Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #778… FIFTY-TWO YEARS AGO THIS DAY, 22 APRIL 1966, CAPTAIN CHARLES GRAHAM BOYD, USAF, HAD A GO-ROUND WITH A SUPER HOT SAM SITE A FEW MILES UPWIND FROM HANOI, NORTH VIETNAM. It went this way…
“On that date, Captain Boyd volunteered to participate in a flight with the mission of destroying Surface to Air Missile (SAM) sites posing a threat to flights striking a bridge in the Phu Tho area. While attacking a hostile SAM site, Captain Boyd saw two missiles streak toward his aircraft. His superb airmanship and instant reaction enabled him to evade the missiles, which burst very near his aircraft. Without hesitation, Captain Boyd continued the attack on the hostile missile site. As he made a second pass through the intense flak which filled the sky around him, Captain Boyd’s aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire and he was forced to eject himself in a heavily populated, hostile area. The selfless act of making repeated attacks through intense ground fire after barely avoiding two missiles was far beyond the normal call of duty. Through his exemplary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Captain Boyd reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”… Captain Boyd was flying an F-105D Thunderchief of the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron and 388th Tactical Fighter Wing out of Korat, Thailand and was awarded the AIR FORCE CROSS for EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM on this shoot-out with the North Vietnamese air defenses fifty-two years ago this day… The rest of the story and GENERAL CHUCK BOYD’s “thumb nail sketch of the essence of a fighter pilot” …. below… but first…
GOOD MORNING… Day SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT of a remembrance of the events and participants in the air war fought fifty years ago in the skies of North Vietnam called Operation Rolling Thunder…
HEAD LINES from the OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER (AP/UPI) on Monday, 22 April 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “SOUTH VIETNAMESE CALL ALERT AGAINST SAIGON ATTACKS–U.S. MISSION OPERATES AS USUAL”… “South Vietnam’s army in Saigon and 11 surrounding provinces were placed on full alert today because intelligence reports indicated a big attack on the capital is near… A U.S. mission spokesman said however that ‘no alert or any warning has been issued to American personnel’ in connection with the Vietnamese intelligence reports… that said, the Communist attacks would be on the scale of those during the February offensive, when thousands of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops infiltrated into Saigon and attacked all over the city. Officials reported Sunday that a North Vietnamese colonel had surrendered and turned over plans for another assault on Saigon by 10,000 enemy troops.” SIX CLASHES… “Allied forces reported killing at least 135 enemy soldiers Sunday in six clashes within 40 miles of Saigon. Most were in areas where allied forces have been carrying on the biggest operation of the war, Operation Complete Victory, to root out enemy forces in the 3rd Corps area….In South Vietnam, u.S. Marines on a sweep a mile south of the Khe Sanh combat base Sunday made contact with an estimated company of North Vietnamese holed up in bunkers. No casualty report. ” … Page 1: “HANOI RAKES U.S. PEACE TALK ‘CONDITIONS'”… “North Vietnam charged Sunday that the United States, ‘instead of going’ any place,’ has set two and then four conditions for the preliminary talks to arrange a Vietnam peace conference. North Vietnam again accuses President Johnson of going back on his assertion that U.S. envoys would go anywhere at any time in efforts to end the war. ‘In a word the U.S. government has, within a few weeks, completely changed its attitude.’ “…
Page 1: “DISCREPANCIES VEIL GALT-RAY MANHUNT”… “A ranking Memphis police officer acknowledges there are ‘a whole lot of discrepancies’ in official descriptions of the man sought as the sniper slayer of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Asst. Chief Bill Price referred to statements that James Earl Ray, 40, an escaped Missouri convict, and Eric Starvo Galt, first sought for King’s April 4 assassination in Memphis are the same person. ‘you don’t what to look for,’ he said.”… The FBI updated their case Friday by saying a fingerprint comparison showed Galt was really Ray.”… Page 4: “NIXON URGES IMMEDIATE SPENDING CUTS”… “Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon called Sunday for the nation to clear up its financial crisis before throwing massive aid into the big city ghettos. Nixon describes the nation’s financial situation as the worst since the depression. “The United States today is hurtling down a path toward the worst economic crisis of the post-war era,’ Nixon said. He called for President Johnson to make an immediate $8 billion federal spending cut to help clear up the situation.” …
22 April 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER (23 Apr reporting 22 Apr ops) Page 2: “In the air war against North Vietnam, American fighter-bombers hit enemy gun positions, truck convoys, railroads and other targets south of the 19th parallel Monday… The U.S. Command said that deepest penetration of the day was an attack on railroad installations about three miles south of the limit set by President Johnson. U.S. fliers reported destroying or damaging 10 trucks and four bridges.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 22 April 1968…
(1) LTCOL EDWIN DAVID PALMGREN and LCDR DAVID LEO COOLEY, USN, were flying an F-111A of the 428th TFS Combat Lancer detachment and 474 TFW out of Takhli on a night low-level attack on a high priority, heavily defended ferry target in southern Laos 30 miles west of Hue and perished, KILLED IN ACTION, without a trace. An extensive four day visual and electronic search failed to locate the two intrepid aviators or the wreckage of the highly classified $8-million F-111A. LCOL PALMGREN and LCDR COOLEY remain where they fell on the battlefield fifty years ago this day… Fifty Years… Left Behind–“BODY NOT RECOVERED”… …But remembered…
HUMBLE HOST REMINDS and INSTRUCTS…… EVERY WARRIOR WHO FELL IN THE VIETNAM WAR WHOSE NAME IS ON “THE WALL” HAS HAD A MEMORIAL PAGE SET UP TO PUT A FACE WITH THE NAME and to ACCOMMODATE COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS OF SYMPATHY AND REMEMBRANCE FROM THE PUBLIC AT LARGE… Try it, you will like it. Feeling is a great feeling… As Humble Host reminds and remembers the anniversaries of Rolling Thunder warriors’ last flights, google that warrior’s name and look for the link to open the VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND “Wall of Faces“… Every “Face” page includes an invitation to “LEAVE A REMEMBRANCE”…
HUMBLE HOST flew #149, a day VFR swing through Route Pack II on an armed recce looking for trucks. As Dame Fortune would have it, no trucks on our short segment of road going northwest out of Vinh. But another section of A-4s found some trucks about ten north of Vinh at Tam Da and I broke off searching my segment to pounce on the LUCTAR developed by the other guys. My section added 12 Mk-82s to the burning target . No opposition noted on another 30 minutes over the beach north and west of Vinh…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) ON 22 APRIL in the four years of carrying the Vietnam war to HO CHI MINH’s HOMELAND…
1965… None
1966… MAJOR ALAN LESLIE BRUNSTROM was flying a 20th TRS RF-101C on an unarmed photo reconnaissance mission 50 miles northeast of Hanoi near Kep and was downed by intense AAA. MAJOR BRUNSTROM spent the next 2,489 days as a victim of torture and deprivation in the North Vietnamese prison system…, He met a staff of hosts with names like Cat, Rat and Rabbit… “On 22 April 1966 Major Brunstrom flew a vital weather mission and photography reconnaissance mission deep into hostile territory. With complete disregard for his personal safety, he courageously maneuvered his unarmed and unarmored RF-101 without fighter escort into an area heavily defended by MiGs, Surface-to-Air Missiles and antiaircraft batteries. In a determined effort to complete his mission, he dropped down for a low-level, high-speed dash over the target only to encounter an impenetrable area of ground fire. Despite heavy battle damage, he continued his mission until his aircraft went out of control, forcing him to eject in hostile territory. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Major Brunstrom has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”… He was awarded the first of his two SILVER STARS with this citation ….OOHRAH…
1966… LCDR ROBERT FRANKLIN WEINMORTS and LTJG WILLIAM BREWSTER NICKERSON were flying an A-6A Intruder of the VA-85 Medium Attack, All-Weather squadron embarked in USS Kitty Hawk on an Iron Hand strike on a SAM site northwest of Vinh. The Intruder successfully struck the site and exited to sea and was observed to fly into the water without any indication of an onboard emergency or radio call. As is normal, with very few exceptions, the bodies of these two gallant Naval Aviation warriors remain where they fell, on the battlefield fifty-two years ago this day. Their Names on The Wall have faces…
1966… CAPTAIN CHARLES GRAHAM BOYD was downed on the mission forever archived in the Citation for his Air Force Cross posted just above in this post… To that testimony to the guts and resolve of Captain Boyd I add this Citation for a Distinguished Flying Cross awarded for an earlier anti-SAM flight flown on 17 April 1966. “On that date, Captain Boyd volunteered to participate in a flight supporting a strike against heavily defended surface-to-air missile sites. While making a high speed low altitude attack run on a hostile missile site, two missiles were observed to rise from their launchers and streak toward the flight. Through expert airmanship and skillful maneuvering, Captain Boyd avoided the lethal missiles and continued the attack. Realizing the importance of striking as many SA-2 sites as possible which might threaten the main strike force, Captain Boyd requested to save his remaining ordnance for another hostile SAM site. In spite of the intense antiaircraft fire, Captain Boyd continued to circle the target area giving damage assessment an locating heavy flak concentrations for the main flight. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Captain Boyd reflected great credit upon himself and the United States of America.”…
1967… None
1968… LCOL EDWIN DAVID PALMGREN and LCDR DAVID LEE COOLEY, USN as noted above… perished FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY…. and remembered…
RIPPLE SALVO… #778… GENERAL CHUCK BOYD served with honor as a Prisoner of War from 22 April 1966 until released in March 1973. Among his multiple awards for intrepid courage in the face of an extremely hostile enemy– prison guards Rabbit, Cat and Bug, among others– are two awards of the Silver Star. Downed as a Captain on his 105th combat mission, he survive 2,488 days in the North Vietnamese prison system, including one of the worst–Camp Hope. He emerged from the war in the rank of Major and retired 22 years later in the rank of General. Chuck Boyd was the only American POW to achieve four-star rank. Darn good for an ex-Aviation Cadet and College Drop-out!!! oohrah… General Boyd remains active in retirement and is especially involved with the CENTER FOR THE NATIONAL INTEREST: America’s Voice for Strategic Realism… The following is purloined from a CFTNI Weekly Bulletin of 12 April 2013, an observation by General Boyd on behalf of POWs and fighter pilots (and single seat light attack pilots, too)… I quote…
“If there is one message I would like to express to those who are interested in the American POWs and their life in the prisons of Vietnam, it would be a thumbnail sketch of the essence of the fighter pilot (for that’s what most of us were.)
“First of all–let me make this clear–we were not heroes but, rather, we were just ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances. This being true, I would now contradict myself slightly and explain what I regard to be a somewhat extraordinary characteristic of most fighter pilots. The fighter pilots that I have known are, by and large, a fiercely individualistic breed of men. Whether this characteristic directs them toward career flying fighter aircraft, or if it is merely something they develop through association in a society of professional fighter pilots, I do not know. But this I do know: there is not a fighter pilot worth his salt who would not prefer to fly alone in a single-seat aircraft, relying totally on his singular skills, than to work as a part of a committee on any multi-seated air machine.
“As so it should not seem surprising that this breed of men would be as well equipped as anyone to cope with the special problems of isolation. The enemy captors thought they could ‘divide and conquer,’ that without collective leadership we would not be able to maintain our resistance and our resolve. But they did not reckon with the individual integrity of the American fighter pilot.
“In this world of changing values where the individual dignity of man seems to be eroding in the society, I think you would do well to remember the example set by men who refused to compromise their individuality.”…
General Boyd: On the 52nd anniversary of your 105th, non-round trip, Rolling Thunder Ride, Humble Host extends highest respect, admiration and appreciation… Bravo Zulu….
RTR Quote for 22 April: BARBARA TUCHMAN: “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.”…
Lest we forget…. Bear
