ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED 7 MARCH 1968

RIPPLE SALVO… #732… The “PBD” is a major American historical document that emerges from the Director of the CIA’s Office every morning as a Top Secret summary of the most critical foreign relations issues of the day. In September 1967 the PDB was beefed up with a daily addition “For the President’s Eyes Only”– “Special Daily Report on North Vietnam.” The total daily briefs are about ten pages long. Humble Host cherry picks a few items, but cannot do the document justice in this forum. RTR posts will continue to include the most pertinent of what has been declassified but encourages readers to access the documents made available in the Central Intelligence Agency Library Reading Room for a fuller understanding of the complexity of POTUS responsibilities…. More in Ripple Salvo below… but first…

Good Morning: Day SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO of looking back and bringing forward the service and sacrifices of the warriors of the Vietnam war and, in particular, the Red River Rats and Yankee Air Pirates who alone carried the offense to the enemy homeland every day for 40 months… It was Called ROLLING THUNDER…

HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Thursday, 7 March 1968, fifty years ago….

Page 5: “American War Casualties Are Identified By Pentagon”… 55 AMERICAN SERVICEMEN KILLED IN COMBAT…(HUMBLE HOST NOTES: AMERICAN KIAs FOR 5 WEEKS IN A ROW GREATER THAN 400–2,000+ KIAs in 5 weeks!!! In the deadliest year (2009) of the Afghanistan War 521 Americans were killed in battle….

THE GROUND WAR & KHE SANH: Page 1: “U.S. COMMAND SEES HUE, NOT KHE SANH AS FOE’S MAIN GOAL–Senior Spokesmen, Noting Shift of Opinion Predicts Heavy Assault on City–Troop Move Reported–North Vietnamese Division Said to Leave DMZ Area For Positions Near Coast”… “The United States military command has revised its opinion and now thinks that an attack on Hue–rather than on the Marine encampment at Khe Sanh–is the enemy’s next objective. ‘I don’t rule out Khe Sanh,’ a senior military spokesman said today in assessing the enemy’s plans, ‘but my impression is that he has more interest in Hue than at Khe Sanh at this time.” The officer, who expresses the views of the high command, added that more than a division of North Vietnamese troops–about 10,000 men–had moved into the Hue area from the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, along the border of North and South Vietnam….Despite its concern over the possibility of a fresh assault on the ancient city, the military command is less worried now than at any other time during the last five weeks about a ‘general second wave’ of attacks against Saigon and other population centers…. IN THE VIEW OF THE COMMAND, supply and transportation problems and a steady pounding by American bombs have also weakened the enemy’s position around Khe Sanh, an encampment of 6,000 marines in the northwestern corner of South Vietnam and have decreased the possibility of an immediate attack. The officer said American bombs dropped near Khe Sanh had caused at least 2,000 ‘secondary explosions… This indicated that the enemy force had lost valuable petroleum and ammunition reserves…enemy mortar and rocket attacks on the camp continue… Elsewhere, 81 North Vietnamese were reported killed by United States marines in a clash three miles northeast of Conthien at the edge of the DMZ… Marines said their losses were 14 dead and 29 wounded… Enemy Toll Put At 50,000…American officers said that 50,000 North Vietnamese and Vietcong had been killed in the attacks against the cities and other major centers in South Vietnam since January 30.”…

Page 1: “NEW YORK MAYOR LINDSAY HAS A PLAN RIVALING STATES TO IMPROVE CITIES–He Would Combined Public and Private Resources To Attack Urban Problems–Lindsay Scores Governors’ Program As A Menace To Municipal Home Rules”… Page 1: “President Calls Report On Riots Worthy Of Study–But Avoids Direct Comment On Warnings By Panel–Cites His Own Record”… Page 1: “Nixon Scores Panel For ‘Undue’ Stress On White Racism”… Page 1: “Johnson rejects Primary Contests–Bars All Three Required By State Laws–Rift With Kennedy’s May Widen”… Page 6: “Senator Gruening Pledges New Study Of Corruption In Saigon Regime”… Page 8: “Plans To Sabotage Draft Offices Reported Circulating In United States”… Page 1: “Guard Riot Test Stresses Tennessee– Ellington Defends Plans to Shift Troops This Weekend”…

7 MARCH 1968…President’s Daily Brief…see Ripple Salvo…

STATE DEPARTMENT, Office of the Historian, Historical Documents, Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Volume VI, Vietnam: Two documents for 7 March deserve your perusal. Document 110 is a one pager, including a very enlightening footnote, is a memo from Rostow to the President suggesting a course of action and note to Westmoreland (the footnote)….Document 111…A positively historic telephone conversation between the President and his old friend in the Senate, Richard Russell. The bulk of the transcript of the long call is more than four pages long. It’s great… LBJ bares his soul… Most highly recommended. Read at:

110.    https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d110

111.    https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d111

7 MARCH 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (8 Mar reporting 7 Mar ops)… Page 1: “Targets In North Raided”... “Meanwhile, United States planes flew 83 raids over North Vietnam, striking river-barge facilities less than two miles from the center of Hanoi and railroad yards and industrial facilities near Hanoi and Haiphong. They also struck at roads, military storage areas and truck convoys throughout the country. In South Vietnam Air Force (Navy and Marine) planes repeatedly bombed and strafed enemy troop concentrations near the embattled Marine encampment at Khe Sanh… An Air Force F-100 was hit by ground fire and downed in Anxuyen Province in the southernmost part of South Vietnam. The pilot (Captain C.D. SISSELL 90th TFS) was rescued.

“Vietnam Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were two fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 7 March 1968…

(1) A C-123K that was taxiing for takeoff at Khe Sanh after undergoing substantial damage repairs from a previous enemy mortar attack, was hit again and destroyed on the runway at Khe Sanh. This was the 3rd 311th ACS C-123K destroyed in support of the Khe Sanh base. Following the loss, this most hazardous mission was shared out with all other C-123 units of the 315th ACW…

(2) An O-1G Bird Dog of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG was totaled by pilot error on a landing at Bearcat. The crew of two survived (probably to never again fly together)…

From the Howie Plunkett Compilation: “34 TFS/F-105 History” and the LGEN Sam Armstrong “100-mission combat log”: 07-Mar-68: “The four F-105s of Scuba flight from the 34 TFS tried to destroy a crashed helicopter in Laos. The Lineup: #1 Captain William Thomas; #2 Major Sam Armstrong; #3 Major Clyde Falls, Jr.; and, #4 Major Douglas Roysden... This was Major Armstrong’s 82nd combat mission.”   LGEN Armstrong: “I swapped places with Bill Thomas when we were executed for 1st alternate to give him some more leading practice. We were sent over to bomb one of our helicopters that had crashed on a mountain in Laos south of Mu Gia Pass. For some reason they wanted it knocked out. Well there was a little puffy cloud right over the hill and we had to come down in very shallow dives to hit it and consequently none of us got a direct hit on it. We then went over to Quang Khe and found some boats in the river. We made two strafing passes apiece on those boats. Then came home out of Pack I.”…

RIPPLE SALVO… #732… THE PRESIDENT’s DAILY BRIEF– and a sample edition of the Special Daily Report for LBJ”

“For The President’s Eyes Only”– SPECIAL DAILY REPORT on NORTH VIETNAM–  7 March 1968…

I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION

Hanoi on the San Antonio Formula: Hanoi’s weekly, Vietnam Courier, of 26 February carries a detailed rejection of President Johnson’s San Antonio formula, and all interpretations of it, as a basis for starting negotiations. The article breaks no new ground, but it is one of the most thorough restatements of the regime’s long-held position that the bombings must be stopped unconditionally before any talks can take place.

The Courier quotes the key passage from the President’s San Antonio address and seems to accept as reasonable the call for prompt and productive discussions after a bombing cessation. North Vietnamese spokesmen have addressed these points repeatedly in the past two months in an effort to put Hanoi’s position in the best possible light. The Courier boggles, however, at the “no advantage” sentence, saying that this is only a “more cunning” way of asking for North Vietnamese reciprocity. It concedes that the President used the “mildest” terms possible (“We would assume…”), but claims that this still asks a price for ending the “criminal bombing,” and implies there should be “restrictions on the normal activities of a sovereign people.

The Courier says the US is aware that the San Antonio formula puts “the aggressor and his victim on the same footing ,” and therefore has made it “subject to bargaining.” At one time, said the article, the formula was presented as a demand that infiltration be stopped, while later it was a call for “{freezing of military operations in the South” or keeping them at their present levels. The Courier said that Secretary Clifford’s statement that supplies sent south could be kept t an “ordinary level” was portrayed by the US as a “major concession.”

The Courier rejected all interpretations of the formula because Hanoi “will not negotiate under the threat of bombs.” it cited three key policy statements since last December by North Vietnamese spokesmen as having “cut the ground from under Washington’s feet.” The U.S., says the article, is left with only the “worn-out” theme of reciprocity as an argument against a bombing halt. The standard Communist formula is repeated: if the US really wants peace in Vietnam, first of all, the bombing and all other acts of war against the North must be stopped unconditionally. The article holds out no hope of this happening soon, because the US is bent on going deeper into the tunnel by insisting on a military victory and by refusing any political settlement based on the Vietnamese people’s national rights.

DEBRIEFING OF FRENCH CORRESPONDENT:

The former French Press Agency correspondent in Hanoi, Bernard-Joseph Cabanes, claims that Premier Pham Van Dong made a special effort before Cabanes left North Vietnam to emphasize Hanoi’s determination and ability to continue the fighting. In a farewell interview on 19 February, the Premier stressed that present levels of fighting did not put a strain on Hanoi’s resources. He said North Vietnam would mot only continue the present pace of the war, but could step it up. North Vietnam has yet to “bring to bear the full capacity of its military force,” the premier said.

Cabanes reported at length on Hanoi’s attitude toward a negotiated settlement. He believes that Hanoi genuinely wants negotiations but will not accept the “no advantage” aspect of the San Antonio formula. This condition, however, is the only issue still dividing Hanoi and Washington on the terms for beginning negotiations, according to Cabanes. Neither the bellicose language of Communist propaganda–which Cabanes said is intended for home consumption–nor the increase in interpreted as unwillingness to negotiate. Hanoi is simultaneously pushing military and diplomatic actions in hopes that either one or both will obtain Communist objectives.

The French journalist had two conversations about negotiations with Foreign Minister Trinh in February just before he left. The foreign minister implied that the North Vietnamese “four points” were intended to be a “basis for discussions” rather than final terms for a settlement, and that the language employed was purposefully vague.

Hanoi unquestionably would prefer to talk directly with the US alone, Cabanes reports. The North Vietnamese leadership would turn to an international conference only on two conditions–to obtain international endorsements of the agreement worked out between Hanoi and Washington, or as a last resort in case “US-Vietnamese talks fail to produce a settlement.” The North Vietnamese consider U Thant an important Asian statesman who should be treated with respect, but they are unequivocably opposed to any role for the UN in a negotiated settlement.

In terms of his understanding of Hanoi’s negotiating position, Cabanes appears to have developed good contacts and used them well. He had ready access to French diplomatic sources, speaking acquaintance with other Western and Communist members of the diplomatic corps, almost daily contact with the press office of the North Vietnamese foreign minister and occasional contact with important North Vietnamese leadership…

CIVIL DEFENSE– The North Vietnamese continue to dig in for a long war (rest of two pages remains redacted and still classified)

MORE ON SWISS–NORTH VIETNAMESE RELATIONS-– Following the visit to Hanoi last month by the Swiss Ambassador to Peking, the Swiss Government has announced that a representative of the North Vietnamese Foreign Ministry will in-turn make a visit to Switzerland. The visit to Hanoi resulted in the establishment of semi-official diplomatic relations with the North Vietnamese, and the next step may be to set up some kind of North Vietnamese representation in the Swiss capital. The Swiss announcement said cryptically that “a means of contact that may be used at any moment has not been established.”

Major Bridge Repaired: Haiphong’s only permanent rail and highway bridge, destroyed in September bombings, may now be reopened to traffic. Mid-January photography of a railyard near Haiphong shower enough 90-foot truss-type bridge spans to fill the dropped portion of the Haiphong Rail and highway bridge. Preparatory repairs to the bridge had been observed in earlier photography and the dropped section could be replaced and rails laid within hours. Photography during January indicated that rail traffic moving out of Haiphong probably using a rail pontoon bridge near the destroyed one. In addition to rail crossings, there are other by-passes–highway pontoon bridges and ferries–over which supplies leave Haiphong…

II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL ATTITUDES ON THE WAR: Nothing of significance to report today.

Humble Host will continue to include pertinent paragraphs from the PDB and attached Notes on North Vietnam… All of which is available at the CIA Library Reading Room, then search “President’s Daily Brief, year and date”… try it, you’ll like it, maybe… www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/pbd

RTR Quote for 7 March: NAPOLEON: “Tactics should change every ten years to maintain even a semblance of superiority.”…

Lest we forget…     Bear