To All
. Good Sunday morning March 29. .. It is all clear this morning and will be 87 by 3…Lots going on since we had to buy a new washer and dryer yesterday. What a day. .NOT!!!
Have a great weekend
Warm Regards,
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HAGD
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For all my brothers in Arms
Declaration of March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day
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SUBJ/NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMEMORATION - VIETNAM WAR//
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RMKS/1. The U.S. Navy performed a wide array of missions during the Vietnam
War. In the air, the Navy was a key partner with the U.S. Air Force during
the Rolling Thunder and Linebacker air campaigns against North Vietnam, and
in other air operations in Laos and Cambodia. On the coast, it developed a
highly effective blockade to prevent the resupply of enemy forces by sea,
engaged in naval gunfire support missions against enemy targets in the
littoral areas of Vietnam, and provided amphibious transport for Marines
operating in I Corps. On the rivers, Navy task forces protected commercial
traffic, assisted allied ground forces in pacifying these areas, and
interdicted enemy troops and supplies moving on these inland waterways. The
U.S. Navy also supported the war effort with a massive sea and riverine
logistics operation, built and managed shore facilities throughout South
Vietnam, and provided extensive medical support for the allied military
operation. A total of 1.8 million Sailors served in Southeast Asia. The
Navy provided the allied effort with many unique capabilities, the most
significant being the projection of U.S. combat power ashore and control of
the seas to support a land war in Asia far from the United States. Overall,
the Navy suffered the loss of 1,631 men killed and 4,178 wounded during the
course of the war.
2. To ensure the sacrifices of the 9 million who served during this
difficult chapter of our country's history are remembered for generations to
come, President Donald Trump signed into law the Vietnam War Veterans
Recognition Act of 2017, designating March 29 of each year as National
Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day. On March 29 we honor all those who
answered our Nation's call to duty in Vietnam. With conviction, our Nation
pledges our enduring respect, our continuing care, and our everlasting
commitment to all Vietnam Veterans.
3. Mission. Meet the President's direction by honoring and recognizing
Vietnam Veterans for their service to the Nation and Navy.
4. Commander's Intent
a. Purpose. Commemorate National Vietnam War Veterans Day throughout
the Navy on 29 March .
b. Method. Command-centric execution of a coordinated Navy-wide
National Vietnam War Veterans Day commemoration.
(1) Use available Navy outreach assets to maximum extent possible.
(2) Be guided by, and supportive of, the Navy's strategic messaging.
c. End State: The National Vietnam War Veterans Day commemoration
becomes an institutionalized community outreach and Navy pride event for all
Sailors, past and present, observed globally through the end of the
commemoration in 2025.
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director's corner for all 94 H-Grams
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
.
March 29
1844 Uriah P. Levy, the Navy's first Jewish flag officer, is promoted to the rank of captain. He also becomes the first of the Jewish faith promoted to commodore and is instrumental in persuading Congress to abolish flogging in the Navy.
1863 Union troops brought ashore by USS Norwich to Jacksonville, Fla., ransack and loot the residents before evacuating the city. Also on this date, USS South Carolina, captures the schooner Nellie off Port Royal, S.C.
1944 USS Haddo (SS 255) torpedoes and sinks Japanese army cargo ship Nichian Maru in South China Sea. Also on this date, USS Tunny (SS 282) torpedoes the Japanese battleship Musashi off Palau, necessitating for her to be repaired in Japan.
1944 USS Ericsson (DD 440) and USS Kearny (DD 432), along with three submarine chasers, sink German U 223, which had sunk five Allied merchant vessels, including U.S. Army transport ship SS Dorchester of Four Chaplains fame on Feb. 3, 1943.
1960 The first fully integrated Fleet Ballistic Missile system test, an A1X test vehicle, is launched from USS Observation Island (EAG 154).
1985 The Navy awards a contract to the McDonnell Douglas Corporation for development of night attack capabilities for the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.
1991 USS Francis Hammond (FF 1067), USS Shasta (AE 33), USS Niagara Falls (AFS-33) assist a Sri Lankan merchant vessel burning in the Arabian Gulf.
1973 - Under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords signed on Jan. 27, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops departed South Vietnam, ending nearly 10 years of U.S. military presence. Only a Defense Attache Office and a few Marine guards at the Saigon American Embassy remained, although roughly 8,500 U.S. civilians stayed on as technical advisers to the South Vietnamese.
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Today in World History: March 29
1461 The armies of two kings, Henry VI and Edward IV, collide at Towton.
1638 A permanent European colony is established in present-day Delaware.
1827 Composer Ludwig van Beethoven is buried in Vienna amidst a crowd of over 10,000 mourners.
1847 U.S. troops under General Winfield Scott take possession of the Mexican stronghold at Vera Cruz.
1867 The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars.
1879 British troops of the 90th Light Infantry Regiment repulse a major attack by Zulu tribesmen in northwest Zululand.
1886 Coca-Cola goes on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton, claims it can cure anything from hysteria to the common cold.
1903 A regular news service begins between New York and London on Marconi's wireless.
1913 The German government announces a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget.
1916 The Italians call off the fifth attack on Isonzo.
1936 Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar.
1941 The British sink five Italian warships off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean.
1951 The Chinese reject Gen. Douglas MacArthur's offer for a truce in Korea.
1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I opens on Broadway starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner.
1952 President Harry Truman removes himself from the presidential race.
1961 The 23rd amendment, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote for president, is ratified.
1962 Cuba opens the trial of the Bay of Pigs invaders.
1966 Leonid Brezhenev becomes First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. He denounces the American policy in Vietnam and calls it one of aggression.
1967 France launches its first nuclear submarine.
1971 Lt. William L. Calley Jr. is found guilty for his actions in the My Lai massacre.
1973 The last U.S. troops withdraw from South Vietnam.
1975 Egyptian president Anwar Sadat declares that he will reopen the Suez Canal on June 5, 1975.
1976 Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four Kent State students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970.
1986 A court in Rome acquits six men in a plot to kill the Pope.
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Rollingthunderremembered.com .
March 29
Hello All,
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
Links to all content can now be found right on the homepage http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com. If you scroll down from the banner and featured content you will find "Today in Rolling Thunder Remembered History" which highlights events in the Vietnam war that occurred on the date the page is visited. Below that are links to browse or search all content. You may search by keyword(s), date, or date range.
An item of importance is the recent incorporation of Task Force Omega (TFO) MIA summaries. There is a link on the homepage and you can also visit directly via https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/task-force-omega/. There are 60 summaries posted thus far, with about 940 to go (not a typo—TFO has over 1,000 individual case files).
If you have any questions or comments about RTR/TFO, or have a question on my book, you may e-mail me directly at acrossthewing@protonmail.com. Thank you Dan
Thanks to Micro
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
.
Thanks to Micro
From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..March 29 . .
March 29: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2174
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
By: Kipp Hanley
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Thanks to the Flyover
I spent a lot of time going back and forth on route 66 in the 50s and 60s in the back of various Chevys with my two sisters as my dad moved from air force base to air force base…skip
. With cars rapidly gaining popularity in the early 20th century, an American businessman in Tulsa, Oklahoma, envisioned a network of highways connecting the whole country.
Starting small in 1901 as a businessman and county commissioner, Cyrus Avery was nominated in 1925 to the newly formed Joint Board on Interstate Highways, a federal agency tasked with coordinating, organizing, and numbering the country's road system.
Officially commissioned on Nov. 11, 1926, and first marked with roadside signs in 1927, Route 66—officially U.S. Highway 66—connected Chicago and Los Angeles, not coincidentally passing through Avery's adopted hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Just 800 of its 2,500 miles were paved in the new route's first year.
In Tulsa, highway supporters—including Avery—formed the U.S. 66 Highway Association in 1927, an advocacy group to promote the new highway to drivers and tourists and policymakers who could approve funds for paving. The highway became nationally famous and earned the moniker "the Main Street of America."
A major boost to the road's popularity came from John Steinbeck's 1939 book "The Grapes of Wrath," in which the author nicknamed Route 66 "the Mother Road". It chronicled the fictional Joad family's trip along the highway from the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma to the fruit fields of California. In the economic boom following the Great Depression and World War II, families—lured by history, popular culture, and countless tourist attractions—piled into their vehicles and set out to explore Route 66.
The Interstate Highway Act of 1956 heralded the road's decline, as massive, multilane interstates supplanted the smaller U.S. routes. But nostalgia kept the myth alive, resulting in a resurgence of attention. Much of the original Route 66 received a National Scenic Byway designation, with many stretches featuring tourist attractions, lodging, and food aimed at road-trippers exploring one of America's most iconic roads.
Today, Route 66 still occupies a fond place in the American cultural memory, symbolizing 20th-century innovation and nostalgia. The iconic roadway is fast approaching its 100th birthday in 2026, with numerous events and celebrations scheduled for the centennial. In April 2025, Springfield, Missouri, was chosen as the official host city for the centennial kickoff on April 30, 2026. According to August 2025 reports, Springfield will even construct a new monument to mark the occasion—but you won't have to travel there to participate. There are multiple documentaries to watch and road trips to take if you're feeling festive. You can also celebrate right now by looking at some vintage photos of Route 66, as Stacker has curated a slideshow highlighting the construction and early years of the iconic American road.
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Thanks to Brett
March 28, 2026
George Answers Your Questions: Beyond Iran: China, Russia and Europe
By: George Friedman
Beyond Iran: China, Russia and Europe
March 23, 2026
Question: Isn't the Trump administration's real goal in the Iran war to limit China's future capability to threaten the U.S. by controlling the energy/oil flows into China? Doesn't this explain better than other theories why the U.S. toppled Venezuela's government and now Iran's? Then if it moves Russia closer to the U.S., the U.S. controls the oil and gas that China needs to import?
Response: I find it difficult to understand why this would work. True, the war is raising the price of oil because of the reduction of oil availability, but at the same time it is raising the price of oil for all countries, the United States as well. This will fundamentally affect poor countries, which must radically reduce the amount of oil used, because of lack of money. But China is not a poor country by any means, but rather the second largest economy in the world, and can afford to buy the oil and energy it needs even at high prices. True, its per capita income ranks much lower than total GDP, but it is also a nation with a powerful and to some extent oppressive government. That means that they are in a position to impose increased economic burdens on individuals while maintaining resources needed for national economic and security reasons. I do enjoy exotic conspiracy theories, but this one simply doesn't work. And I would add that the possibility of an extended war in Iran potentially threatens our president's power, given coming elections and the unhappiness in the U.S. with higher living costs. The difference between an authoritarian government and a democracy.
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Question: In view of your past writings and forecasts, the U.S.'s grand strategy was to never allow an alliance between Russia (resource rich) and Europe, particularly Germany (economically and technologically rich), that could combine their strengths and pose a threat to the U.S. dominance of the Atlantic Ocean. What would compel Washington to passively accept the consolidation of the Eurasian landmass?
Response: This was certainly a pillar of American grand strategy for much of the last century and until Russia's recent performance in the Ukraine war. As I have said before, Russia's performance in Ukraine demonstrates that it is not a major military threat save for nuclear war, in which it would also be devastated, which is why it never started one. At this point, again I have also said, the primary American geopolitical goal is to reach an understanding with China on economic and military relationships. Under these circumstances, the idea that Russia, which cannot defeat and take Ukraine, can take Europe, is far-fetched. So the focus on Russia by the United States is obsolete. At the same time, an understanding between China and the United States places both Europe and Russia in a difficult position. Russia has a weak economy as well as a weak military. It badly needs capital and markets to grow its economy, and this has to be foreign. Europe has investment capital, and Poland is a growing military power, and any Russian attack on Europe would have to engage Poland. Given the situation in Ukraine, that isn't going to happen. So this creates an opportunity, the EU having a larger total economy than China, to enter a new relationship with Russia. Geopolitics is profoundly unsentimental. Yesterday's hated geopolitical foe becomes a trusted ally. However, I also wrote that a united Europe, given its history, is unlikely, so any accommodation with Russia would be with individual European countries. Consider, as I have said, how likely it was in 1941 to believe that in a decade or so, Japan would become a trusted American ally, or that Britain and France would be allied with Germany. This is the time to think unimaginable thoughts.
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Question: Your analysis is based on the assumption that the main reason behind the U.S. attack on Iran was the nuclear threat and a possible nuclear 9/11 scenario. Why wouldn't the U.S. see North Korea as a similar threat?
Response: The fundamental reason is experience and past history. Al-Qaida launched 9/11 with men who were prepared to commit suicide and be martyrs. Al-Qaida's remnants are given shelter and a degree of honor in Iran, along with Hezbollah, Hamas and other such groups where that culture of martyrdom is prevalent. North Korea has no such past, nor such a present, nor that culture. It has used its nuclear capability as a defensive tool. No one will launch an attack on even a minor nuclear power. I would add that it has as neighbors China, no great friend of North Korea, and Japan and Korea, both in no way friends. If North Korea were to try to carry out a nuclear 9/11, the United States would not be the primary target.
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Question: Even if there is an accommodation between the U.S. and China in the short to medium term, a longer-term definite accommodation between the two rivals seems unlikely. China will not stop trying to undermine the dollar's global dominance, and the U.S. cannot take this lightly; a confrontation is inevitable (say, in 10 years). Both sides are trying to gain more time, and I think time favors China more. Do you agree?
Response: Nothing remains the same in the long run. In the long run, extremely unexpected things happen, such as the United States becoming the most powerful country in the world after World War II, which was 80 years after the end of the brutal Civil War and a very deep depression a decade earlier. What makes geopolitical forecasting fascinating is that over time it violates all the rules of common sense. Who knows what country will emerge as a major power? Fifty years ago the idea of China becoming an economic giant was absurd. It's possible that the Chinese might want to undermine the U.S. dollar and turn the yuan into the primary global currency on many levels, for economic reasons and the power of prestige. And if there was any chance to do so, this is the moment, when America seems to be evolving unpredictably. At the same time, China's evolution is to a great extent unpredictable. The U.S. has a history of becoming unpredictable and restabilizing. Consider Nixon's decision to take the U.S. dollar off the gold standard. The dollar replaced the British pound as the core monetary measure as a result not only of economic growth but also of relative military power. The Chinese intention may well be to replace the dollar, and there might be a general sense that it could happen, but it would seem to me that dramatic changes in the reality of both the United States and China would be necessary for that to happen. That would mean a massive global transformation as happened after the two world wars. So it is not intention, but relative power and stability of nations, that make for global currency. I personally don't see such a fundamental, wrenching event to be likely, while a slow evolution of the system tends to value stability in key measures.
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. March 29, 1973: Two months after the signing of the Vietnam peace agreement, the last U.S. combat troops leave South Vietnam as Hanoi frees many of the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. America's direct eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War was at an end.
In Saigon, some 7,000 U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees remained behind to aid South Vietnam in conducting what looked to be a fierce and ongoing war with communist North Vietnam.
Vietnamization
In 1961, after two decades of indirect military aid, U.S. President John F. Kennedy sent the first large force of U.S. military personnel to support the ineffectual autocratic regime of South Vietnam against the communist North. Three years later, with the South Vietnamese government crumbling, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered limited bombing raids on North Vietnam, and Congress authorized the use of U.S. troops. By 1965, North Vietnamese offensives left President Johnson with two choices: escalate U.S. involvement or withdraw. Johnson ordered the former, and troop levels soon jumped to more than 300,000 as U.S. air forces commenced the largest bombing campaign in history.
During the next few years, the extended length of the war, the high number of U.S. casualties, and the exposure of U.S. involvement in war crimes, such as the massacre at My Lai, helped turn many in the United States against the Vietnam War. The communists' Tet Offensive of 1968 crushed U.S. hopes of an imminent end to the conflict and galvanized U.S. opposition to the war. In response, Johnson announced in March 1968 that he would not seek reelection, citing what he perceived to be his responsibility in creating a perilous national division over Vietnam. He also authorized the beginning of peace talks.
In the spring of 1969, as protests against the war escalated in the United States, U.S. troop strength in the war-torn country reached its peak at nearly 550,000 men. Richard Nixon, the new U.S. president, began U.S. troop withdrawal and "Vietnamization" of the war effort that year, but he intensified bombing. Large U.S. troop withdrawals continued in the early 1970s as President Nixon expanded air and ground operations into Cambodia and Laos in attempts to block enemy supply routes along Vietnam's borders. This expansion of the war, which accomplished few positive results, led to new waves of protests in the United States and elsewhere.
Finally, in January 1973, representatives of the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Vietcong signed a peace agreement in Paris, ending the direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Its key provisions included a cease-fire throughout Vietnam, the withdrawal of U.S. forces, the release of prisoners of war, and the reunification of North and South Vietnam through peaceful means. The South Vietnamese government was to remain in place until new elections were held, and North Vietnamese forces in the South were not to advance further nor be reinforced.
In reality, however, the agreement was little more than a face-saving gesture by the U.S. government. Even before the last American troops departed on March 29, the communists violated the cease-fire, and by early 1974 full-scale war had resumed. At the end of 1974, South Vietnamese authorities reported that 80,000 of their soldiers and civilians had been killed in fighting during the year, making it the most costly of the Vietnam War.
On April 30, 1975, the last few Americans still in South Vietnam were airlifted out of the country as Saigon fell to communist forces. North Vietnamese Colonel Bui Tin, accepting the surrender of South Vietnam later in the day, remarked, "You have nothing to fear; between Vietnamese there are no victors and no vanquished. Only the Americans have been defeated." The Vietnam War was the longest and most unpopular foreign war in U.S. history and cost 58,000 American lives. As many as two million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were killed.
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The URL s below get you access to the NHHC web sites. The last one the Directors's Corner gets you into all 86 H-GRAMs a treasure trove of Naval History Including H-Gram 28 which is today's subject
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
Visit the Director's Corner: H-grams and Blogs »
Thanks again to Admiral Cox and The Naval Historical and Heritage Command.
H-28 Gram
From: "Cox, Samuel J SES USN NHHC WASHINGTON DC (US)" <samuel.cox@navy.mil>
Sam Cox <sjcox80@verizon.net>
Subject: H028R U.S. Navy Valor in Vietnam 1969
From: Director of Naval History
To: Senior Navy Leadership
Subj: H-gram 028 U.S. Navy Valor in Vietnam: 1969
This H-gram marks National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Today, all U.S. Navy Museums hosted commemoration events, which included presenting pins provided by the Vietnam War Commemoration Commission to all Vietnam War veterans in attendance as a gesture of appreciation and respect for their service and sacrifice. Veterans returning from the Vietnam War in the 1960's and 1970's did not receive the gratitude from our nation that has become the norm today. Today's commemoration at the National Museum of the United States Navy in Washington DC also focused on the significant contribution of our sister service, the U.S. Coast Guard, to Operation Market Time (the interdiction of Vietnamese Communist seaborne supply routes) that cost the lives of eight Coastguardsmen. The NAVADMIN from CNO directing U.S. Navy participation in National Vietnam War Veterans Day can be found at attachment H028.2.
50th Anniversary; Vietnam War
The character of the Vietnam War changed dramatically in 1969, however intense combat continued, as well as acts of heroism. I don't have overall numbers for 1969, but during 1968, crews on board the river patrol boats (PBR's) alone earned one Medal of Honor, six Navy Crosses, four Legions of Merit, 24 Silver Stars, 290 Bronze Stars, 363 Navy Commendation Medals, and more than 500 purple hearts, with one out of every three being wounded. The numbers would have been comparable in 1969, for although there were no Tet-scale offensives, and bombing had been halted over North Vietnam, the pace of riverine and coastal operations by the U.S. Navy continued largely unabated, although they began to slow somewhat toward the end of 1969 as the new Nixon Administration's "Vietnamization" Policy increasingly took effect, and as the South Vietnamese Navy took on more combat operations. Nevertheless, three U.S. Navy personnel would be awarded the Medal of Honor for combat action in 1969;
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Joseph R. Kerry, USNR was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on 14 March 1969 while serving as a SEAL Team Leader on a mission to capture key Viet Cong leaders that turned into a major firefight. Despite his severe wounds, Kerry continued to lead his men in the successful accomplishment of their mission, resulting in the acquisition of critical intelligence. Kerry went on to serve as Senator from Nebraska.
Hospital Corpsman Second Class David R. Ray was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for action on 19 March 1969 while serving as corpsman with Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division when a battalion-sized Viet Cong assault penetrated the perimeter. Despite serious wounds, Ray repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire to aid wounded Marines, and was forced to defend himself from direct attack by two enemy soldiers, until he finally sacrificed his life to shield a wounded Marine from an enemy grenade explosion.
Lieutenant Thomas G. Kelley was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on 15 June 1969, while serving as Commander River Assault Division 152, when his column of eight river assault craft came under intense Viet Cong fire. Despite his own severe wounds, Kelley continued to lead and inspire the other boats until they were out of harm's way.
For complete Medal of Honor Citations please see attachment H028.1.
The "Tet Offensive" in early 1968 represented a psychological turning point in American political support for the war effort in Vietnam despite the fact that the surprise Tet Offensive was beaten back with catastrophic losses to the Viet Cong in South Vietnam from which they never really recovered. (In the end, South Vietnam would fall in 1975 to a conventional attack by the North Vietnamese Army not due to the Viet Cong insurgency.) However, the size, surprise and casualties of the Tet Offensive shocked and disillusioned much of the American public who had been led to believe that victory was just around the corner by optimistic pronouncements by senior military and political leaders. President Lyndon Johnson had halted the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam in order to induce the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table, which worked, although I would argue that the severe Vietnamese Communist losses in the Tet (and several "mini - Tet") offensives, as well as severe damage to North Vietnamese infrastructure caused by the bombing, had a lot to do with it.
President Richard M. Nixon won the 1968 U.S. Presidential election in part because he claimed to have a plan to end the Vietnam War, the details of which were not revealed before the election. In a speech at the end of December 1968, President Nixon gave a name to the new strategy, "Vietnamization." Under this strategy, U.S. forces would increasingly focus on training and equipping the South Vietnamese Army so that they could pick up an ever-increasing share of the burden of fighting, which would allow the U.S. forces to gradually draw down and get out of Vietnam. The North Vietnamese responded with a strategy of their own; "Talk While Fighting, Fight While Talking" (probably sounds better in Vietnamese). As a result, nearly as many Americans died during months of negotiating for the shape of the table for the Peace Talks as died during the same number of months of combat in 1968.
The North Vietnamese viewed negotiations, as well as declining U.S. domestic support for the war, as a signal of weakness of U.S. political will; their strategy thus became to both protract the fighting and protract the negotiations, while using the cessation of bombing to build up their conventional fighting power (with large quantities of Soviet and Communist Chinese military equipment that came into North Vietnam with no hindrance,) with the intent to wait out the U.S. before attempting to invade South Vietnam (they did this prematurely in 1972, and were beaten back by U.S. naval and air power, but were successful in 1975 when the U.S. did not intervene except to assist with limited evacuations.)
The negotiations and political machinations had little effect on U.S. Navy operations in the early part of 1969, other than that aircraft operating from aircraft carriers in the South China Sea bombed enemy targets in South Vietnam rather than North Vietnam itself. The U.S. Navy did fly reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam, which were occasionally shot at, despite the "truce," and the U.S. would respond with limited retaliatory strikes in the southern part of North Vietnam, which did little to curb the North Vietnamese build-up. However, the war in the rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam (Operation Game Warden) and a couple rivers south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) (Operation Clearwater) continued unabated for months, and in fact increased with the advent of Operation SEALORDS which pushed U.S. riverine activity right up to the Cambodian Border.
Very respectfully,
Sam
Samuel J. Cox
RADM, USN (retired)
Director of Naval History
Curator for the Navy
Director, Naval History and Heritage Command
202-433-2210 samuel.cox@navy.mil
H028.1 Medal of Honor Citations; U.S. Navy, Vietnam, 1969
29 Mar 2019
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Joseph R. Kerrey, United States Naval Reserve
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 14 March 1969 while serving as a SEAL Team Leader during action against enemy aggressor (Viet Cong) forces in the Republic of Vietnam. Acting in response to reliable intelligence Lieutenant (jg) Kerrey led his SEAL Team on a mission to capture important members of the enemy's area political cadre known to be located an island in the bay of Nha Trang. In order to surprise the enemy, he and his team scaled a 350-foot sheer cliff to place themselves above the ledge on which the enemy was located. Splitting his team in two elements, Lieutenant (jg) Kerrey led his men in a treacherous downward descent to the enemy's camp. Just as they neared the end of their descent, intense enemy fire was directed at them, and Lieutenant (jg) Kerrey received massive injuries from a grenade which exploded at his feet and threw him backward onto the jagged rocks. Although bleeding profusely and suffering great pain, he displayed outstanding courage and presence of mind in immediately directing his element's fire into the heart of the enemy camp. Utilizing his radioman, Lieutenant (jg) Kerrey called in the second element's fire support which caught the Viet Cong in a devastating cross fire. After successfully suppressing the enemy's fire, and although immobilized by his multiple wounds, he continued to maintain calm, superlative control as he ordered his team to secure and defend an extraction site. Lieutenant (jg) Kerrey resolutely directed his men, despite his near unconscious state, until he was eventually evacuated by helicopter. The havoc brought to the enemy by this very successful mission cannot be overestimated. The enemy who were captured provided critical intelligence to the allied effort. Lieutenant (jg) Kerry's courageous and inspiring leadership, valiant fighting spirit, and tenacious devotion to duty in the face of almost overwhelming opposition, sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Hospital Corpsman Second Class David R. Ray, United States Navy
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call f duty while serving as a corpsman with Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division, at Phu Loc 6, near An Hoa, Quang Nam Province, in the Republic of Vietnam, on 19 March 1969. During the early morning hours, an estimated battalion-sized enemy force launched a determined assault against the batteries position, and succeeded in effecting a penetration of the barbed-wire perimeter. The initial burst of enemy fire caused numerous casualties among the Marines who had immediately manned their howitzers during the rocket and mortar attack. Undaunted by the intense hostile fire, Petty Officer Ray moved from parapet to parapet, rendering emergency medical treatment to the wounded. Although seriously wounded himself while rendering first aide to a Marine casualty, he refused medical treatment and continued his life saving efforts. While he was bandaging and attempting to comfort another wounded Marine, Petty Officer Ray was forced to battle two enemy soldiers who attacked his position, personally killing one and wounding another. Rapidly losing his strength as a result of his own severe wounds, he nonetheless managed to move through the hail of enemy fire to other casualties. Once again, he was faced with the intense fire of oncoming enemy troops, and despite the grave danger and insurmountable odds, succeeded in treating the wounded and holding off the enemy until he ran out of ammunition, at which time he sustained fatal wounds. Petty Officer Ray's final act of heroism was to protect the patient he was treating. He threw himself upon the wounded Marine, thus saving the man's life when an enemy grenade exploded nearby. By his determined and persevering actions, courageous spirit, and selfless devotion to his Marine comrades, Petty Officer Ray served to inspire the men of Battery D to heroic efforts in defeating the enemy. His conduct throughout was in keeping of the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
(The Spruance-class destroyer USS DAVID R. RAY (DD-971) was named in his honor, commissioned on 19 Nov 1977 and decommissioned on 28 February 2002, until it was sunk as a target in July 2008. The ship still remains protected under the Sunken Military Craft Act.)
Lieutenant Thomas G. Kelley, United States Navy
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on the afternoon of 15 June 1969 while serving as Commander River Assault Division 152 during combat operations against enemy aggressor forces in the Republic of Vietnam. Lieutenant Kelley was in charge of a column of eight river assault craft which were evacuating one company of United States Army infantry troops on the east bank of the Ong Muang Canal in Kien Hoa Province, when one of the armored troop carriers reported a mechanical failure of a loading ramp. At approximately the same time, Viet Cong forced opened fire from the opposite bank of the canal. After issuing orders for the crippled troop carrier to raise its ramp manually, and for the remaining boats to form a protective cordon around the disabled craft, Lieutenant Kelly, realizing the extreme danger to his column and its inability to clear the ambush site until the crippled unit was repaired, boldly maneuvered the monitor in which he was embarked to the exposed side of the protective cordon in direct line with the enemy's fire and ordered the monitor to commence firing. Suddenly an enemy rocket scored a direct hit on the coxswain's flat, the shell penetrating the thick armor plate, and the explosion spraying shrapnel in all directions. Sustaining serious head wounds from the blast, which hurled him to the deck of the monitor, Lieutenant Kelley disregarded his own severe injuries and attempted to continue directing the other boats. Although unable to move from the deck or speak clearly into the radio, he succeeded in relaying his commands through one of his men until the enemy attack was silenced and the boats were able to move to an area of safety. Lieutenant Kelley's brilliant leadership, bold initiative, and resolute determination served to inspire his men and provided the impetus needed to carry out the mission after he was medically evacuated by helicopter. His extraordinary courage under fire, and his selfless devotion to duty sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
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This Day in Aviation History" brought to you by the Daedalians Airpower Blog Update. To subscribe to this weekly email, go to https://daedalians.org/airpower-blog/
March 29, 1916
Navy Lt. Richard C. Saufley, Daedalian Founder Member #13307, bettered his own U.S. altitude record, piloting a Curtiss hydroaeroplane to 16,010 feet at Pensacola, Florida. On April 2, Saufley again extended the record by attaining a mark of 16,072 feet.
March 30, 1979
In the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula, the 160-foot, 3,000-ton Taiwanese freighter Ta Lai ran aground. As 20-foot waves battered the stranded ship, rocks punched through the hull. It was taking on water and sinking. Her crew of 28 men were in danger. Detachment 13, 33rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, at Osan Air Base, South Korea, answered the distress call. Air Force Maj. James E. McArdle Jr. and his crew of four flew their helicopter, "Rescue 709," a Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green Giant, through the darkness and gale-force winds to the stranded vessel. These men were just completing their regular 12-hour duty schedule when the distress call came in, but no other crews or helicopters were available. In addition to Major McArdle, the aircraft commander, the crew consisted of 1st Lt. Van J. Leffler, pilot; Sgt. James E. Coker, flight engineer; Staff Sgt. Tony Carlo and Sgt. Mark Zitzow, PJs
March 31, 1966
Strategic Air Command phased out its last B-47 Stratojet tactical aircraft. Learn more about the Stratojet HERE.
April 1, 1954
Pilots Lt. Cmdr. Francis X. Brady, Lt. W. Rich, and Lt. j.g. John C. Barrow completed the first transcontinental flights in less than four hours during a 2,438-mile journey in three VF-21 F9Fs from San Diego, California, to NAS Floyd Bennett Field, N.Y. Brady made the crossing in 3 hours, 45 minutes, 30 seconds; Rich in 3 hours, 48 minutes; and Barrow in 3 hours, 46 minutes, 49 seconds. All were refueled in mid-air over Hutchinson, Kansas.
April 2, 1951
Two F9F-2B Panthers of VF-191, each loaded with four 250- and two 100-pound general-purpose bombs, catapulted from Princeton (CV 37) to attack a railroad bridge near Songjin, North Korea. Their attack marked the Navy's first recorded use of jet aircraft as bombers.
April 3, 1939
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Defense Act into law in Washington, D.C. It gave the Army Air Corps $300 million and authorized its expansion to 48,000 personnel and 6,000 aircraft. Significantly, it also allowed African Americans to receive flight training for the first time.
April 4, 1908
In Massachusetts, inventor Robert H. Goddard coins the expression "jet propulsion" as a means of achieving space flight. He goes on to describe a primitive combustion chamber with a propulsion nozzle.
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This Day in U S Military History March 29
1945 – Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army captures Frankfurt, as "Old Blood and Guts" continues his march east. Frankfurt am Main, literally "On the Main" River, in western Germany, was the mid-19th century capital of Germany (it was annexed by Prussia in 1866, ending its status as a free city). Once integrated into a united German nation, it developed into a significant industrial city-and hence a prime target for Allied bombing during the war. That bombing began as early as July 1941, during a series of British air raids against the Nazis. In March 1944, Frankfurt suffered extraordinary damage during a raid that saw 27,000 tons of bombs dropped on Germany in a single month. Consequently, Frankfurt's medieval Old Town was virtually destroyed (although it would be rebuilt in the postwar period-replete with modern office buildings). In late December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, General Patton broke through the German lines of the besieged Belgian city of Bastogne, relieving its valiant defenders. Patton then pushed the Germans east. Patton's goal was to cross the Rhine, even if not a single bridge was left standing over which to do it. As Patton reached the banks of the river on March 22, 1945, he found that one bridge — the Ludendorff Bridge, located in the little town of Remagen — had not been destroyed. American troops had already made a crossing on March 7 — a signal moment in the war and in history, as an enemy army had not crossed the Rhine since Napoleon accomplished the feat in 1805. Patton grandly made his crossing, and from the bridgehead created there, Old Blood and Guts and his 3rd Army headed east and captured Frankfurt on the 29th. Patton then crossed through southern Germany and into Czechoslovakia, only to encounter an order not to take the capital, Prague, as it had been reserved for the Soviets. Patton was, not unexpectedly, livid.
1945 – There are American landings in the northwest of the island Negros near Bacolod. The landing force, part of the US 185th Infantry Regiment, encounters heavy Japanese resistance on the island.
1945 – US naval forces, including TF58 and TF52, continue air strikes on Okinawa while TF54 continues bombarding the island. Japanese Kamikaze and submarine attacks continue.
1971 – Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was convicted of murdering at least 22 Vietnamese civilians in the 1968 My Lai massacre. Calley ended up spending three years under house arrest.
1974 – The unmanned U.S. space probe Mariner 10, launched by NASA in November 1973, becomes the first spacecraft to visit the planet Mercury, sending back close-up images of a celestial body usually obscured because of its proximity to the sun. Mariner 10 had visited the planet Venus eight weeks before but only for the purpose of using Venus' gravity to whip it toward the closest planet to the sun. In three flybys of Mercury between 1974 and 1975, the NASA spacecraft took detailed images of the planet and succeeded in mapping about 35 percent of its heavily cratered, moonlike surface. Mercury is the second smallest planet in the solar system and completes its solar orbit in only 88 earth days. Data sent back by Mariner 10 discounted a previously held theory that the planet does not spin on its axis; in fact, the planet has a very slow rotational period that stretches over 58 earth days. Mercury is a waterless, airless world that alternately bakes and freezes as it slowly rotates. Highly inhospitable, Mercury's surface temperature varies from 800 degrees Fahrenheit when facing the sun to -279 degrees when facing away. The planet has no known satellites. Mariner 10 is the only human-created spacecraft to have visited Mercury to date.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HIGBY, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Appomattox Campaign, Va., 29 March to 9 April 1865. Entered service at: New Brighton, Pa. Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa. Date of issue: 3 May 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.
PEARSON, ALFRED L.
Rank and organization: Colonel, 155th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Lewis' Farm, Va., 29 March 1865. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa. Date of issue: 17 September 1897. Citation: Seeing a brigade forced back by the enemy, he seized his regimental color, called on his men to follow him, and advanced upon the enemy under a severe fire. The whole brigade took up the advance, the lost ground was regained, and the enemy was repulsed.
SOVA., JOSEPH E.
Rank and organization: Saddler, Company H, 8th New York Cavalry. Place and date: At Appomattox Campaign, Va., 29 March to 9 April 1865. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Chili, N.Y. Date of issue: 3 May 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.
TOBIE, EDWARD P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 1st Maine Cavalry. Place and date: At Appomattox Campaign, Va., 29 March to 9 April 1865. Entered service at: Lewiston, Maine. Birth: Lewiston, Maine. Date of issue: 1 April 1898. Citation: Though severely wounded at Sailors Creek, 6 April, and at Farmville, 7 April, refused to go to the hospital, but remained with his regiment, performed the full duties of adjutant upon the wounding of that officer, and was present for duty at Appomattox.
*DIETZ, ROBERT H .
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division. Place and date: Kirchain, Germany, 29 March 1945. Entered service at: Kingston, N.Y. Birth: Kingston, N.Y. G.O. No.: 119, 17 December 1945. Citation: He was a squad leader when the task force to which his unit was attached encountered resistance in its advance on Kirchain, Germany. Between the town's outlying buildings 300 yards distant, and the stalled armored column were a minefield and 2 bridges defended by German rocket-launching teams and riflemen. From the town itself came heavy small-arms fire. Moving forward with his men to protect engineers while they removed the minefield and the demolition charges attached to the bridges, S/Sgt. Dietz came under intense fire. On his own initiative he advanced alone, scorning the bullets which struck all around him, until he was able to kill the bazooka team defending the first bridge. He continued ahead and had killed another bazooka team, bayoneted an enemy soldier armed with a panzerfaust and shot 2 Germans when he was knocked to the ground by another blast of another panzerfaust. He quickly recovered, killed the man who had fired at him and then jumped into waist-deep water under the second bridge to disconnect the demolition charges. His work was completed; but as he stood up to signal that the route was clear, he was killed by another enemy volley from the left flank. S/Sgt. Dietz by his intrepidity and valiant effort on his self-imposed mission, single-handedly opened the road for the capture of Kirchain and left with his comrades an inspiring example of gallantry in the face of formidable odds.
GARMAN, HAROLD A.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company B, 5th Medical Battalion, 5th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Montereau, France, 25 August 1944. Entered service at: Albion, Ill. Born: 26 February 1918, Fairfield, Ill. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 25 August 1944, in the vicinity of Montereau, France, the enemy was sharply contesting any enlargement of the bridgehead which our forces had established on the northern bank of the Seine River in this sector. Casualties were being evacuated to the southern shore in assault boats paddled by litter bearers from a medical battalion. Pvt. Garman, also a litter bearer in this battalion, was working on the friendly shore carrying the wounded from the boats to waiting ambulances. As 1 boatload of wounded reached midstream, a German machinegun suddenly opened fire upon it from a commanding position on the northern bank 100 yards away. All of the men in the boat immediately took to the water except 1 man who was so badly wounded he could not rise from his litter. Two other patients who were unable to swim because of their wounds clung to the sides of the boat. Seeing the extreme danger of these patients, Pvt. Garman without a moment's hesitation plunged into the Seine. Swimming directly into a hail of machinegun bullets, he rapidly reached the assault boat and then while still under accurately aimed fire towed the boat with great effort to the southern shore. This soldier's moving heroism not only saved the lives of the three patients but so inspired his comrades that additional assault boats were immediately procured and the evacuation of the wounded resumed. Pvt. Garman's great courage and his heroic devotion to the highest tenets of the Medical Corps may be written with great pride in the annals of the corps.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for March 29, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
29 March
1923: At Dayton, three FAI records were established. First, Lt A. Pearson flew a Verville Sperry R-3 at 167.77 MPH over 500 kilometers for one speed record. Next, Lts Harold R. Harris and Ralph Lockwood flew a DH-4L with a Liberty 400 HP engine at 127.42 MPH for the 1,000-kilometer (620 miles) record. And third, Lt Russell L. Maughan flew a Curtiss R-6 at 236.587 MPH for a record over a straightaway course. (24) (9)
1946: North American Aviation received a contract to study a 175 to 500-mile range surface-to surface missile. After many revisions, this program became the Navaho jet-powered cruise missile. (6)
1949: Joe DeBona set a new cross-country record for piston aircraft by flying his North American P-51 from Burbank to La Guardia in 5 hours. (9) (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR. With fighter escorts, B-29s returned to the Yalu River to bomb bridges, which had become important targets again as the river ice thawed. Fifth Air Force light bombers and fighters, which had handled interdiction in the area during the winter, could not destroy the larger Yalu River bridges. (28)
1954: An American DC-7 set a 6 hour 10 minute commercial transport record from Los Angeles to New York. (5)
1955: The Navaho jet-powered cruise missile completed its 15th and final test flight at Edwards AFB. (5)
1960: The Naval Weapons Station Annex at Charleston, S.C., opened. This facility gave the Navy a final assembly and loading capability for the UGM-27 Polaris sea-launched ballistic missile. (8: Mar 90)
1961: The USAF issued the Minuteman I (A and B model) requirement. (6)
1972: At St. Paul, Minn., Matt A. Wiederkehr used a Raven S50A balloon to set FAI distance records of 196.71 miles for subclass AX-6 through AX-10 (1,200 to 4,000 cubic meters capacity) hot air balloons. (9) North Vietnam began a massive invasion of the South with 12 divisions, supported by armor and artillery. With the invasion, the US discarded the previous rules of engagement, which treated the conflict as a civil war, and the restrictions on US air power ended. This policy change led to Operation Linebacker I and II with bombing attacks on Hanoi and Haiphong. The massive US air strikes persuaded North Vietnam to conclude the Paris peace negotiations. (17)
1973: With the departure of 219 passengers aboard a DC-8, the US ended its military involvement in South Vietnam. The US disestablished the Military Assistance Command, ending its 11 years of operations from Saigon. (18)
1975: The USAF began an emergency airlift of supplies and equipment to Saigon, Vietnam. (16) (26)
1995: Operation PROVIDE PROMISE. The operation passed the 1,000-day mark. (16)
1996: The Tier III Minus Dark Star, a stealthy drone designed for high altitude, long-duration reconnaissance missions over hostile territory completed its first flight at Edwards AFB. (26) The US opened the GPS System to full commercial access. (26)
2001: Boeing's lead short-takeoff and vertical-landing (STOVL) test pilot, Dennis O'Donohue, flew the X-32B Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator on its first flight from Palmdale to Edwards AFB. The 50-minute flight included initial airworthiness tests. The USMC wanted to use the STOVL variant. (3)
2003: OPERATIONAL SUPPORT. By this date, to support the Global War on Terrorism, the ANG flew 72 percent of the fighter sorties, 52 percent of the tanker sorties, and 35 percent of the airlift sorties for NOBLE EAGLE, and 24 percent of the fighter sorties, 21 percent of the tanker sorties, and 6 percent of the airlift sorties for ENDURING FREEDOM.
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