North Viet Bombed Again; We Clam Up on U.S. Role

Item

derivative filename/jpeg

363-04800.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-04800

Title

North Viet Bombed Again; We Clam Up on U.S. Role

Description

Article published in the New York Herald Tribune about the American bombing campaign in North Vietnam and the US's refusal to give information to the press, pages 1 and 7

AI Usage Disclosure

Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.

Transcript

North Viet Bombed Again; We Clam Up on U.S. Role By Beverly Deepe A Special Correspondent DA NANG, South Viet Nam. Twenty-six South Vietnamese Skyraiders, at least two of them piloted by Americans, yesterday rained 60 tons of bombs and rockets on a North Vietnamese island naval base. They were accompanied by American jets which pounded defending anti-aircraft batteries. United States spokesmen, following a new security policy, refused to disclose how many American planes were involved in this fifth air attack on North Viet Nam in the last five weeks. They also would not say what bases the U. S. jets flew from, although it was believed they were Navy planes operating from carriers in the South China Sea. The target was Tiger Island, a square-mile speck 15 miles off the North Vietnamese coast and 18 miles above the North-South Vietnamese border. Military installations there were "totally destroyed," a South Vietnamese spokesman said. The island, described as a source of seaborne supplies for the Communist Viet Cong guerrillas, was the site of a radar station, which could spot planes approaching from the south, supply depots and barracks, the spokesman said. It was defended by 12 heavy gun positions and 49 automatic weapons positions. North Viet Nam claimed one of the attacking planes was shot down in the sea. But both U. S. and South Vietnamese spokesmen said no planes were lost although some were hit by anti-aircraft fire. The refusal of U. S. Embassy and military spokesmen to give details on the Amer- More on VIET-P 7 North Viet Bombed Again; We Clean Up (Continued from page one) ican role in the raid was a departure from previous policy. In the past, the spokesmen have revealed the approximate though not exact number of U. S. planes involved and their bases. The Embassy spokesman said that henceforth these details, and the amount of bombs or rockets expended by the U. S. planes, would not be disclosed when the attacks are made jointly with the South Vietnamese. But when attacks are made solely by U. S. planes, he said, the number of aircraft will be given out. He said the new policy was made necessary for military security reasons which I myself do not understand." The spokesman said the policy was outlined in a six-page compilation of messages on security received from the Pentagon. He emphasized that the loss of any American planes will be disclosed, whether or not they are flying with the South Vietnamese. "We have not encountered any explanation of this that makes any sense," commented one U. S. official. Brig. Gen. Nguyen Cao Ky, South Vietnamese Air Force commander who led the attack yesterday, said the ground fire was fairly heavy but the defending guns bad been softened up by the American jets before the Skyraiders went in. He added that the attacking planes doubled back on the island after first passing it in a feint at the port city of Dong Hoi, which was hit on Feb. 7 in the first of the current air strikes. One of the Skyraiders was flown by Col. Ralph Newman of Lafayette, Ind., director of operations for the U. S. Air Force advisory group at Da Nang. Another was flown by another U. S. colonel, who could not be identified. As in the last raid against North Viet Nam on March 2- when more than 160 U. S. and South Vietnamese planes pounded a naval base and a border supply depot-yesterday's attack was described not as retaliation for a specific Communist assault but rather as defense against overall Red aggression. At Da Nang, the 3,500-man U. S. Marine force moved in to guard the U. S. air base there suffered its first casualties last night when a Marine guard fired on a returning patrol in the belief they were Red guerrillas. One Marine was killed and two others wounded.

Date

1965, Mar. 15

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Aerial operations; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--United States. Air Force; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Press coverage; Bombardment; Bombing, aerial

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Container

B4, F6

Format

newspaper clippings

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English