Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE… NYT, 25-FEB-68, Page E-1: “MR. JOHNSON KNOWS,TOO, THAT MORE–PERHAPS A GREAT MANY MORE–AMERICAN TROOPS WILL BE NEEDED AND THAT THEIR CASUALTY RATES WILL SOAR STILL HIGHER. And he has sensed, in his mail and in the public opinion polls, the impatience of his countrymen with this drawn-out and as yet far from successful war.”… but first…
Good Morning: Day SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE of a daily blog of this day fifty years ago at home and in the air over North Vietnam (and on the ground in South Vietnam)…
26 FEBRUARY 1968… HEAD LINES From The New York Times on a cold and sunny Monday in New Yawk…
THE GROUND WAR (“War is a killing business”) Page 1: “U.S. CAMP HIT HARD IN 2-HOUR BATTLE BY A FORCE OF 500–AT LEAST 20 G.I.s KILLED AT SITE 42 MILES FROM SAIGON–11 Vehicles Burned–Planes Drive Foe Away–Raiders Leave 94 Dead–Chairman Wheeler After Visit, Sees No Quick End”… “An enemy force of 500 men attacked an artillery outpost 42 miles southwest of here today, destroying 11 armored vehicles and inflicting severe casualties on an American company before being repulsed by a barrage of firepower. At least 20 American soldiers were killed and 65 wounded in the clash, one source said. He added that the enemy battalion had left 94 dead behind when it retreated… The battle at the artillery post came during a day in which General Earle G. Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that he saw ‘no early end to this war.‘”…. “About 19 miles southeast of Saigon, enemy forces fired on a United States merchant ship, the Arizona, with recoilless rifles while the ship was navigating a channel. Another American vessel, a tug boat called the Patrick, came under fire from mortars as she towed a barge along the same channel at a point 10 miles southeast of the city. Damage and casualties are unknown…” …”…close to Saigon South Vietnamese forces clashed at the village of Tanthoi, two and a half miles from Tansonnhut Airport. Both the air base and the village have been focal points for sporadic Vietcong harassment for eight days…The enemy is also continuing to harass Cantho, the largest city in the Mekong Delta,,,The military command reports that the Marine encampment (of 5,000 troops) at Khesanh, which is steeling itself for a possible attack by two or three enemy divisions, was pounded by more than 300 rounds of mixed artillery, rocket and mortar fire yesterday. the military command retaliated by ordering B-52 bombing raids against suspected enemy positions near Khesanh, east of Saigon, and southwest of Dakin, near the Cambodian border….General Wheeler: ‘I see no easy end to this war. We must expect hard fighting to continue. The enemy retains substantial uncommitted resources. However, the major defeats inflicted on the enemy and the major losses he has sustained offer us opportunities for the future. Allied forces in Vietnam are continuously alert to these opportunities.'”…
Page 1: “Outlook Assessed By Westmoreland–He Doubts Hanoi Can Fight Long–Probably Needs More Men”...”General William C. Westmoreland expressed doubt today that North Vietnam could stand a long war. But he added that enemy forces could strike again and that more United States troops would probably be required. General Westmoreland, the commander of United States forces is Vietnam since 1964, compared the enemy’s Lunar New Year offenses with the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, the major German drive in the conflict. “By committing a large share of his forces to a major offensive the enemy achieved some tactical surprise. this offensive has required us to react and to modify our plans in order to take advantage of the opportunity to inflict heavy casualties on him. although the enemy has achieved some temporary psychological advantage, he suffered a military defeat.”…
Page 1: “PANEL SAYS SOVIET MAY OUTPACE U.S. IN NUCLEAR SHIPS–JOINT COMMITTEE DECLARES PENTAGON LETS WORK ON ATOM SUBMARINE LAG–McNamara Is Criticized–Group Deplores Refusal of Funds For a New Project Recommended By Rickover”… “…Congressional Committee on Atomic energy warned today that the United States might be unable to counter the rapidly increasing Soviet submarine threat’ unless the Department of Defense changed its policy on construction of nuclear submarines.”… Page 1: “Panama Canal Blocked As Ship Sinks”... “A Japanese ship with 51,800 tons of iron ore sank today in the Panama Canal and is blocking traffic…in the isthmus known as Gailiard Cut and the bow settled at the bottom in 47 feet of water.”… Page 1: “U.S. Birthrate At A Low and Likely To Fall”…”…in 1967 was 17.9 live births for every 1,000 Americans, down from 18.4, the record lows of 1966, 1936 and 1933…3.5 million babies were born in 1967
Page 1: “SENATOR FULBRIGHT URGES CONGRESS INQUIRY INTO WAR POLICY–ASSAILS HANDLING OF TONKIN INCIDENT–William Bundy Defends 1964 Decision”... “…He expressed dismay at the process through which the Johnson Administration had reached crucial war decisions. Speaking for the Administration, Assistant Secretary of State William P. Bundy defended action taken during the Gulf of Tonkin crisis of 1964. Senator Fulbright had strongly criticized the decisions that led to these moves.”..
Page 9: “BLACK MUSLIMS CONVENTION–Hear Elijah Muhammad and Muhammad Ali”… “The leader of the Black Muslims said today that ‘the white man’ world is falling to pieces and we are the people who are going to rule this earth–the Muslim nation.’ Speaking (in Chicago) to an estimated total of 10,000 persons attending the annual Muslim convention Elijah Muhammad, head of the Negro separationist sect, addressed this remark to the white community: ‘You can’t win and rule this earth continuously. Your time is up.” Muhammad Ali, the Muslim convert who was stripped of his heavyweight boxing championship after refusing to serve in the armed forces, told the gathering, ‘Elijah Muhammad was sent to you directly from God.’ He fought under the name of Cassius Clay.“... Page 18: “Law Enforcement Tops Agenda For Johnson–Government Meeting”… “Law enforcement will head the agenda when President Johnson meets with the nation’s Governors Thursday in Washington the Texas White House said today…” Page 27: “Memphis Facing Negro Boycott–Pastors Urge Action Today, Backing Garbage Strikers”... “The threat of a boycott of downtown businesses by Memphis Negroes produced feverish behind-the-scenes efforts today to end the city’s 14-day garbage strike…” Page 31: “Militants Object To ‘Negro’ Usage–Black or African-American Replacing Barred Word”... “One by-product of the black power movement is an assault on the word ‘Negro.’… ‘Negro is a slave word,’ said H. Rap Brown of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He, and Stokely Carmichael, the other black power spokesman insist on the work ‘black’ and often refuse to talk to reporters who speak of ‘Negroes.'”….
26 February 1968…THE PRESIDENT’s DAILY BRIEF…SOUTH VIETNAM: Enemy activity has dropped to its lowest level since the Tet offensive began on 30 January. The threat to a number of urban areas continues, however…. LAOS: Communist forces are maintained pressure in the southern panhandle. The towns of Attopeu and Saravane were attacked yesterday after two days of heavy pressure. the regional commander considers Attopeu untenable and intends to withdraw if the situation worsens. … NORTH VIETNAM: Last Saturday, Ambassador Sullivan met the North Vietnamese charge in Laos for the first time since the release of the three American fliers. The charge, affable and willing to talk, was pleased to hear that the released pilots were considered to be in good shape and had indicated they were treated satisfactorily because, he said, it is Hanoi’s policy to treat prisoners well. The charge’ then said: “You have already received three prisoners. There are two others…” At this point the….British Information officer rolled up, and the charge never finished this see the charge’ again to try to find out what he was about to say….
26 FEBRUARY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times devoid of mention of operations in the North… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 26 February 1968…
(1) CAPTAIN C.D. SISSELL was flying an F-100D of the 90th TFS and 3rd TFW out of Bien Hoa conducting a strike on Vietcong troops in the Mekong Delta 13 miles northeast of Cantho when he was downed by small arms fire on his fourth strafing pass on the troops. He was forced to eject almost immediately and his rescue by helicopter was a near thing… CAPTAIN SISSELL would have a reprise on this experience on 6 March when he would be downed again…
From the Compilation “34TFS/F-105 History“: by Howie Plunkett: 26-Feb-68… “Scuba flight from the 34 TFS took off from Korat and dropped their bombs near Khe Sanh, South Vietnam. The flight lineup included Major Sam Armstrong who was flying his 75th mission. From his “100 Mission Log”… “We were diverted because of weather from Pack VI down into South Vietnam to aid the Marines at Khe Sanh. first of all, we made an armed recce into Pack I and got our counter. Then we dropped around Khe Sanh using the Marine radar site. The weather was pretty heavily overcast.”…
Battlecry 304 (Humble Host) flew #109, a 1.8 night section lead to work with Blind Bat, the C-130 Flare-dropper, west of Khesanh. The controller told us where to put our 16 MK-81 Ladyfingers on a “storage area” under the flares. Our BDA was “one fire.” Fantastic St. Elmo’s Fire sweeping off and around the canopy cruising IFR on the way back to Enterprise at Yankee Station. Then a dark and wet night approach to a dark and wet, but steady deck… Two points toward an Air Medal the hard way…
RIPPLE SALVO… #723… NYT, Op Ed, 25 Feb 68, Page E1: “This Week In Review: Asian Crisis:
HOW THE PRESIDENT SEE THE WAR
“For Lyndon Johnson, as much as for anyone in Washington, the latest events in Vietnam have produced great distress and anxiety, much soul-searching, and reassessment. No one, in fact, has felt the pressures more than the President in recent weeks, and though slimmer than in many a month, he looked more than ever a tired and weary man. At his Texas ranch this weekend, Mr. Johnson is undoubtedly catching his breath and sorting out the military, psychological, political and economic consequences of the unexpected resurgence in Vietnam. But even before he left the capital in midweek, his basic reactions became clear.
HOLD FIRM
“As he surveyed the war and his other problems, this was the President’s thinking: He held firmly, in private as in public, to the premise that the United States could not–and therefore would not–suffer a defeat. He held unswervingly to the view that the country could not –and therefore would not–seek solace or comfort by trading away its commitment to save South Vietnam from armed conquest. He was convinced as never before, that he has offered the most honorable and genuine terms possible for negotiation, and that North Vietnam, confident of its greater endurance, has no intention of offering him anything more than honorable or face-saving defeat. thus, shaken though he may have been by the demonstrated force of the Vietcong attacks on the cities, worried though he may be about the resilience of the army of South Vietnam, and anxious though he remains about the skill and competence or the Saigon Government and the cost and consequences of a still greater level of warfare, the President feels justified in his objectives, vindicated in his diplomatic efforts to end the fighting, and grimly determined to see it through.
“He realizes that some of the bloodiest fighting even of the current season may still lie ahead, providing a fierce test of his commanders’ tactics and deployments. He realizes that much of the Vietnamese countryside that had been painstakingly wrested from Vietcong control is once again up for grabs. Perhaps, like some of his advisors, he is horrified by the terror to which both sides have now been driven in this war. Mr. Johnson knows, too, that more–perhaps a great many more–American troops will be needed and that their casualty rates will soar still higher. And he has sensed, in his mail and in the public opinion polls, the impatience of his countrymen with this drawn-out and as yet far from successful war. He is convinced that most of his critics are hawkish and becoming more so, eager for him simply to ‘do something’ that would yield results and end the bloodletting.
“Mr. Johnson has also sensed, of course, the mounting anguish of his dovish critics, as expressed in demands that he halt the bombing of North Vietnam to see what that may yield in the way of peace talks. Secretary General Thant of the United Nations probably put similar suggestions to him in a call at the White House last week. Even more strident was the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Johnson Administration may have blundered into the war initially during the Tonkin Gulf episodes of August 1964. But the President rates the doves as a constant minority of no more than 20 per cent of the voters and has been most troubled by his loss of support among those who demand more hawkish conduct of the war.
MEN MUST STAND
“His response has been a slight intensification of rhetoric. ‘There does come a time when men must stand,’ he said, last weekend in a personal send-off to some of the troops he is rushing into the combat zone, ‘and for America, that time has come.’ But the response was balanced by another assertion of the need for restraint, for something less than the all-out war that many Americans in their frustration are ready to wage. The President came face-to-face with those frustrations as he talked with the pilots who have been flying off aircraft carriers against North Vietnamese targets and emphasized his responsibility to avoid bombing of Soviet and Chinese ships that would bring Moscow or Peking into the war more directly.
“As he tours his deer park on the ranch for relaxation this weekend, therefore, Mr. Johnson can only conclude that he faces more costly war and a more impatient electorate and all the heartache and bitterness and dissent and strain that these imply. For all that, he is just as certain to hold to his conclusion that there is no alternative, that, as he put it recently, ‘I don’t know how to do anything better than we are doing it–if I did I would do it–I would take the better way. We have considered everything.’ “…
RTR Quote for 26 February: STONEWALL JACKSON: “War means fighting… The business of the soldier is to fight…to find the enemy and strike him; to invade his country, and do him all possible damage in the shortest possible time.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
