Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #936… “DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: FOR THE COMPELLING REASONS THAT I HAVE EXPLAINED TO YOU, I AM TODAY SUBMITTING MY RESIGNATION AS UNITED STATES PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS. In doing so, let me repeat what I am sure you already know, that over the years I have found deep gratification in serving twice under your wise leadership and that I hold , and will always hold, for you the highest respect and affection. Most sincerely, George W. Ball”… More below… But first…
GOOD MORNING…Day NINE HUNDRED THIRTY-SIX of a closer look at the forty-four months of Operation Rolling Thunder, the air war fought in the skies of North Vietnam 1965 until 1 November 1968…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Friday, 27 September 1968…
Page 1: “BALL QUITS U.N. to AID HUMPHREY–WASHINGTON POST EDITOR J. RUSSELL WIGGINS NAMED SUCCESSOR–Chief of Delegation Declares Nixon Unfit to Direct Nation’s Foreign Affairs–POLICY RIFT CONTINUES”… “President Johnson announced today the resignation of George W. Wall as chief United States representative to the United Nations and nominated James Russell Wiggins, editor an executive vice president of the Washington Post, to succeed him. Mr. Ball, a former Undersecretary of State will become a foreign policy advisor to Vice President Humphrey. He was named to the United Nations post last April 25 to replace Arthur J. Goldberg, and his surprise resignation came just a day after the Senate confirmed his appointment as chief of the American delegation to this session of the General Assembly… COMPELLED BY CONSCIENCE… At a news conference at the State Department this afternoon, Mr. Ball said he was ‘compelled by conscience to adopt my present course of action’ because he felt that the Republican Presidential nominee lacks’ the qualities necessary to conduct a successful foreign policy. ‘I have taken this step so that I may devote all my time and energy between now and November 5 to help assure the election of Hubert Humphrey and the defeat of Richard Nixon. Both the President and Mr. Ball sought to convey the impression that his resignation was motivated by deep opposition to Mr. Nixon and not by any disagreement with the Administration over foreign policy. Although loyal to the President, Mr. Ball has consistently held dovish views on the Vietnam war (and the bombing of North Vietnam).”…
THE WAR: Page 14: “U.S. ARMOR KILLS MANY NEAR TAMKY–ENEMY TOLL PUT AT 300 IN CONTINUED FIGHTING”…”United States armor took a large toll of enemy lives yesterday in continued fighting in the flatlands west of Tamky, near the coast of the South China Sea. Last month in the same area, armored units reported killing 511 enemy soldiers in two days of heavy clashes. The enemy troops were said to be from the 2d North Vietnamese Army Division. Many of the enemy casualties in the most recent fighting were caused by heavy machine-gun fire from helicopter gunships and repeated air strikes by F-100 Super Sabre fighter -bombers using napalm and high explosive bombs. U.S. casualties were put at 3 killed in action and 18 wounded….In another action and American infantry company was said to have killed 35 of the enemy near the Special Forces camp at Duclap… MARINES CHANGE TACTICS… United States marines, operating in the extreme north of South Vietnam, have changed their style of fighting in the last six months. The emphasis has shifted from maintaining fortresses such as the once-besieged base at Khe Sanh combat base, to conducting quick drives into the heart of enemy strongholds with helicopters…The marines never conceded that they were in a defensive position, even at the height of the Khe Sanh siege when no patrols dared venture more than a few hundred yards beyond the barbed wire perimeter of the base. The transition has been made possible by the availability of bigger and better helicopters, a growth in overall troop strength in the region and, perhaps, most of all, a new frame of mind. The improvement of the helicopter fleet and the troop build-up in the vicinity of the DMZ were reaching peak as Major General Raymond G. Davis took command of the 3rd Marine Division in mid-April ‘a short time ago we were somewhat confined in our positions,’ the general said in an interview this week, ‘Khe Sanh was a case in point. Last spring, when the weather opened up we started ann-out mobile operations.’ Since then 3rd Division troops have uncovered ‘almost every hill and every ridge’ in the rugged northwestern corner of the country, General Davis said. In their wake, the marines have left 142 helicopter landing zones and nearly 40 artillery bases that General Davis hopes to use again and again in the months ahead.”…
Page 1 HEAD LINES: “HUMPHREY PLEDGES TO CALL NEW ADVISORS ON VIETNAM”… “FORTAS TEST VOTE PLANNED TUESDAY–Mansfield To Seek Closure Of Debate Over Motion to Call Up Nomination”… “CHRYSLER CUTS 1969 PRICE RISE”… “PENTAGON TO ACT ON DOMESTIC ILLS–Clifford Says He’ll Mobilize Resources Of Military to Attack Social Problems”… “THANT PROPOSES MEETING TO EASE TENSION–Asks Action By U.S., Britain, Soviet Union And France To Halt Rising Sense Of Insecurity”… “SOVIET MIDEAST PLAN IS REJECTED BY ISRAEL’S EBAN”… “1968 Climb In Prices Is Steep[est In 20 Years”… “FULBRIGHT GRANTS IN EUROPE PERILED–Funds For Higher Education Exchanges To Be Slashed 72% by Congress Action”… Page 2: “BIG BALKAN BUILDUP BELIEVED PLANNED BY RUSSIANS–Warsaw Pact Chiefs Visits Convince Poles Defenses Will Be Strengthened.”… Page 2: “MOSCOW FANNING SLOVAK RIVALRIES–Propaganda Leaflets Back Separatist Feelings”…
27 SEPTEMBER 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times/AP: No coverage of air operations above the DMZ.
VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 27 September 1968…
(1) 1LT J.W. VINAPUU was flying an F-100C of the 174th TFS and 37th TFW out of Phu Cat on a close air support mission but was hit by ground fire on the climb out from Phu Cat and forced to eject about 15 mile northeast of the airfield. He was rescued by an Army helicopter…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 27 SEPTEMBER DATES OF THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1966, 1967, 1968… NONE…
1965… CAPTAIN GEORGE ROBERT HALL, USAF… (POW)… Chris Hobson, in his incomparable record of fixed wing operations during the entire twelve years of the war, records CAPTAIN HALL’S final RF-101C photo reconnaissance flight as… “One of the many critical bridges on the JCS target list was the Ninh Binh road and railway bridge 15 miles southwest of Nam Dinh, which carried the main line from Haiphong over the Nam Dinh River. Capt. Hall was tasked with obtaining pre-strike photographic coverage of the target but as he made his run over the bridge at 500-feet and 540 knots his aircraft was hit by AAA and caught fire. He turned southward to try to make for the sea but after about 10 miles he was forced to eject over a heavily populated area and was quickly captured. He became a resident of the Hanoi prison system for the next seven years and was released on 12 February 1973. He was on his 196th mission over Southeast Asia when he was shot down.”…
When COLONEL HALL was freed after 2,695 days as a POW he contributed a message of thanks to all Americans.”My thanks to all Americans who were concerned for us. My thanks to all who prayed for me, wore my bracelet, or just quietly supported our government. We were not told by the North Vietnamese of how you cared about us, but somehow we felt it, and this support gave us courage and strength. The genuine happiness and relief I saw in the faces of people who greeted us upon our return to freedom, was the greatest emotional experience of my life. It renewed my patriotic spirit and now motivates me to continue to serve my country as a military man. My special thanks to our Commander-in-Chief, President Nixon, for his strength which brought us home with honor.”
Colonel Hall and his wife Pat published their book “Commitment to Honor” in 2005.
AMONG THE BRAVE… GALLANTRY AND INTREPIDITY IN ACTION… the SILVER STAR (First of two)… 27 September 1965… Citation:
“Captain George R. Hall distinguished himself by gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force as an RF-101 Pilot over North Vietnam on 27 September 1965. On that date, Captain Hll masterfully led a flight of two reconnaissance aircraft deep into hostile territory to secure Bomb Damage Assessment photography of vital bridge complexes which had just been struck by fighter aircraft. The locations of these targets necessitated separate passes through a veritable curtain of antiaircraft fire which guarded all approaches. After successfully leading his flight across the first target, Captain Hall was turning on the second complex when his aircraft was mortally damaged by ground fire. Not to be deterred from his mission, Captain hall displayed a superior degree of airmanship and aggressiveness as he heroically, and with utter disregard for his own safety pressed on with the photography run. By his gallantry and devotion to duty Captain Hall has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”…
In his later years COLONEL HALL suffered from Parkinson’s. He passed away on 16 February 2014… glory gained, duty done…
RIPPLE SALVO… #936…. NYT, 27 SEPT 68, Page 46…
“WHY AMBASSADOR BALL LEFT JOHNSON FOR HUMPHREY” by James Reston… I quote…
“There is no better evidence of the difference between President Johnson and Vice President Humphrey on Vietnam policy than the decision of George Ball to resign as Mr. Johnson’s Ambassador at the United Nations to be Mr. Humphrey’s principal adviser in the election campaign. Mr. Ball knows them both well. He went through the making of Mr. Johnson’s Vietnam policy as Under Secretary of State protesting all the way against committing more and more troops and extending the U.S. bombing. In fact, he stayed at the State Department as long as he did only because, in fairness to the President, Mr. Johnson wanted him to stay as the official opponent of that policy, and Mr. Ball stood it as long as he could.
HUMPHREY’S POSITION
“During this time Mr. Ball knew very well, first, that Mr. Humphrey was not consulted by the President on many Vietnam decisions, and second, that no matter how much Mr. Humphrey proclaimed his loyalty to the President, the Vice President had serious doubts about the direction and emphasis of that policy. George Ball, like Humphrey, never felt that his opposition to the Vietnam policy justified him in breaking openly with President Johnson. He thought about it, but concluded he would have even less influence by quitting than by staying on. Humphrey, of course, has taken the same position, but it is clear that Mr. Ball did not leave President Johnson in the end because he thought the President and the Vice President had identical views on Vietnam.
“He clearly thought Humphrey’s Vietnam policy was much closer to his own than to President Johnson’s. He felt he might help make that clear by devoting the next six weeks to Humphrey’s campaign, and particularly by helping lift the campaign debate on foreign policy out of the present rut of slogans and trivialities into a much more serious discussion of the realities and priorities of America’s present position in the world. Beyond that, Ambassador Ball had another reason for joining Humphrey. When he was in Europe recently, meditating on the future and the present plight of Humphrey’s campaign, he decided that he didn’t want to wake up on November 6 and find Richard Nixon elected President of the United States, without making a serious effort to make clear that he regards a Nixon victory as a disaster.
“So he told President Johnson Sunday night what he intended to do and the President not only agreed but apparently did so in good spirit. Mr. Johnson put the Presidential jet at Mr. Ball’s disposal and then sent it to Maine to pick up Ambassador Ball’s successor, J. Russell Wiggins, editor and executive vice president of The Washington Post, who was putting up his boat for the winter when the news of his appointment to the U.N. was announced.
THOSE LOST CAUSES
“Mr. Ball’s addition to Mr. Humphrey’s campaign staff is not necessarily a good omen. He is one of the foremost students of American foreign policy today, and if by chance he had been Secretary of State instead of Under Secretary, in the critical years of the Vietnam build-up, the history of the American tragedy in Southeast Asia might have been quite different. He does, however, have an affinity for lost causes. He was a partner in Adlai Stevenson’s law firm in Chicago and worked valiantly and unsuccessfully for Mr. Stevenson’s election to the Presidency in 1952 and 1956. He failed again in the persistent efforts to convince both President Kennedy and Johnson that Vietnam was not a vital but a secondary interest of the Unite States and there is no reason to believe that he will be much more successful in helping Mr. Humphrey get into the White House than he was with Mr. Stevenson.
BEYOND VIETNAM
“Nevertheless, he is likely to give a new dimension to the Vice President’s discussion of foreign policy problems. Mr. Humphrey has not been able to break out of the Vietnam controversy or to impose upon the controversy any consistent and wide vision of the nation’s overseas problems. Until this week, his foreign policy speeches have lacked that sense of scope and scale so essential in Presidential pronouncements, and beyond that, he has often seemed to be talking as if he were running for the Senate rather than for the Presidency. Mr. Ball has been arguing for years now for a fundamental reappraisal of American foreign policy, for a clear definition of priorities which would put the unification of Europe and the Soviet problem back in the forefront of Washington’s concerns. He will have no trouble in convincing Humphrey that this is an essential first step in the next administration, and if Mr. Humphrey does manage to succeed in the end, Mr. Ball may very well be given the task of presiding over the State Department in any Humphrey administration.”… End quote…
RTR Quote for 27 September : MAO TSE-TUNG, 28 November 1964: “People of the world, unite and defeat the U.S. aggressors and all their running dogs! People of the world, be courageous, and dare to fight, defy difficulties and advance wave upon wave. Then the whole world will belong to the people. Monsters of all kind will be destroyed.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
