket and artillery rounds fired on Khe Sanh in one day in more than a week… the attack began at 4:45 A.M. and was met by 400 SVN rangers and ended at 6 A.M. when the enemy withdrew….When United States fighter-bombers dive into the valley with napalm, bombs and rockets, the North Vietnamese run toward the American lines for safety. The planes dare not strike too close to the base and the enemy soldiers are safe from marine fire because of the depth of their trenches.”…  Page 1: “MARINES KILL 83 OF FOE”... “Heavy fighting broke out yesterday at the eastern end of the demilitarized zone. United States Marines reported that they killed 83 North Vietnamese, some of them in a trench and bunker complex just south of the DMZ….Two marines were killed and 26 wounded in the fighting that continued through the day. Enemy strength was put at 600 troops that were faced by 350 marines supported by air strikes and artillery. Of the 26 wounded marines, 15 have been returned to duty. A Marine F-8 Crusader was shot down in the fight but the pilot ejected and was rescued. It was the 239th aircraft lost in the South…. FIGHTING NEAR SAIGON: “South Vietnamese rangers supported by elements of the United States 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment fought for six and one half hours in an area 16 miles northwest of Saigon. Enemy losses were put at 135. There were no American casualties.”…

Page 1: “7 NATIONS BACK DUAL GOLD PRICE–BAR SELLING TO PRIVATE BUYERS–$35 Rate Upheld–Free Market Allowed To Fluctuate–Britain Gets More Credits”...”The United States and six Western European countries agreed today to supply no more gold to private buyers, thus establish a two-price system for gold. One will be the official monetary price of $35 an ounce which will remain and will be the price for transactions between governments. The other will be a free-market price , which will be permitted to fluctuate from day-to-day and will probably start, at least, higher than $35.” Page 1: “Bullion Market In London To Stay Shut Until April 1″… Page 1: “Bankers Hopeful On Fate Of Dollar–But They Emphasize Need For Long-Range Reforms and Strict Compliance and Enforcement”…

Page 1: “KENNEDY MADE JOHNSON OFFER TO FOREGO RACE–War Basic Issue–Senator Backed Study Panel But President Rejected the Plan–Kennedy Enlarges Split With Johnson”... “Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Johnson Administration were in bitter conflict tonight about news reports that Mr. Kennedy offered last weeks to stay out of the Presidential race if President Johnson named a commission to recommend changes in the course of the Vietnam war. Mr. Kennedy called published and broadcast reports a ‘incredible distortion,’ suggesting that they had been inspired by the Administration in violation of ‘the traditional rules of confidence governing White House conversations’ and said that the incident showed why ‘the American people no longer believe the President.’ “…  Page 1: “McCarthy Spurns Help By Kennedy”… Page 21: “Wilkins Rebukes Negro Militants–Calls Them Obstructionists Who Work For Mischief”…”…described his critics a small minority that is ‘light on work unless that work is creating mischief for somebody.”…  Page 22: “Brooklyn Puerto Ricans Meet To Plan Strategy On Complaints”… Page 26: “Diversity Marks Negro Conference”… Page 28: “MEMPHIS BESET BY RACIAL TENSION”… “…a battle between the city and its 1,300 garbage collectors over union recognition, has emerged as the current major civil rights confrontation in the nation. It has led to racial tension and a pervasive fear of violence….Tomorrow night the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr is scheduled to speak at another church meeting in this city of 550,000 population on the east bank of the Mississippi.” (HUMBLE HOST points out… Dr. King will be assassinated in Memphis within a month. “1968: The Year the Dream Died”)…

18 MARCH 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (19 Mar reporting 18 Mar ops)… Page 1: “A Navy A-6 Intruder was shot down near the port of Haiphong and the two-man crew was listed as missing. The Hanoi radio said they had been captured. It was the 811th plane lost in combat in North Vietnam. (Humble Host: The only A-6 lost in this period was crewed by LCDR SHUMAN and LCDR DOSS of VA-35, who were downed on the night of 17/18 March… See RTR for 17 Mar)…

“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were three fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 18 March 1968…

(1) CAPTAIN HOWARD KEITH WILLIAMS and CAPTAIN B.R. WILLIAMS were flying an F-100F Misty FAC of the 355th TFS and 354thTFW out of Phu Cat were controlling a strike near the Ban Karai Pass when hit by AAA while maneuvering at 5,000-feet forcing an ejection. Both ejected safely but only CAPTAIN B.R. WILLIAMS was rescued. CAPTAIN HOWARD WILLIAMS downed on 18 March 1968, his remains were found and recovered in March 1991, and returned and identified for burial in America on 26 February 1992. Twenty-four years of persistent and dogged determination by the Joint Recovery troops rewarded and commendable. “Leave no man behind” is not an empty motto… On this 50th anniversary of CAPTAIN WILLIAMS last flight he is remembered with highest respect and admiration… 

(2) MAJOR R.P. GREER was flying an O-1G Bird Dog of the 21st TASS and 504th TASG out of Nha Trang and downed by small arms fire while flying at 1,000-feet and controlling strike ops near the town of Ninh Hoa 15 miles north ot Nha Trang. MAJOR GREER made a forced landing and was recovered to fly and FAC again…

(3) CAPTAIN EDWARD W. LEONARD was flying an A-1H of the 602 ACS and 56th ACW out of Udorn and was hit by automatic weapon fire while strafing an enemy “strong point” in Northern Laos (Barrel Roll). CAPTAIN LEONARD was able to fly the damaged aircraft with a failing engine to within 25 miles of home base before the engine gave out and he was required to crash-land the quiet Spad to survive to fly and fight another day…

RIPPLE SALVO… #743… New York Times writer Gene Roberts wrote from Saigon on 10 March 1968 the following essay as he  covered the war where the action and the direction of the war was actually occurring, including the Tet Offensive…

NOW IT’S A NEW AND MUCH MEANER WAR…    (I quote)…

“If there were any doubts that the war in Vietnam was in a new and more deadly phase, they should have been dispelled by the columns of statistics issued by the military commander in Saigon last week on a cheap grade of mimeographed paper.

“The statistics showed 542 American servicemen were killed and 2,191 were wounded during the week ended March 3. It was the fifth consecutive week that at least 400 Americans had died in action. Until last 30 January the United States had never lost as many as 350 soldiers in a single week in Vietnam, and before this year the weeks in which more than 300 had died could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

“Just as startling as the figures, however, was the reception they received by military men and civilians alike in Vietnam. They barely caused a ripple. This was not, of course, due to any lack of respect for the dead but rather to an all-pervasive feeling that the enemy is preparing himself steadily for the largest attack of the war. Thus the casualties of the past were lost in a wave of concern over possible casualties of the future.

BIG QUESTIONS

“The same questions were raised over and over:

“What is the enemy’s major target? Is it Khe Sanh, Saigon or Hue? Is he allowing his troops to mill near the outskirts of Saigon to divert attention from Saigon? Or are they both diversions for a possible, more serious attack on Hue, or maybe Quang Tri? ‘I don’t rule out, Khe Sanh,’ said a senior military spokesman who reflects the views of General William C. Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam. ‘But my impression is that he (the enemy) has more interest in Hue than in Khe Sanh at this time.’

“As the high command saw it, heavy U.S. bombing raids around Khe Sanh had demolished enemy supplies and bombing positions and prompted North Vietnamese and Vietcong strategists to turn their attention to the Hue area, where they have assembled more than 10,000 troops, most of them North Vietnamese regulars. Many who had plowed through the writings of North Vietnamese Defense Minister No Nguyen Giap and other accounts of the war against the French thought they saw a remarkable parallel between the enemy’s actions before Dienbienphu and his preparations for a possible battle at Khe Sanh in the northwest corner of South Vietnam. In 1954 Giap carried out widespread diversions while his forces tunneled ever closer to Dienbienphu and placed their antiaircraft and artillery pieces in secure positions.

“An at week’s end, when more than 20 enemy were killed while tunneling close to Khe Sanh’s barbed-wire perimeter, these students of military history began saying, ‘I told you so.’ Because it is so difficult to tell the real from the unreal, the more than 500,000 American servicemen in Vietnam have gone into defensive postures throughout the country in an effort to be ready for a major new attack wherever it might come.

“This has cut down on American offensive operations and made the enemy appear far more aggressive and daring as he tries to keep the allies guessing by waging lighting mortar raids and ambushes on American installations and convoys.

CONFLICTING VIEWS

“And this development, to be sure, troubles many American military men. They believe that U.S. troops should launch a major new offensive immediately and try to put the enemy on the defensive (FIND–FIX–FIGHT–FOLLOW–FINISH). But there are others who say that this is precisely what the enemy wants–for the United States to weaken its defenses in order to go on the offensive. Then he would strike at the weakest point, be it Saigon, Dakto, Khe Sanh, Hue, Quangtri, or some other key allied point (FIRST THE CIRCUMSPECT DEFENSE, then THE AUDACIOUS ATTACK). But the two camps do agree  on one point: that more American troops should be sent to Vietnam so both defensive and offensive wars can be fought against an estimated 225,000 enemy without one type of campaign jeopardizing the other.

“Whatever the outcome of the military debate, however, few military men here think the enemy is likely to relax his current and deadly harassment campaign or mortar attacks and bushes until he firmly commits himself to a target. ‘We’ve all faced up to it,’ said one American Army officer at week’s end, ‘It’s a new and meaner war.’ “…    (End quote)…

RTR Quote for 18 March: CLAUSEWITZ: ON WAR, 1832: “A swift and vigorous transition to attack–the flashing sword of vengeance–is the most brilliant point of the defensive.”…

Lest we forget…       Bear