Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #267… 835 DAYS AT YANKEE STATION — 7 CRUISES OF COMBAT… but first…
Good Morning: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!… Today is also day TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN of this remembrance of ROLLING THUNDER…
24 November 1966… HOME TOWN HEAD LINES from the New York Times on a sunny Thanksgiving Day and the Macy’s Parade…
Page 1: “Wage Increases Now surpass Gains In Output…U.S. study finds significant rise in un it labor costs after years of stability — higher prices possible. Trend in last two months could bring a squeeze on margins of profit…. Prices up .04% in October and 3.7% over the last year.”… Page 1: “Johnson Orders $1.1 Billion Slash In Highways Next Year. Federal aid to be reduced 25% in attempt to cut spending by $3 billion.”… Page 1: “McNamara Hopes to Cut Troop Need a Third Next Year. Holds that reductions will flow from leveling off in gain of Vietnam War forces…January draft call reduced, the total ’67 requirements will be 600,000 or 300,000 fewer than during ’66.”… Page 1: “Red Guards and Workers Battle 15 Hours in Peking as Red Guards attempt to convert others to the ideals of cultural revolution…sixty injured.”… Page 1: “20 Die as Vietcong Ambush a Convoy 140 miles northeast of Saigon…8 were civilian employees of U.S. company…47 more barges blasted by Navy destroyers.”…
24 November 1966… The President’s Daily Brief…CIA (TS sanitized 2015)… JORDAN: Demonstrations against the government have quieted today but there have been some outbreaks. although King Husayn expects further demonstrations, he is more concerned about assassinations of Jordanian leaders. (large portion redacted). At last report Nasir is making a speech. We do not know what he is saying but he can hardly avoid the Jordanian issue. How he chooses to play it may well determine whether a major Middle East crisis is at hand… NORTH VIETNAM: (1) The north Vietnamese army seems to be having morale problems. this month’s army journal, published in Hanoi, contended an article that was clearly intended as a pep talk for those whose resolve may be weakening– “suffering losses and making sacrifices does not mean we are not winning,” the author said…. (2) Bad weather and disruptions caused by war are contributing to a poor rice harvest. Local authorities are having trouble getting in the late crop–which accounts for almost two thirds of total annual production–because of excessive rain and lack of labor. Even Hanoi’s public statements on the harvest have been less than optimistic. a reduced rice harvest will add to the woes of the ordinary citizen, but a major food crisis is not likely. Hanoi will probably be forced to divert some manpower to production of other foods and import food from its Communist friends…COMMUNIST CHINA: The new attacks on Liu Shao-chi and Teng Hsiao-Ping which we reported yesterday have brought the struggle in Peking to yet another climax. the attacks now seem so bitter and fundamental that we believe the attackers–whoever they are–have committed themselves to destroying the bulk of the party’s leadership as it has existed since 1939. They also suggest by implication a failure of Mao’s leadership over that period. Despite orders from one of contending factions to go home by the 20th, the Red Guards remain in Peking. another great rally, scheduled first for yesterday and then for today, has been postponed twice without explanation…
24 November 1966…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT… No coverage of the air war…”Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) One aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on Thanksgiving Day 1966… (1) CAPTAIN CLAUDE NATHANIEL WILLIAMS, USMC, was flying an A-4E of the VMA-223 Bulldogs and MAG-12 on a night TPQ-10 radar-directed bombing mission 7 miles northwest of Chu Lai went hit and downed by enemy ground fire. CAPTAIN WILLIAMS was Killed in Action on a “Milky” run. A similar loss at this location occurred on 8 September… On a Milky??? Now you tell me… How sad for the Williams family –for the last fifty Thanksgivings they have been reminded of an event no warrior family can give thanks for–the death in mortal combat of one of their sons…
RIPPLE SALVO…#267… In recognition of NATIONAL AIRCRAFT CARRIER MONTH, RTR is including the contributions of our Yankee Station carriers during Operation Rolling Thunder in this journal — one carrier at a time. On this Thanksgiving Day 2016 Ripple Salvo honors the USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43), your Humble Host’s personal favorite among all USN carriers. Fifty years ago on Thanksgiving Day 1966 Coral Maru was feeding turkey to the officers and men as she steamed in the Gulf of Tonkin on her second of seven combat cruises–just one of the total of 835 days she plied those seas… Here are summaries of the first three of CORAL SEA’s seven combat cruises. Sources for the following are many, but primarily Rene’ Francillon’s “Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club: U.S, Carriers Off Vietnam.” In addition, Humble Host invites your attention to the RTR link to the exhibit currently displayed in the Navy Cold War Museum in the Navy Yard in Washington that includes pictures of all 21 carriers that did duty in the Gulf of Tonkin. Don’t look for USS JOHN F. KENNEDY– for some inexplicable reason, JFK was awarded a pass on Vietnam duty… Gee, I wonder why?…
THE FIRST THREE VIETNAM COMBAT CRUISES OF USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43)…
FIRST COMBAT CRUISE from NAS Alameda with CVW-15 embarked: 7 December 1964 — 1 November 1965…
Days on the line: 167
Combat Losses: 21
7 Feb: A-4E of VA-155…LT E.A. DICKSON… (KIA)…
11 Feb: A-4C of VA-153… LT BILLY MAJORS… (recovered)…
11 Feb: F-8D of VF-154… LCDR BOB SHUMAKER… (POW)…
26 Mar: F-8D of VF-154… LT C.E.WANGEMAN… (recovered)…
29 Mar: A-4E of VA-155… CDR J.H. HARRIS… (recovered)…
29 Mar: F-8D of VF-154… CDR W. N. DONNELLY… (recovered)…
29 MAR: F-8D of VF-154… LCDR K.E. HUME… (KIA)…
7 Apr: A-4C of VA-153… LT W.M. ROARK… (KIA)…
9 Apr: A-4C of VA-153… LCDR C.H. McNEIL… (recovered)…
25 Jun: A-4C of VA-153… CDR PETER MONGALARDI, CAG-15… (KIA)…
15 Jul: A-4C of VA-153… LT A.J. BENNETT… (recovered)…
12 Aug: A-4E of VA-155… LT W.T. FIDELIBUS… (recovered)…
13 Aug: (BLACK FRIDAY) A-1H of VA-165… LT R. HYLAND… (recovered)…
13 Aug: RF-8A of VFP-63… MAJOR P.A. MANNING, USMC… (recovered)…
13 Aug: A-4C of VA-153… CDR HARRY E. THOMAS, CO-VA-153… (KIA)…
4 Sept: A-1H of VA-165… LTJG E.B. SHAW… (KIA)…
7 Sept: RF-8A of VFP-64… LTJG C.B. GOODWIN… (MIA)…
10 Sept: A-4E of VA-155… LCDR WENDELL B. RIVERS… (POW) 96th Mission…
11 Oct: A-4E of VA-155… LCDR PAUL MOORE… (recovered)…
14 Oct: F-8D of VF-154… LT J.A. TERHUNE… (recovered)…
Operational Losses: 2 (1 A-3B: one killed, 3 recovered), 1 (F-8D: pilot rec)…
Cruise Highlight: 6 Oct: LCDR DAN MacINTYRE and LTJG ALAN JOHNSON of VF-151 flying an F-4B shot down a MIG-17… oohrah…
SECOND COMBAT CRUISE: from NAS Alameda with CVW-15 embarked … 29 July 1966 — 23 February 1967
Days on the line: 109
Combat Losses: 16
14 Sept: A-1H of VA-25… CDR CLARENCE W. STODDARD, CO VA-25… (KIA)…
17 Sept: a-4C of VA-22… LTJG R.A. HEGSTROM… (recovered)…
19 Sept: F-4B of VF-154… LTJG D.B. PARSONS, JR. (KIA) and LTJG T.H. PILKINGTON (KIA)…
20 Sept: F-4B of VF-21… LCDR J.B. BAUDER (MIA) and LTJG J.B. MILS (MIA)…
4 OCT: A-4C of VA-22… LCDR J.D. BURNS… (POW)…
8 OCT: RF-8G of VFP-63… LTJG F.D. LITVIN… (recovered)…
9 Oct: F-4B of VF-154… LCDR C.N. TANNER (POW) and LT R.R. TERRY (POW)…
10 Oct: A-4E of VA-23… LTJG M.S. CONFER… (KIA)…
12 Oct: A-1H of VA-25… LT R.D. WOODS… (POW)…
1 Nov: F-4B of VF-154… LT R.W. SCHAFFER (recovered) and LTJG J.P. PICCOLI (recovered)…
17 Nov: A-4C of VA-22… LTJG W.T. ARNOLD… (MIA)…
THANKSGIVING 1966, 50 YEARS AGO, AT SEA…
2 Dec: F-4B of VF-154… LT D.E. McRAE (POW) and ENS D.G. REHMAN (POW)…
CHRISTMAS, TOO….
4 Jan: A-4c of VA-22… LTJG JIM HAYS… (recovered)…
4 Jan: F-4B of VF-154… LT A.M. VAN PELT (recovered) and ENS R.A. MORRIS (recovered)…
13 Jan: A-4E of VA-23… LTJG M.P. CRONIN… (POW)…
15 Jan: A-4E of VA-23… LTJG D.H. MORAN… (KIA)…
Operational Losses: 3 (1 A-3 and 2 A-4Cs, all aircrew recovered)
THIRD COMBAT CRUISE: out of Alameda with CVW-15 embarked on 26 July — 2 April 1967…
Days on the line: 132
Combat Losses: 15
29 Aug: A-4E of VA-153… LT M.J. ALLARD… (KIA)…
30 Aug: A-1h of VA-25… LTJG L.E. GARDINER… (recovered)…
21 Sept: RF-8G of VFP-63… LCDR M.J. VESCELIUS… POW)…
17 Oct: A-4E of VA-155… LTJG F.J. FORTNER… (KIA)…
24 Oct: F-4B of VF -151… CDR CHARLES GILLEPSIE, CO VF-151 (POW) and LTJG R.C. CLARK (POW died in captivity)
24 Oct: F-4B of VF-151…LTJG F.F. FRISHMAN (POW) and LTJG E.G. LEWIS, JR. (POW)…
26 Oct: A-4E of VA-155… CDR VERLYNE W. DANIELS, XO VA-155… (POW)…
16 Nov: F-4B of VF-151… LCDR F.H. SMITH (POW) and LTJG T.B. SULLIVAN (POW)…
17 Nov: F-4B of VF-161… CDR WILLIAM D. McGRATH (KIA) and LT R. G. EMRICH (KIA)…
19 Nov: F-4B of VF-151… LCDR C.D. CLOWER (POW) and LTJG W.O. ESTES II, (POW)…
THANKSGIVING AT SEA…
22 Dec: A-4E of VA-155… LCDR WILMER P. COOK… (KIA)… Merry Christmas…
AND CHRISTMAS…
29 Dec: F-4B of VF-161… LT J.F. DOWD (recovered) and LTJG GARTH K. FLINT (recovered)…
25 Jan: A-4E of VA-153… COMMANDER TOM WOOLCOCK, CO VA-153, (recovered)…
14 Feb: A-1H of VA-25… LTJG J.P. DUNN… (MIA)…
Operational Losses: 3 (1 A-4E, pilot killed), (1 F-4B, one killed, one rec), (1 A-1H, pilot killed)
USS CORAL SEA combat cruises 4-7 tomorrow… In honor of National Carrier Month… Carriers Forever!!!
Have a thankful Thanksgiving Day with lots of thank yous all around, and UP… HE works in wondrous ways!
Lest we forget… Bear
