In a B-52 bomber over Hanoi, 1 of 5

Operation Linebacker II, in a B-52 bomber over Hanoi, North Vietnam, on December 26, 1972. Part 1 of 5.

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• Vietnam
• B-52
• Linebacker
• Hanoi
• Christmas
• Bombings
• Air Force
• War

[tommybass40]

You dropped 20,000 tons of bombs on densely populated sections of Hanoi and only 1,318 were killed? I think they conveniently forgot to add a few zeros to the end of that figure.

[cccurtis]

@tommybass40 I am not a warmonger by any means, but I can tell you this. The politics of the time demanded minimal casualties and high-value military targets -- fuel and ammo depots, railyards, etc. A hospital was accidentally hit and there was hell to pay. The bombing was precision bombing, not carpet bombing as took place in the countryside. It's also a fact that our government lied to us about actual casualties throughout the war, but I can tell you these targets were highly scrutinized.

[riskygjk]

@cccurtis absolute bullshit. You are as typically deluded as they come my friend. It has been clearly documented attempt at the so regurgitated American idea of "shock and awe" an obsession that superior firepower alone would push the north to "breaking point". The reason there was so few killed was because of mass evacuations. Linebacker II destroyed ten's of thousands of homes in Hanoi and Haiphong. Listen to Nixon's tapes from the at the time. "bomb the fuckers!!" Sadly, nothing changes.

[cccurtis]

@riskygjk No point in name calling. It doesn't really effect me. If you've got some objective historical data to point me to, I'll be happy to take back my view, but all the books I've read on the missions -- even the negative books -- are clear to point out how technically precise the bombing was.

[cccurtis]

Thanks for all your great comments, folks. I'm still in touch with half the crew and am passing them on.

[Scottrchrdsn]

@cccurtis Interesting tape.

[Scottrchrdsn]

@Sooksawaspakdee961 Carter? How did he enter this discussion?

[Tangereandream]

Had Nixon been going for a win rather than a draw,(by this time he was looking for an exit stratagy). Then the mighty B52 would have long since have closed Haiphong Harbour with mines in 1964 and flattened the whole place with WWII style "area bombing" so no SAM-2s and no NVA in the south. The USAF did it's best, Nixon and co their worst. Salute the brave aircrew who risked their necks so we may be free!

[limwang75]

should have nuke this fuk ing gook

[cubitsuper]

David vs Goliath

[upyr1]

@Sooksawaspakdee961 Carter had nothing to do with Vietnam - he was elected the governor of Georgia in 1970 and ran for president in 1976- after South Vietnam fell.

The blame should be aimed at Johnson

[withmefile3]

@tommybass40 Do sơ tán! Như london 1945!

[Sooksawaspakdee961]

It´s not the crews of the B-52´s or any other who fought in Vietnam for the US side. Blame the incompetent politicians, Nixon, Carter and the rest that had no idea what they was up to. In their tiny heads they thought they could beat the NWA just like the Japanese.

[Stoolie33]

The fact is that the bombing brought the North Vietnamese back to the table. The other fact is the U.S. should not have been involved in the first place. The entire conflict was not our finest hour. I cannot blame those who fought or the tactic of bombing the enemy.

[flyboy7588]

The US should have leveled Hanoi in 1965. There is no way this war should have lasted as long as it did and turned our the way it did. The US had the fire power to win the war in 2 months but for some odd reason refused ot use it.