Not overly interesting photo but the story behind it is. These are B-52s with high altitude contrails heading north over South Vietnam as part of Linebacker 2, sometimes referred to as the Christmas Bombings, a strategic bombing campaign conducted by the USA against targets in North Vietnam from 18 December to 29 December 1972, The operation was the final major military operation carried out by the US during the conflict, and the largest bombing campaign involving heavy bombers since WW2. While flying routine C-130 cargo sorties in South Vietnam, we could hear distressed emergency guard channel calls from B-52 aircrews as they were under attack from SAMs. Number of B-52s shot down were around 15 with several more bing heavily damaged beyond repair. At least a dozen or more fighter aircraft were also lost during the operation.
Personal photos/text taken in/out of Vietnam combat zone from perspective of copilot on USAF C-130 345th Tactical Airlift Crew. Not just about the war, but also about the people/places of the region during 1972. This is where I got my first Nikon film SLR which turned into lifelong passion albeit now Canon digital SLR. The photos are recent digital scans from old 35mm slides wasting away in hot/cold attic for 40 years. Extensive Photoshop editing has been used to make them somewhat presentable.
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Thursday, January 15, 2026
Not overly interesting photo but the story behind it is. These are B-52s with high altitude contrails heading north over South Vietnam as part of Linebacker 2, sometimes referred to as the Christmas Bombings, a strategic bombing campaign conducted by the USA against targets in North Vietnam from 18 December to 29 December 1972, The operation was the final major military operation carried out by the US during the conflict, and the largest bombing campaign involving heavy bombers since WW2. While flying routine C-130 cargo sorties in South Vietnam, we could hear distressed emergency guard channel calls from B-52 aircrews as they were under attack from SAMs. Number of B-52s shot down were around 15 with several more bing heavily damaged beyond repair. At least a dozen or more fighter aircraft were also lost during the operation.
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