Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… WINCHESTER... but first…
Good Morning: Day FIFTY-TWO of the long look back to Operation Rolling Thunder…50 Years Ago…
23 APRIL 1966 (NYT)…ON THE HOMEFRONT…New York under clouds with rain tomorrow…Page1: “Johnson Bids United States Remain Steadfast on South Vietnam Issue,” and calls for nation to be patient in support of his stand “in a period of testing.”…Johnson “…sees quite a trail…of political turmoil but eventual stable and democratic society.”…”There is little hope for peace if North Vietnam is determined to swallow up South Vietnam and force the people to their knees.”…”I have every reason to believe we will be successful.”…Also on page 1: “Johnson Cautions on Going Too Fast In Welfare Field”…He said the nation does not want to go too fast or too far in laying the social welfare and educational planks of the Great Society…This was in response to charges by Robert F. Kennedy that the administration was unnecessarily reducing domestic spending, especially education and anti-poverty in order to fund the war…Page3: “3 Planes Down, Reds Say'” and that “several pilots had been captured.” Washington came back and say the report had “no validity… “Same page: “MuGia Pass Struck Again”…Pass had been bombed closed on 12 April “but had reopened by an army of laborers.”…”Routine United States Air Strikes Carried Out in North Vietnam.”…One Navy A-6 shot down 20 miles north of Vinh and crew of two is missing…PAGE 2: “Airliner With 92 GIs on Board Crashes Into Ardmore, Oklahoma Hillside”…American Flyers airline Lockheed Electra with crew of 6 nd 92 troops was en route from Fort Ord to Fort Benning. Seventeen survived the crash. The airline was accident free since 1937 before the accident…
Editorial Page…Bold Headline; “Too Few Bombs?”… “Secretary of Defense McNamara has met disturbing reports of bomb and other shortages overseas with a denial that is more emphatic than convincing.” OPED noted that in order to meet Vietnam requirements of more than 250,000 men and 100 tons of supplies on a daily basis has required a drawdown of inventories around the world. “The strategic reserve in the country has been reduced to training cadres.” The editorial stated that 33,000 officers and experienced non-commissioned officers, and 18,000 privates have been drawn from Germany to support the demand for troops in South Vietnam, to date. In addition, the NYT cited the reduction in the number of sorties being flown in Southeast Asia, and reduced bomb loads as indicative of the status of our inventories of men and material.
“The reasons for these deficiencies vary, and it is certainly true that no war ever has been fought without some shortages. But Mr. McNamara does himself no credit by trying to deny the obvious. This newspaper has long questioned the wisdom of large scale bombing in terms of American objectives in Vietnam, but we believe unreservedly that whatever strategy the Administration embarks on must not fail for lack of arms or equipment. Far greater candor on the part of the Administration, a candor lacking throughout the Vietnam War, would provide greater assurance to the nation that the men who are doing the fighting and dying in Vietnam get all the support they need.” …Amen to that!
23 APRIL 1966…ROLLING THUNDER… The monsoonal weather is shifting and the weather is getting better for bombing North Vietnam…
Historian Chris Hobson’s report on American aircraft losses on 23 April (‘Vietnam: Air Losses”) is eloquent and I quote: “The Thunderbirds from Korat struck a road bridge at Phu Lang Thuong 30 miles northeast of Hanoi and only 10 miles from Kep. the bridge was one of several on a major supply route from China to Hanoi. CAPTAIN ROBERT RAYMOND DYCZKOWSKI (in an F-105D from TFS 388, Korat) failed to rejoin the flight after dropping his bombs and was thought to have been shot down either at the target or near Thai Nguyen during the flights egress. CAPTAIN DYCZKOWSKI was on his 99th mission over North Vietnam and was due to return home in a few days.
“About 15 minutes after the first wave of bombers hit the Phu Lang Thuong Bridge it was struck by another flight of Thunderchiefs. MAJOR BERNARD JOSEPH GOSS’s (also in an F-105D from TFS 388, Korat) aircraft was hit as he neared the target and he was seen to eject and land on a steep hillside. Neither airman became POWs and it was assumed that they were both killed. CAPTAIN DYCZKOWSKI’s aircraft was painted as ‘Shirley Ann’.” CAPTAIN DYCZKOWSKI and MAJOR GOSS Killed in Action… PERISHED….but not forgotten on this 50th anniversary of their valorous deaths in the service of their country… And tonight a special thought and prayer for “Shirley Ann.”
The Navy lost an A-4E from the VA-55 squadron on USS Ranger while operating at Dixie Station. While recovering from a dive bombing run on a target in the Mekong Delta the aircraft was hit by ground fire. LCDR C.A. GRAY was forced to eject from the uncontrollable aircraft and was rescued uninjured by an Army helicopter.
RIPPLE SALVO… WINCHESTER… That is the tactical call a Navy pilot use to report his aircraft “ammo minus,” i.e., out of ordnance… There was a period in April 1966 when sorties were indeed reduced, as noted in the NYT OPED, and the weapon loads on aircraft were less than optimum… Sorties were flown into Harm’s Way with partial loads or less effective ordnance due to the shortages… The country responded to the mini-crisis and the shortage was short lived… After the Vietnam war the war reserve inventory in the United States was calculated to be a 180-day supply based on the rate of employment studies said was appropriate. Over the years the requirement for tons of bombs sitting in bunkers was reduced. However, I don’t recall any significant shortages being reported since the 1966 shortage, even during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, until recently (2015) as the inventory of precision guided munitions (PGM) has been drawn down in the wars in the mid-east that require unprecedented accuracy in order to comply with tightening Rules of Engagement. Not to worry…I am sure our Secretary of Defense has everything under control and our country is well prepared, armed and equipped to ensure our national interests are safe and secure, and we are “ammo plus.” With the “winds of war” blowing in every quarter, the last thing our nation needs is a report of “ammo minus” in any of those theaters, especially PGMs like JDAM and JSOW…
Not to worry?… “…we must not fail due to lack of arms or equipment.” (NYT 23 April 1966)
Lest we forget… Bear ……………… –30– ………………..
