Office of the Historian

225. Memorandum From the Director of the Joint Staff (Burchinal) to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (McNaughton)1

DJSM-360–66
Washington, March 21, 1966.

SUBJECT

  • Mishaps in Laos Resulting from US Air Operations (TS)
1.
(U) Reference is made to your memorandum I–35338/66, dated 10 March 1966,2 subject as above, and to its referenced letter of 8 March 1966 from the Deputy Under Secretary of State.3
2.
(U) In the sense that the incidents noted in the letter of the Deputy Under Secretary of State do occur from time to time, it is agreed that the cumulative total has continued to grow.
3.
(TS) All military echelons are concerned over incidents involving inadvertent delivery of ordnance on friendly forces or noncombatants, in Laos or elsewhere. They are also concerned over casualties being inflicted by the communists on both military and civilians in the war in South Vietnam, which must now be recognized as amongst the more intensive armed conflicts in which this country has engaged. Our air strike operations in Laos are a necessary and integral part of that war. Despite precautions taken by responsible military at all levels, often at the cost of added risk to their own lives, it is a lesson of history that there will be some casualties amongst noncombatants in a war zone; no feasible restrictions or rules of procedure can guarantee against this. A deeply regrettable fact of the war must therefore be acknowledged, that the cumulative total of the incidents noted will probably continue to grow.
4.
(TS) It should be noted, however, that although the cumulative number of mishaps has grown somewhat during the past six months, there has been a substantial downward trend in the incident rate. This rate is considered to afford the most meaningful indication of the degree of effectiveness of the intensive countermeasures taken. As illustrated in the enclosure, Joint Staff records indicate the incident rate per thousand combat sorties in Laos has been reduced from about 5.0 during the first quarter calendar year 1965 to approximately 0.14 at present, a thirty-five-fold improvement.
David A. Burchinal
Lt General, USAF
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OASD/ISA Files: FRC 70 A 6649, Laos 000.1 (373.5 Laos), 1966. Top Secret.↩
  2. Not printed. (Ibid.)↩
  3. Document 222. In a subsequent letter to Vance, March 18, U. Alexis Johnson suggested that DOD funds rather than RLG kip counterpart funds should be used to compensate friendly civilians and military personnel attacked by mistake. (Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OASD/ISA Files: FRC 70 A 6649, Laos 000.1 (373.5 Laos))↩