Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #701… A CHOICE: THE PROTRACTED PACE OF THE TURTLE, OR THE BLITZKRIEG SPEED OF THE RABBIT… but first…
Good Morning: Day SEVEN HUNDRED ONE of remembering the Vietnam war and Operation Rolling Thunder on the 50th anniversary of a major event in American and World history…
4 FEBRUARY 1968… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a chilly but sunny Sunday in the Big Apple…
TET OFFENSIVE: Page 1: “VIETCONG HOLDING POSITION ON EDGE OF SAIGON AIRPORT–MARINE FORCE NEAR DANANG BATTLES 1,500 OF ENEMY–Kontom Still Contested–Allied KIA Set Mark–Dead Put At 376 Americans, 738 South Vietnam–14,997 Of Foe Dead”... “The Vietcong held fast to positions on the edge of the Saigon airport and in suburban Giadinh Province early today, more than four days after attacking the capital. To the north, large sections of such important cities as Hue, Kontum and Dalat remained in enemy hands. Near Danang, 380 miles northeast of Saigon, United States marines and South Vietnamese troops battled heavily with 1,500 North Vietnamese regulars apparently trying to close in on the city… A high military official indicated yesterday that the United States, prompted by the enemy’s nationwide offensive, might modify its policy of reinforcing outposts at the expense of protecting populated areas. He added that the enemy still had the capacity to stage a new series of attacks.”…”…the count of enemy casualties continued to grow. The total was put at 14,997 killed, with 4,156 people detained as suspected Vietcong… the number of weapons seized had risen sharply to 3,701…In a news briefing yesterday afternoon on the military situation, Brig. General John Chaisson, who has charge of the Combat Operations Center at the American headquarters, said he had been surprised by the scope coordination and audacity of the Vietcong offensive. He said the enemy still had the capacity to stage a new series of attacks.”… “U.S. marines were in firm control of three square blocks of Hue today…they steadily increased the length of their probes in search of the enemy. Marine units ;were also searching for 32 American civilians listed as unaccounted for by American military advisors.”… Page 1: “U.S. Marines Seize 3rd Block of Hue–Reinforcements Enter City–32 American Civilians Are Listed As Missing”… Page 4: “Stop At Khesanh A Perilous Rescue–C-130 Also airlifts Wounded From Dongha and Phubar –Foe Now Said to Hold Nurse Who Fled Raid (Betty Olsen at Leper Colony)”…Page 11: “McCarthy Derides Johnson On War–Charges Self-Deception In Reports On Progress”…
PUEBLO INCIDENT: Page 1: “The Events Aboard Pueblo–Effort to Destroy Secret Devices On Ship Described”… “the commander of the intelligence ship Pueblo and part of his crew are reported to have locked themselves in a compartment and worked furiously for 45 minutes or longer to destroy secret documents and sensitive equipment after North Korean sailors boarded the ship 11 days ago.”... Page 6: “Seoul, Irked by U.S. Stress On Pueblo Case, Emphasizes Border Threat—3rd U.S. Bid to Talk Reported”…
Page 1: “Clerics Accuse U.S. Of War Crimes–A ‘Consistent Violation’ of World Rules Is Found by Interfaith Group”… Page 38: “Negro Vote Drive Success In Texas–But Conservative Democrats fear Liberal Takeover”… Page 43: “President Widens Margin In A Poll–Gallup Finds McCarthy and Kennedy Further Behind”…Page 66: “Gain Is foreseen In Controlling H-Bomb Energy In 3-5 Years–Research Now Directed Toward Best Method of Harnessing Reaction –Era of Cheap Power Predicted”…
STATE DEPARTMENT, Office of the Historian, Historical Documents, Foreign Affairs, 1964-68 Vietnam: Three pertinent documents dated 4 February 1968, all worth a look. Document 52 is a set of instructions from Dean Rusk to Ambassador Bunker on how to pick-up-the-pieces and press on. Provides an “atta boy” to perk up his man in Saigon. Document 53 is Bunker’s 37th weekly summary/howgozit that gives a summary of President Thieu’s State of the Union speech and leadership under the stress of the times. Also provides an evaluation of the situation where the action is. Document 54 is a guess on why the frontier around Khesanh remains so quiet, relatively, from a member of the National Security Council Staff to Walt Rostow, the President’s man on National Security. Read at:
Doc 52: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d52
Doc 53. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d53
Doc 54. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d54
4 February 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times… No coverage of air wr in the north… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were three fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 4 February 1968…
(1) An O-1E Bird Dog of the 22nd TASS and 504th TASW at Binh Thuy was destroyed in a Vietcong mortar attack on the airfield on the banks of the Mekong River.
(2) 1LT WILLIAM TOD POTTER and 1LT ROBERT JOHN EDGAR were flying an RF-4C of the 14th TRS and 432nd TRW out of Udorn on a photo reconnaissance mission in Southern Laos under FAC control and inexplicably flew into the ground after letting down and reporting to the FAC that they had the target in sight. The wreckage of the aircraft was pinpointed on a mountain 50 miles due east of Nakhon Phanom. Friendly Laotians reported that the crew had died in the crash. The remains of 1LT EDGAR were recovered in May 1997 and identified in April 2009. Apparently 1LT POTTER remains where he fell 50 years ago this day…Left behind? Why has only one of the two brother warriors in the same fatal aircraft crash been recovered and identified?…
(3) CAPTAIN CARL WILLIAM LASITER was flying an F-105D of the 34th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat on a strike mission to Thai Nguyen Army Barracks when downed by an air-to-air missile fired by a MIG-21 as the flight approached the target area… CAPTAIN LASITER was captured after successfully ejecting from his burning Thunderchief. The story: From the Compilation “34TFS/F-105 History” by Howie Plunkett:
04-Feb-68…“…Hit by a MiG-21 AAM while en route to the Thai Nguyen Barracks (JCS 60). Crashed in RP-5, North Vietnam… Captain Carl William Lasiter, 34th TFS Pilot ejected and became a POW. Released 14 Mar 73. Call sign: ‘Pistol 04″… A small strike force (a flight of F-105 Iron Hand, one flight of F-105 strike force, and two flights of F-4 MIGCAP) from the 388th TFW attacked a target in the Thai Nguyen area… Inbound to the target, the strike force had received MiG warnings…indicating two MiG-21s headed northwest out of Phuc Yen… While the F-4D flight turned left to attack, the flight members lost sight of the MiG-21, and F-105 ‘Pistol 04’ was destroyed by the MiG-21 air-to-air missile. The American pilot ejected moments before his aircraft rolled over and disappeared into a undercast…”
“Captain Carl W. Lasiter flew as Pistol o4, in a flight of four…Other members of the flight: #1 LCOL Nevin Christensen; #2 Major Carl Light; #3 Major James Daniel… The flight took off from Korat at 06:25. Major Lasiter was shot down at 07:52…
“Major Carl Light Pistol 02 described the incident involving Capt Lasiter as follows: ‘As we approached a point about 30 miles west of the target, I saw Pistol Four burst into flames and immediately afterward a MiG-21 approached from his six o’clock position and pulled up and to the left of Pistol flight…I called that Pistol Four was hit and called the MiG-21 when I saw it. another Mig-21 then crossed over the flight from right to left. I heard Pistol Four make no calls. His wings rocked once and he went into a right descending turn, burning from the fuselage and right-wing. I saw the pilot eject and separate from the seat, but due to watching the MiGs I did not see his chute open.’… LCOL Nevin Christensen, Pistol One, confirmed a good chute: ‘Downed member was hit by AIM/MiG-21 at 07:52L … I did see a good chute. I did not hear a beeper. Weather in the area where member is down was overcast about 6,000. Type of terrain mountains and lightly populated. Received a call that #4 was hit by a MIG-21. Observed #4 on fire. A/C rolled inverted and pilot ejected at about 12 to 14,000 feet. No beeper was heard, but pilot was observed in chute…Search and rescue operations were not conducted due to location.'”… “…The F-4s pursued the MiGs and got a hit on one…”
AMONG THE BRAVEST… CAPTAIN CARL WILLIAM LASITER, USAF…SILVER STAR…
“The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the SILVER STAR to CAPTAIN CARL WILLIAM LASITER, United States Air Force, for gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force over North Vietnam on 5 November 1967. On that date, CAPTAIN LASITER braved extremely heavy anti-aircraft fire to silence an entrenched gun battery. In so doing, he aided in the successful completion of an important combat operation. After completing his assigned mission, CAPTAIN LASITER returned to hostile territory and, in spite of an attack by unfriendly aircraft, assisted in the rescue of a downed pilot. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, CAPTAIN LASITER has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”…
“The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a SECOND AWARD of the SILVER STAR to LIEUTENANT COLONEL CARL WILLIAM LASITER, United States Air Force, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force on 1 March 1968 while a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. Ignoring international agreements on treatment of prisoners of war, the enemy resorted to mental and physical cruelties to obtain information, confessions and propaganda materials. COLONEL LASITER resisted their demands by calling on his deepest inner strengths in a manner which reflected his devotion to duty and great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”…
Among LIEUTENANT COLONEL LASITER’s other combat awards: the Legion of Merit with Valor V; three awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross; several Air Medals with Combat V; and the Prisoner of War Medal…. oohrah…
RIPPLE SALVO… #701… “The Tortoise and the Hare”… In a 1991 article in new Yorker magazine, Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford recalled an observation made in a meeting of the Wise Men in October 1967 made by Under Secretary of State Nicholas de Katzanbach that Secretary Clifford called “striking and prophetic.”
“Hanoi uses time the way Russians used terrain before Napoleon’s advance on Moscow, always retreating, losing every battle, but eventually creating conditions in which the enemy can no longer function. For Napoleon it was his long supply lines and the cold Russian winter: Hanoi hopes that for us it will be the mounting dissension, impatience, and frustration caused by a protracted war without fronts or other visible signs of success. …Time is the crucial element at this stage of our involvement in Vietnam. Can the tortoise of progress in Vietnam stay ahead of the hare of dissent at home?… “
Humble Host observes that the strategy of defeat employed in the air war–gradualism– was matched by an equally unwise strategy of attrition warfare in the south. Americans are an impatient lot and sustaining resolve–the will to win–in a protracted war is problematic. The role of turtle is Incongruent with our national mien. We are natural rabbits…
RTR Quote for 4 February: US MARINE at Khesanh: “A shell came right in this man’s trench and what they had to send home would probably fit inside a handkerchief.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
