Christmas 1972
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 and we were all in the club asking, “WTFO?” Then, one of our maintenance officers came in and told us we were getting wall-to-wall ALE-38 chaff dispensers loaded on our jets. Since laying chaff corridors in RP-VI had been our primary mission in the previous Linebacker fun and games, this was our first clue that the following day was not going to [...]
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 historic Linebacker II Christmas Raids, designed to end the war. Although we (F-4’s) never flew ‘planned’ night MiG-CAP “feet dry” overland, some of us were now tasked for this major strike to do so. My RO “TA” and I set up our CAP station in the vicinity of Haiphong, and hopefully on the outer ranges of their SAM sites. Fortunately, [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (4) Snako’s Two Night LB II Hat Trick
One of the motivators for Remembered Sky is that the writing about USS Midway and her airwing/squadrons is piecemeal. Some histories and stories barely mention Midway and some have completely left her out, particularly related to Linebacker II. This despite the fact that Midway/Airwing Five set the record for most number of days “on the line” in the Vietnam war and were one of only four carriers in the whole war to be awarded the unit equivallent of a Navy Cross – the Presidential Unit Citation. Kelly Note: Interestingly, history hasn’t recorded MIDWAY’s participation in the Linebacker II. Some official [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (2) Night time in the Red River Valley
Linebacker II from 18-29 December 1972 is commonly understood as the B-52 strikes over Hanoi that brought the NVN back to the negotiating table in Paris, leading to the end of the war, a treaty- The Paris Peace Accords – and the return of America’s Prisoners of War. Given that the aim of LB II was not a military one, but rather was a political campaign that used physical damage to send a message, it is not surprising that the highly visible /high press interest missions of the first use of B-52s night after night at such scale in the [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (1) The “Ornaments” from Ghosts of Christmas Past
With this post I begin a multi-story process centered on Linebacker II and Christmas 1972 as part of Remembered Sky’s overall reflection on the 40th anniversary of the end of that war and USS Midway/Carrier Air Wing Five’s war cruise in the Vietnam War. Midway/CAG 5 was the most experienced carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin as President Nixon determined to bring the war with full force of air power to Hanoi in December 1972 as peace negotiations broke down. Scheduled for Christmas R&R in Singapore, Midway remained on station flying Linebacker II operations until the morning of December 20th. Bob Hope [...]
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Christmas 1972
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 and we were all in the club asking, “WTFO?” Then, one of our maintenance officers came in and told us we were getting wall-to-wall ALE-38 chaff dispensers loaded on our jets. Since laying chaff corridors in RP-VI had been our primary mission in the previous Linebacker fun and games, this was our first clue that the following day was not going to [...]
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 historic Linebacker II Christmas Raids, designed to end the war. Although we (F-4’s) never flew ‘planned’ night MiG-CAP “feet dry” overland, some of us were now tasked for this major strike to do so. My RO “TA” and I set up our CAP station in the vicinity of Haiphong, and hopefully on the outer ranges of their SAM sites. Fortunately, [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (4) Snako’s Two Night LB II Hat Trick
One of the motivators for Remembered Sky is that the writing about USS Midway and her airwing/squadrons is piecemeal. Some histories and stories barely mention Midway and some have completely left her out, particularly related to Linebacker II. This despite the fact that Midway/Airwing Five set the record for most number of days “on the line” in the Vietnam war and were one of only four carriers in the whole war to be awarded the unit equivallent of a Navy Cross – the Presidential Unit Citation. Kelly Note: Interestingly, history hasn’t recorded MIDWAY’s participation in the Linebacker II. Some official [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (2) Night time in the Red River Valley
Linebacker II from 18-29 December 1972 is commonly understood as the B-52 strikes over Hanoi that brought the NVN back to the negotiating table in Paris, leading to the end of the war, a treaty- The Paris Peace Accords – and the return of America’s Prisoners of War. Given that the aim of LB II was not a military one, but rather was a political campaign that used physical damage to send a message, it is not surprising that the highly visible /high press interest missions of the first use of B-52s night after night at such scale in the [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (1) The “Ornaments” from Ghosts of Christmas Past
With this post I begin a multi-story process centered on Linebacker II and Christmas 1972 as part of Remembered Sky’s overall reflection on the 40th anniversary of the end of that war and USS Midway/Carrier Air Wing Five’s war cruise in the Vietnam War. Midway/CAG 5 was the most experienced carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin as President Nixon determined to bring the war with full force of air power to Hanoi in December 1972 as peace negotiations broke down. Scheduled for Christmas R&R in Singapore, Midway remained on station flying Linebacker II operations until the morning of December 20th. Bob Hope [...]