Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… MEMORIES AS A RESPONSIBILITY… but first….
27 April 1966 (NYT)…ON THE HOMEFRONT… A rainy, windy Wednesday in New York…Page 1: “Missiles Fired By U.S. Jet Down MiG-21 Near China.” An Air Force F-4 scored the first kill of a MIG-21 in a two versus two dogfight that was over in a few minutes twenty miles from the Chinese border and 65 miles northeast of Hanoi. The MiGs were responding to Air Force strikes on the railway system between Hanoi and China…The event led Washington to repeat its warning that there is no sanctuary any where for aircraft that attack American forces over North Vietnam. The State Department underscored the declaration by mentioning “China or anywhere.”…Neil Sheehan byline on a lengthy article, “Air Power in Vietnam” that concludes that the U.S. will have the edge in quantity and quality as the air to air war intensifies. “The number of jet aircraft based in North Vietnam is estimated to include 70-85 MiGs of all models and 10-20 IL-28 light bombers. Most of the enemy aircraft are the older subsonic MIG-15s and 17s but about 15 are the supersonic MIG-21s. They are believed to be flown by North Vietnamese,” wrote Sheehan. He adds: “There have been reports that one or more squadrons–12 to 25 planes–of Chinese MiGs have been rotating between North Vietnam airfields and nearby fields in China.”…Sheehan accords the NVN pilots two advantages– home turf and radar direction… Jump to Editorial Page for a James Reston column on the subject. Headline: “There Are No Sanctuaries”…Reston: “The official policy of the United States is that our bombers are now free to attack the bases of any planes that intercept our flyers in North Vietnam even if those bases are inside Communist China.”… Page 3: “11 Waiting for Bus Outside Saigon Die in Terrorist Blast,” with 23 more severely wounded. Most of victims were South Koreans. Bombing is result of increased Vietcong violence throughout SVN…Page 4:”President Johnson Said to Stand Firm on Vietnam Policy Debate Despite Criticism” … “President Johnson is planning no major policy shifts or new initiatives as a result of the recent political unrest in South Vietnam and an upsurge of criticism in this country.” It is his intention to abide by whatever the people of SVN decide in the August election. Tom Wicker writes: “The President still believes that the only way to bring them (NVN) to the conference table is to convince them on the battlefield that they cannot win a military victory.”…”Mr. Johnson’s major concern is that domestic criticism may eventually divide the country and make it difficult for him to carry out a coherent policy. With his habit of diving deep into his long experience in Washington he recently recalled the split between isolationists and interventionists before World War II and the one vote margin by which President Roosevelt’s Selective Service Act was passed.”… Page 5: “Broader Bombing Urged by Russell–Georgia Democrat Calls For Sealing Haiphong”…”I opposed the decision to go into Vietnam before the commitment was made to the Government of South Vietnam 12 years ago. But after our forces and our flag are committed I have loyalty supported my country’s policy. I know of no honorable alternative for any American. I think we should bomb any and all military and strategic targets in North Vietnam that contribute to the Communist campaign of tyranny and aggression against the south.”
Page 6: “24 Writers Urge New Steps For Vietnam Peace” … A distinguished group of American Writers met with Vice President Hubert Humphrey and presented him a letter that expressed their belief that the country had not made enough of an effort to achieve a negotiated settlement. Their letter recommended five actions: (1) Order an immediate cessation of bombing North Vietnam, (2) Declare our readiness to negotiate with all parties, (3) Declare readiness to let an international agency supervise an immediate cease fire, (4) Declare intention to abide by results of election even if the results are not pleasing, and (5) Declare intention to remove troops and bases as soon as agreement is reached.
27 APRIL 1966… ROLLING THUNDER OPS… A Navy Cross Day…LT WILLIAM R. WESTERMAN and LTJG BRIAN E. WESTIN of VA-85 embarked in USS Kitty Hawk launched in an A-6A for a follow-on strike on a large number of wooden barges and coastal vessels in the vicinity of Vinh. Armed with napalm they executed a low altitude attack on the barges a few miles from the coast in a canal. The aircraft was hit with small arms fire in the cockpit area and LT WESTERMAN was struck in the left shoulder rendering him intermittently unconscious. In this condition he ejected himself from the aircraft shortly after flying the aircraft feet wet. LTJG WESTIN, in the right seat reached across to control the aircraft for another minute or two and ejected after a Mayday call about 10 miles at sea. A Navy helicopter responded and picked up LTJG WESTIN, who directed the helo back to the WESTERMAN ejection site close to the beach. After locating LT WESTERMAN, LTJG WESTIN volunteered to enter the shark infested waters to attach his pilot to the rescue harness. In due course LT WESTIN was also rescued by a second helicopter… “Greater love hath no man …..”…LT WESTIN was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions. oohrah…
RIPPLE SALVO… WHY?…Twenty years ago a journalist, who saw it all, and wrote it all, in Vietnam while doing a tour as a “Stars and Stripes” reporter, contributed a few paragraphs to a small book compiled by Jan Scruggs of Vietnam Wall fame that express a few of my sentiments… Larry McQuillan wrote…
“When people think about the Vietnam War, many think about the passions and controversy it generated at home and the television images of protesters confronting riot police. My images are different. I think of the Americans who served there, many of them just out of high school. Some are among the more than 58,000 names on ‘the Wall.’ Some came back permanently disabled. All came back different, changed by the intensity of the war.
“Most Vietnam veterans don’t talk about the war very much, but that doesn’t mean their experiences should be ignored. The sacrifices that were made deserve to be remembered. The lessons that were learned must never be forgotten…
“The memories of Vietnam never really leave me, and I don’t want them to because they have created a responsibility. Now that I am a journalist in Washington, I find those memories prompting me to ask the government officials ‘Why?’ to make sure that they can defend the positions they advocate. It is a responsibility that I feel I have to those who served in Vietnam and for the young men and women asked to serve in Bosnia or any other military mission…
“We should never be cynical and assume the government is wrong, but we have a right to be convinced that its policies are correct. We have to ask the question ‘Why?'”
Lest we forget…. Memories create responsibility… Bear ……………….. –30– ………………….
