History Diaries

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One mission of four United States Navy Skyhawk jets bombed and strafed two military convoys at 3:25 AM today. A military spokesman said damage to the 12 trucks of the first group or the 80 trucks of the second, moving on Route 15 between Vĩnh and the 20th Parallel, was not known. At 7 AM another flight of six Skyhawks left the carrier. Midway to search unsuccessfully for the convoys. They hit instead four railroad freight cars about 115 miles south of Hanoi. Again the extent of damage was not known.

American airpower struck repeatedly today at fortified Việt Cộng villages in South Vietnam and at highways and a bridge in the North. Four Vietnamese A-1H Skyraiders destroyed a truck along Route 1, 65 miles from the South Vietnamese border. A larger number of support planes bombed Routes 8 and 12 in the North to create landslides that would make passage difficult. Four aircraft, two of them Vietnamese, have been lost in the last two days during the hammering against North Vietnamese roads.

One of the downed American planes, a United States Navy A-1H Skyraider, crashed before dawn this morning during an armed reconnaissance mission along Route 1 in North Vietnam. The pilot was killed as he made a low sweep for a rocket attack on a group of trucks 20 miles north of the demilitarized zone that separates North Vietnam from South Vietnam.

A second United States Navy plane crashed on a similar mission late tonight. Five planes from the Southern Fleet carrier USS Midway had been patrolling Highway 1 from Vĩnh to the 20th Parallel. The cause of this crash, like the first, was unknown, a Navy spokesman said. The patrol intercepted a truck convoy five miles north of Cam Lâm, but the results of the attack were not known.

The armed flights, over roads in the southern part of North Vietnam that are known to be supply routes for eastern Laos, are the latest phase in the airstrike strategy that began February 7th. Prior sets of targets included military bases and radar stations, and then bridges, almost all of them more than 100 miles from Hanoi.

A military spokesman said that the aircraft this morning had reported heavy antiaircraft fire. The two Vietnamese Air Force Skyraiders were lost yesterday, but the Vietnamese Government made no announcement until this morning. A spokesman for the Vietnamese Air Force said the Government wanted time to prepare “a heroic account” of the death of one of the pilots, Lieut. Colonel Phạm Phú Quốc. Colonel Quốc was one of the pilots who bombed President Ngô Đình Diệm’s palace during an abortive coup d’etat in February, 1962. An American spokesman said that the United States Government had not announced the Vietnamese raid or its losses, “because we feel it is important for them to learn to handle this sort of thing themselves.”

The eight Vietnamese planes were attacking road traffic around the city of Vĩnh and Hà Tĩnh before the two aircraft were brought down by enemy ground fire. All of the 80 aircraft involved in three raids this afternoon returned safely to their bases. Fifteen United States Air Force and Vietnamese Air Force planes hit the Mỹ Đức highway bridge south of Đồng Hới, leaving the bridge standing but with craters on the approaches.

The results of the recent jet air strikes in South Vietnam were more telling than those against the North. Unconfirmed estimates put the number of Việt Cộng killed by air in the last two days near Tam Kỳ, a disputed area along Route 1 in Central Vietnam, at 150. Forty jet sorties in the area near the border of Quảng Tín and Quảng Nam, were also credited with having destroyed or damaged one gun emplacement, six buildings and three armored cars.

As the United States air offensive continued, a 16-year-old Buddhist novice burned himself to death in Saigon to protest the miseries of war. Spokesmen for the Buddhist Secular Institute, where the youth covered himself with gasoline during the afternoon siesta period, said the Buddhist leadership had not been involved in his death.

At a meeting of American military and political leaders in Honolulu, U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Maxwell D. Taylor successfully proposed that the U.S. adopt what he called the “enclave strategy” in its conduct of the Vietnam War. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara and Assistant Secretary John McNaughton, CIA analyst William Bundy, U.S. Army General William C. Westmoreland, U.S. Navy Admiral U. S. Grant Sharp Jr., and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, General Earle G. Wheeler, concurred in the proposal, which was adopted by President Johnson. Taylor’s idea was to limit U.S. ground operations to within a 50-mile (80 km) radius of important areas in important coastal areas, and to conduct counterinsurgency operations with the South Vietnamese Army in the surrounding territory. The strategy would prove unsuccessful, leading to Taylor’s resignation and a switch to a “search and destroy” operation in June.

Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara announced tonight a step-up of the anti-Communist war in South Vietnam, with special emphasis on measures against Việt Cộng ocean traffic. The announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day conference of United States military and civilian strategists at Pacific command headquarters. Mr. McNamara’s statement said special attention was given by the conferees to the destruction of bridges and disruption of infiltration traffic from North Vietnam. “Plans were discussed to step up interdiction of infiltration by sea,” the statement said. But no indication was given when the step-up in activity against the Communist ocean supply lines would begin.

Participating in the conference when it began yesterday were Maxwell D. Taylor, the United States Ambassador to South Vietnam; General Earle G.. Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General William C. Westmoreland. United States commander in Vietnam, and Admiral U. S. Grant Sharp Jr., Pacific military commander. Mr. McNanara arrived last night. Before flying back to Washington tonight, the Defense Secretary said in a planeside interview that he expected United States aid to South Vietnam to increase “above originally planned levels.” He said that the quantity of equipment needed by the South Vietnamese would be large indeed” but that the number of additional United States servicemen would not be large.

[Ed: “number of additional United States servicemen would not be large” Well, that’s some Bean Counter Bob Bullshit, right there.]

“We must seek to overcome the strategic disadvantage the South Vietnamese have versus the Việt Cộng in terms of traditional guerrilla-to-guerrilla ratios by adding to the mobility and firepower of these forces,” he declared. Mr. McNamara specifically mentioned that more helicopter and close air support was required by the Saigon Government’s troops. But he declined to speculate whether more American ground combat forces would be sent into South Vietnam.

Enlarging on his call for more United States air and sea support in the Vietnam war, Mr. McNamara said: “We are all aware the North Vietnamese have increased their infiltration in recent months of both men and materiel, using both overland routes through Laos and also sea routes and over the beaches into South Vietnam. You will recall several weeks ago we captured a large coastal vessel delivering several thousand arms into South Vietnam over the beaches. We will seek to interdict these routes, assisting the South Vietnamese Navy.”

Mr. McNamara said that United States naval forces would continue to operate outside territorial waters but that “they will note and detect suspicious vessels, will follow them, will report them to the South Vietnamese Navy, who will follow them into South Vietnam territorial waters and inspect them.” He indicated that the United States would provide South Vietnam’s Navy with more small craft for this purpose. In addition, he said, it is the intention of the United States to assist the South Vietnamese Government in training the 100,000 to 150,000 men who are to be drafted into the South’s anti-guerrilla forces. The statement issued at the close of the conference indicated that the participants in the meeting departed from their announced intention of discussing increased United States logistical support for the South Vietnamese plan to increase its armed forces by about 160,000 men in the next year.

Seventeen youths demanding immediate withdrawal of United States troops from Vietnam sat down in a White House driveway today. They were hauled away by the police.

Organizations in Communist China were called upon today to “make full preparations to send their own people to fight together with the Vietnamese people and drive out United States aggressors.” Secretary of State Dean Rusk said the Peking threat will not cause the United States to change its present course of military action in Southeast Asia

France will boycott the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization meeting in London over President Charles de Gaulle’s dislike of U.S. policy in Vietnam.

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Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro conferred with President Johnson in Washington on the Vietnam war and Europe’s future and also sat in on a cabinet meeting. President Johnson conferred with Italy’s Premier, Aldo Moro, for an hour today and then afforded him the rare privilege of sitting in on a Cabinet meeting. Mr. Moro, a strong supporter of United States policies in Europe and Southeast Asia, arrived last night for three days of get-acquainted talks with government leaders.

Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri has canceled his visit to the United States, Foreign Minister Swaran Singh told Parliament today. This development was part of India’s increasingly angered reaction to President Johnson’s postponement last Friday of the Shastri trip to Washington. which had been scheduled for June. A visit by President Mohammad Ayub Khan of Pakistan set for next Monday was also postponed at the same time. Persons close to the Prime Minister said that he had been “deeply hurt” by the postponement and that it would be “a long time” before the damage to United States-Indian relations would be repaired.

[Ed: LOL, Sure. We’ll see you and Indira when you decide you need more food and foreign aid. *rme]

Prince Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, said tonight he had accepted a Japanese proposal for another meeting with President Sukarno in an attempt to end Indonesia’s dispute with his country. He made the statement after a two-hour meeting here with Shojiro Kawashima, Japan’s special envoy. However, he added that Mr. Sukarno had not yet accepted a similar invitation and that he did not know whether the Indonesian leader. who opposes Malaysia as a device to continue British influence, in the area, would agree to meet him.

Turkey’s Premier Suat Hayri Urguplu said in the Chamber of Deputies today that the Government was preparing “positive action” in the Cyprus dispute and would soon seek Parliamentary approval of a “serious decision.” The Premier was not specific, but he implied that Turkey would demand a revision of the Lausanne Treaty, the Turkish peace treaty that followed World War I. Previously Mr. Urguplu had said that “if inhuman and unbearable acts on Cyprus continue, Turkey must reconsider the treaty.” The treaty, which prohibits the militarization of Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean, is viewed by the Turks as a system of balance between Turkey and Greece. While Cyprus remained in British hands this balance remained undisturbed. But a change in the status of Cyprus would upset the balance, and the Turks feel, and therefore reconsideration of the whole system.

Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin called for more cars, better housing and higher wages “directly linked to productivity” to improve the standard of living.

The Soviet leadership announced today that it was canceling a debt equivalent to more than $2 billion that the country’s collective farms owed to the State Bank.

Adlai E. Stevenson, the United States representative at the United Nations, told the Massachusetts Legislature today that the meeting of the Disarmament Commission at the United Nations tomorrow would result in “more polemics than progress” unless the major participants were sincere.

West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard called upon the United States again today to demonstrate fidelity to its pledge to work for the reunification of Germany.

King Hassan II of Morocco announced reforms that included the redistribution of government-owned land to farmers, and the creation of the “Common Fund for Agrarian Reform”; some land grants would be made in 1969 and 1970, but the reforms would prove to be modest.

Chilean President Eduardo Frei’s proposals for Latin American economic integration also envisage political unity of all Latin nations except Communist Cuba, it was learned.

Iraqi troops and air force jets have launched an assault to quell rebellious Kurdish tribes in northern Iraq, according to reports reaching Beirut today.

The Kenyan Government complained today of what it called “total interference” by the United States in offering scholarships to 29 Kenyan students who returned two weeks ago, bitter and disillusioned, from the Soviet Union.

General Hamilton H. Howze, commander of United States and United Nations forces in South Korea, authorized the Korean Government today to move additional Korean troops into Seoul to assist the police in controlling civil disorders.

The first legislative elections took place in the 15 Cook Islands, a semi-independent dependency of New Zealand, and were won by the Cook Islands Party (CIP), led by Albert Henry. Since Henry was ineligible for elective office because he had not resided on the islands for at least three years, his sister, Marguerite Story, would serve as the nation’s acting premier until the CIP could amend the constitution.

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A Ku Klux Klansman who worked under cover for the FBI testified before a grand jury in Hayneville, Alabama, on the civil rights slaying of Mrs. Viola Liuzzo of Detroit. Gary T. Rowe, one of the four men originally accused by! Federal officers in the slaying of Mrs. Viola Liuzzo, emerged today as an undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Rowe testified for about two hours this afternoon before a grand jury that is investigating the killing of the Detroit, civil rights worker on the highway between Selma and Montgomery the night of March 25. Although it has been reported that Mr. Rowe was in the automobile at the time the fatal shots were fired at Mrs. Liuzzo, no details have been disclosed on his testimony of what took place, or why he could not prevent the tragedy.

Lester Maddox, accused of pointing a pistol at a Black who tried to desegregate the restaurant he formerly owned in Atlanta, was acquitted by an all-white jury which deliberated 47 minutes.

The Pentagon has approved, in principle, the maintenance by the U.S. Army of a new type of division, equipped and trained to move around the battlefield and to supply itself with its own aircraft. Army officers said yesterday that the 11th Air Assault Division, a provisional unit that has been developing and testing experimental tactics based upon helicopters and light aircraft, was scheduled to become a permanent part of the 16-division Regular Army. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, attending a conference in Honolulu dealing with the war in Vietnam, is expected to approve the Army’s plans formally sometime between now and June 30, when the 11th Air Assault Division is scheduled to be inactivated. The Secretary approved the retention of the Army’s air-assault concept after majority approval of the plan by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Air Force was reportedly opposed.

President Johnson was told by economic advisers that continued economic growth this year hinges greatly on an excise tax cut and the proposed increase in Social Security benefits.

The chief of the Federal Narcotics Bureau for southern Florida and two city detectives were arrested by federal and local policemen tonight on charges of accepting bribes from a narcotics peddler.

The continuing change in the Republican National Committee brought today a new assistant chairman, State Senator Mary Brooks of Idaho.

The New York World’s Fair, its 168 pavilions representing a half-billion-dollar investment, will open its second and final season today with fireworks, charity balls, a parade, a few speeches and determined hopes. It will be the financially decisive season for the fair and there was an undercurrent of optimism among its officials that the disappointing first season would be followed by a successful second run.

Forty percent of the public exposed to sonic booms like those that would accompany supersonic airliner flights said the noise interfered with ordinary living conditions.

The Daughters of the American Revolution was urged today to pass 13 resolutions that included opposition to the Administration’s proposed immigration law changes, a call for more government anti-Communist activity, and support for a drive against crime.

The raging Mississippi River, climbing toward its highest flood crest, rampaged along the border of five states, driving thousands more persons from their homes from Minnesota to southern Illinois.

Two youths, angered because they could not hear their favorite records at a party, rode up and down an Atlanta street tonight “shooting at everything that moved,” the police said.

Scientists announced in Washington that the planet Mercury does not keep one face continually towards the sun, contrary to previous belief. The rotation period is about two-thirds of its orbital period, meaning Mercury rotates 1.5 times for every 2 orbits around the Sun.

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Major League Baseball:

At Boston, Felix Mantilla busts a 1st-inning grand slam off Buster Narum to power the Red Sox to a 5–2 win over Washington.

Washington Senators 2, Boston Red Sox 5

New York Mets 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 2

Houston Astros 1, Philadelphia Phillies 2

Pittsburgh Pirates 3, San Francisco Giants 1

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Dow Jones Industrial Average: 911.96 (-0.8)

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Born:

Masato Yoshii, Japanese NPB and MLB pitcher (Kintetsu Buffaloes, Yakult Swallows; New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, Montreal Expos; Orix BlueWave-Buffaloes, Chiba Lotte Marines), in Aridagawa, Wakayama, Japan.

Paul Jerrard, Canadian NHL defenseman (Minnesota North Stars), in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (d. 2023, from cancer).

Adrian Fernández, Mexican racing driver and co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team, in Mexico City, Mexico.

Kostas Hatzidakis, Greek politician (New Democracy Party), in Rethymno, Greece.

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Died:

Dick Wessel, 52, American actor (“Dick Tracy vs Cueball”, “Beware of Blondie”), of a heart attack on his 52nd birthday.

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