Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #332… THE LULL BEFORE THE ROLLING THUNDER STORM OF 1967… THE YEAR OF ESCALATION… but first…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO of the piecing together of the truth about Operation Rolling Thunder fifty years after the fact…
31 JANUARY 1967… HEAD LINES from the New York Times on a cloudy and cold Tuesday in New York City…
Page 1: “President Urges National Attack on Air Pollution”… “President Johnson urged Congress today to authorize a vigorous attack on air pollution through Federal and regional regulatory procedures. Mr. Johnson requested authority to establish and enforce industry-wide limits on the emission of pollutants. He asked also for the creation of regional commissions that would set and enforce clean air standards in designated interstate zones. To backup these programs, Mr. Johnson recommended Federal registration of all fuel additives and study of their polluting effects…. ‘… Years from now when the industrial production and waste disposal have increased and the number of automobiles on the streets and highways exceeds 110-million, we shall have lost the battle for clean air–unless we strengthen our regulatory and research efforts now.’ “… Page 1: “George Kennan Discerns Hope of Harmony with Red Nations”…”Former Ambassador George F. Kennan told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today that the growing independence of nations within the Communist World had opened up encouraging possibilities for improved East-West relations…. the hearings are designed to explore the general theme of the responsibilities of the United States as a great power. To take advantage of ‘real and hopeful responsibilities’ Mr. Kennan urged Congress to support a consular treaty with the Soviet Union and to approve an East-West trade bill.”… Page 1: “U.S. Court Bars Induction Penalty for Foes of War”… “United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held yesterday that local draft boards could not reclassify registrants 1-A as punishment for publicly protesting the war in Vietnam…the draft board acted without jurisdiction and in violation of the Free Speech Amendment.”… Page 2: “Cornell Group Urges End of North Vietnam Bombing”… “A total of 293 members of the Cornell faculty have signed a letter to President Johnson calling for an end to the bombing of North Vietnam. A Cornell instructor said: ‘We believe the Yale letter makes a reasoned and compelling case for an immediate halt to the bombing of North Vietnam without requiring any prior commitment of that Government.’ Cornell has 1,300 faculty members on campus.”…
Page 1: “3 Astronauts’ Tape Ended With ‘Get Us Out of Here’ “… ” ‘We’re on fire–get us out of here,’ were the last words heard from the Apollo 1 astronauts who perished when their capsule erupted in flames…the shrill voice believed to be that of Lieutenant Commander Roger Chaffee of the Navy…The first hint of trouble came in almost casual tones. ‘Fire…I smell fire.’ Two seconds passed. ‘Fire in the cockpit,’ cried Colonel White. This time the voice was sharp and insistent…There was silence for three seconds…Then a shout from one of the astronauts, ‘There is a bad fire in the spacecraft.’…A longer gap followed–about seven seconds. There were sounds of frantic movement. Finally, after four more seconds, Commander Chaffee cried out the last words of distress: ‘We’re on fire–get us out of here.’ “… Page 2: “The Defense Department identified sixty-four servicemen who have ben killed in action in Vietnam.” (This announcement, in a little filler buried on an inside page about three times a week.) Freedom is not free!!
31 January 1967…The President’s Daily Brief…CIA (TS sanitized)..SOUTH VIETNAM: “Chief of Staff Thieu continues to act very much like a candidate. Last night he threw a reception for 200 newsmen and, speaking without notes, promised to shorten the war, bring peace and prosperity, and generally square thing away. He stressed that the sacking of General Co was a move against corruption… COMMUNIST CHINA: Recent letters from the mainland convey some idea of the fear and confusion gripping China…(Large portion redacted) The view from Peking may not be any less murky. editorials are acknowledging divisions in the pro-Mao ranks and urging the “revolutionaries” not to attack each other…
31 January 1967… The State Department Telegram to the American Embassy in the Soviet Union… The peace initiative Sunflower was underway in which the U.S. and DRV were to use the good offices of the Soviet Union in strict secrecy to get something going toward a meeting. This telegram provided the Ambassador instructions on how to go about making this happen. Worth reading for better understanding of what was going on–or wasn’t… I quote the pertinent paragraph here…
“c. At the same time the USG notes the concern of the DRV in discussing ‘intensification’ or ‘escalation’ of the bombing of North Viet-Nam as presented in the January 27 aide-memoire and the oral remarks of the DRV Charge’. We are ready to discuss this and related issues. But we remind the DRV that one step has already been taken by the USG to de-escalate the war in the North: for more than a month ouir planes have been ordered not to bomb within 10-miles of Hanoi city center. We would like to avail ourselves of this direct private channel to inform the DRV that the USG would be prepared to implement additional measures to de-escalate the bombing of the North to create conditions conducive to the success of talks with the DRV. We, of course, would be impressed with similar acts of restraint on the part of the DRV, and we can assure the DRV that any such acts on its part need not be made public. The favorable atmosphere which would result from these mutual steps toward peace would permit the US and DRV to take additional steps toward obtaining a peaceful solution.”… end quote…
Entire telegram at: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d32
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM… CAPTAIN NORMAN LOUROSS WELLS, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, AIR FORCE CROSS…
“The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the AIR FORCE CROSS to NORMAN LOUROSS WELLS, CAPTAIN, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force while serving with the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, SEVENTH Air Force, in action, near Phuc Yen, North Vietnam, on 19 July 1966. On that date, CAPTAIN WELLS led a flight of F-105 Thunderchiefs against a heavily defended petroleum products storage area ten miles northwest of Hanoi. After penetrating a curtain of exploding steel to deliver his deadly ordnance on this vital target, CAPTAIN WELLS then shot down one of two MiGs who were attacking the second element of the formation. After a much-needed aerial refueling, CAPTAIN WELLS provided top cover for a successful rescue by helicopters of a friendly pilot who had ejected over hostile territory. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness, CAPTAIN WELLS reflected highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”
Among CAPTAIN WELLS awards: The Air Force Cross; Silver Star; Distinguished Flying Cross (5); Air Medal; and the Prisoner of War Medal.”
31 January 1967…Operation Rolling Thunder…New York Times (1 Feb reporting 31 Jan ops) Page 4: “U.S. Raids Go On in Poor Weather”… “Bad weather held American air attacks against North Vietnam yesterday to only 31 missions…the smallest number of raids by Air Force and Navy pilots since last November 25… The Air Force pilots who flew 22 of the missions struck highways near the Mu Gia Pass. Navy fliers from the three carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin struck Thanh Hoa army barracks 80 miles south of Hanoi.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) there was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 31 January 1967…
(1) A UC-123B Ranch Hand defoliation aircraft of the 12th ACS and 315 ACW out of Bien Hoa and detached to Danang was downed over the Ho Chi Minh Trail by gunfire killing the five man crew. Killed in Action: CAPTAIN ROY ROBERT KUBLEY, MAJOR LLOYD FRANCIS WALKER, CAPTAIN HARVEY MULLAUSER, LT HOWARD LEROY BARDEN and A1C RONALD KAZUO MIYAZAKI. Chris Hobson tells the story: (page 87) “Although the Ranch Hand defoliation operation was only supposed to be confined to South Vietnam, the unit also flew missions in southern Laos in an attempt to defoliate sections of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Three Ranch Hand aircraft based at Danang were dispatched on a mission to spray in a mountain pass five miles south of Tchepone. The formation made three spray runs through the shallow pass and were escorted by a flight of A-1s from Pleiku. As the lead aircraft turned for the fourth run it was seen to roll inverted and crash into the jungle, exploding on impact. The aircraft was presumed to have been shot down by ground fire as the last aircraft in the flight had an engine put out of action by a single bullet and was only recovered safely to Khe Sanh by the great skill of its crew as the propeller would not feather. CAPTAIN KUBLEY WAS ON HIS 500TH MISSION in Southeast Asia when he was killed. These were the first fatalities suffered by the Ranch Hand unit since 1962. In February Ranch Hand started to fly its first missions over the DMZ.”
CAPTAIN KUBLEY and his brave mates died for their country fifty years ago this day and are remembered and admired for their SUPREME sacrifice… BEING REMEMBERED IS ALL A GALLANT WARRIOR ASKS IN RETURN FOR HIS SERVICE…
RIPPLE SALVO… #332… “THE STATE OF THE AIR WAR AT THE OUTSET OF 1967” (Secretary of Defense Historical Series, Volume VI, Pages 202-203)… I quote
“The administration used a lull in the bombing at the start of 1967 to take stock and plan the next phase of the air war. McNamara’s testimony before Senate committees in January highlighted the growing divisiveness over the air campaign not only between OSD civilians and the JCS but also between the defense secretary and Senate hawks. Skepticism, if not outright hostility, greeted many of McNamara’s contentions. When he testified on 23 January that bombing the Haiphong docks would have little effect on North Vietnam’s petroleum importation, Senator Stuart Symington, who had been the first Secretary of the Air Force, wondered sarcastically if McNamara ‘wouldn’t want to go farther and say the more you hit the docks the better it would be for the North Vietnamese.’ Testifying alongside of McNamara, General Wheeler contradicted the secretary’s claims that airpower had not significantly reduced the southward movement of personnel and supplies. Paradoxically, McNamara also declared the bombing effort a success in that it had improved South Vietnamese morale, increased the cost the the North Vietnamese paid for infiltration, and, most important, provided a bargaining chip that Washington could play to its advantage. Yet the press reported a redacted version of McNamara’s testimony made public in mid-February as an acknowledgment that the bombing of North Vietnam had failed.
“McNamara began 1967 as a reluctant advocate of continuing the bombing, if only because abandoning the air campaign would remove what little leverage the administration had as it groped for a solution to end the stalemate. Throughout 1967 his stance on the air war would periodically shift or seesaw out of loyalty to Johnson (when the President saw no way forward but escalation), lingering ambivalence, or a need to make concessions in order not to become too marginalized as his attitude became more defeatist. But clearly McNamara had shed any illusions about the efficacy of the bombardment, and there was no mistaking that he and his military commanders were moving in fundamentally opposite directions even as their positions briefly converged early in the year… ” … end quote…
Humble Host concludes: “What did you do in the war, Grandpa?”…”I was a bargaining chip, Grandson.”….
CAG’s QUOTES for January 31: SUN TZU: “If the troops are punished before their loyalty is secured, they will be disobedient.”... PATTON: “It is strange but in a battle situation I am perfectly willing to chop off heads but in peace-time, my Anglo-Saxon ancestry makes me reluctant to remove people without due process of law.”…
Lest we forget…. Bear
