Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #844… ON 27 JUNE 1966 LIEUTENANT COMMANDER GENE ALBERT SMITH LAUNCHED FROM USS CONSTELLATION IN THE COMPANY OF THREE OTHER VA-155 “SILVER FOXES” ON AN ARMED RECONNAISSANCE MISSION IN ROUTE PACKAGE III A LITTLE SOUTH OF THANH HOA…. The flight of four A-4E Skyhawks pounced on a handful of large barges in a canal near Van Yen 30 miles south of Thanh Hoa that was defended by a site full of 37-mm antiaircraft guns. As the lead aircraft pulled off the target and observed the racks of MK-82 bombs exploding on the barges, he also observed a single larger fireball and fire near the burning barges. “Silver Fox 3,” LCDR Smith, could not be reached on the tactical frequency. No beeper was heard or parachute seen. Gene Smith was gone–for twenty-two years. …The rest of the story below… but first…
GOOD MORNING… Day EIGHT HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR of a remembrance of the historical events and warriors of the air war fought fifty years ago called Rolling Thunder…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Thursday, 27 June 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “AMERICAN FORCES LEAVING KHE SAHN FOR NEAREST POSTS–Changes In Military Situation Cited In Withdrawal From Base Once Held Vital”… “The United States Marines are pulling out of the combat base at Khe Sanh, where they withstood a bitter North Vietnamese siege for 77 days last winter, the United States command said today…. ‘There have been two significant changes in Vietnam since early this year–an increase in friendly strength, mobility and firepower and an increase in the enemy’s threat due to both a greater flow of replacements and in a change in tactics. Khe Sanh is the first major base abandoned in the war…. The disclosure of the withdrawal came two days after The Baltimore Sun correspondent in South Vietnam, John Carroll, reported the withdrawal and that United States forces are being built up in strength….He has been discredited by the United States command yesterday on the grounds that he violated security regulations.”…Page 4: “FOE’S FIRE DOWNS TWO U.S. PLANES–Both Crews Are Unhurt–G.I.’s Kill 42 Near Saigon”… “A United States fighter-bomber and a four engine transport plane were reported shot down today as American infantrymen battle North Vietnamese regulars southwest of Saigon for the fourth consecutive day… there were no casualties in the plane crashes… The jet, a Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk, went down during a strike northwest of the Khe Sanh outpost and the transport, a C-130, crashed on landing at Tayninh, 50 miles southwest of Saigon. Both aircraft were destroyed… In fighting that broke off at midafternoon the infantrymen brought the enemy death toll in the swampy jungle 15 to 19 miles southwest of Saigon to 128 since the fighting began Sunday…In the last two weeks, American units within 30 miles of Saigon have fought a series of sharp battles with enemy battalions, killing 40 to 50 men at a time… intelligent reports filtering into the United States command of enemy plans for a third assault on the capital….”…
PEACE TALKS: Page 1: “WAR FOE REPORTS ON THUY’S POSITION”… “David Dellinger, editor of Liberation magazine and a leader of campaigns to end the Vietnam war, reported yesterday after visiting Paris that North Vietnam was prepared to discuss issues involving all of Southeast Asia, as well as North Vietnam and South Vietnam, if the United States would halt all bombing of North Vietnam.”… Page 1: “VANCE BIDS HANOI SIGNAL RESTRAINT–Puts U.S. Terms for Ending Bombing of North in Most Flexible Form Yet”… “The United States, seeking a breakthrough in the deadlocked talks on Vietnam, appealed to the North Vietnamese delegates today for some indirect sign or unpublished move of military restraint to help scale down the war. Cyrus R. Vance, who is temporarily heading the American delegation, told the North Vietnamese that Washington had not stopped all bombing of North Vietnam because Hanoi had pushed infiltration into the South to a peak level of 29,000 men in May and had otherwise intensified the fighting.”…
Page 1: “JOHNSON APPOINTS FORTAS TO HEAD SUPREME COURT–THORNBERRY TO BE JUSTICE–Opposition Voiced–Some G.O.P. Senators Score Nominations–Dirksen Lauds Both”… “President Johnson nominated Associate Justice Abe Fortas today to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the United States. To fill Justice Fortas’s seat on the Supreme Court the President nominated Judge Homer Thornberry, a former Texas Congressman who is now a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth District.”… Page 1: “FRANCE IMPOSES TRADE CONTROLS–U.S. TO RETALIATE– IMPORTS CURBED–A Subsidy On Exports To Counteract Effect of Recent Strike”… Page 1: “REACTION IS QUICK–New American Duties To Offset Rebates Given by Paris”… Page 1: “ATTORNEY GENERAL RAMSEY CLARK URGES SENATORS TO SUPPORT THE REGISTRATION OF FIREARMS”… “…told a Senate subcommittee today that Congress would be failing in its responsibility to check crime if it did not include registration and licensing of firearms in a gun control bill.”… Page 1: “POPE SAYS BONES FOUND UNDER ALTAR IN VATICAN ARE THOSE OF PETER“… Page 3: “Japan’s Flag Is Flying Over Iwo Jima Again–After 22 Year U.S. Yields Island Where Thousands Fell”… Page 24: “McCARTHY DEFENDS HIS PLAN TO VISIT HANOI NEGOTIATORS IN PARIS”…
27 JUNE 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times (28 June reporting 27 june ops)… Page 1: “American pilots flew 131 missions over the southern part of North Vietnam striking at supply lines and storage areas. They were met by moderate ground fire but no planes were lost. During the day a Navy F-8 Crusader pilot shot down a MiG-21 in a dogfight 32 miles northwest of Vinh. It was the first enemy fighter plane downed since February 25 when two MiG-17s were shot down 30 miles northwest of Hanoi.” …
AMONG THE BRAVE… Rear Admiral L. Richard “Moose” Myers, USN (1932-2016)…Fifty years ago this day Moose nailed a MiG-21 and was awarded the Silver Star. Moose went on to COMMAND: VF-33; Carrier Air Wing 17 embarked in USS Forrestal; Fighter Wing One; USS John F. Kennedy; Commander Striking Force Southern Europe; and Commander Naval District Washington. He retired in 1982. When Moose passed away on 15 November 2016 his daughter Beth Ann wrote this tribute to her father… In lieu of Moose’s Silver Star citation Humble Host includes this remarkable testimony in the RTR remembrance archives…
I HAVE TWO FATHERS by Beth Ann Murray…
“I asked Jesus in my heart at a very young age, because my parents made sure God was always in my life, even before I was born. i was taught that God was my Father and heaven was my home. I knew my Dad was my Dad because of his genuine Christian lifestyle he led. He always chose to walk in the light. You would never know my Dad’s accomplishments because of his humble character, but I charge you to Google his name. He is an amazing husband, father and Navy Admiral… My dad never hid his feelings and emotions. He always told each one of his children how much he loved them every day. He taught us we must choose our own paths and make our own dreams come true. He quietly stood alongside each one of us with unconditional love, acceptance and appreciation, and proudly watched us grow. He helped me on my journey of life reaching into the depths of my own being, opening up my heart to real love, feeling the beauty of God’s creation, experiencing real joy and loving life that is in all of us… My Dad is the perfect Dad to experience who our Father in heaven is…someone to depend on completely, has absolute understanding, total support and love forever. That’s my dad and I love him more than words could ever express. I love you Dad, Beth Ann.”….
Moose Myers was the Happy Warrior we all wished to be… Rest in peace, Moose, you are remembered with respect and admiration…
VIETNAM; AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 27 June 1968…
RIPPLE SALVO… #844… A clipping from The Deseret News of Salt Lake City, 24 March 1989… “WAITING IS OVER FOR FAMILY OF UTAH PILOT KILLED 22 YEARS AGO”…By Will Grey, Staff Writer…
“For more than 22 years his wife and four children have waited for this day and mow it is here. Smith is finally home. On June 27, 1966, Smith was piloting a Navy A-4 Skyhawk over North Vietnam. It was a mission that would last 27 years. Smith’s plane was shot down from the air. Accompanying pilots reported seeing a fireball and later seeing the shattered wreckage on the ground. ‘I always felt he had died, but there was no body and we just didn’t know for sure,’ said Adele Smith, the wife who was left behind to raise four children alone.
“On February 22, she learned that her intuition was right. A daughter was notified by military officials that Gene Albert Smith remains had been identified and returned to the United States. His journey home had begun. That journey was completed Friday when he was laid to rest at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in Salt Lake County, just a few miles from where his life began on April 18, 1933. Full military honors were to be accorded and his fellow aviators were to honor him with their jet aircraft roaring through the sky in the missing-man formation–the ultimate tribute to the flier who gives his life in service of his country.
‘I am profoundly grateful to be able to have my husband finally come home where his body can be laid to rest in the country he loved so much,’ said Adele Smith, her voice trembling with emotion. ‘He encouraged me to be strong and to have faith and courage. I am so proud of him and if anything, I love him even more now–knowing there is a bright future for us together in the eternities.
‘We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the sacrifice of his life to help ensure our country’s freedom. He died a hero,’ she continued. ‘Our biggest hope and prayer is that all the families of the men and women who are yet unaccounted for in Vietnam will eventually receive the same peace that we have; that all of these fine men and women can come home.’
“A hint of bitterness crept into her voice as she criticized North Vietnam for not returning the body of her husband sooner. ‘I do not understand North Vietnam’s attitude. I don’t see what sense it makes for their keeping these men and women. They should send them home.’
“She said she was upset when she first heard that her husband’s remains had been returned, but later found out it comforting to know that her husband died instantly, that he did not have to suffer. She later confided that she believes the lack of information surrounding her husband’s fate led to his parents death. ‘I really believe it did.’ The hardest part of the 27-yer ordeal was simply not knowing for sure whether her husband lived or died.’The unknown is the hardest thing.’ She has been actively involved in MIA support groups, even attending a national convention with her son, Gene A. Smith II, last fall. ‘I never thought this (the return of her husband’s remains) would happen. I think I am just now finding how much this affected us, now that he is home,’ she said. ‘But it wonderful to have brought to a close.’
“But while her personal involvement with Vietnam is closing, she cannot help but feel for others who have shared her grief and that haunting burden of the unknown.
“‘We lost many friends in that war and shared the terrible burden of the unknown with other families whose husbands and fathers and friends were declared missing in action or were prisoners of war,’ she said. ‘Our friends who fought in Vietnam were and are some of the bravest men I’ve ever known and their families the finest examples of faith, courage and strength. Hope, faith and love have been essential ingredients in enabling us to endure.’… “ Amen…. And that is the RTR quote for 27 June…
Lest we forget… Bear
