Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #808… NYT, 24 MAY 68, Page 1: “JOHNSON SAYS U.S. WON’T LET FOE WIN DURING THE TALKS–CITING MARINES, HE ASSERTS IT STILL ISN’T CLEAR IF HANOI IS READY FOR PEACE SOON”… Dateline 23 May… “President Johnson declared today that the United States would not be defeated on the battlefield in Vietnam while peace talks went on in Paris. ‘For our part,’ he said, ‘we shall seriously and soberly pursue negotiations toward an honorable and peaceful settlement of the war. But this should also be clear: We shall not be defeated on the battlefield while the talks go on. We shall not permit the enemy’s mortars and rockets to go unanswered and to permit him to achieve a victory that would make a mockery of the negotiations.’ Mr. Johnson’s warning came after the latest North Vietnamese demand in Paris for a total halt in the United States bombing of North Vietnam….”…. Continued below… but first…
Good Morning… Day EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHT of a trip back though a chapter of American history with life-saving lessons for the present…
HEAD LINES from THE NEW YORK TIMES on Wednesday, 22 MAY 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “G.I.s FIGHTING IN DELTA USE STEALTH AND SURPRISE–NIGHT AMBUSH PATROLS TRYING TO SHOW FOE UNRELENTING FORCE IS AFTER THEM… Page 3: “Major U.S. Bases Bombarded By Foe”… Page 3: “Generals Shifted to New Commands–Chief Of Vietnam Bombing to Head Tactical Air Forces”… Page 5: “90,000 U.S. Troops Went AWOL During Last Two Years”… Page 5: “42 F-111s Grounded By Defective Valve”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 1: “U.S. PLEA TO CURB POLEMICS IN TALKS SPURNED BY HANOI–North Vietnamese Bar Plan to Keep Exchanges Secret”… “Ambassador-at-Large W. Averell Harriman urged today that both sides reduce the public polemics at the preliminary peace talks in order to get to meaningful negotiations started, but he was rebuffed by the North Vietnamese. Mr. Harriman suggested that the two sides agree not to give the text of formal statements to the press after each session, but to put out brief and general information instead. The North Vietnamese negotiator, Xuan Thuy, rejected the suggestion because ‘the whole world is following us with retention’ at a time when the United States continues to bomb parts of North Vietnam. The question of secret talks will be taken up when it appears necessary, Mr. Thuy said, according to the spokesman. The two sides meeting for the fourth time in ten days, accused each other of stepping up the war in Vietnam during the negotiations here.”…
Page 1: “FRENCH STRIKES STILL WIDENING–TEST VOTE TODAY”… Page 1: “French Tumult In Back Drop for Vietnam Parley–Social Upheaval Contrasts With Diplomatic Niceties In the Salons of Paris”… Page 1: “Europe Is Uneasy–Other Countries fear Economic Difficulty If Unrest in France Persists”… Page 1: “STUDENTS INVADE COLUMBIA HALL–POLICE OUST THEM–250 HOLD HAMILTON HALL ALMOST 10 HOURS TO PROTEST THE SUSPENSION OF RADICALS– 130 Protesters Seized–Suspicious Fire Breaks Out– ‘All Demonstrators Will Be Suspended”…
22 MAY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times devoid of air ops north of the DMZ… “VIETNAM; AIR LOSSES” (Chris Hobson) There were four fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 22 May 1968…
(1) LCDR R.S. THOMAS was flying an A-4F of the VA-212 Rampant Raiders embarked in USS Bon Homme Richard and responding to a call to provide Ironhand support for an ongoing SAR in the vicinity of Vinh. As he entered the area at about 3,200-feet he was hit by AAA igniting a wing fire. LCDR THOMAS turned seaward and was fortunate to get over the Gulf of Tonkin before the wing burned through and parted from the fuselage as he ejected. He was rescued by a Navy SAR helicopter…
(2) LTJG EDWIN FRANK MILLER was flying an RF-8G of the VFP-63 Det 31 embarked in USS Bonnie Dick and went down on a photo mission over Vinh. His photo track included a 20 mile route of heavily defended targets and had completed the run over Vinh when hit resulting in a hydraulic failure and loss of control of the Photo ‘Sader. He ejected near Vinh and was immediately captured. He was released from POW status in March 1973… He is remembered with admiration and respect on this anniversary of his last cat shot on Bonnie Dick…
(3) CAPTAIN JOHN HUNTER CREWS and 1LT DEAN PAUL PIERRE were flying a Night Owl F-4D of the 433rd TFS and 8th TFW on a strike mission 20 miles northwest of Dong Hoi in Route Package I. They found a truck convoy and commenced an attack from which they did not recover. The supposition is that they were hit in the run by 85-mm AAA that was active in the area and did not eject. The ensuing SAR failed to hear or see either of the aviators, their parachutes, or the wreckage of the F-4. Read the Task Force Omega report.
CAPTAIN CREWS AND CAPTAIN ST. PIERRE…No Man left behind?…
(4) LTCOL WILLIAM HENDERSON MASON; CAPTAIN THOMAS BARRY MITCHELL; MAJOR JERRY LEE CHAMBERS; CAPTAIN WILLIAM THOMAS McPHAIL; SGT GARY PATE; A1C JOHN QUINCY ADAM; A1C THOMAS EDWARD KNEBEL; and A1C MELVIN DOUGLAS RASH were flying a C-130A of the 41st TAS and 574th TAW out of Naha on a Blind Bat flare dropping mission over southern Laos that failed to return. It was determined that the aircraft and her nine warriors went down about 20 miles southwest of the A Shau Valley. The crash site was found, excavated and remains recovered and returned on 29 May 2002. The identification dates were made in the following years. LCOL MASON was finally home on 13 March 2009… Today, 22 May 1968, we remember these nine fallen warriors whose final flight was made 50 years ago today… Glory Gained, Duty Done… Humble Host extends admiration and respect to the Joint Recovery team whose job is never done…
RIPPLE SALVO… #808 (continued)… “PRESIDENT SAYS FLOW IS AT PEAK… Presenting an award to marines who defended Khe Sanh, the President said that the flow of men and equipment from North Vietnam to the South had never been greater. Bitter fighting continues in many parts of South Vietnam, the President said it was ‘still not clear that Hanoi is really for an early or an honorable peace.’ Shortly before Mr. Johnson made his remarks before television cameras at the White House, Secretary of Defense Clark M. Clifford took much the same message to a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill.
“Mr. Clifford said that North Vietnam was pressing a policy of ‘fight and negotiate’ and that the United States must be prepared physically and psychologically to do the same. WARNING BY KANSAN… A warning against the ‘fight-and-talk strategy’ was sounded by Senator James B. Pearson, Republican of Kansas. In a statement, he urged the United States to offer North Vietnam a specific cease-fire plan to keep the peace talks from leading to an acceleration of the war. The strategy of ‘fight-and-talk’ will work only if one side overwhelms the other militarily, he said.
“The President presented a Presidential Unit Citation to the 26th Marine Regiment and its reinforcing units for their part in defending the combat base at Khe Sanh during the seven-week siege by North Vietnamese forces earlier this year. The award was accepted by two regimental representatives, Colonel David E. Lownds, the commanding officer, and Sgt. Maj A.W. Smith, the senior enlisted marine from the Khe Sanh base.
“Mr. Johnson noted that some in America had seen the siege of Khe Sanh as possibly leading to an American defeat like Dienbienphu in 1954. But, he said General William C. Westmoreland and the Joint Chiefs’ Staff decided that the base could and should be held, and their decision was justified. ‘USE OF AIR POWER NOTED’… The North Vietnamese, he said, had not counted on ‘the most overwhelming intelligent and effective use of air power in the history of warfare–nor had they counted on the endurance and artillery of the marines at Khe Sanh. The Americans and South Vietnamese at Khe Sanh prevented the North Vietnamese from opening a major avenue into South Vietnam’s populated areas, Mr. Johnson asserted.
“Beyond that, he said, the marine defense of Khe Sanh greatly strengthened the American initiative toward peace talks ‘for they vividly demonstrated to the enemy the utter futility of his attempts to win a military victory in the South. Then Mr. Johnson, with his voice rising and his eyes narrowing in a frown, said that Hanoi still did not seem to be ready for peace.
“There has been no visible lessening of Hanoi’s aggressive efforts,’ he said. ‘In fact, Hanoi is today telling its forces in the South that they must continue their offensive to support their negotiators in Paris.’ He said that he had faith that an honorable peace could be achieved.
“NOT TO BE FOUND WANTING”…‘But if there must be more fighting before it comes,’ he said, ‘then we shall not be found wanting.’ Mr. Clifford, like Mr. Johnson, stressed the continued movement of men and material from North Vietnam into the South. The reduction of these movements has been listed as major reason for continuing American bombing of North Vietnam south of the 20th Parallel. Mr. Clifford said that despite the halting of the United States air and sea bombardment north of the 20th Parallel. ‘We have yet to see any sign of reciprocity on the part of North Vietnam. The movement of men and supplies from the North to the South continues apace,’ he said, ‘and more hard fighting undoubtedly lies ahead. These developments, while disappointing, should not be surprising.
“WE MUST BE PREPARED”… ‘The North Vietnamese have consistently stated that their intention was to fight and negotiate and we must be prepared, both physically and psychologically to do the same.’
“This was Mr. Clifford’s first appearance before the defense subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee since he succeeded Robert S. McNamara as Secretary of Defense in March. He asked the group to approve the President’s defense budget, which, including supplemental requests made earlier this week, calls for expenditures of $79.2 billion during the year beginning July 1.”… End quote from NYT…
RTR quote for 22 May: ADMIRAL CHESTER NIMITZ: “God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
