Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #751… THE LAST DAYS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING. Nobody saw it coming. With the benefit of hindsight Humble Host has been archiving the news coverage of MLK’s last month as a force for good. The Vietnam war and the bombing of North Vietnam were a part of the story. As a Civil Rights Leader Dr. King was in non-violent company. Unfortunately, the anti-war causes he brought under his umbrella in April 1967 necessarily altered Dr. King’s original track. While he always disavowed violence, his 4 April 1967 speech in Riverside Church in Manhattan,”Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence,” brought together forces that burst into waves of unrestrained violence upon his assassination on the first anniversary of his Riverside speech.
In the Riverside speech Dr. King challenged American foreign and domestic policy. He charged that the Vietnam war was an imperialistic enterprise and was being fought at the expense of the poor in Vietnam and the poor in America. He said: “…we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”… At a time when unity was required, Dr. King saw war, poverty and racism as conjoined issues that demanded resolution in favor of the poor in deference to other national priorities. He held that the war in Vietnam– and the bombing of North Vietnam– diverted money from the President’s Great Society and the civil rights initiatives already underway. He also preached that the losses in Vietnam were disproportionately borne by the poor and Negroes. His arguments were persuasive and making headway until the day he died on a motel balcony in Memphis. That was the first day of “the year the dream died.” That was also the day any chance for calm in America was lost. Perhaps forever.
RTR will remain true to it’s charter–a remembrance of the events and participants of Operation Rolling Thunder. The inclusion of major American historical events, such as the King Assassination, are too interrelated to be passed over. The last ten days of Dr. King’s life are a part of the RTR story… but first…
Good Morning: Day SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE of a return to the turbulent years of Operation Rolling Thunder at home and in Southeast Asia…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Tuesday 26 March 1968…
Page 1: “ALLIES KILL 243 VIETCONG IN BATTLE NEAR SAIGON”… “United States and South Vo\ietnamese troops killed 243 yesterday in a day long clash 28 miles northwest of Saigon. The scene of battle was nearTrangbang…where allied troops reported 64 soldiers killed. Ten Americans were killed and 71 wounded…Two other battles erupted where the American troops encountered about 300 Vietcong on the outskirts of the town. In the other battle South Vietnamese Rangers supported by American armor met enemy troops two miles south of Trangbang. Both the battles were pressed by the allied forces with the support of US and Vietnamese fighter-bombers that bombed and strafed the enemy… In the Mekong Delta United States helicopters destroyed or damaged 164 Vietcong sampans Sunday…In the last three days American helicopter gunships and fighter-bombers have reported 245 sampans knocked out in the numerous canals and rivers lacing the flat, fertile delta area….United States Marines on patrol near the Khe Sanh base, in the northwest corner of South Vietnam fought with North Vietnamese regulars in a bunker complex two miles northwest of the base yesterday killing 31 of the enemy. One Marine helicopter was shot down, but the crew was rescued. Five Marines were killed and four wounded. The North Vietnamese dropped 100 rounds of artillery, rocket and mortar fire on the camp. Casualties were reported as light… Page 3: “GENERAL SAYS KHE SANH CAN BE HELD–Marine Chief Is Confident Foe Can’t Halt Supplies”… “General Leonard F. Chapman, Jr., the new Commandant of the Marine Corps is confident that the North Vietnamese ‘can’t force us out’ of Khe Sanh. The general said that despite continual; enemy bombardment of the outpost’s airstrip, which has prevented supply airplanes from flying in ‘we’ve got ample helicopter capability that doesn’t need any airstrip and we also have an air-drop capability.”… Page 1: “U.S. AIDE IN SAIGON QUITS IN PROTEST–He Charges U.S. Programs in Vietnam Are Failing”… “A former official on General William C. Westmoreland’s staff who has worked for the United States mission for more than a year is leaving South Vietnam to protest ‘failures’ of the American effort here.”
26 MARCH 1968…THE PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEF (TS-SI declas in part)… VIETNAM: While military activity in South Vietnam remains at a low-level, we continue to get more signs of heavy enemy infiltration into South Vietnam. Truck traffic through the Mugia Pass is at the highest level since just before the Tet offensive. Some of the trucks carry troops–a highly unusual procedure which deal of urgency behind it. Some Communist messages convey the same sense of urgency…. LAOS: The United States Intelligence Board has approved a Special National Intelligence Estimate on Communist intentions in Laos over the next two to three months. The estimate notes that the Communists could in fairly short order reduce the area controlled by Vientiane to a few enclaves… It points out that the Communists might press ahead if, for instance, they saw an advantage in creating a ‘second front’ in Laos to spread the US resources. They might al\so do so if they thought it advisable to strengthen the Communist hand in any negotiations by taking as much territory as possible in Laos… But, on balance, the estimate concludes that the Communists will probably content themselves with the capture of a few more positions and then reduce their pressure during the rainy season which begins in May… NEW COMMUNIST ROAD CONSTRUCTION: the Communists; are constructing a new high-Quality road which will considerably shorten supply routes from North Vietnam to the western DMZ….Aerial photography of a 8 March shows the rapid construction of a new road–about 16 miles in two months through most difficult terrain– from Route 101 near Dong Hopi, North Vietnam, southward within a few miles of the western end of the; demilitarized zone. The new road probably will be extended to connect with border routes in Laos. Once the connection is made, the Communists will be able to move supplies more directly from North Vietnam to the Khe Sanh area and A Shau Valley areas, bypassing the longer existing logistics routes –Mu Gia Pass and Route 912. The March 8 photographs also shows a trace for telecommunications line generally paralleling the new road. The line is apparently intended to connect an existing land line at Dong Hoi with lines under construction within the Laos panhandle.
26 MARCH 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times… Page 2: “F-111 FLIES FIRST RAID AGAINST NORTH VIETNAM” …”The newest warplane, the swing-wing F-111A flew its first combat mission today against North Vietnam…The night time mission was directed at bivouac and storage areas in the southern part of North Vietnam. Because of darkness and overcast, the strikes were made under radar controls. Pilots said their bombs were on target. The number of planes on the raid were not announced.”… New York Times (27 Mar reporting 26 Mar ops) Page 3: “The air war over North Vietnam was generally limited because of rain and cloudy weather.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 26 March 1968…
(1) CAPTAIN RALPH J. HORNADAY was flying an F-105D of the 469th TFS and 388th TFW on a takeoff out of Korat when the right wheel and tire failed. CAPTAIN HORNADAY aborted the takeoff and engaged the arresting cable and barrier at the end of the runway but the cable failed and the F-105 left the runway and killed the young aviator…Fate is the Hunter and flying is in her domain.
AMONG THE BRAVE… CAPTAIN HORNADAY’s combat awards included the SILVER STAR, DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS with clusters, and numerous awards of the AIR MEDAL… Unable to locate a citation for the young warrior’s SILVER STAR, Humble Host submits this “citation” from his Brother to honor CAPTAIN HORNADAY on the 50th anniversary of his last flight. He left a wife and two young children when he went war and gave his life for our country. He is buried at the Air Force Academy and is remembered here on this day…
“Jeff was simply the best man I have ever known. He was my inspiration to succeed, and set a standard that all would emulate. An Eagle Scout, Valley Forge Military Academy Graduate and Air Force Academy Graduate, he would have reached the highest ranks of the U.S. Air Force or succeeded in any endeavor he pursued. As his Brother, he kept me reaching for more even long after he was gone. His passion for everything he pursued inspired all those around him. His professionalism was unsurpassed. I miss him every day and he continues to guide my life.” Colonel James D. Hornaday, USArmy retired…12/10/12…
RIPPLE SALVO… #751… THE LAST DAYS OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR…. New York Times, 20 March 1968, Page 1:
“DR. KING PLANS MASS PROTEST IN CAPITAL JUNE 15–‘Special Day’ Slated as Part of Poor People’s Campaign”…Byline…Ben A. Franklin…
Grenada, Miss. March 19…”The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said today he would summon to Washington on June 15 ‘a massive outpouring of hundreds of thousands of people, white and black’ for ‘a special day of protest’ in his ‘poor people’s campaign’ in the capital this spring and summer. Dr. King disclosed the plan as he opened a three-week recruiting drive for marchers in his planned marathon demonstration ‘to upset Washington’ in a demand for jobs or guaranteed income for the nation’s poor.
“By car and by chartered airplane, Dr. King toured Mississippi counties that are among the poorest in the Nation. The Negro civil rights leader exhorted ‘whole families’ of poor Delta Negroes to come to Washington during the week of April 22, when the demonstration there if scheduled to start and ‘plague Congress and the President until they do something.’ This afternoon in the little Quitman County town of Marks in northwestern Mississippi. Dr. King said that he had been ‘deeply moved’ and ‘made more determined than ever’ by a visit to 100 cheerful but poorly dressed Negro children at what is somewhat loosely called the Marfks Head Start Center.
“The center, which has not received a single Federal anti-poverty dollar under the pre=school Head Start program in its two years of existence, is in the Endora African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a shabby firetrap of a building whose interior walls are covered with funeral parlor calendars bearing gaudy pictures of a blond and ascetic Christ.
“For 20 minutes Dr. King stood silently at the pulpit and heard the impassioned pleas of Negro mothers for ‘shoes and a decent education’ for their children. ‘Johnson said when he come in he was going to wipe out poverty, ignorance and disease,’ one angry woman shouted. ‘Now where’s our money?’ Then Dr. King responded. ‘Even though Quitman County is the poorest in the United States, it’s criminal for people to have to live in these conditions,’ he said. ‘I am very deeply touched. God does not want you to live like you are living.’
“Dr. King and a single load of aides from his Southern Christian Leadership Conference met no white resistance on their daylong swing through an area of Mississippi where the civil rights organization has been active for several years. In fact, one roughly dressed white man in Marks handed Dr. King a a crisp $100 bill to help finance the Washington demonstration. He would not give his name.
“The King party flew from here to Hattiesburg late tonight and is to tour southern Mississippi counties tomorrow before turning east to Atlanta and Georgia. The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, vice president and treasurer of the leadership conference, drew a strong response today from 200 persons jammed into the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Batesville when he declared: ‘We’re going up there to talk to L.B.J. and if L.B.J. don’t do something about what we tell him, we’re going to put him down and get us another one that will.’ “…
RTR Quote for 26 March: SAMUEL JOHNSON, Boswell, Life: “Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable, and others extremely difficult.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
