50 years ago today, June 22, in sunny Vietnam-land - Where were you?

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 08:54:38 -0400

U.S. fighter-bombers made their deepest penetration of North Viet Nam today and for the first time poured bombs and rockets into targets north of the "Hanoi line"
A U.S. spokesman said one raid Was against army barracks at Son La, 110 miles west northwest of Hanoi and only 80 miles from the Red Chinese border.
It also was 55 miles from Dien Bien Phu, where the French army went down to final defeat in Indochina.
Eight U.S. Air Force F105 Thunderchiefs dropped 17 tons of 750-pound general purpose bombs on the complex, destroying 20 buildings and damaging nine others, the spokes, man said.
The Thunderchiefs, escorted by 20 other planes, were over the target for 30 minutes, the spokesman said.
Another group of eight Thun- derchiefs with the same 20 esscorts attacked the Van Nuoc Chien ammunition depot 70 miles west northwest of Hanoi, the spokesman said. Moderate damage was reported to the target, an indication that there were no secondary explosions caused by exploding ammunition.
No enemy aircraft were sighted and antiaircraft fire was light to moderate, the spokesman said.
The previous northernmost penetration of North Viet Nam was a U.S. Navy strike against Hon Gay, 75 miles east of Hanoi.
This was during the August 1964 Gulf of Tonkin crisis.
The nearest raid to Hanoi was 45 miles to the south earlier this year.
In all, some 60 U.S. and Vietnamese air force and U.S. Navy planes dropped about 300 tons of bombs on widely scattered targets in North Viet Nam today, U.S. spokesmen said.
Targets included barracks, supply depots, bridges and ferries.
A U.S. Air Force pilot bailed out of his F100 Super Sabre Jet 25 miles south of Da Nana, in South Viet Nam, and was quickly picked up safe by, an American helicopter.
The plane was not hit by enemy fire, a U.S. military spokesman said.
In Saigon, a Viet Cong terrorist, shouted "Down with the Americans" as he died before a firing squad for trying to blow up an American billet in a Saigon suburb.
Brig. Gen. Nguyen Chanh Thi, commander of the Vietnamese army in the northern part of the country, said in an interview today that 20 Viet Cong battalions — perhaps as many as 8,000 men — are now operating in South Viet Nam's five northernmost provinces.
Thi said he based his information on captured documents ant Viet Cong prisoners captured three weeks ago at the battle Quang Ngai, 55 miles south of the Da Nang air base.
Thi called for a massive U.S. arms buildup to bring the war to an end quickly.

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made Jun 22 at 2015 8:56 AM

Sgt David G Duchesneau — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 08:56:34 -0400

They should of kept going and used bigger bombs!

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 22 at 2015 9:10 AM

LTC Stephen F. — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 09:10:18 -0400

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S., I was nine years old in the suburbs of Philadelphia playing baseball in the street with neighborhood kids, collecting baseball cards and reading and being read to by my parents.
Actually I would have preferred if the first strike north of the Hanoi line had been by B-52's as the primary delivery vehicle with "arc light" impacting key defense and offense areas and F105 Thunderchiefs targeting North Vietnamese soldiers, the ammunition dumps.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Jun 22 at 2015 9:10 AM

LTC Stephen C. — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 09:10:25 -0400

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S., was sixteen years old, and had only been driving for a short while. I was doing summer workouts with the high school football team and working odd jobs!

Response by COL Charles Williams made Jun 22 at 2015 3:58 PM

COL Charles Williams — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 15:58:35 -0400

Probably playing on the floor in our house, in Newark NJ.

Response by CPT Gary Jugenheimer made Jun 24 at 2015 2:38 AM

CPT Gary Jugenheimer — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 02:38:44 -0400

I had recently graduated from South High School, Sheboygan, WI, Class of 1965....Vietnam was the furthest thing from my mind as my next adventure was to attend The University of Wisconsin Extension - Sheboygan....little did I know that I would get sucked into the draft and lost my exemption...decided to join the ASA with a "Buddy"....we went to BCT together but that is the last I saw of him...he went to Turkey and I went to Panama....one year in I decided that if I was going to RVN I would go as an officer and signed up to attend OCS....check out my background at army.togetherweserved.com

Response by SSgt Boyd Herrst made Mar 11 at 2018 5:58 PM

SSgt Boyd Herrst — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 17:58:46 -0400

For me, it’d be my15th B’day. Start’g freshman yr. in high school.