Wild, wild West sent this in last week to be included in today’s Gunday Monday and I convinced him to let it stand on it’s own and tried to set up and post last Wednesday the 18th. I had problems with a few of the pictures that would not load correctly and I finally figured out how to post them. I am presenting it today as a supplement to the regular Gunday Monday and as a reminder of what could be happening soon. I have always believed the saying: To avoid tyranny, read and study history. Wild, wild West did a remarkable job and I compliment him for the time and effort he put into it. He stated he wants to do other posts and I encouraged him. Thank You Wild, wild West, Cederq.
On December 18th in 1972, Richard Nixon ordered massive bombing of North Viet Nam in reaction to stalled peace talks. The name of the operation became Linebacker II. For there to have been a Linebacker II, there had to of course been an earlier Linebacker, although it was not known at that time that there would be a second, so calling the first series Linebacker I is not really correct.
The first Linebacker was in response to the NVA Easter Offensive in April of 1972 and consisted of an aerial and naval bombardment of the North that went on for several months. Eventually our reigning czar King Richard of Nixon decided to declare that operation completed. Talks resumed in Paris and Henry Kissinger was able to announce that “Peace is at hand” but the North Vietnamese sensed panic in the American program, became obstructive and eventually walked out of the talks altogether. It should be noted that the South Vietnamese were not exactly overjoyed at the way things were going either, sensing betrayal in the program and were later proven right.
Nixon reacted to the North Vietnamese walking out of the peace talks in Paris by bombing the living Bejesus out of the Hanoi and Haiphong areas with massive waves of B-52 bombers and Air Force and Navy fighter-bombers. There hadn’t been anything remotely like it since WWII. Linebacker II and was also referred to as “The Christmas Bombings” because they stretched nearly to New Year’s, with a short 36-hour pause to allow the participants to celebrate the birthday of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ before going back to killing each other by the bushel.
Eventually the Air Force and Navy ran out of targets, the North Vietnamese ran out of surface-to-air missiles, and everybody went back to the negotiating table in Paris to hammer out a somewhat cynical peace treaty that was distinctly not to South Viet Nam’s advantage. It was, as was said in a political cartoon of the time, “all over but the shooting.” Peace remained “at hand” just long enough for the US to withdraw all forces. It took the Vietnamese another two years to settle the issue, but that’s another story.
A lot more to it than that, but that’s all the time we have for you today, folks. Here are some pics of the festivities
- B-52s at Andersen AFB, Guam.
2) Briefing before the first mission.
3) Loading up the BUFF(Big Ugly Fat Fucker.)
4) Guam was a long way to fly
5) U-Tapao in Thailand was a lot closer.
6) It wasn’t all B-52s, F-111s also flew missions.
7) A-6 Intruders carried a lot of bombs.
8) Air Force A-7D Corsair II
9) Air Force, Navy and Marine F-4 Phantoms flew night and day.
10) F-105 Wild Weasels hunted SAM radars.
11) KC-135 passes gas to the F-4s of the 555th Tactical Fighter Wing.
12) Maintenance crews worked impossible hours.
13) Hitting Hanoi was called ‘Going Downtown.’
14) Poor planning and tactics caused too many aircraft losses the first several days
15) Pilots window in B-52 damaged by shrapnel.
16) Fifteen or so BUFFs were shot down de[ending who did the counting. B-52 wreckage on display in Hanoi.
17) An Air Force HH-53, Jolly Green Giant like this one was shot down flying a rescue mission.
18) The North would nearly run out of Soviet supplied SA-2, Surface to Air Missles.
19) MiG 21 tangling with an F-4.
20) MiG-19 of the North Vietnamese 925th Fighter Regiment.
21) A major surprise of the air war was the effectiveness of the old MiG-17 against the sophisticated American aircraft.
22) B-52 tail gunners shot down two MiGs.
23) The bombing continues after Christmas break.
24) After a near revolt by bomber crews, better tactics and early expenditure of SAM Sites brought better odds.
25) Bomb damage assessment.
26) Individual bomb shelters were common. One size fits most.
27) Kham Thein Street in Hanoi.
28) Hanoi Jane was unfortunately not on Kham Thein Street that night.
29) Participation Trophy.
30) Not exactly…
31) Required reading.
32) More reading.
And now Vietnam has pretty much dropped communism because they figured out it didn’t work and the US is normalizing diplomatic relations with them. We can’t bring back those we lost but what if, in the fullness of time, and with respect to the service and sacrifice of so many, we actually got a valuable ally out the whole mess? Am I crazy to think that would be a good thing?
Mikey, the Vietnamese hate the Chinese because of repeated invasions and occupations stretching something like a thousand years or more. The last invasion was in 1979, and the Chinks got their asses handed to them, good and hard. It didn’t even last a month, so yes, potentially a very good thing.
Excellent commentary and pics. Thanks … and eternal thanks to all the brothers and sisters who sacrificed so much during that costly war.
Thank You WWW and Cederq for this pictorial essay.
To my brothers in arms who didn’t come back home, there are many that remember your bravery and sacrifice. RIP.
Looks like I’m going to add some books to my Q, hope I can get to them before death, got 3 boxes in storage due to transitio.
Thanks for this WWW and Cederq
And what Nemo said except I was not there.
Oh and fuck Hanoi jane. The celebration will be much bigger than that of the health care ceo and nothing will ever grow on her grave top probably.
Chris, let me further complicate your life by suggesting “Aid and Comfort” Jane Fonda in North Vietnam by Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer. Attorneys and legal scholars, they lay out the legal case for the charge of treason against her. Forward by COL Bud Day, one of the POW’s. Spoiler alert: No matter how bad you think that bitch was, you’ll hate her worse after reading it.
Oh I have always believed in worthy of firing squad.
WWW was serving at my Church this evening. Saw an old friend who was F15 pilot. He told a story how he was in the first group in gulf one behind the F117. He told me the story after my mention of a fellow F15 pilot I know who shall remain nameless after he made the same claim in campaign ad in his successful bid to atty general of our great state. My friend said he sent him a letter about it and I laughed my ass off.
Thanks to Kevin and Phil for the soap box. Those few of us still in country at Christmas 1972 will never forget those aircrew may have saved our lives by preventing the North Vietnamese from deciding to go for broke when the peace talks broke down. I personally was at a crappy little place a long way from help if things went bad and they very well could have.
I was there for the ending January 28, 1973 where we were, state side 27th. On the USS Ranger CVA-61. Started on December 18th, 1972, my birthday. After 1973, everything went to crap and still is going that way. Maybe next year will be different, I can only hope.
Thank you for potentially saving my ass. It could have gone another way and I’m grateful.
#8 Dad was an engine mechanic on the A-7 Corsair. He had no problem turning a wrench on anything.
sent the KC-135 / F-4s pic to Dad…he was both an F-4 and 135 pilot at one time or another….KC-135 while he was in Vietnam
Merry Christmas, all!