Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #412… CASSIUS CLAY WON’T STEP FORWARD ON 28 APRIL… but first…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED TWELVE of a return to the 1960s and the air war over North Vietnam…
21 APRIL 1967… HOME TOWN HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a sunny Friday in NYC…
Page 1: “7 Vietnam Allies Confer; Troops Needs Are Studied”… “The United States and six allies in the Vietnam war held their first high level strategy conference in six months today amid private talk of the need for more troops for the war effort… increasing Communist aggression in the Northern Provinces of South Vietnam was not discussed in their discussions for the need for more troops. Some participants however indicated that rising tensions near the demilitarized zone dividing North and South Vietnam had increased the need for sizable American troops.”... “Page 1: “40,000 Rubber Workers Strike Three Big Tire Manufacturers”… “The United Rubber Workers union struck three of the four big tire manufactures early today. The Union struck all plants of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, the B>F> Goodrich Company, and UniRoyal, Inc. in a deadlocked dispute, mainly over a guaranteed annual wage. It was the biggest strike in the Union’s 32-year history.”… “Page 1: “Catholic University Classes Stopped As Protest Spreads in Faculty“… “Nearly all classes were suspended today in a spreading strike of students and faculty at the Catholic University of America. Protests against the threatened dismissal of the Reverend Charles E. Curran, 33-year old assistant professor of moral theology took on the aspect of a full-scale revolt against Cardinals and Bishops who govern the institution…all 6,600 students at 11 schools voted to go on strike.”...
Page 4: “Goldberg Deplores U.N. Inaction in War”... “Goldberg said that his greatest disappointment as Chief delegate had been the failure of the United Nations to come to grips with the problem of Vietnam.”… Page 4: “Two Killed in Coast Jet Crash”… “An Air Force F-4 Phantom crashed near Kingston Peak killing both pilots, First Lieutenant Douglas Rose of Chicago and First Lieutenant Donald Wolber of Rockville, Indiana. The aircraft plowed into a hilly area.”… Page 9: “New Peking Group Hailed By 100,000”… “Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets today to the thunderous roll of drums and cacophonous sounds of gongs to hail the creation of the Peking Revolutionary Committee, a development they described as the death knell for President Liu Shao-chi and his followers.”… Page 8: “Controversy Grows In U.S.”... “Controversy over civilian casualties in Vietnam has grown in the United States. The dispute is clouded by a lack of precise figures. William F. Pepper, the author of the article in Ramparts last January said yesterday his figures were ‘clearly conservative.’ He contends the toll might actually be higher–many times the one million child casualties in Vietnam that he reported in 1961.”… Page 19: “Kennedy Assures Politicians He Will Forego Presidential Candidacy and Support Johnson”… “Senator Robert f. Kennedy had fortified earlier public statements with private pledges to the supporters of Johnson.”...Sports: Tom Seaver signs a $50,000 Bonus Rookie contract and beats the Cubs 6-1 for first victory.”
21 April 1967… The President’s Daily Brief (TS sanitized…about half of the notes remain classified 50 years after the date of the brief..??..) COMMUNIST CHINA: Premier Chou En-lai remains Peking’s chief spokesman, but he may be losing ground to the radicals. Some of the more rational policies Chou put into effect in February have lately been reversed. The heavy attacks on his protege, Foreign Minister Chen Yi, are also part of the picture… SINO SOVIET SPLIT: Peking’s deep hatred for the Soviet leadership came out in a discussion late last month. Chou again charged Moscow with secret USA-Soviet collusion against China and accused the Russians of undercutting Nasir’s efforts to inspire revolt in South Arabia. Chou even said he was thinking of ending the periodic talks in Warsaw between the Chinese and US ambassadors because the talks were exploited by the Soviets… SOUTH VIETNAM: Recent intelligence assessments conclude that the Viet Cong have lost momentum in the Southern Mekong Delta provinces, but government forces have not been making much progress either. despite some ambitious plans for Revolutionary Development, the situation in these eight southernmost provinces appears to be stalemated… GREECE: The Government may be getting ready to arrest left-wing leader Andreas Papandreou, the ex-premier’s son…
21 APRIL 1967…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (22 April reporting 21 April ops) Page 1: “U.S. Pilots Blast Rails Near Hanoi”… “United States pilots carried out a series of smashing attacks yesterday against rail and highway facilities in North Vietnam. In three strikes Air Force and Navy pilots reported having destroyed two diesel locomotives and 59 to 79 railroad cars carrying petroleum and freight. It was the fourth day of intensified American effort in the North. The fighter-bombers ranged through the upper sections of North Vietnam’s panhandle, flying within 38 miles of Hanoi. With 750-pound bombs. Air Force Phantom jets wrecked 40-60 box cars in a railroad yard northwest of the capital. Seven miles southwest of Thanh Hoa, Navy Skyhawks loosed bombs of 500, 1000 and 2000 pounds on another train and wiped out two more locomotives and 15 more box cars. The pilots reported having seen enemy MiGs but there were no engagements. On Thursday, while Navy pilots bombed Haiphong inside its city limits for the first time, Air Force pilots began to concentrate on rail traffic. For the second day in a row they bombed the training center at Xuanmai 37 miles southwest of Hanoi. The American pilots only flew 77 missions (up to 30 aircraft per mission), but it was one of their most devastating days over North Vietnam….
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 21 April 1967…
RIPPLE SALVO… #411… 21 April 1967…The New York Times… Page 29 (Sports)… Louisville, Ky…
“Clay Says He Will Not Step Forward To Be Inducted On April 28″…
“Cassius Clay, the world heavyweight champion, said today he would not step forward to take the traditional army oath on April 28 in Houston. Clay said he would remain motionless when ordered to take the single step forward as a signal of their induction. He also rejected any idea of serving as a non-combatant. a spokesman for his draft board said that if Clay, who prefers to be called Muhammad Ali, his Muslim name, did not step forward, he would be required to sign a paper stating that he had refused and the matter would be turned over to the United States district Attorney’s office for action… He could receive a sentence of up to five years in prison for such a refusal.
“Clay, in an almost somber mood, as he said at a news conference that his Muslim religion and beliefs on human rights would not permit him to serve, added that he ‘would not go into the Army simply to help continue the domination of which slave masters over darker people the world over. Why should they ask me, another so-called Negro, to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisiana are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?’ he asked.
“The boxer said he realized that his prestige was at stake and that he was prepared to go to jail to uphold his convictions. ‘I will not disgrace my religion or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for justice, equality and freedom,‘ he said in his statement. Clay’s only present recourse is an appeal now pending before the United States Supreme Court. One of the appeals that the entire draft system is unconstitutional. another is the denial of Clay’s exemption based on his claim that he is a Black Muslim minister.
“Clay declined to make up a poem or verse at the news conference saying, ‘This is no time for poems.’
“He reiterated that he was a supporter of the open housing demonstrations that have kept Louisville in turmoil for several weeks. “As world heavyweight champion,’ he continued, ‘I know the difference between a fair fight and a foul one–and this fight with cowardly white hoodlums against peaceful black people, who seek only what should be granted to every human being is a foul one.’
“Clay replied to a suggestion that a long prison term would ruin his career by saying: ‘I’m 25 now and I’d only be 28 when I get out. I guess I’d be all right, depending on what kind of food I get.’ He added that he ‘was going to Houston in a few days to get some training and road work that will prepare me spiritually and physically to meet the big trial.’… “
Humble Host, one of the millions who put on his uniform and went 10,000 miles from home to carry the fight to an enemy of our country, “right or wrong, my country,” will continue to include Muhammad Ali in the events occurring on the home front in this RT journal. I am still trying to figure how this revered “draft dodger” became “the greatest.” I thought I went to war with “the greatest.”…
CAG’s QUOTES for 21 April: ADMIRAL RAYMOND SPRUANCE: “A man’s judgment is best when he can forget himself and any reputation he may have acquired, and can concentrate on making the right decision.”… PATTON: “We will have no Army until we have universal service.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
