Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #455… AN HONOR ROLL OF ALL-WEATHER WARRIORS… but first…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE of thinking it through again…50 years later…
3 June 1967… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a perfect Saturday in New York City…
MIDEAST CRISIS: Page 1: “Wilson Declares Crisis Could Lead to A General War”... “Prime Minister Wilson warned today that the Middle East crisis could lead to general war if steps were not taken soon to lift the blockade Egypt has proclaimed at the Strait of Tiran. ‘Time is not on our side,’ said Mr. Wilson who cautioned repeatedly at a news conference…’a very dangerous situation.’ “… Page 1: “Israeli-Syria Fray at Border Kills 3″… “The Israeli army has reported that the first fatalities of the Middle Eastern crisis were inflicted today when a Syrian commando and two Israeli soldiers were killed in a clash near the Syrian border.”… Page 1: “De Gaulle Declares Paris Uncommitted In Mideast Conflict”... “The French Government, taking the disengagement from traditional friendship with Israel a step further, declared today that it ‘is not committed in any way on any subject on the side of any of the states involved in the Middle East crisis.”... Page 9: “Press Restricted In Middle East”... “Censorship is being applied in Israel to ‘protect national security.’ More than 100 newsmen and broadcasters have come into Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the last two weeks and learning of the censorship.”…Page 12: “Two U.S. Carriers Continue Air Exercises Near Crete”... “The two carriers of the Sixth Fleet, USS Saratoga and USS America, are continuing fleet exercises with Soviet ships monitoring.”… President’s Daily CIA Brief: ARAB STATES-ISRAEL: Cairo’s public threat to close the Suez Canal to any nation forcibly attempting to break the blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba reflects Nair’s determination not to back down on the blockade issue. Foreign Minister Riad told Ambassador Yost yesterday that Nasir’s position in the Arab world would be destroyed should he yield, and that Egypt had no alternative but to fight anyone who tries to force passage…. Yesterday’s clash between a group of Syrians and an Israel patrol was the most serious incident in several weeks. Neither side however, appears bent on letting it lead to a general engagement. Damascus is showing some unhappiness over the Egyptian-Jordanian defense pact, and is censoring Egyptian news releases concerning it…..As for General Dayan as defense minister, Ambassador Barbour believes his standing with the Israeli people and army may actually help Eshkol maintain a moderate policy for longer than would otherwise be possible…
AT THE FRONT: Page 1: “Big Battle Flares Near Danang Base”... “United States Marines assaulted North Vietnamese troops in defensive bunkers 40 miles north of Danang in a new major outbreak of fighting. A spokesman said 117 of the enemy had been killed when two companies, about 400 Marines, found a North Vietnamese force of about 2,000. Two battalions (1,000 men) of Marines joined the fight which raged for two days through the night in rolling hills 13 miles northwest of Tamky…. To the north Air Force Thunderchiefs attacked and destroyed a surface-to-air missile site 22-miles north of the demilitarized zone. Eight missile launchers and eleven missile transporters had been sighted at the site. the SAM threat ha forced the suspension of B-52 operations near the DMZ.”… Page 1: A small box: The Department of Defense released the names of 24 American troops who were killed in action.”…
LONG HOT SUMMER: Page 1: “Negroes Are Told to Protest Draft”... “Charles Evers, the civil rights leader, called today on Negroes of draft age in Mississippi to refuse induction until members of their race are placed on state Selective Service boards. Mr. Evers said that 29 of Mississippi’s 82 countries were predominately Negro, but that there was not one single Negro on any of the approximately 90 Selective Service boards in the state. ‘We take the position that no white man in Mississippi would allow his son to be sent too war by an all-Negro board.'”… Page 1: “600 Battle Police at New York City Hall in A Rent Protest”… “More than 600 men and women shouting their opposition to the city’s rent control law knocked over police barricades yesterday and swarmed up the steps of City Hall and fought with police in an attempt to reach the Mayor’s office…The demonstrators described themselves as owners of small rent controlled buildings. The owners are protesting requirements that they pay higher wages for maintenance/repair union members to maintain their properties.”… Page 1: “A Welfare Protest Spurs Boston Riot”… “A mob of Negroes raged through the Grove Hall section of the Rexbury district last night stoning policemen, looting stores and setting fires. It was the first serious riot Boston has experienced since racial tensions began developing here. The riot started as a demonstration over welfare procedures. Thirty were arrested and scores, including 30 policemen were injured in the riot.”…
STATE DEPARTMENT: Office of the Historian, Foreign Relations of the United States: A letter from Robert Komer to the President dated 3 June 1967 giving the President an update “and his latest thoughts” on how the “Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development of South Vietnam” is progressing. Mr. Komer was in charge of the “nation building” part of the Vietnam quagmire… Humble Host attaches this one pager to remind that winning the war was meaningless unless the South Vietnamese could establish a functioning government to keep the hard won (?) peace. Worth a look… at…
https://history.state.gov/historicldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d189
3 JUNE 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (4 June reporting 3 June ops): Page 1: “Over North Vietnam two MIG-17s were shot down by Air Force Thunderchief pilots northeast of Hanoi. The two enemy jet fighters were in a flight of three MiGs that rose to challenge the American fighter-bombers that were again attacking railroad yards and sidings north of Hanoi. Two Air Force planes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire raising to 569 the total number of United States planes shot down in the North. The Thunderchief pilots cut rails in a yard 50 miles north of Hanoi, damaged box cars in a siding 25 miles northwest of Hanoi and chopped rails in another siding 22 miles from the city. Other Thunderchief pilots bombed a surface-to-air missile site 22 miles north of the DMZ..(some details above)…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) there was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 3 June 1967…
(1) MAJOR THEODORE SPRINGSTON and CAPTAIN JOSEPH THOMAS KEARNS were flying a B-57B of the 8th TBS and 405th FW attached to the 35th TFW at Phan Rang inexplicably disappeared on an armed reconnaissance mission in Route Package 1 north of the DMZ. Both MAJOR SPRINGSTON and CAPTAIN KEARNS were Killed in Action and their bodies never recovered…Where is B-57B 53-3862?… Two brave men rest in peace on the 50th anniversary of their final flight…
RIPPLE SALVO… #455… A BLACK PANTHER WAR STORY… VA-35 A-6A Intruder Coordinated Stream Tactics of 25 March 1967 against the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steele complex located 37 miles north of Hanoi…
Humble Host takes pleasure in telling this tale from USS Enterprise from the perspective of a shipmate of all of the great warriors included in this night attack mission that I observed from the sidelines. On 25 March I had a plain and simple armed recce truck hunting mission in Happy Valley southwest of Vinh. Not much planning required, but I happened to share the intelligence and mission planning spaces that day with the “group” of VA-35 pilots and bombardier-navigators going to RP 6 and Thai Nguyen. I watched in awe, then, later, was hanging around for their debrief watching and listening in admiration. The bravest of the brave. Here is the VA-35 story for 25 March 1967…
On the night of 25 March 1967 Attack Squadron 35, the Black Panthers, embarked in USS Enterprise launched seven aircraft in a risky coordinated attack on the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel complex located 37 miles north of Hanoi in North Vietnam. The complex was roughly 20 square miles of industry and manufacturing, including the steel and iron mills that produced 100,000 metric tons of crude steel annually. The site also produced ammonium sulfate fertilizer, coal chemicals, material for plastics dyes and pharmaceutical products. Thai Nguyen was one of the most critical targets on the list of JCS Rolling Thunder targets.
Located in the heart of North Vietnam, Thai Nguyen was defended by nine hard target surface-to-air missile sites, four of which were known to be active. There were 16 known 85/100-mm anti-aircraft gun sites with 64 barrels, and 27 known 37/57-mm sites with 162 barrels. Also present were countless automatic weapon sites and an estimated ten fire-control radars. In addition, MiGs were stationed at four enemy airfields within easy range of the target.
Seven VA-35 flight crews–two man teams, pilot and B/N–made the strike. Two strike groups would hit their respective targets in the Thai Nguyen complex an hour and a half apart– four A-6s in the first group and three in the second. The first group planned to attack the target from the the north with three A-6s with a fourth A-6 coming at the target from the south. The second group of three Intruders were all to come from the north.
The seventh Intruder to hit the target was flown by LCDR RON HYDE and LTJG BOB BENJAMIN. Here is how their flight of the Intruder went on 25 March 1967:
The flight was launched, the weapons systems updated and checked and the aircraft refueled taking on 4,000 pounds to fuel the high speed, long and low altitude route to avoid as many of the enemy defenses as possible. The run-in at low altitude was begun well out to sea. LCDR HYDE and LTJG BENJAMIN followed the second aircraft along the same route that three of the A-6s in the first wave had flown an hour and a half before. The entry point–feet dry–and flight path followed the southern edge of the buffer zone for the Chinese border, remaining clear of the surface-to-air missile threat. By adjusting speed they were able to remain one minute behind the #2 Intruder which was holding one minute behind the division lead. The flight used radio calls by the lead aircraft at pre-briefed radar checkpoints in the route to maintain interval. The cloud covered mountainous portion of the long-way-round route was flown IFR at 4,000-feet (1,000-foot clearance)… the target was acquired at 23-miles and a gradual descent to a release altitude of 2,500-feet was begun. Enemy defenses were tracking the aircraft and heavy barrage and radar controlled AAA was observed on the long, high speed run directly into the barrier of intense enemy ground fire guarding the target. Do or die. LCDR HYDE and LTJG BENJAMIN pressed on and released their twenty Mk-82s on their assigned target in the complex. Clearing the target to the left, and back to the mountains to the north through a steady accompaniment of flak, they retired to sea and safety.
The seven strike aircraft on the mission scored hits on the coke ovens, three blast furnaces, the power plant and numerous other buildings in the complex.
Who were these GREAT Enterprise/VA-35 warriors that carried the fight into the enemy heartland in the middle of the night on 25 March 1967 (and night-after-night)??? CDR ART BARIE, CDR GLENN KOLLMAN (KIA 12 March 1968), LCDR BOB OWEN, LCDR BOB MORGAN, LT GEORGE MALEK, LTJG ‘FAST EDDIE’ LEONARD, LTJG CARL BORCHERS, LTJG NICK CARPENTER (KIA 24 June 1968), LTJG BILL GAYNOR, LTJG DICK SLAASTED, and, LCDR RON HYDE and LTJG BOB BENJAMIN…
With highest respect and admiration, then and now…
Lest we forget…. Bear
