The Air Force in the Vietnam War - Air Force Association

Heavy Bombers
T
he heavy hitter in the Air Force
lineup was the B-52. It was in action
from 1965 on, but political constraints
from Washington kept it from being
used with full effect against key targets
in North Vietnam until 1972.
Seventh Air Force in Saigon did not
control the B-52s. They were owned
by Strategic Air Command, which retained
control. Bombers based on Guam
flew the initial “Arc Light” missions
in South Vietnam. The Air
Force wanted the B-52s to
be part of Operation Rolling
Thunder in North Vietnam,
but was overruled by the
White House because of
concern about “widening”
the war. B-52s began
operating from U-Tapao
in Thailand in 1967, and
from Kadena Air Base,
Okinawa, in 1968.
The B-52 was an awesome weapon,
working against targets in South Vietnam,
the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and
around the Demilitarized Zone. It was
particularly effective at Khe Sanh in
1968, where it destroyed tons of North
Vietnamese supplies and helped break
the siege of the Marine outpost there.
Several models of B-52s saw service in
Vietnam. Notable among them was the
B-52D, modified to carry a total of 108
500-pound bombs—84 internally and 24
on pylons under the wings.
The biggest mission of the war for the B-
52s was Operation Linebacker II, Dec.
18-29, 1972, when they were unleashed
on North Vietnam. They flew 724 sorties,
smashed the defenses of Hanoi and
Haiphong, and brought North Vietnam
to peace negotiations.
Not all of the MiGs were shot down
by fighter pilots. On Dec. 18, 1972,
during Operation Linebacker II, SSgt.
Samuel O. Turner, tail gunner on a
B-52D, downed a MiG-21 near Hanoi
with .50 caliber machine gun fire. Six
days later, A1C Albert E. Moore, also
a B-52 gunner, shot down another
MiG-21 after a strike on the Thai
Nguyen rail yard.
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