Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #706… “THE UNITED STATES WAS SURPRISED BY THE 1968 TET OFFENSIVE…” Why? … Didn’t any of our intelligent intelligence guys see, read and figure out what the “Quang Tin Document” foretold? ….but first…
Good Morning: Day SEVEN HUNDRED SIX of another look at what was going on fifty years ago in and over Vietnam where 58,000 American warriors were laying down their lives for their country, our country… They are to never be forgotten… remembering is what happens here…
9 FEBRUARY 1968… HEAD LINES from The New York Times on a cloudy Friday with snow flurries among the tall buildings…
TET OFFENSIVE: Page 1: “56 MARINES DIE IN BATTLE IN TENSE NORTHERN SECTOR–21 AMERICANS KILLED IN ASSAULT ON HILL AT KHESANH–Enemy’s Toll Is 124–Officers Firm On Holding Base”… “Fifty-six marines were killed and 123 wounded yesterday in a series of actions in the tense northernmost provinces of South Vietnam. One of the more grueling battles took place only two miles north-northwest of the Marine outpost at Khesanh in a hill position defending the base. Twenty-one marines were killed and 27 wounded in the attack. The United States command announcing the battle, said that 124 enemy soldiers had been killed. High military officials said yesterday that the United States was prepared to defend Khesanh at all costs. With the fall of the nearby Special Forces camp at Langvei Wednesday, the military command has re-examined allied strategy in the Khesanh bastion. ‘We are going to proceed,’ a high American officer said. ‘We feel we can handle it.'”… “An American spokesman said that North Vietnamese troops ambushed a Untied States Marine convoy trying to reach Hue, killing 20 marines and wounding 39, Reuters reported”… “South of Danang, United States troops temporarily trapped an enemy force and killed 152 in heavy fighting…15 Americans were killed and 63 wounded.”… “In Saigon scattered street fighting continued in the southwestern section, but the rest of the city began to return to normal… a spokesman estimated that between 700 and 1,000 enemy soldiers remained in the city, 300 of them were in the vicinity of the race track.”… “Officials are adamant in their determination to keep Khesanh. ‘We’ve got to secure Hue and Danang and Quangtri,’ said an official, referring to the three key cities in the northernmost provinces. ‘Khesanh is one of the parts of that mission.’ “… Page 1: “WAR ENDING VICTORY SEEN AS AIM OF ENEMY DRIVE”… “… ‘These troops came with what we call ‘mission orders,’ which means they were to take and hold certain objectives and needed no further plans because they believed they would be relieved and reinforced,’ one United States officer said. A key question is, how could a total enemy assault force of perhaps 60,000 to 80,000 troops, brave as they might be, expect to defeat 500,000 Americans and 700,000 South Vietnamese troops in a head-on battle? One official appraisal says that the enemy made ‘a gross error in judgment.’ Some prisoners captured in nearby Bienhoa said they had been told they would win because of a revolutionary new weapon’ that would stun America and South Vietnam forces.’…”…Page 1: “HANOI INDICATES IT IS STILL READY TO DISCUSS PEACE–Interest Is Stirred By Official Rephrasing of Conditions For Talks“… “North Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Nguyen Duy Trinh, indicated today that Hanoi was still prepared to open peace talks with the United States…’as soon as the United States has proved that it has really stopped unconditionally the bombings and all other acts of war against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.”… Page 1: ROBERT KENNEDY ASSERTS U.S. CANNOT WIN–In Broad Indictment Of War, He Calls Johnson’s Claim of Progress Illusory”... Opening sentences of speech in Chicago: ‘Our enemy, savagely striking at will across all of South Vietnam, has finally shattered the mask of official illusion with which we have concealed our true circumstances even from ourselves. But a short time ago we were serene in our reports and predictions of progress.”… Page 11: “6, Including 2 Koreans, Executed By Vietcong”… ” South Korean sources confirmed that two South Koreans, a diplomat and a newsman, as well as four South Vietnamese were executed by a three-man Vietcong firing squad near the Saigon race track last night. They were among 18 people captured yesterday in Cholon, Saigon’s Chinese quarter.”… Page 15: “Enemy’s Soviet-Designed Rifle Slows Marines Drive In Hue–AK-47 Makes Sniper A Machine Gunner Who Can Tie-Up An Entire Company–Cannons Used To Root Out Foe In Hue Citadel”… Page 15: “416 AMERICANS KILLED IN DEADLIEST WAR WEEK” … “United States forces lost 416 killed in action and the South Vietnamese lost 784 during the Communist lunar new year offensive between January 28 and February 3 the American command said here today. There were 2,757 American and 2,230 South Vietnamese wounded. The Vietcong and North Vietnamese lost 15,515 killed. It was the deadliest week of the war so far both for the allied side and the Communists. The new figures brought to 17,296 the number of Americans killed in Vietnam from January 1, 1961 to February 5, 1968. The total of American wounded for the same period was 108,428, of whom 57,647 were hospitalized. American missing numbered 997.”… Page 16: “CASUALTIES OF VIETNAM WAR ARE IDENTIFIED BY PENTAGON”== 54.
PUEBLO INCIDENT: Page 1: “SEOUL BUILDING UP FORCES IN CRISIS–Presses Plans For Creation of 2.5 Million-Man Militia”… “South Korea has announced a military expansion program to meet the threat of stepped up infiltration from North Korea, which Seoul Government contends is aimed at turning this country into another Vietnam.”… Page 11: “Kim Il Sung Accuses United States”… “Premier Kim Il Sung of North Korea charged today that the United States was ‘maneuvering’ to provoke a new war in Korea and warned that ‘the aggressors can be crushed at one stroke if they pounce upon us.”… Page 15: “U.S. Reconnaissance Plane From South Korea Missing”... “An Air Force RF-4C Phantom jet with two crewmen aboard was scheduled to return to Osan Air Force Base, 45 miles south of Seoul at 1 P.M. today. A spokesman said there was a very good chance the plane strayed over North Vietnam.”… Page 2: “B-52s In Pacific Zone Strengthened by U.S.”...
Page 1: “PRESIDENT ASSURES PRIME MINISTER HAROLD WILSON THAT AMERICANS ‘BACK BRITAIN’ “… Page 8: “Nuclear Surface Ship Showdown Nears; Pitts Congress Against Executive”… Page 4: “Draft of Graduate Students Decried at Hearing”... “United States Education officials said today the Government’s present policy on the military draft would cut heavily into ranks of young men truing to pursue gradual studies….a subcommittee of the House Education Committee was told that more than 150,000 prospective graduate students were likely to be drafted this year.‘That figure may well be too low, and if the policy is unchanged this year, then the problem will become very,very great,’ said Peter Muirhead, Chief of the Office of Education’s higher education division. Total graduate school enrollment this year is 404,000, he said.”…
9 FEBRUARY 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…New York Times…No copy on the air war in the north… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 9 February 1968…
From the Compilation “34 TFS/F-105 History” by Howie Plunkett: 09-Feb-68: “‘Scuba’ flight from the 34th TFS bombed a target in the Barrel Roll region of Northern Laos. The flight took off at 1500. The line-up: #1 Major James Daniel, Jr; #2 Colonel Paul P. Douglas, Jr. 388th TFW Commander; #3 Major Spence “Sam” Armstrong; and, #4 Captain John Hartman....This was Major Armstrong’s 61st mission, the first since his return from Hawaii after 10 days of R&R.”….Major Armstrong: “Weather bad in Pack VI still so we went to northern Laos to work with some A-1E FACs. A flight of 4 F-105s was in right ahead of us and started some fires with their CBUs. We came in behind them and started some more. The target was a group of structures where some gasoline and ammo was apparently stored since the fires were definitely POL type fires. We did good work today.” Their mission lasted 2 hours, 45 minutes..
In his memoirs (100-mission combat log) Lt. Gen. Armstrong commented on this mission. “It was a planned Pack VIA mission which wound up going single flight to Laos. This was the first time I had flown with our new wing commander, Col. P.P. Douglas. He was the division commander at Yokota so he was sorta current in the F-105D. He had been an ace in WWII in the P-47, but I quickly experienced that he was out of his element in February 1968.”…
Humble Host is always on the lookout for extraordinary and gallant performances that have earned the SILVER STAR, AIR FORCE CROSS and NAVY CROSS for flights in Southeast Asia… With the focus of the air war directed to support for the bastion at Khesanh this blogger will be posting award citations for the bravest of the brave during the siege of Khesanh…
AMONG THE BRAVE… LIEUTENANT COLONEL HOWARD M. DALLMAN, USAF… EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM…
THE AIR FORCE CROSS… 5 FEBRUARY 1968…KHESANH, SOUTH VIETNAM…
“The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the AIR FORCE CROSS to HOWARD M. DALLMAN, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force, for EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force while serving with the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Tuy Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, SEVENTH Air Force, as a C-130E Aircraft Commander in Southeast Asia on 5 February 1968. On that date, Colonel DALLMAN was flying a combat mission in support of friendly ground forces engaged in the defense of a beleaguered outpost. The mission was to fly 35,000 pounds of needed ammunition and a medical evacuation team from DaNang to Khe Sanh, which was under siege. Immediately after landing at Khe Sanh, the aircraft was hit by a volley of armor-piercing rounds which ignited the explosive cargo. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Colonel DALLMAN elected to back the aircraft to a safe area where an explosion would not endanger the defending ground forces. there he directed the orderly evacuation of his medical evacuation team from the stricken aircraft. He then proceeded to fight the fire, which had spread to the cargo compartment. Through his actions he not only saved lives and a valuable aircraft, but also prevented a large portion of the Khe Sanh airfield from being destroyed by an explosion. Through his EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Lieutenant Colonel DALLMAN reflected the highest credit upon himself and the Untied States Air Force.”…
RIPPLE SALVO… #706… “THE QUANG TIN DOCUMENT”… On of the enduring lessons from the Vietnam war is provided by the intelligence failure that led to the Tet surprise. How in the world did the United States and South Vietnam get surprised by the Vietcong’s Tet Offensive?… Ronnie E. Ford wrote a book about it. Title: “TET 1968: Understanding the Surprise“… His conclusion:
“The makers of American policy and the US intelligence community as a whole are equally responsible for the surprise of Tet. To have fully comprehended Hanoi’s overall intent, and understood the limited objectives of the Tet Offensive–thereby anticipating the scope and nature of the coming attacks–a thorough fusion of military , political and diplomatic intelligence expertise was needed. This was impossible at the time because the intelligence community’s effort in Vietnam was diffused. This situation worsened before the 1968 Tet Offensive when the pressure from Washington policymakers to show progress in the war created an atmosphere of hostility within and between the various agencies of the intelligence community. The US was surprised by the 1968 Tet Offensive because this hostile atmosphere prevented the fusion of intelligence.”
Humble Host asks? If you were handed the “Quang Tin Document” six weeks before Tet, would you (a) sit on it, or (b) go to General Quarters, spreading the news of your discovery as you readied for the inevitable?
The Quang Tin Document…
This intro is from “The Vietnam War As History” and an essay therein: “Intelligence and the Tet Offensive“…. “Another informative document was seized by elements of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Quang Tin Province… Found on 19 November 1967, the document provided substantial detail on an offensive that was about to unfold. One critical passage stated that ‘the time has come for a general uprising that now is within reach.’ Another part of the Quang Tin document continued: ‘This is the time we should proceed with our General Offensive–General Uprising. through the coordinated use of military forces combined with a countrywide popular uprising, we shall attack every provincial city and every district town, including the capital city Saigon, which we will liberate.’ The document also contained details concerning how the attack plan would be carried out.”…
From the notebook of Vu Sinh Vien, captured 19 Nov 1967 in Quang Tin Province South Vietnam… I quote…
Special requirements… 12 November 1967…Dissemination of the Order for the General Offensive and the General Uprising.
Recently the Central Headquarters held a meeting to analyze the 13th Resolution. they unanimously realized that the dry season situation had changed from that of an unconventional war to that of a limited war. The US intention is to concentrate all their potential to end the war in South Vietnam. Consequently serious contradictions arise. The French have told ;the Americans: ‘we were defeated by the Communists after 10 years. Now you are defeated by the Communists after 20 years. You are more stupid than we were.’
Leaders of the political parties and heads of government are very confused and puzzled. At present, a movement is being initiated to collect about 5,000 signatures to demand that Johnson end the war. McNamara demands that the President stop the bombing of North Vietnam. They conclude that the bombings are totally fruitless…McNamara complains that the Vietnamese war has rendered the American people miserable and wretched. It brings advantages only to the imperialists selling oil, gasoline, bombs and ammunition.
(General Maxwell) Taylor said, sighing: ‘We have selected the wrong objective. We are seriously mistaken!’
The Central Headquarters concludes that the time has come for a direct revolution, and the opportunity for a General Offensive and General Uprising is within reach. The Central Headquarters of the Party and Uncle Ho have ordered the Party Committee in South Vietnam and the entire army and people of South Vietnam to implement a General Offensive and General Uprising in order to achieve a decisive victory for the revolution within the Winter and 1968 Spring and Summer.
The Region 5 Committee and the Military Affairs Committee of Region 5 have promised the Party that Region 5 will be completely liberated during the 1967-1968 Winter-Spring Campaign.
Action to take: Use very strong military attacks in coordination with the uprisings of the local population to take over towns and cities. Troops should flood the lowlands. They should move toward liberating the capital city, take power and try to rally the enemy brigades and regiments to our side one by one. Propaganda should be broadly disseminated among the population in general, and leaflets should be used to reach enemy officers and enlisted personnel. The above subject should be fully understood by cadre and troops; however, our brothers should not say that this order comes from the Party and Uncle Ho, but to say that it comes from the Front. Also, do not specify times for implementation…. End Quote.
The “fusion of intelligence”…collecting and racing to fuse the pieces together before the picture is delivered as a painful history lesson… lose or overlook a critical piece–a Quang Tin document–at great peril…
RTR Quote for 9 February: SUN TZU, The Art of War, 350 B.C.: “Therefore determine the enemy’s plans and you will know which strategy will be successful and which will not.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
