Operation Linebacker, Day 1 - The Largest Air Battle of the Vietnam War

The aircraft carrier USS Constellation turned south into the wind at 7:30 a.m. six A6 Intruders, 12 A7 Corsair, 13 F4 Phantoms, an RA5C Vigilante Reconnaissance Aircraft, and an EKA3B Sky Warrior tanker and electronic countermeasures aircraft begin catapulting off the flight deck. 20 minutes later, the same process begins aboard the carrier USS Coral Sea to the north, followed by the USS Kittyhawk 10 minutes after that. At 8:00 a.m., Constellation's air groupoup is assembled and makes a turn to the northwest towards North Vietnam. The other air groupoups will do the same in 10-minute intervals once they are fully launched, resulting in an aerial parade of 99 aircraft making their way towards the port of Hyong, guided by an E2B Hawkeye to their target. One of the phantom pilots from constellations air groupoup is Lieutenant Mike Bolia who later said, "I remember thinking, God, this is like the old movies, all of these planes." And the radar pings heard on the warning gear meant the North Vietnamese knew we were coming. At the same time, the pilot of a single RF4C reconnaissance aircraft loitering over the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi reports that flying conditions are good enough for the air strike. Over 400 miles to the west of the US Navy carriers launching from the Gulf of Tonkin, another large strike group is taking off from the airfields in Thailand. 40 F4 Phantoms of the United States Air Force's eighth tactical fighter wing lift off from Yubon Royal Thai Air Force Base. A further 24 Phantoms along with two RF4C's of the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing are taking to the skies from Royal Thai Air Force Base Udor. F105 Thunder Chiefs and EB66 Jamming Aircraft from the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing are leaving their base in the city of Cororat. KC135 Strato tankers, A1 Sky Raiders, and HC130 Hercules and HH53B Jolly Green Giant helicopters are already airborne to support the United States Air Force Strike aircraft heading for Hanoi. The date is the 10th of May 1972 and the United States is launching Operation Linebacker, the largest air battle of the Vietnam War. [music] 42 days earlier on the 30th of March 1972, the Communist People's Army of North Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of its capitalist southern neighbor, later to be known as the Easter Offensive. South Vietnam's Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or Arvin, initially falls back in disarray, while the United States and President Richard Nixon are caught completely by surprise. Since becoming president in early 1969, Nixon has steadily withdrawn American troops and assets from South Vietnam while escalating campaigns against North Vietnamese supply lines in neighboring Laos and Cambodia. This is part of Nixon's Vietnamization strategy. The United States will remove most of its troops in phases while replacing its frontline strength with the South Vietnamese military. The hope is that the South can survive the war with only American financial and lend lease aid despite the lack of US boots on the ground. Like the staged removal of American ground troops with Vietnamization, American involvement in the Vietnam War was a gradual process. Following the establishment of South Vietnam, the United States sent military advisers to help in their fight against North Vietnam and the Vietkong. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, American ground troops were first deployed and eventually reached hundreds of thousands. The widespread destruction and heavy losses of the 1968 Tet offensive turned American popular opinion against the war. The anti-war movement in the United States grew over the years and events like the 1970 Kent State shooting further turns the American people against continued involvement in Vietnam. This is Air Power historian Dr. Brian Dean Lassley, author of Air Power's Lost Cause: The American Air Wars of Vietnam. I think the Nixon administration in 1972 has recognized that America has got to get out of Vietnam. But we have got to get out of Vietnam with honor, which is the way that Nixon phrases it. And we have got to get out of Vietnam in a way that is that is advantageous to America and to the geopolitical world at the time. So Nixon knows that countering this invasion by North Vietnam is important. Uh it is important that South Vietnam to some degree is able to stand on its own once all American forces have left. >> When North Vietnam launches the Easter offensive, the United States has less than 10,000 troops and only three squadrons of F4 Phantoms in South Vietnam. Although USAF and South Vietnamese aircraft have been attempting to support the desperate defense of the country, their efforts are hampered by poor weather and the Arvin is soon on the verge of total collapse. On the 4th of April, Nixon authorizes a limited bombing campaign aided by naval gunfire support against North Vietnam, which temporarily hampers the enemy's advance. Despite South Vietnamese pleas for a more comprehensive campaign, the US president is reluctant to escalate the situation. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger urges caution as the United States and Soviet Union are on the verge of signing the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty in May of 1972. Gissinger's fear is that a more vigorous air war against the Soviet aligned North could scuttle the treaty, the purpose of which is to diffuse the nuclear arms race. Furthermore, negotiations with North Vietnam in Paris to end the war have been ongoing since 1969, and a bombing campaign could end any hope of securing peace. However, the fall of the city of Quang Tree on the 1st of May convinces Nixon that the North Vietnamese invasion must be halted, even with the risk of escalation. Although the Arvin has fought bravely, it won't be able to hold out much longer against the Soviet and Chinesebacked PAVVN. Nixon and his advisers decide on a massive bombing campaign to force the North Vietnamese military to halt its offensive. Cenamed Operation Freedom Train, the campaign will target North Vietnam's transportation and logistics network, much like its failed predecessor, Operation Rolling Thunder. However, the scope of the bombing will be much more ambitious and will also target external sources of support for the North Vietnamese regime. As part of Operation Pocket Money, the harbor at North Vietnam's main port of Hyong will be mined. The railway marshalling yards carrying supplies from China will be heavily bombed and the fearsome North Vietnamese air defense system along with the Vietnam People's Air Force are slated for destruction. The biggest change from Operation Rolling Thunder will be the attitude of the American leadership. Rolling Thunder was played from the start by intense micromanagement from President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration which infuriated the military and resulted in a disjointed bombing campaign. >> Now you need to juxtapose linebacker against Rolling Thunder. So Rolling Thunder is the air campaign that came in the mid to late 1960s and it is always talked about as air power badly used because Rolling Thunder was all about gradualism and escalation. Uh, and so it was this this slowly mounting air campaign and it never really does what it's supposed to do for several reasons. [music] One, there's a great fear that we are going to kill Soviet or Chinese advisers either in Hanoi, Hiong, or along the Chinese border. That we're going to sink Soviet shipping in Hiong Harbor. And that the war itself is going to widen. Remember that in the early stages of Vietnam, we're just over a decade after Korea. So the American military leaders remember the Chinese coming across the Yalu River. So the Johnson administration wants to keep Vietnam contained. And because he wants to keep it contained, that constrains the use of air power in Operation Rolling Thunder. This time Nixon has no intention of handcuffing the military, writing in a memorandum, "We have the power to destroy North Vietnam's war makingaking capacity. The only question is whether we have the will to use that power." What distinguishes me from Johnson is that I have the will in spades. The new plan is finalized as Operation Linebacker, which builds upon Freedom Train and loosens the rules of engagement. Enemy SAMs, air bases, and ground control intercept centers are now fair game for American pilots. A massive buildup of aerial firepower commences in early April, and by the 8th of May 1972, over 400 tactical aircraft and 209 B-52 strategic bombers are stationed at air bases in the region. The United States 7th Fleet is hurriedly deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin with a total of four aircraft carriers capable of launching over 200 aircraft. The first day's mission is a maximum effort strike involving 220 aircraft attacking North Vietnam from both east and west. Of the 220 strike aircraft, tankers, and other support aircraft, 187 will penetrate enemy airspace. This is actually going to be the bloodiest air engagements over the skies throughout the Vietnam War. This one day in particular. The US Navy is up first and the target is Hiong, which handles 85% of North Vietnamese imports. The day before, aircraft from the USS Coral Sea dropped naval mines in the harbor as part of Operation Pocket Money to prevent cargo ships from entering or leaving the port. At 2:00 a.m. on the morning of the 10th of May, a task group of three US cruisers and three destroyers bombarded North Vietnamese shore batteries and coastal facilities to soften up the enemy defenses before the main air attack. The USS Constellation Alpha Strike Air Group reaches the coastline around 30 minutes after launching and passes to the east of Hyong before preparing to dive in on the target from the west. The air group begins to split up as aircraft break off into separate units to prepare for battle. The F4 Phantoms assigned to MIG CAP or MIG combat air patrol split into three groups and take station to the north, west, and south of Hyong to intercept incoming enemy fighters. Lieutenant Bolia and his phantoms are assigned to flack suppression duty. Their job is to identify and destroy North Vietnamese anti-aircraft in placement. Following them are A6 Intruders and A7 Corsaires armed with 500lb bombs to lay waste to the fuel storage facilities. Two A7 Ironhand Corsair in the wild weasel roll, hang back, and fly in a holding pattern, waiting for enemy SAM sites to illuminate their radars so they can destroy them with strike missiles. Finally, the EKA3B electronic warfare aircraft climbs to 20,000 ft and orbits southeast of the port before activating its powerful jammer. At 8:45 a.m., Lieutenant Bolia and the Flack suppression phantoms overfly the harbor. Enemy anti-aircraft fire opens up on the attackers. There are several flak batteries surrounding Hiong, but the electronic jamming coming from the EK3B scramles the radar controlled 57 mm anti-aircraft guns and the phantoms rapidly close the distance to the target. Diving through the crisscrossing traces, each phantom drops six rocky cluster bomb canisters over the anti-aircraft positions and knock out several guns. The Phantoms pull up to gain altitude and move to join the MIG cap while the intruders and Corsairs aim for the fuel storage facilities. SAM radars around Hyong now begin sweeping the skies for targets. The signal for the Ironhand A7s to play their part. The Corsair each fire off two radar seeking Shrike missiles just as several SA2 guideline SAMs attain lock and launch their missiles. The Shrikes hone in on the SA2's radars, forcing the operators to shut them down lest they be destroyed. Without any radar guidance, the SAMs already in the air fail to track and all end up missing the American aircraft, instead exploding off in the distance. With the path clear, the 16 intruder and Corsair bombers dive in and release their munitions at 7,000 ft. The 500lb bombs smash the fuel storage tanks, causing explosions which start intense fires. The RA5C vigilante reconnaissance aircraft braves intense anti-aircraft fire and several SAMs to document the damage. Once finished, the naval aviators pull up and head back towards the USS Constellation just as the USS Coral Se's Alpha Strike Group enters the area. For good measure, the two Ironhand A7s now drop their cluster bombs on the Vietnamese People's Air Force base at Kan an before also egressing to the southeast. A pair of midcap phantoms piloted by Lieutenants Austin Hawkins and Curtis Dose are orbiting 10 mi to the west of Hyong while the air strike is ongoing. At 8:50 a.m., the radio crackles in both pilots headsets. This is Red Crown on guard. Bandit Bullseye 035 for 23. Altitude unknown. Time 46. Out. Red Crown is the call sign for the cruiser USS Chicago, which has just detected two mates about to lift off from Keep Air Base. K is 40 mi to the northwest of Hyong, meaning Hawkins and Dose have around 5 minutes to prepare for an imminent dog fight. But instead of waiting for the enemy to come to them, Hawkins decides to disobey strict orders forbidding pilots from leaving their patrol stations and accelerates towards K. With Lieutenant Doz following, he is gambling that he can catch the Migs by surprise and destroy them before they're able to get close to Hiong. While Hawkins and Dose rush to intercept the VPAF fighters, USS Coral Seas's air group is pounding the port area, repeating the same tactics as Constellations pilots. They will soon be replaced by Kittyhawk's Alpha Strike Group, who managed to destroy a span of the main railway and highway bridge leading out of the city. The railard is hit and cratered while more anti-aircraft positions are knocked out. At 8:55 a.m., the pair of phantoms reach K and are surprised to find the anti-aircraft defenses silent and no mix in the sky. Lieutenant Dose dives down for a closer look and scans the runway for enemy aircraft. Suddenly, the radio intercept officer calls out two MiG 21 interceptors accelerating down the runway in the opposite direction from the Phantoms. >> This is a movie dog fight. The F4s barreled down the length of the runway, but the MiGs managed to lift off and immediately shed their external fuel tanks. The VPAF aircraft bank steeply to the left while keeping close to the ground with Hawkins and Dose in hot pursuit. The Mig21s desperately attempt to shake off the Phantoms by flying as low as possible, forcing the American pilots to dodge trees and hills. Dose fires off a Sidewinder air-to-air missile at the trailing MiG which tracks but flies right through the jess exhaust blinding its seeker and explodes on the ground. >> Normally when we talk about these things or when we watch movies all the missiles come off the rails and all the missiles hit the targets. That is not the case. In fact, it is far more rare for a missile to be fired and hit its target than it is [music] for something to go wrong with the missile. And there are a number of things that can go wrong. The seeker head might not track. The motor might not fire. A fin comes off. It doesn't guide. There are dozens of reasons why these are not laser beams. Undaunted, launches another sidewinder, which directly impacts the Mig's tail and sends it spiraling into the ground. Both phantoms now concentrate on destroying the second MIG. Dose tries to fire off a third sidewinder, but the missile is defective and fails to launch. Meanwhile, Hawkins fires three of his own missiles, but all miss thanks in part to the low terrain. Dose fires his last Sidewinder, which looks like it will hit, but the missile clips the top of a hill and explodes. He suddenly spots an even greater threat out of the corner of his eye. Silverkites, two MGs 4:00 high, rake right. The American pilots pull hard on their sticks and fly right in between two previously undetected MiG 21s. The tables have turned and the Phantoms, low on fuel and missiles, make a run for it. North Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire explodes around them and the SAM is launched after the retreating Americans, but no hits are scored. Racing east at the speed of sound, the pilots believe they are safe until a new MIG21 MF variant overtakes Dose and fires off an AA2 Atal missile at Hawkins Phantom. Hawkins throws his Phantom into a hard turn and the missile flies past. With that, the dog fight is over. In a demonstration of how fast-paced aerial combat has become, the engagement has taken just over a minute from the time the Phantoms appeared over Kebase to their hasty retreat. That's the first air battle of Operation Linebacker. Somewhere between five and six MiGs against two F4 Phantoms. And those F4 Phantoms only bring down one MIG in this conflict. So again, we're not talking about laser beams and X-wings here. Not everything is going to find its mark and bring it down. >> At the same time, USS Kittyhawk's Alpha Strike Group has finished flattening the remaining air defenses around Hyong and also withdraws back [music] to the carriers. The first strike of the day is over by 9:15 a.m. and no American aircraft have been lost. Only a handful of strike aircraft and the vigilante have been damaged in the attack. Upon landing back at their carriers, every aviator is hurriedly debriefed by intelligence officers while flight deck crew toil to refuel and rearm the strike aircraft. The US Navy's day is far from over and the next strike is scheduled to launch in 2 and 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, the US Air Force strike group coming from Thailand is formed up into an armada of 120 aircraft and is on route to Hanoi. The most important targets are enemy air defenses, the railway marshalling yards at Yenvi, and the massive Paul Duma bridge, which is the only crossing over the Red River, which connects Hanoi and Hyong. Flying ahead of the main formation are two MIGAP flights from the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, cenamed Oyster and Bolter. At 9:20 a.m., Oyster Flight enters North Vietnamese airspace, followed close behind by Bolter Flight. Shortly thereafter, the Phantoms reach their assigned patrol area and begin orbiting with Bolterflight taking station at 22,000 ft, while Oyster Flight stays low to the ground. The hope is that any interceptors will go straight for Bolterflight, unaware of Oyster lurking below. At 9:31 a.m., USS Chicago warns that four bandits are closing in on their position only 21 mi away. However, the enemy Mig21s abruptly turn and retreat back the way they came. The North Vietnamese fighter controllers are cautious about risking their precious MiGs in a fight against a numerically superior enemy. After 19 minutes of faint attacks, the VPAF finally commits. At 9:42 a.m., Red Crown reports, "Multiple bandits in your area, and both flights of phantoms turn towards the enemy to meet them headon. So far, the ambush is working just as planned. The Mig21s are screaming in at 15,000 ft, preparing to attack alter flight, while Oyster Flight is unnoticed low to the ground. One minute later, Oyster leader Major Bob Lodge leads his flight into a shallow upward pitch while the radar intercept officers switch on their radars and lock on to the bandits. At 9:44 a.m., Major Lodge and Lieutenant John Markle in Oyster 2 each fire off two Sparrow missiles from beyond visual range, followed by Captain Steve Richie in Oyster 3. Yet, much like many dog fights in the Vietnam War, the missile performance is dismal. >> Why fire two missiles at one target? Essentially, this is going to improve your PK rate. Uh, your PK rate is your probability of a kill. And in the many Vietnam fighter pilots and Rios and weapon systems officers that I interviewed over the course of years, you fire two basically to improve your chances of hitting one. Two sparrows fail to ignite while one from Lodg's Phantom detonates prematurely. Despite these setbacks, the last two missiles stay on target and each impact a VPAF MIG 21. Major Lodg's radar intercept officer, Captain Roger Locker, confirms both kills. Undeterred, the last two MiG 21s adjust course and charge right towards Oyster Flight. The aircraft merge and Major Lodge barely avoids a head-on collision. He leads the Phantoms in a sweep to the right to get behind the enemy. Oyster Flight finds itself right behind the M21s, but the fighters are too close to launch missiles. Without guns aboard the Phantoms, Lodge throttles back to open the range and allow for a Sparrow launch. Just as Lodge is about to fire, a frantic warning crackles over the radio from Lieutenant Markle. You've got a bandit in your 10:00. Bob, reverse right. Reverse right. Coming from below are two Mig 19 fighters which were not detected on radar. Nonetheless, Major Lodge decides not to break off, calling out. Oyster 01 padlocked and launches a Sparrow. Lodg's Sparrow missile goes wide of the target and the MiG 21 escapes while Mig 19s open fire with their cannons. The Phantom is shredded by 30 mm shells and Lodge reports that he no longer has hydraulics and flames bellow out of the right engine. The two men work desperately to save their aircraft while the dog fight rages around them. Captain Steve Richie in Oyster 3 attains lock on a Mig 21 and fires two sparrows. The first rockets past the MiG without exploding, but the second explodes directly under the airframe, sending the fighter into a flat spin. Its pilot ejects. Richie's radar intercept officer excitedly shouts, "Oyster threes a splash." Richie will score three more kills in the war to become the United States Air Force's first ace in Vietnam. Things are more desperate in Oyster 01. With the aircraft losing speed and altitude, Major Lodge gives the order to eject. Captain Locker manages to punch out, but Lodge fails to eject out of the spiraling aircraft and is killed in the crash. Locker's parachute opens and lands deep inside North Vietnamese territory. With their leader gone and more MIGs on the way, the remaining three Oyster Phantoms drop altitude and retreat back to base. Three MiG21s and one F4 Phantom have been shot down in the second dog fight of the day. >> And they are turning and swirling around. And this is what makes Tin May 1972 really unusual. In the the hundreds if not thousands of accounts of MiGs MiG engagements during the Vietnam War, very rarely did you end up in these these swirling turning dog fights. Meanwhile, the air raid siren sound in Hanoi at 9:40 a.m. to warn of an imminent American attack. The EB66E Jamming aircraft, Wild Weasel F105G Thunder Chets, and F4 Phantoms carrying Chaff canisters are the first aircraft to reach the city. Their job is to knock out the North Vietnamese air defenses to allow for the main strike force to hit their assigned targets. At 9:45 a.m., the EB66s of Balet and Calip flights take station at 30,000 ft on the western perimeter of Hanoi's air defense zone and activate their powerful radar jammers. At the same time, the F105Gs of Fletch Flight from the 17th Tactical Fighter Squadron split into two pairs and accelerate to over 450 knots, ready to launch a Shrike or standard missile at suspected SAM sites. The radar intercept officer of Fletch Leader detects a Fansong missile control radar and prepares a standard missile. The pilot pulls up into a slight climb and launches the standard. Thanks in part to the intense aerial activity in the area. Neither man spots where the missile impacts. The deadly game of cat and mouse between the wild weasels and the North Vietnamese air defenses continues while the phantoms of dingus and hitist flight from the eighth tactical fighter wing join the fry. They are meant to release their chaff bonds at 26,000 ft to allow the metallic strips to spread out as much as possible. But Dingus flight leader Major Bob Blake realizes that heavy cloud cover at high altitude would prevent the phantoms from spotting SAM launchers. He instead leads the chaff bombers over the city at 23,000 ft to give them a better chance of escaping missiles. This is Phil Mena, a volunteer at the Wings Over the Rockies museum and F4 pilot during Operation Linebacker. These are excerpts with permission from his appearance on the Behind the Wings podcast. We were going to drop what we call chaff bombs. Okay. And then the strike force was going to come in. And these chaff bombs are going to create a cloud of chaff. For a better way to describe it, it's it used to be tinfoil. It's not anymore, but it's like tinfoil. So, it'd be like tinfoil confetti in the air and it kind of hides from radar because it it reflects very well into radar. >> Dingus and Hittis flights activate their jamming pods at 9:47 a.m. before dropping their traffic bombs 2 minutes later. Each aircraft drops one of their nine M129 chaff bombs every 15 seconds for up to 2 minutes to allow for maximum saturation of the area. The chaff bombiters are creating a safe channel for follow-on strike aircraft in which Pavan defenses will find it impossible to track and engage them. As they are dropping, an SA2 SAM battery fires two missiles at the American aircraft. One is confused by the chaff and electronic interference and miss it. But the second detonates close to Major Blake's phantom. Despite warning lights on the instrument panel and alarm sounding in his cockpit, Blake continues with the mission and calmly calls out Pickle every time a trap bomb is released. The high number of SAMs fired by the North Vietnamese renders tracking systems ineffective. We had a a system that would detect SAMs [music] and it was a little round scope and it had a little red light under it. This light would strobe at where the SAM radar was tracking you. So if somebody was tracking you over here, they had a strobe over there. And when they launched the SAM, they had to guide the SAM by data link. And so we could pick up the data link signal going to the airborne SAM and a light came on that says launch. So you had a strobe sand towards it and then there's a red light saying there's a Sam coming at you was totally useless in linebacker. >> The agility of the F4 allows the pilots to outmaneuver the sands. >> It was called take it down. You got the SAM above you pointed down so that the SAM would accelerate to close to Mach 3 and then that you would watch it, watch it, watch it coming towards you. When you couldn't stand it anymore, you'd pull up right into the SAM. And as you pulled up into the SAM, the aircraft has got very large flight controls relative to the SAM missile. And so as you pull up, you can pull up pretty steeply. The SAM missile stalls as it's trying to go and goes off under you. So we're going in dropping our M bombs and everything's going fine to about halfway up. Backseater yells, "Migs, MiGs." I said, "Where?" 12:00. I said, "Those are SAMs. I've got them." As I had two Sams going up straight in front of us about that time, my number four guy, High Test 4, saved my life. He says, "Hi test lead, take it down. Take it down." And I looked and there's three rear view mirrors and the canopy bow of the F4. The left rear view mirror when I looked at it was full of SAM. The SAM was so close to us. I could see the canards, the guiding fins on the sand moving to guide towards us. I'll never forget that SAM and there wasn't any take it down to it. It was there. And so I just pulled up and it went off right here. The frag pattern on a SAM was built to shoot up at B-52s. So the frag pattern went down and away from me. So we didn't get any damage. However, it went off so close that it rolled the airplane with the explosive blast next to us. So we were up here and the rest of my flight were out here somewhere cuz we all scattered, you know, and we had to get them all back together. In that 15 minutes it took us to fly from the initial point to Hanoi. The eight airplanes, we had 14 SAMs fired at us in 15 minutes. So that was linebacker one. Down below, the F-105 Wild Weasels fire off the last of their anti-raar missiles at the North Vietnamese radars before withdrawing through the corridor of Chaff created by Dingus and Hittist fights. The Chaff Phantoms finish their mission shortly after and the route to Hanoi is open for the main strike package. Now approaching the target area are 16 bomb carrying phantoms from the squadrons of the eighth fighter wing. Accompanying them are five F105 wild weasels to further suppress enemy SAM sites. Despite heavy electronic jamming and traffic interference, enemy SAM batteries launched dozens of missiles at the incoming raiders. Colonel Carl Miller is the commander of the wing and later recalled, "You could see the SAMs for miles. That is the main thing I remember about that mission, the vast number of SAMs. It was quite a sight to behold. If you had one go by you fairly close, it was pretty exciting. Kennel Miller is in the lead formation, Goatey flight, when the strike group's target comes into view at 9:55 a.m. Their target is the Paul Dummer bridge over the Red River. The aircraft of Goatey flight are each carrying eight 2,000lb GBU8 electroloptical guided bombs or EOGBs which when released hone in on a target by contrasting it against the background. However, the performance of these early model EOGBs is abysmal. Major Bill Triggers in the following Napkin flight confirms that not a single EOGB has hit the bridge. Triggers and the three phantoms of napkin flight are up next and release six 2,000lb Paveway 1 laserg guided bombs at 12,000 ft and pull out of their dime. This is Marshall Elm Michelle III, a United States Air Force fighter pilot during Operation Linebacker and author of Operation Linebacker 1, 1972. >> We had laserg guided bombs which allowed us to take out bridges. We didn't have very many of those. So we protected the uh the laserg guided bomb flights with a lot of fighters to protect against MiGs and also chaff which we could drop and we formed a carter with that and that would help us against the missiles. >> The radar intercept officers in the back seats switch on their laser designators and guide the laserg guided bombs towards the target. Several make direct hits on the bridge. Beloxy flight repeats the same process followed by jingle flight before the strike group leaves the target area. Although the bridge is impossible to wield vehicles, it is still standing. The final USAF attack force of the day enters the airspace around Hanoi at 9:58 a.m. This is a formation of 24 F4 Phantoms and four F105s heading for the NVN marshalling yards to the northeast of downtown Hanoi. Most of the sand batteries around Hanoi have already exhausted their missiles or have shut down to avoid attracting the attention of the wild weasels, leaving clear skies for the NVN attack fort. The 16 fantas of Gopher, Icebag, Jigalo, and Bera flight follow the Chaff corridor and continue northwest at 15,000 ft. With all aircraft now in position, the formation peels left into their 45° angle attacks. North Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire of all calibers blanket the anticipated path with flank, but none of the phantoms are shot down. Once they have reached 8,700 ft, the strike aircraft each drop 12 500lb dumb bombs on the tracks and switching yards. Bera flight is the last formation to bomb Yenvi and the strike group head southwest back through the Chaff corridor. Four flights of Midcap Phantoms cover the withdrawal. All 12 of the railway tracks at Yenvi have been cut by the bombing raid. By 11:15 a.m., all surviving United States Air Force strike aircraft are back on the ground at their bases in Thailand. The raid on Hanoi has been moderately successful as both the bridge and the marshalling yards are temporarily unusable. Three VPAF MiGs and two Phantoms from the 432nd Reconnaissance Squadron have been shot down in air-to-air engagements. The fighters from the 432nd being the only US AF aircraft lost on the first day of Operation Linebacker 1. However, this is not the end of today's action as the aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonken are preparing to launch another large strike on North Vietnam. The strike aircraft once again begin launching off the flight deck of the USS Constellation at 11:48 a.m. with Coral Sea and Kittyhawk following closely behind. The target for this mission is the railway marshalling yard at the town of Hywong, a key transit hub between Hanoi and Hyong. By 12:19 p.m., Constellation's Alpha Strike of 32 aircraft is formed up and heading for Hywong. While Coralc and Kittyhawk continue to launch their air groups, those flying the escort fighters have been given a longer briefing by airwing commander Gus Edgar, who reminded the pilots there would be no trolling for MiGs, a reference to Lieutenant Hawkins and Dose's decision to dogfight earlier in the morning. Flying in at 15,000 ft, Constellation's airwing crosses the coast of North Vietnam at the mouth of the Red River. At 12:54 p.m., the EK3B Sky Warriors drop back and activate their powerful jammers to scramble enemy ground radars while two Ironhand A7s and their Phantom escorts break off and move to their assigned stations. At 12:58 p.m., the MCAP Phantoms accelerate ahead of the main formation and form a patrol line north of Haidwang to guard against enemy aircraft coming from that direction. The A6 intruders and A7 Corsair will launch a pinser attack on the target. >> This afternoon strike against the marshalling yards ends up being the Navy's biggest dog fight in Vietnam. The four flax suppression phantoms also begin their hunt for enemy anti-aircraft batteries. Piloting one of these aircraft is Lieutenant Randy Duke Cunningham and his radar intercept officer, Lieutenant Willie Driscoll. Cunningham and Driscoll have already shot down two VPAF aircraft so far in the war and the aggressive Cunningham is aching for another chance to tangle with enemy MiGs. For now, they watch the procession of A6s and A7s swoop in on the railard in Haidwong and plaster the area with 500 lb bombs. North Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire greets the raiders, but Cunningham and his wingman, Lieutenant Brian Grant, can't locate the enemy positions. They instead drop their cluster bombs on industrial warehouses close to the marshalling yard. After Cunningham pulls out of his attack dive, Driscoll scans the sky and spots what he thinks are black dots on the horizon. Suddenly, USS Chicago issues a new warning. This is Red Crown on guard. Bandits, bandits, bandits. Bullseye 036 for 37. Heading 222, altitude unknown, time 0. This information tells the pilots that the enemy aircraft being referred to in the report are still 30 mi away and not in the vicinity. Somehow another group of 10 MiG 17s have entered the combat area completely undetected. It will later be revealed that these MiGs were on route to provide air support for North Vietnamese units fighting in South Vietnam, but unknowingly stumbled right into the American raid on Haidwang. Two Mig 17s line up behind Cunningham and Driscoll's Phantom and fire their cannons. Cunningham turns and cuts inside the tracers while both MiGs overshoot. Reversing back, Cunningham turns the tables on the enemy fighters and launches a Sidewinder missile at a range of around 2,500 ft. The missile makes a direct hit and blotss one of the VPAF fighters out of the sky. Another Big 17 pulls in behind Cunningham, preparing to fire. Spotting his wingman just behind, Cunningham briefly accelerates to full speed to form up next to Grant. The Phantoms go to full afterburner, hoping to run from the MiGs, which outnumber them 4 to one. High above the engagement is Commander Dwight Tim and his wingman, Lieutenant David Ericson. Tim and Ericson see Cunningham and Grant in trouble and dive into the fight. Four VPAF Mig21s and two Mig 19s coming from the north also join the fry. These are the aircraft detected by the USS Chicago which have now arrived. There are now 40 aircraft desperately fighting to maneuver within a 3m radius and the airspace is too congested to use radar guided Sparrow missiles. Instead, the American pilots switched to heat-seeking Sidewinders, which were a better choice in close quarters combat. The VPAF interceptors are trying to break through to the main strike group, which is finishing its bombing runs over height one. Recognizing the danger, Commander Edgar orders the A6s and A7s to run for home. The rest of the strike aircraft eress from the area without further incident while the dog fight to the north continues. Lieutenant Matt Connelly spots a Mig 17 to his right, making a wide starboard turn and latches onto the Mig's tail. >> The MiG turns into him, and as he pitches up, he sees somewhere between 20 and 25 American fighters and MiGs in what is the largest dog fight of the Vietnam War. It is just a roing furball. aircraft going every which way. Completely unusual for Vietnam. But again, operation linebacker is unusual for Vietnam as well. The Mig 17 never sees him, doesn't know he's back there, and just rolls out and rolls level. So Connley's Aim 9 is is growling at him in his head. >> The VPAF pilot panics and makes a critical mistake, turning right in front of Conny's Phantom. Connelly blows the MIG out of the sky with a Sidewinder missile. Duke Cunningham and Brian Grant have successfully evaded the MiGs behind them and climbed to 12,000 ft to assess the situation below. Eight Mig 17s are flying in a defensive circle with three Phantoms interspersed, including Commander Tim, who is being chased by two Mig 17s and a Mig 21. Cunningham and Grant once again dive into the attack and tries to chase off the VPAF interceptors. Cunningham lines up on the Mig 17 closest to Commander Tim's Phantom. However, Cunningham can't risk firing a missile with Tim so close to the enemy fighter. From the back seat, Lieutenant Driscoll scans behind the aircraft and sees four MiG 17s lining up on Cunningham's aircraft with two Mig 19s also giving chase. Desperate to escape from the six enemy aircraft behind him, Cunningham desperately calls to Tim over the radio. Showtime. Reverse starboard. Goddamn it. Reverse starboard. Tim pulls the control stick to the right and the Mig follows. Finally, with a clean shot, Cunningham launches a Sidewinder which downs the Mig 17. Matt Connelly is feeling euphoric after his first Mig 17 kill when he spots another MIG. Feeling deja vu, Connelly pulls in behind the Mig 17. He recalls the engagement was a carbon copy of the first. The guy did the same thing. He saw me coming and started turning. I went behind him. He reversed his turn and I pulled back behind him. Connelly fires a sidewinder which blows off the Mig's tail and forces the pilot to eject. The four Mig 21 still in the fight break off before Duke Cunningham can line up a shot. Perhaps recognizing that his remarkable luck might not hold, Cunningham goes to Afterburner and escapes the area. By 10:04 p.m., the USS Constellation's Alpha Strike is exiting the target area to give way to Coral Seas's incoming air group. Commander Harry Blackburn and his wingman Lieutenant Rod Dworth are searching for enemy aircraft near H Highwang when an 85mm flag shell makes a direct hit on Blackburn's aircraft. Radar intercept officer Lieutenant Steve Rudlloff is blinded and the Phantom enters an irreoverable dive. Blackburn and Rudlloff eject with a blinded Rudloff spending several minutes dangling from his parachute. Lieutenant Steve Shoemaker is protecting the right flank of the retreating air group when a MiG 17 appears in front of him. Seemingly unaware of the Phantom's presence, the MiG pilot makes no evasive maneuver before Shoemaker dives in and destroys the aircraft with a Sidewinder. Constellation's Alpha Strike is continuing to make its way south back to the Gulf of Tonkin with many aircraft in ones and twos after becoming separated from the main formation. Duke Cunningham's Phantom is one of the aircraft flying alone when Cunningham spots an aircraft in the distance which almost appears completely stationary. The silhouette rapidly increases in size until Cunningham and Willie Driscoll find themselves face to face with the Mig 17 coming directly at their 12:00. Cunningham said after the war, "I tried to meet this guy head on and all of a sudden he opened fire with Tracer. I pulled straight up into the vertical going up through 15,000 ft and pulled six G's going over the top. To his surprise, the MIG follows him into the vertical climb. Cunningham rolls the Phantom onto its back and attempts to level off while the MiG pilot fires and barely miss it. Both pilots attempt to gain the upper hand over the next few seconds with each man repeating the move of going vertical, pulling a complete circle to end up behind their opponent before the endangered pilot repeats the process. However, this game plays into the strengths of the North Vietnamese pilot as the Mig 17 is a superior fighter at lower speeds. Yet, Cunningham is a graduate of Top Gun and remembers the maneuver for escaping Mig 17s. When both aircrafts level out with the on his tail, Cunningham pitches his Phantom downward before sharply reversing his turn towards the Mig's nose. He hits the afterburns and screams past the enemy aircraft out of gun range. To Cunningham's surprise, the make pilot continues to follow and Cunningham decides to repeat his earlier maneuver of executing a vertical climb. This time, Cunningham throttles back to idle and selects his air brakes. If you've ever seen Top Gun, you remember the famous line, "I'm going to hit the brakes and he'll fly right by." Cunningham was an adviser on the movie Top Gun and this is literally where that comes from. So this this is probably one of the few cases where this works. >> The Phantom decelerates rapidly and the Mig 17 screams ahead. Its pilot surprised at the maneuver. With Cunningham now on his tail, the BPAF pilot makes his first mistake and rolls into a dive to escape the dog fight. When Cunningham and Driscoll follow, they find themselves in a perfect firing position on the enemy's 6:00. A Sidewinder smashes into the Mig 17's tail and sends it hurtling into the ground. With their third kill of the day, Cunningham and Driscoll have become the US Navy's first flying aces of the Vietnam War. Before they have any time to celebrate, a Sparrow missile screeches right over their Phantom. Matt Connelly had cited another enemy MiG lining up on Cunningham 6:00 and fired off a missile to force the VPAF fighter to break off. The gambit worked and the MiG disengages while the American aircraft head for the Gulf of Tonkip. The dog fight over Haidwang is over after 6 minutes of furious combat. The result is the best kill count for any single engagement since Operation Bolo 5 years earlier. Six North Vietnamese Mig 17s have been shot down and one seriously damaged. Constellations air groupoup has lost one Phantom to ground fire and one damaged. But the outcome is a clear victory for the Americans. >> But no sooner has Cunningham shot down his third Mig of the day, his fifth MiG overall, then his F4 gets hit by a surfaceto-air missile. He is over downtown Hanoi. He and Driscoll know if they punch out here, they're going to become PS. And remember that there have been Americans held as PS since 1964. And no one really knows when this war is going to end. So Cunningham valiantly fights this F4 he's flying, gets it out over the water, ejects, and they they are both picked up. The dog fighting is not over yet. At 10:08 p.m., the USS Coral Se's airwing is now hitting targets around Haidwang while MIGAP patrols van out to search for enemy fighters. A pair of phantoms piloted by Lieutenant Commander Juck Schroeda and Lieutenant Ken Cannon are on station between Hywong and Hanoi when the USS Chicago radios a radar contact. Bogey 332 at 23 mi. Schroeder and Cannon assume attack formation and race after the contact, which turns out to be a MiG 17. Lieutenant Cannon lines up on the Mig 17 and fires a Sidewinder. The missile streaks through the sky and smashes into the Mig's tail, sending the aircraft spiraling into the ground. Now deep in enemy territory, Cannon reunites with Schroeda and both pilots head for the Gulf of Tonkin along with the rest of Coral Seas's airwing. The USS Kittyhawks air groupoup launches their attack at 1:16 p.m. Just as Coral Seas aviators are leaving the target area, some of the aircraft do not go all the way to Hywong, but instead bomb military warehouses on the coastline. The rest saturate the road leading to Hanoi and a bridge to the east of the town, dropping the span and severing traffic between Hywong and the capital. None of Kittyhawk's 32 aircraft are shot down and no mix are encountered. By 1:26 p.m., the raid is over and the airwing egresses out of the area and back out over the Gulf of Tonken. The carriers have recovered all aircraft by 2:15 p.m., but the Navy's day is still not over. Another alpha strike is scheduled to take place in an hour. The third and final alpha strike of the first day of Operation Linebacker launches off the deck of the USS Constellation at 3:15 p.m. The target for this raid is the port facilities in the town of Hongai northeast of Hyong. Curt Dose and Jim McDevit have been tasked with escorting one of the Ironhand A7s as punishment for disobeying orders and leaving their patrol station to search for Migs on the first mission of the day. The first wave of attackers reaches Hongai at 4:30 p.m. The Ironhand A7s proceed to their assigned areas while A6 intruders drop 500lb bombs on port facilities, starting fires. Two 500lb bombs strike the Soviet Kolia Grecia Aopian which causes severe damage and casualties on board. Dose and McDevit are providing close escort to the Corsair when their Phantom's warning receiver picks up an enemy SAM radar tracking them. The two SAMs rocket out of the afternoon haze and track right for Dose and McDevit's aircraft. Dose rolls the Phantom onto its back and throws the aircraft into an emergency dive, but the missiles correct their trajectory and are still coming. Dose then levels out and pulls as hard as he can on the stick to send the Phantom into a vertical climb, pulling 8.5gs in the process. Nonetheless, the missiles again follow, and soon Dose is out of options. He later said, "They were so close I could see the control surfaces moving. I gritted my teeth and waited for the explosion. I was ready to die and they just continued on past. They didn't go off." The USS Constellation's airwing withdraws from Hongai at 4:40 p.m. and head back to their carrier. The final two waves of aircraft from the USS Coral Sea and Kittyhawk enter the target area 10 minutes apart. Coral se's airwing attacked the railway and highway bridges near the town of Kamfar, damaging both but failing to drop the spans. Meanwhile, Kittyhawks aircraft bomb North Vietnamese facilities in Kamfar. No American aircraft are lost in the attacks and all Navy aviators are back on their carriers at 700 p.m. In Washington DC, it is at 700 a.m. when President Nixon announces the resumption of large-scale bombing raids on North Vietnam to the American public. The first day of Operation Linebacker seized the largest air-to-air action of the Vietnam War. US aircraft flew a total of 414 sorties to support the operation while 88 air force and 250 navy sorties penetrated North Vietnamese airspace. Four bridges between Hanoi and Hyong have been destroyed, severing rail traffic between the two cities. Post strike reconnaissance reports widespread damage to the targets in Hyong Hywong and Kamfar. There is no accurate number for North Vietnamese civilian casualties, but at least 32 were killed when a SAM or one of the unreliable electroguided bombs hit the village of Galam, less than a mile from the Paul Duma Bridge. The 10th of May 1972 represents the heaviest day of aerial combat for the United States military since the Korean War. The Vietnam People's Air Force has lost 11 MiGs in air-to-air combat, while the United States has lost two Phantoms. Two more phantoms were shot down by enemy surfaceto-air missiles and three American airmen killed in action with one taken prisoner. Captain Roger Locker will survive after ejecting from Oyster 01 and evades capture for 23 days, the record for the longest evasion of the Vietnam War by a US pilot. After an exhaustive search involving over 150 aircraft, Locker is finally rescued on the 1st of June 1972, Lieutenant Steve Rodloff, will later regain his sight and return to the United States. But his pilot, Commander Harry Blackburn, is never seen alive again. Despite evidence, he was taken prisoner. Blackburn's remains are returned by the Vietnamese government in 1986. To this day, it is unclear how he died in captivity. Operation linebacker continues to batter North Vietnam's communication lines throughout the summer, and the Easter offensive grinds to a halt. B-52 strategic bombers drop 150,000 tons of bombs on the north, while Air Force and Navy tactical aircraft fly 1,216 sorties and drop another 5,000 tons of ordinance. The transport of war material through the ports is essentially severed, forcing the North Vietnamese to move supplies with truck convoys. Although the bombing campaign severely hampered North Vietnam's war effort, it never completely stops the flow of men and material to the south. The VPAF suffers heavy casualties in air-to-air combat, losing 47 aircraft in dog fights between April and June. By comparison, the United States Air Force and the United States Navy lose 14 aircraft. The Navy's Top Gun program is having an effect as naval aviators rack up a 5.25:1 kill ratio compared to the Air Force's 2:1. Weakened both politically and militarily by the bombing campaign, the North Vietnamese are forced back to the negotiating table in Paris by August. Peace still does not come easily when the Hanoi government once again walks away from the talks in December. The United States will launch the second phase of Operation Linebacker shortly thereafter, employing strategic bombers in an attempt to finally end the war. >> I wouldn't say we had a sense of frustration, but we kind of knew that that was not going to uh to end the war. what we hoped to get was the North Vietnamese back to the the tables. And it took us uh a couple of weeks to really get a handle where we could go in and and not lose a lot of airplanes. A lot of airplanes in those days were two or three. But uh I remember then we stopped and when we went in uh in December of 72 with the B-52s, we walked in and the briefing room and they told us we were sending the B-52s in Hanoi. And I can remember we all thought that this was going to end the war, which is a pretty good feeling after all of those years. >> Thanks again to Dr. Brian D. Nassie, author of Air Powers Lost Cause: The American Air Wars of Vietnam, to Phil Mena, Air Force pilot during Operation Linebacker and volunteer at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum. to the Behind the Wings podcast and to Marshall Elm Michelle III, author of Operation Linebacker 1, 1972, for appearing in this episode.