106. Editorial Note
During the early afternoon of February 11 (between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. Washington time), U.S. and South Vietnamese aircraft attacked the military [Page 237] barracks at Chop Le, North Vietnam, as part of a retaliatory air strike codenamed Flaming Dart II. U.S. Navy aircraft from the USS Hancock, USS Coral Sea, and USS Ranger also hit Chanh Hoa just north of the DMZ. A chronological summary of the planning and execution of Flaming Dart II covering the period from 6:20 p.m. (Washington time) on February 10 through 8:35 a.m. on February 11, apparently prepared by Deputy Secretary of Defense Vance, is in the Johnson Library, National Security File, Vietnam Reprisal Attack, Feb. 11, 1965.
After the strikes, a joint U.S.-South Vietnamese statement was released in Saigon. The text is in Department of State Bulletin, March 1, 1965, page 291. Shortly afterward, at about 8 a.m Washington time, the White House released a statement. The text is ibid., page 290. Documentation concerning the wording and timing of these two releases, including telegraphic correspondence between the Department of State and the Embassy in Saigon, is in Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S.