Saturday, May 6, 1972
72 F4s Going To S.E. Asia
WASHINGTON (AP) --The United States will soon fly another 72 F4 Phantom fighter-bombers to Southeast Asia, a move that may foreshadow an intensified bombing campaign aimed at stopping the North Vietnamese offensive.Pentagon spokesman J.W. Friedheim announced Thursday that some additional land-based U.S. warplanes would be sent to the war zone.While Friedheim gave no details, other defense sources said four squadrons of F4s would leave Holloman AFB, Alamagordo, N.M., for Thailand.Announcement of this significant boost in U.S. air power in Southeast Asia came soon after peace negotiations in Paris broke down again and amid a battlefield crisis in South Vietnam.Friedheim did not link these events to the new air buildup, but described the reinforcement as part of "an overall plan to make sure Gen. (Creighton W.) Abrams has available to him all the air and naval assets he needs to protect remaining troops, to assist South Vietnamese" in repelling the offensive.The additional war planes will increase to about 300 the number of U.S. fighter-bombers and bombers ordered to South Vietnam, Thailand and Guam since early April when the North Vietnamese assault was gathering speed.Overall, the action will boost U.S. land-based and carrier-based planes in the war theater to more than 800.Friedheim mentioned that some additional naval ships are on their way to Southeast Asia. Since these movements have already been disclosed in recent weeks, Friedheim"s references to them indicated no new departures are planned at least for the time being.A fifth aircraft carrier arrived off Vietnam this week, along with escorting destroyers. This raised to about 60 the number of American Naval vessels operating in those waters, at least equalling (sic) the number there in 1968 at the Vietnam war's peak.The Pentagon Wednesday sent a high-level mission to South Vietnam to determine what additional military arms aid Saigon forces need.Friedheim confirmed the arrival in South Vietnam of a giant C5 transport plane carrying three M--48 medium tanks to replace some of South Vietnam"s tank losses.The Pentagon has been informed that South Vietnamese soldiers purposely disabled 16 of their own tanks and spiked 30 artillery pieces before abandoning Quang Tri.During the same briefing, Friedheim displayed pictures of a variety of heavy Soviet-built weapons which he said have shown up in South Vietnam for the first time this year and are main elements in the North Vietnamese invasion force.Among other things these weapons included T54 and T34 medium tanks with guns of up to 100 millimeters, a variety of artillery including 130 millimeter guns with a range of 14 miles, 122 millimeter field guns, and several types of antiaircraft weapons, including twin-barrelled (sic) sophisticated self-propelled 57 millimeter antiaircraft weapons.Friedheim also said there are about two dozen ships flying Soviet and Communist Bloc flags in Haiphong, about twice as many as before the invasion started in late March, but about the same number as have normally been in North Vietnam's principal port unloading war gear."72 F4s Going to S.E. Asia" by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Saturday, May 6, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.