1972: Operation Linebacker II in North Vietnam American troops were in the middle of the biggest bombing mission in military history during the Christmas season of 1972. The air campaign, called Operation Linebacker II, has largely been considered the action that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon ordered the bombings to begin on Dec. 18 after North Vietnamese delegates walked out on peace talks. Nicknamed the “11 Days of Christmas,” the operation consisted of 11 successive days of raids by B-52 Stratofortress bombers flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The only day that both sides got a reprieve was Christmas, when troops were given a 36-hour break to celebrate. During that time, Nixon ordered the North Vietnamese to return to the bargaining table. The North Vietnamese refused, so the bombings continued until Dec. 29, when they agreed to resume peace talks. In 11 days, ...

An Unexpected Christmas Truce Joe Barrera Dec 23, 2018 Updated Jun 21, 2020 It was not the same as the famous WWI Christmas Truce of 1914 on the Western Front, when French and British soldiers came out of the trenches and mingled with their German enemies, exchanging gifts and singing Christmas carols, to the consternation of their commanders. The truce in my war was a cease-fire nevertheless. At least for a few hours, or even for a day or two, depending on where you were. The ceasefire had been announced by both the U.S. and South Vietnam. The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese agreed to it, some what reluctantly. They immediately violated it, firing their ubiquitous mortars at U.S. base camps. That was our version of events. The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army said that we were the instigators. Christmas 1967 was a clear, peaceful, sunlit day. We were ...

The Real Story of the Christmas Truce The Christmas Truce has become one of the most famous and mythologized events of the First World War. But what was the real story behind the truce? Why did it happen and did British and German soldiers really play football in no-man’s land? Late on Christmas Eve 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) heard German troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. Messages began to be shouted between the trenches. The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man’s land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man’s land dwindled out. The truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. Elsewhere the fighting continued and casualties ...

A Christmas Story from World War II Comes Back to Life There was little to celebrate for children in England during World War II. But Christmas Eve 1943 remains a Christmas to remember for those near the U.S. Army Air Force Base at Molesworth in southern England. Every December, the men and women of the Eighth Air Force, 303rd Bombardment Group would hold a Christmas party for youngsters in nearby villages. The parties weren’t just perfunctory affairs with tinsel and a GI in a Santa suit. They were considered quite fancy in those times of severe rationing and little merriment in war-torn England. But the party thrown in 1943 by the 303rd, which flew B-17 bombers called “Flying Fortress”  on perilous day-time missions into Nazi Germany, was the most  elaborate. It included one of those B-17s, spewing red and green flares and carrying Father Christmas as he is called in ...

1896: “Stars and Stripes Forever” is Written While this wasn’t exactly a military action, it’s definitely a symbol of America’s military might. John Philip Sousa, who grew up during the Civil War, was a talented musician who became a long-time director of the U.S. Marine Band. Known as the “March King,” he was a rock star of his time, eventually starting his own band in 1892. On Christmas Day 1896, while crossing the Atlantic on his way home from a European vacation, Sousa’s lasting legacy came to him. He said the notes for “Stars and Stripes Forever” were born out of homesickness and fond memories of his time as the Marine Band’s leader. The iconic song officially became America’s national march in 1987. So this holiday season, while you’re enjoying leave, family, friends and feasts, think of some of your fellow troops, past and present, who had to forgo their holidays for the ...

1864: The First Battle of Fort Fisher For most of the Civil War, North Carolina’s Fort Fisher saw very little combat. But that changed on Christmas 1864, when the Union decided it wanted to capture the last port the Confederates held on the Atlantic Ocean. It was a debacle for the Union. First, the Union tried to pack a warship with explosives and blow up the fort’s walls — but that didn’t work. It just blew up their ship and alerted the Confederates of an imminent attack. So on Christmas Eve, the Union tried again, bombarding the fort with heavy gunfire, most of which fell short or missed its target. On Christmas morning, Union commanders decided to shell an area north of the fort so troops could land and come ashore. But when they did, more disappointment followed — the fort’s heavy artillery was completely unscathed, so that was a no-go, too. It ...

Christmas on the Rappahannock “Christmas Eve,” an illustration by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly, January 3, 1863. There was no worse time to be a soldier than the dead of winter. Far from home and freezing cold, the enlisted men of the Union and Confederate armies often struggled to perform their duties, or even just survive, in the harsh weather. Thousands of men died from exposure or disease throughout the war, to say nothing of the horses or mules that could make life just that much more difficult for the survivors. Fed up with the conditions on the front, many turned their thoughts to home, and failing to return to their families via desertion, tried to replicate what they could with their comrades to keep back the melancholy and drudgery of winter, if only for a while. The following is a story from the Civil War published in Harper’s Weekly ...

Celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa in a combat zone offers a different perspective of the holidays. For most service members who face hostile fire nearly every day, the winter holiday season can go by almost unnoticed as there is no break in constant vigilance, defense, or patrols. It can also hold for those serving on alert or guard duty during the Cold War. Though you may have served just a few miles from family, many SAC warriors worked underground in a missile silo, high in the air aboard Looking Glass, or sequestered inside an alert facility awaiting the cheery sound of the klaxon. It may seem a far cry from bullets or mortars ringing in the holiday but standing guard against nuclear war every day will wear the soul down.  Let me present some brighter stories of peace during wartimes. Over the next several days we will share stories from ...

The 1959 World Series of Bombing, officially known as the SAC Bombing, Navigation, and Air refueling competition, was set to be a rather large event upon news of its announcement on 15 July 1959. Operations Plan 31-60A outlined that four crews from each competing wing would be selected to compete and that the crews “will be divorced of all duties not pertinent to the competition training as of August 1.” A total of 47 bomb wings and, for the first time, 47 tanker squadrons would compete, each selecting four crews. One of those competing wings was the 307th Bomb Wing from Lincoln AFB, Nebraska, and its selection of four B-47 “Stratojet” bomber crews. Also among those of the 307th BW was Ed Siudinski, a maintenance worker who was part of the 307th Operational Maintenance Squadron. Wearing his set of all white coveralls, now in the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace ...

SAC 75 #70 The technology and innovation of SAC transcended to the civilian sector but sometimes SAC took a hands-on approach. On 13 February 1986 a heart was being readies for removal then transplant. The challenge, once a heart is removed doctors only have 4-hours for transplant. The problem was the donor was in Oklahoma City and the recipient was in Hartford, Connecticut, there were no civilian aircraft could accomplish that flight. The 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Wing responded with two FB-111s and a KC-135 to make the 1,415-mile flight, averaging 700-mph, in order for doctors to complete the transplant in 3-hrs 59-mins from the time the heart was removed. Five weeks later the FB-111 crew, representing all SAC members involved, held a press conference with the recipient who had received well. SAC 75 #71 Following the April 2, 1986 TWA 727 airliner bombing and the nightclub bombing in ...

SAC 75 #66 With the ending of SAC operations in Southeast Asia one would think SAC could resume full attention toward nuclear deterrence. Looking back to 1970 and the three-day skirmish between Israel and Egypt tensions had continued and strained. On October 6, 1973 (beginning of Yom Kippur and Ramadan). Egypt and its allies launched a surprise attack on Israel. This event pushed the possibility of escalation to all out nuclear war as the US was a strong ally of Israel and the USSR supported Syria and Egypt. As both super powers provided extensive munition and equipment support, neither committed its own combat forces. SACs 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wingdid fly (Operation Giant Reach) sorties from October 13, 1973 to April 4, 1974. These nine sorties were staged out of Griffiss AFB, NY and Seymour Johnson AFB, NC as Great Britain declined to allow the U-2s to land at Mildenhall AB, ...

The dawn of the atomic age cannot be defined by a single event as the series of events that lead to it and those that followed play just as an important place in history as the single action. On August 6, 1945, a B-29 “Superfortress” bomber, nicknamed Enola Gay, dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima, Japan.  In development since 1940, the United States had been warned that Germany was researching nuclear weaponry.  The threat of a nuclear Germany passed when Germany surrendered in May 1945, leaving Japan the only Axis power left fighting.  President Harry Truman had two decisions: launch an invasion of the home islands, resulting in thousands of American casualties, or use the atomic bombs.  The five ton atomic bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, delivered a blast roughly equal to 15,000 tons of TNT and leveled four square miles of the city.  80,000 people ...

SAC 75 #61 SAC participated in several bombing operations during the Vietnam War but not over North Vietnam’s capital Hanoi. In early 1972 President Nixon eliminated that restriction and authorized Hanoi as a target as part of Operation Bullet Shot. The first sorties began 8 February 1972 based out of Anderson AFB, Guam. The surge of forces and 24-hour battle rhythm of maintenance, refueling, engine run-ups, and rearming created so much noise that service members could not sleep on their off-time. Many of the maintenance personnel would catch a ride on tankers leaving for combat missions just to get some sleep. The Soviets kept a close eye on flights in and out of Anderson AFB by placing a trawler (dubbed the skunk boat) just inside international waters off the end of the runway. They would pass the numbers and types of aircraft north to Hanoi. By 15 April 1972, SAC ...

SAC 75 #56 Also during 1965, SAC was phasing out the B-47 and KC-97. In 1963 SAC carried 613 B-47s and another 70 variants as well as 636 B-52s and 86 B-58s. For tankers at that time SAC had 919 KC-97, KC-135, and and EC-135s capable to transferring fuel. Following the Cuban Missile Crisis SAC moved more toward an all jet fleet and by 1965 was even retiring earlier versions of the B-52. ON 28 June 1965, just 10 days after the first Arc Light mission, Boeing B-52B(RB) #52-8711, the first operational B-52 assigned to SAC was transferred to the SAC Aerospace Museum, Offutt AFB, NE. It sat there for the next 32 years in the Nebraska elements until it was moved to its indoor display at the current Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. SAC 75 #57 Jumping backwards again, just to give some scope to the true size, ...

SAC 75 #51 SAC was tapped to assist with photo reconnaissance over Alaska following an intense earthquake. On Good Friday, March 27, 1964, south-central Alaska experienced a 9.2 earthquake and SAC was asked to help with damage assessment. Two B-58s of the 43rd Bomb Wing were dispatched from Carswell AFB, TX. Within 14.5 hours the two B-58s had completed the low-level photo mission and the 5,751-mile round trip. Three U-2s and two B-57s were dispatched for high-altitude photo reconnaissance. Two more B-58s were dispatched the next day for another low-level pass. SAC 75 #52 The turmoil and strife of Vietnam had confounded and defeated the French following World War II. By the 1950s the United States began to participate in the quandary with advisors and then trainers. By 1964 the US military was engaged in another heated conflict of the Cold War, pitting communist tyranny against capitalist invaders. Tanker aircraft ...

SAC 75 #46 In the spring and summer of 1962, SAC began expanding its Post Attack Command Control System (PACCS). The expansion would include three auxiliary airborne command posts at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, Westover AFB, Massachusetts, and March AFB, Californian. Each auxiliary airborne command post would be equipped to carry the same communication systems as the Looking Glass. On 20 July four strategic support squadrons were based across the country at strategic locations; Mountain Home AFB, Montana, Lincoln AFB, Nebraska Lockbourne AFB, Ohio, and Plattsburgh AFB, New York. These squadrons were equipped with EB-47Ls; reconfigured B-47s with communication equipment. The squadrons were designated Post Attack Command Control Squadrons. Photo: James Dunlap SAC 75 #47 On the 14th of October, 1962, a SAC U-2 made a startling discovery; intermediate range ballistic middiles being installed in Cuba. MAJ Richard Heyser made the flight and took the pictures of Soviet missiles being installed ...

SAC 75 #41 With the ever increasing tensions and threat of nuclear war, CINCSAC GEN Thomas Power had begun airborne alert operations for SAC bombers. Code names like Head Start, Hard Head, and Chrome Dome were used for B-52 missions that included flights near Soviet airspace as a deterrent to a Soviet first strike. The B-52 missions incorporated flights around Thule Air Base, Greenland to ensure its continued monitoring early warning systems to a Soviet ballistic missile launch. Unbeknownst to most civilians, the B-52s were carrying live nuclear bombs. The program called for up to 8 B-52s to be in the air at all times. The Chrome Dome airborne alert program ran from approximately 1960 to 1968 when Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara began pushing for its cancellation. SAC 75 #42 In November 1961 Headquarters USAF designated SAC as the single manager of the Boeing KC-135 Straotanker fleet. SAC would ...

SAC 75 #36 Between 13 March and 15 April 1958, six SAC B-47s were lost while performing LABS (Low Altitude Bombing System) training runs. LABS called for B-47 crews to fly toward target sites at very low level then pop-up to about 18,000 ft. Once they hit the altitude they would drop their bomb and perform an Immelman turn; this maneuver allowed the crew to literally toss their bomb and then get away quickly. Unfortunately this put create stress on the large bolts (known as Milk Bottles) that attach the wing spar to the bulkhead fittings. In some cases these bolts snapped causing the crashes. Project MILK BOTTLE (1958-1966) was a modification program that alleviates some of the risk and extended the overall life of the B-47. And it goes without saying; SAC limited the use of LABS. SAC 75 #37 A year of missiles for SAC, the 702nd Strategic ...

SAC 75 #31 In another demonstration of SACs broad reach, GEN LeMay; then Vice Chief of Staff USAF; flew a KC-135 on a record non-stop, non-refueled flight from Westover AFB, MA to Buenos Aires, Argentina covering 6,322.85 miles in 13-hours 2-minutes on the 11th and 12th of November. Around the same time a B-52 flew from Homestead AFB, FL to Buenos Aires and back to Plattsburgh AFB, NY with the aid of three re-fuelings covering 10,600 miles. SAC 75 #32 In late 1957 SAC held a reenlistment campaign with a 50-ft tall Christmas tree in front of the SAC Headquarters building at Offutt AFB. The theme of the campaign was “Maintaining Peace is Our Profession”. A sign was to be placed next to the tree but there was not enough room for the entire message. Colonel Edward Martin and Chief Warrant Officer Ben Kohot made the decision to eliminate the ...

SAC 75 #26 The first Boeing B-47 Stratojet was accepted by Strategic Air Command on 23 October 1951. With its sleek body, swept back wings six turbojet engines, it was the height of engineering and innovation. With the support of the Boeing KC-97 Stratofrieghter, SAC’s reach was global. In an unintentional feat, COL David Burchinal set a jet aircraft distance and endurance record. He departed Sidi Slimane, French Morocco on 17 November 1954, heading north for Fairford RAF Station, England. Due to bad weather COL Burchinal could land in England and headed back to French Morocco only to find bad weather deterring his landing there. With the help of nine inflight-re-fuelings he managed to stay in the air until the weather cleared and he could land at Fairford. His predicament resulted in him flying 21,163 miles and staying aloft for 47-hours 35-minutes. SAC 75 #27 In the mid-1950s, when the ...