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Vietnam's Final Air Campaign: Operation Linebacker I & II, May–December 1972
An account of the last American bombardments that took place over North Vietnam while peace talks struggled in Paris. Includes maps and photos.
On March 30, 1972, some thirty thousand North Vietnamese troops, along with tanks and heavy artillery, surged across the demilitarized zone into South Vietnam in the opening round of Hanoi's Easter Offensive. By early May, South Vietnamese forces were on the ropes and faltering. Without the support of U.S. combat troops--who were in their final stage of withdrawing from the country--the Saigon government was in danger of total collapse and with it any American hope of a negotiated settlement to the war.
In response, President Richard Nixon called for an aggressive, sustained bombardment of North Vietnam. Code-named Operation Linebacker I, the interdiction effort sought to stem the flow of men and materiel southward, as well as sever all outside supply lines in the first new bombing of the North Vietnamese heartland in nearly four years. To meet the American air armada, North Vietnamese MiG fighters took to the skies and surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft fire filled the air from May to October over Hanoi and Haiphong. With the failure of its Easter Offensive to achieve military victory, Hanoi reluctantly returned to the negotiating table in Paris. However, as the peace talks teetered on the edge of collapse in December 1972, Nixon played his trump Operation Linebacker II. The resulting twelve-day Christmas bombing campaign unleashed the full wrath of American air power. This book tells the story of these decisive campaigns and how they led, finally, to a ceasefire agreement.
On March 30, 1972, some thirty thousand North Vietnamese troops, along with tanks and heavy artillery, surged across the demilitarized zone into South Vietnam in the opening round of Hanoi's Easter Offensive. By early May, South Vietnamese forces were on the ropes and faltering. Without the support of U.S. combat troops--who were in their final stage of withdrawing from the country--the Saigon government was in danger of total collapse and with it any American hope of a negotiated settlement to the war.
In response, President Richard Nixon called for an aggressive, sustained bombardment of North Vietnam. Code-named Operation Linebacker I, the interdiction effort sought to stem the flow of men and materiel southward, as well as sever all outside supply lines in the first new bombing of the North Vietnamese heartland in nearly four years. To meet the American air armada, North Vietnamese MiG fighters took to the skies and surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft fire filled the air from May to October over Hanoi and Haiphong. With the failure of its Easter Offensive to achieve military victory, Hanoi reluctantly returned to the negotiating table in Paris. However, as the peace talks teetered on the edge of collapse in December 1972, Nixon played his trump Operation Linebacker II. The resulting twelve-day Christmas bombing campaign unleashed the full wrath of American air power. This book tells the story of these decisive campaigns and how they led, finally, to a ceasefire agreement.
- GenresAviation
124 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 12, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 19, 2023
This is the second book by Emerson that I have read on the air war in Vietnam/southeast Asia, the first being Operation Rolling Thunder. While Rolling Thunder occurred at the beginning of America’s large-scale involvement in Vietnam, this book describes America’s last air campaign prior to the signing of a treaty with North Vietnam in early 1973.
As with the first book, Emerson avoids a detailed discussion of the politics of the war and instead focuses on the technical aspects of Linebacker I & II. The decisions to attack targets deep inside North Vietnam and to mine Haiphong and virtually every other significant port in the country did have domestic U.S. and geo-political ramifications though, and an in-depth discussion of this topic would have given important context for understanding the rationale for the decisions themselves.
Emerson does give the reader some political context, however. We know by 1972 President Nixon was eager to end America’s direct involvement in fighting the war. He had made a campaign promise in 1968 to do so. Since then, the number of in-country American troops had been dramatically reduced and much of the ground fighting turned over to the South Vietnamese. The Paris Peace talks brought both sides to the negotiations table, yet by 1972 they had stalled. Nixon wanted to keep his 1968 promise and a negotiated peace with North Vietnam was the only feasible way to do this. The tool for achieving this end would be an unprecedentedly large and comprehensive bombing and mining campaign centered on North Vietnam.
The final two chapters of the book describe the actual strikes, with a focus on the final phase, the eleven intensive days of sorties in late December, which ultimately brought Nixon his end to the war. These strikes were much larger and more complex than those of Rolling Thunder more than four years before.
New aircraft were involved, such as the Navy’s A-7 and the Airforce’s F-111. Tactics were different. Components of the striking force consisted of more aircraft, including electronic counter measures, fighter, flak, and missile suppression components. Large numbers of now accurate and reliable laser guided weapons were employed. For the first time large numbers of B-52s (over 200) attacked targets in the industrial and economic heart of North Vietnam, the Hanoi-Haiphong metro area, with some sorties occurring within 20 miles of the Chinese border. Military targets heretofore never bombed were leveled. 85% of North Vietnam’s electrical grid was destroyed. Detailed mission planning mitigated plane losses and overwhelmed North Vietnamese defenses. For example, one B-52 sortie consisted of over 90 planes attacking the Haiphong area in eleven waves approaching from seven different directions.
Linebacker I & II was a massive effort. The moving of additional B-52s to Guam alone required relocating 12,000 additional personnel to the island. America’s air order of battle was comprised of 1,300 aircraft flying 44,000 sorties and dropping 176,000 tons of bombs over a six-month period, ending in intensive strikes during eleven days in late December 1972.
High costs were paid by both sides. Over 1,300 Vietnamese civilians and an untold number of military personnel were killed. 107 American aircraft were lost, including 15 B-52s. 93 U.S. airmen were killed. Nixon claimed the achievement of his ‘peace with honor, and the North Vietnamese attained their goal of eventually ending American military involvement in the war.
Emerson’s book is a testament to the bravery and loyalty of the American and Vietnamese combatants. For the former, the war had become increasingly unpopular at home, yet they persisted in doing their duty. For the latter, the level of destruction of their homeland was enormous as were their casualties. Yet, after almost 30 years of war they never lost sight of the goal the war was serving—national independence.
As with the first book, Emerson avoids a detailed discussion of the politics of the war and instead focuses on the technical aspects of Linebacker I & II. The decisions to attack targets deep inside North Vietnam and to mine Haiphong and virtually every other significant port in the country did have domestic U.S. and geo-political ramifications though, and an in-depth discussion of this topic would have given important context for understanding the rationale for the decisions themselves.
Emerson does give the reader some political context, however. We know by 1972 President Nixon was eager to end America’s direct involvement in fighting the war. He had made a campaign promise in 1968 to do so. Since then, the number of in-country American troops had been dramatically reduced and much of the ground fighting turned over to the South Vietnamese. The Paris Peace talks brought both sides to the negotiations table, yet by 1972 they had stalled. Nixon wanted to keep his 1968 promise and a negotiated peace with North Vietnam was the only feasible way to do this. The tool for achieving this end would be an unprecedentedly large and comprehensive bombing and mining campaign centered on North Vietnam.
The final two chapters of the book describe the actual strikes, with a focus on the final phase, the eleven intensive days of sorties in late December, which ultimately brought Nixon his end to the war. These strikes were much larger and more complex than those of Rolling Thunder more than four years before.
New aircraft were involved, such as the Navy’s A-7 and the Airforce’s F-111. Tactics were different. Components of the striking force consisted of more aircraft, including electronic counter measures, fighter, flak, and missile suppression components. Large numbers of now accurate and reliable laser guided weapons were employed. For the first time large numbers of B-52s (over 200) attacked targets in the industrial and economic heart of North Vietnam, the Hanoi-Haiphong metro area, with some sorties occurring within 20 miles of the Chinese border. Military targets heretofore never bombed were leveled. 85% of North Vietnam’s electrical grid was destroyed. Detailed mission planning mitigated plane losses and overwhelmed North Vietnamese defenses. For example, one B-52 sortie consisted of over 90 planes attacking the Haiphong area in eleven waves approaching from seven different directions.
Linebacker I & II was a massive effort. The moving of additional B-52s to Guam alone required relocating 12,000 additional personnel to the island. America’s air order of battle was comprised of 1,300 aircraft flying 44,000 sorties and dropping 176,000 tons of bombs over a six-month period, ending in intensive strikes during eleven days in late December 1972.
High costs were paid by both sides. Over 1,300 Vietnamese civilians and an untold number of military personnel were killed. 107 American aircraft were lost, including 15 B-52s. 93 U.S. airmen were killed. Nixon claimed the achievement of his ‘peace with honor, and the North Vietnamese attained their goal of eventually ending American military involvement in the war.
Emerson’s book is a testament to the bravery and loyalty of the American and Vietnamese combatants. For the former, the war had become increasingly unpopular at home, yet they persisted in doing their duty. For the latter, the level of destruction of their homeland was enormous as were their casualties. Yet, after almost 30 years of war they never lost sight of the goal the war was serving—national independence.
June 15, 2020
good short history.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews