B-52s missions in the Vietnam War are examined by Warren Thompson.
The B-52 joined the Vietnam War in 1965 and remained on combat operations until 1973. In February 1965, it was B-52Fs that first deployed to Andersen Air Force Base (AFB), Guam. The 28 aircraft came from Mather AFB, California, and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
The US Commander in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, General William Westmoreland, initiated saturation bombing along large areas of Viet Cong logistics supply routes from the north, called the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which ran through neighbouring Laos and Cambodia.
The plan for the B-52s was to strike targets in Communist North Vietnam, but many American politicians argued use of the giant bomber in the theatre would be a significant escalation of the war. After a few months, the political storm subsided and the first mission was flown on June 18, 1965. Operation Arc Light was under way.
