Category Archives: War and Remembrance

Operation Homecoming Part 1: The POWs Come Home

The American Prisoners of War in Viet Nam began their first flight from Hanoi to freedom 40 years ago 12 February 1973. The last flight was 29 March 1973. I watched the students and their teacher’s faces closely as Jim … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories, Epilogue: Linebacker II and the POWs – Prelude to Coming Home

Note this post includes two videos, the first discussing B-52 tactics and the second finishing with comments from our POWs during the days of the Christmas operations. On the third night of LB II three B-52s were shot down on … Continue reading

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Gifts & Reflection – No Better Title: “These Good Men”

by John ‘Shylock’ Koch I still cherish the time I spent with the air wing.  As I look back on it we were warriors and comrades all rolled up together.  When one of us called for help, we all came, … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (Final) Gifts, a Tree, and a Turkey with all the Trimmings

As the story has been told – as I noted previously- the end of the war in Vietnam is considered the result of the Christmas bombing operations of Linebacker II, and so the convention of telling this story. I’ll end … Continue reading

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Forty Years Ago Tonight … Morning of 24 January onboard USS Midway inbound to Subic Bay after our eighth Line Period

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (8) “A-rab Beeper, come up voice.”

Professional history of war mostly addresses major battles, the dates, the generals, the admirals, tactics and technology, and then analysis of results, all  for obvious reasons. But significant detail is invariably lost particularly when one event leads to a most significant occurrence … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (7) A Gentlemen’s Gentleman

Linebacker II was halted on 29 December 1972.  The North Vietnamese agreed to come back to the negotiations in Paris. Having enjoyed Christmas, Midway left Singapore and celebrated New Years Eve at sea on the way back to the Gulf … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (6) “We had been there too long!”

As I write this post, it is fast approaching 0659 30 December 2012 in Hanoi – 40 years exactly from the end to Linebacker II. President Nixon’s decision – the Linebacker II campaign – in the face of world wide denunciation and in … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (5) What did we know? When did we know it?

Bob ‘Hippo’ Hipps (334 Tactical Fighter Squadron): The night of Dec 17, 1972 our F-4E squadron (the 334TFS had deployed from Seymour Johnson, AFB, NC — which is the only Air Force base named after a Naval Aviator) stood down … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (4) MiG-CAP & Roman Candles

Perspective from John Chesire – VF-151 Switchboxes – flying MiG-CAP around Haiphong. Of my nearly two years combat flying in SEA (Southeast Asia), the most spectacular and memorable sight occurred on December 20, the third and worst night of the of the … Continue reading

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