Category Archives: Christmas 1972

On the third night of LB II three B-52s were shot down on the first raid. Seventh Air Force Headquarters Headquarters in Saigon and SAC Headquarters in Omaha went into shock. As a result they recalled the six B-52Gs targeted … Continue reading →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →