Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO…#756… THE FINAL MONTHS OF THE STRATEGIC ASPECTS OF OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…and a historical document that is a must read…LBJ and the Soviet Ambassador met in the Oval Office to talk for 30-minutes about the way it will be… but first…
Good Morning: Day SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX looking for useful lessons and wisdom from past history –1965-1968 and the air war with North Vietnam that was secretly called OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER — for application in the world of 2018 and beyond…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times for SUNDAY, 31 MARCH 1968 an especially memorable date in history…
Page 1: Dateline 30 March… “JOHNSON TO TALK TO NATION TONIGHT ON VIETNAM WAR–SPEECH TO DEAL ‘RATHER FULLY’ WITH BUILDUP OF FORCES AND ADDITIONAL COSTS”… “President Johnson will address the nation at 9 P.M. tomorrow (31st) to deal ‘rather fully’ with the situation in Vietnam, including further troop build-ups, the possibility of reserve call-ups and the additional costs thereof. The President announced his speech on radio and television from his office at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden this noon. He said it would cover ‘other questions of some importance,’ including the Government’s fiscal policy.’ Mr. Johnson said that new troop deployments and Reserve needs would not be ‘anything like’ the hundreds of thousands mentioned in speculation. He put the new defense spending at ‘a few defense spending at ‘a few billion dollars,’ but not so much as the $10-billion to $20-billion mentioned in some quarters.’…Johnson said the actions he will reveal tomorrow (in the speech) would involve him in some ‘rather important’ conferences next week. He will be in Washington at least part of the week , he said.”… “Three TV networks will carry the speech.”
THE WAR: “NINE MARINES KILLED:… “MAJOR FIGHTING ERUPTED A MILE SOUTH OF THE MARINE OUTPOST AT KHE SANH”… “In the action near Khe Sanh a reinforced company of 200 to 250 marines killed 115 North Vietnamese in an hour-long battle. It was the largest infantry battle since the outpost near the Libyan border came under siege late in January. Marine losses in the fight were 9 killed and 71 wounded in the battle with possibly 500 entrenched North Vietnamese. This was the first significant venture outside of the Khe Sanh perimeter since last Thursday (23rd). American planes have been pounding the ridges and valleys around Khe Sanh and 175-mm guns from Camp Carroll, about 16 miles to the northeast and the Rockpile, slightly closer, have been shelling the foe. Farther south, Government troops reportedly killed 39 Vietcong soldiers in two ambushes on Friday. In the Mekong Delta other troops continued to uncover caches of enemy weapons and supplies. The latest find included 250 Bangalore torpedoes, which are used to cut wire barriers or to detonate mines.”… Page 3: “U.S. BUILDS UP FORCES IN 2 NORTHERN PROVINCES”… “A major build-up of arms and troops, touched off two months ago by enemy pressure at Khe Sanh, has accelerated again in South Vietnam’s two northernmost provinces. American intelligence officers now say the enemy has 50,000 troops in the two provinces–Quang Tri and Thuathien–and could strike; any American installation there with a division 72 hours after deciding to attack. The United States has answered the new threat by substantially increasing its forces. New fortifications are going up and old ones are being strengthened.”…
Page 1: “NINE NATIONS VOTE TO ADOPT ‘PAPER GOLD MONEY’ PLAN–FRANCE REFUSES TO JOIN–U.S. Move Backed–Assets Can Be added to World Reserves To Expand Trade”… Page 1: “U.S. Wants A U.N. Team On Israel-Jordanian Line”… Page 1: “NEGRO INCREASE IN GUARD SOUGHT–PENTAGON WEIGHING DRIVE TO GET TENFOLD RISE IN THEIR REPRESENTATION”… Page 7: “Draft Rules Spur a Push To R.O.T.C.–Applications From Graduate Students Rise Sharply”… Page 1: “Fires Set in Bloomingdale’s And Klein’s–Macy’s Is Also A Target But Attempt Fails”… Page 21: “GAGARIN IS BURIED IN KREMLIN WALL”… Page 32: “President Orders Cut of 12% In U.S. Overseas Staff Posts”…Page 32: “NEGRO GROUP ASKS END OF TIES TO U.S.–SEPARATISTS BEGIN DRIVE FOR ONE NATION IN SOUTH”… Page 33: “Negroes Leaving Cleveland Slums–Exodus From Hough”… Page 44: “Mayor John Lindsay Speaking In Denver Warns Of Rioting–Finds Report On Disorders Being Ignored”… Page 50: “JOHNSON RATING IN GALLUP POLL HITS LOW”…
31 MARCH 1968…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER (Associated Press/United Press International) (1 Apr reporting 31 Mar ops) Page 1: “NORTH VIETNAM PAUSE BEGINS–U.S. PLANES AND VESSELS CURB ATTACKS”… “American planes and warships halted attacks on most of North Vietnam today (1st) one day after hitting close to Hanoi, Haiphong and the Chinese border. The cutback in the bombing ordered by President Johnson and the 10th curtailment in the war against the Communist North since it began on February 7, 1965. General Westmoreland’s headquarters said the reduction in bombing was in effect by the time the President gave his televised statement announcing it at 10 A.M. Saigon time. The U.S. Command said American fighter-bombers confined their attacks on North Vietnam today to the area above the demilitarized zone hitting enemy storage complexes, truck convoys and gun sites. Only a few hours before the lU.S. Command announced that American planes on Sunday attacked the Cat Bi airfield four miles southeast of Haiphong, the radio station 10 miles south of Hanoi, a chemical plant 10 miles northeast of Haiphong and Cam Pha coal area 44 miles east-northeast of Haiphong, and the Lang Gia rail yard 18 miles below the Chinese border….The area from the DMZ to Vinh was excluded from the last bombing pause at the end of January for Tet… It was learned that the U.S. will continue reconnaissance and aerial photography missions all over North Vietnam, including the Red River Valley area from Hanoi to the Chinese border.
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing lost in Southeast Asia on 31 March 1968… Humble Host included the crash of a 315th ACW C-123K on takeoff From Phang Rang yesterday by error. All four in the crew survived.
Humble Host had a long day. Flew #128 and #129. Led two section attacks to Steel Tiger for FAC control… 128 on a truck park (trees) with one secondary, and 129 on a AAA gunsite. #129 was a 3.3 hour flight landing at Danang for the night when USS Enterprise got into the fog and the last launch was tanked and diverted to Danang. Slept in an upper bunk looking at the sky through a large hole in the roof my hosts attributed to a round of mortar fire a few days before… Spent a short uncomfortable night before returning to the ship 1 April for 200th trap on Enterprise…
RIPPLE SALVO… #756… “ROLLING THUNDER OPERATIONS JANUARY THROUGH MARCH 1968” from the Commander-in-Chief Pacific and Commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam “REPORT ON THE WAR IN VIETNAM” as of 30 JUNE 1968… (pages 44 & 47)… I quote…
“The effort in North Vietnam during the first three months of 1968 was drastically curtailed due to the northeast monsoon. During all three months, weather was worse than predicted. In the northern Route Packages there was an average of only three days per month on which vital strikes could be accomplished. The weather during February was the poorest experienced during any month since the beginning of ROLLING THUNDER.
“The damage level to the fixed targets in the northern sector of North Vietnam remained relatively unchanged through the end of March. Nearly all strikes required the use of all-weather bombing techniques. Weather inhibited drastically our post-strike assessment and we were unable to evaluate the effectiveness of much of our effort. ROLLING THUNDER 57 remained in effect through June 1968. Nine new targets were added to the basic target list during 1968; of these seven were hit.
EFFECTS JANUARY THROUGH MARCH
“Bombing operations against North Vietnam continued into 1968 with the aim of isolating the port of Haiphong from the rest of the country to prevent the distribution within the country of material being imported. This concerted campaign against Lines of Communication (LOC’s) around Haiphong forced the North Vietnamese to adopt extraordinary efforts to maintain the flow of material over existing lines. Distribution problems for Hanoi were further aggravated by the arrival of a near-record number of ships in Haiphong in January and again in March when over 40 ships arrived each month for off-loading. The port of Hon Gai was used in February as an offloading point for a Soviet and a British ship, probably in an effort to reduce the pressure on Haiphong. This port normally served the nearby coal mining area and did not contribute significantly to the flow of imports into the country.
“Expansion of the road transportation net continued as North Vietnam sought bo gain greater flexibility by the addition of bypasses and the construction of entirely new road segments. Of particular significance was the new route being built to connect the Ning-Ming area of Communist China with the Haiphong-Cam Pha region of North Vietnam, a development which would add an estimated 1,000 metric tons per day capacity to the cross-border capability between the two countries. Repair efforts elsewhere in the country were vigorously pursued. The Paul Doumer Bridge located immediately north of Hanoi was the object of numerous air attacks and suffered heavy damage. Concurrent with construction activity at the Doumer Bridge, several bridge bypasses and ferry landings were built elsewhere along the banks of the Red River near the bridge, attesting to the importance of the route in the movement of material from Communist China and inland from Haiphong.
CURTAILMENT OF ROLLING THUNDER OPERATIONS…
“On 1 April in a further attempt to get Hanoi to the peace conference table;, the President of the United States stopped the bombing attacks over the principal populated and food-producing areas of North Vietnam except in the area north of the demilitarized Zone; where enemy actions directly threatened United States and Free World forces in South Vietnam. Because ROLLING THUNDER was thus limited, primary strike emphasis was directed against truck parks, storage areas, and military complexes. Armed reconnaissance strikes were directed against logistic vehicles and interdiction points along the main lines of communication.”… End quote…
Humble Host most highly recommends the State Department’s Historical Document #168 from the “Foreign Relations, 1964-68, Vietnam, Volume VI,” a memorandum recording a short meeting between the President and the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly T. Dobrynin that preceded by a few minutes the President’s 31 March speech on Vietnam to the American people and the world… Read at…
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d168
RTR Quote for 31 March: FREDERICK The Great: “I begin by taking.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
Bear Note: For the immediate future my New York Times microfilm access is no longer available. The Ogden Standard-Examiner with both AP and UPI new service will have to do…
