Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… CAPTAIN CHARLES SHELTON, USAF…but first…
Good Morning: Day SIXTY-EIGHT of a review of Operation Rolling Thunder…50 Years Ago…
6 MAY 1966 (NYT)…ON THE HOMEFRONT… A fair and mild Friday in New York…
Page 1: “Auto Production Cut Back At GM As Sales Decline”… The causes of the slump focus on downturn of economy and the publicity associated with a variety of safety concerns. The market is at an eight month low… In South Vietnam, “Election Talks go On After Compromise” and the 32 member committee writing the rules for an August election resumes discussions… Senator William Fullbright continues his challenge to Administration policy in Vietnam, reiterating his conclusion that: “I doubt the United States can go into a small, alien, undeveloped Asian nation and create stability where there is defeatism, democracy where there is no tradition of it, and honest government where corruption is a way of life… Abraham Ribicoff agreed: “there will always be a struggle between democracy and totalitarianism, a struggle for the minds of men. There can be no resolution to the problems in Vietnam without political stability.” Senator Barry Goldwater said Fulbright as Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate should resign for “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.” He also stated that the Administration policy of limited war “is an unforgivable disservice to the men who are doing the fighting.” He charged that the failure to mine Haiphong and bypassing targets that really matter is a part of that disservice. Defenders of LBJs policy proclaimed that the United States war aims remain “the creation of conditions under which South Vietnam could freely determine its future.”…
Page 6: Governor George Romney spoke to 3,000 Republican women at the Washington Sheraton and “gave a fiery rendition of his favorite speech dealing with the ‘gravest threats to the future of our country…the decline in religious conviction, moral character and family life.”…
Page 2: “Two U.S. Generals In Copters Help In The Killing of Vietcong.” Major General William G. Depuy and Brigadier General James Hollings were “flying an armed helicopter on a terrain inspection tour” 35 miles northwest of Saigon. The helicopter surprised a company of Vietcong and chased them while exchanging gunfire. Three Vietcong were killed and three captured…
Page 3: “Vietcong Deaths at 15-Month Low” with the weeks total killed of 456, the least since January 1965. Report included U.S. KIA of 70 in the same week and 221 ARVN troops KIA… Air action: B-52s struck for the 7th time in 11 weeks in the Parrot’s Beak area (Zone G)…An Air Force F-105 was shot down 65 miles northeast of Hanoi and the pilot is MIA. The Air Force also lost an F-4 due to fuel starvation with the pilot successfully ejecting and being rescued…Navy pilots flew 22 missions, hitting highway bridges, roads, military barracks, fuel storage areas and river traffic after little activity for two days due to weather…
6 MAY 1966… ROLLING THUNDER OPS… reference the F-105 a few lines above…
(1) LCOL JAMES LASLEY LAMAR was shot down while flying an F-105D from the 421st TFS of the 388 TFW at Korat on a raid on the Yen Bai railroad 70 miles northwest of Hanoi. He was hit during his diving attack and ejected in the target area. He was immediately captured and interned for the duration of the war, returning to the United States on 12 February 1973. LCOL LAMAR flew more than 100 combat missions in the Korean War flying P-51s and F-80s. He was on his 84th mission over North Vietnam when shot down. He retired from the Air Force in 1979 at the rank of Colonel.
(2) The only other aircraft lost in SEAsia was an O-1F out of Udorn that suffered engine failure, crash landed and the crew of 2 was rescued to lead the fight again.
RIPPLE SALVO… A STORY OF PERSONAL BRAVERY AND TRAGEDY WORTH RETELLING… AND REMEMBERING… The fight for survival of CAPTAIN CHARLES ERVIN SHELTON, USAF, that was ongoing FIFTY-ONE YEARS AGO this day…6 May 1965 and continued until 1994, or perhaps continues today… I quote from Chris’ Hobson’s “Vietnam Air Losses,” page 19…..
“On April 28 1965 CAPTAIN CHARLES ERVIN SHELTON (of the 15 TRS, 18 TFW at Udorn…he was on TDY) was flying an F-101C bomb damage assessment photo reconnaissance mission over northern Laos with a wingmen when he was shot down. The first target was obscured by low clouds so CAPTAIN SHELTON went on to the next target near Sam Nuea, the headquarters of the Pathet Lao forces. As the two aircraft approached Sam Nuea at 3,000-feet CAPTAIN SHELTON’s VooDoo was hit by ground fire and burst into flames. He ejected and was safely on the ground and about two hours later was seen by two rescue aircraft and contacted by radio. An attempted rescue by helicopter before dark had to be postponed because of bad weather. SHELTON told his rescuers that he would hide from the Pathet Lao and await a break in the weather when a rescue could take place. Unfortunatly, it was not until 2 May that the weather again became suitable for rescue aircraft to try again. Despite a total of 148 sorties by a variety of Air Force and Air America aircraft and the insertion of a team of Hmong guerrillas, no sign of SHELTON was ever seen.
“CAPTAIN SHELTON had been captured by the Pathet Lao after three days of hiding. According to intelligence sources he was thought to have been kept prisoner in caves in the Sam Nuea area for the next three and a half years. He is also said to have made several escape attempts and to have killed three of his captors in the process. Later SHELTON was thought to have been kept with another American POW, CAPTAIN D.L. HRDLICKA. Apparently. at least four rescue attempts took place in which ground teams were inserted in the Sam Nuea area without success. One of the rescue attempts is said to have involved Hmong tribesmen and actually succeeded freeing SHELTON and HRDLICKA only to have to return them to captivity when the rescue force encountered a force of NVA soldiers. Stories about SHELTON’s continued captivity continued to circulate long after the war in Southeast Asia came to an end. Allegedly SHELTON was held in a POW camp near Tchepone, Laos from 1981 to 1985 and was then taken to North Vietnam. For many years he remained the only POW who had not been declared dead by the United States Government, despite the length of his absence. The USA does not recognize the communist government in Laos and consequently has not negotiated for the return of POWs from Laos. As late as 1987 a news story claimed that SHELTON was still alive in captivity. Sadly, it was too much for his wife, Marian, who for 25 years had steadfastly campaigned for her husband’s release. On 4 October 1990 Marian Shelton took her own life, as much a victim of the war in Southeast Asia as was her husband. CHARLES SHELTON was officially declared Killed in Action in September 1994.”
Is it possible to read this story of incredible strength of character and the will to live without thinking: “There, but for the grace of God, go I?” Not for me…how very close any of us, all of us, who risked it all for our country in those violent skies, came to suffering the same fate that was CAPTAIN CHARLES EVIN SHELTON’s. But who among us could match the POW performance of this man who never gave up fighting for his freedom. In fact, with as much as is known about him between 1965 and 1987 (“still alive in captivity”), perhaps he is still “left behind.” And a special prayer for Marian Shelton, who rests in peace, too.
Lest we forget…. Bear ………….. –30– ……………..
