As regards LeMay's comment about "bombing them back to the Stone Age," the problem with that, as regards North Vietnam, is that in large measure, they were still IN the Stone Age, so the raids did not phase them very much.
As a Navy dependent I would sell Stars and Stripes at the galley in the morning at NCS Finnagan and remember these planes taking off that morning. A day to remember and honor!
Makes me sick how we were hamstrung by Washington politicians on just how to fight that war. Tactical target selection routinely coming daily directly out of the office secretary of defense or the White House. Block upon block of “off limits” SAM antiaircraft missile batteries; Ships loaded with imported weapons, ammunition, missiles, etc. but they were “hands off.” A Russian or Chinese merchant crewman might be harmed if we sunk that cargo vessel.
In 1968 a B-52 crashed on takeoff from the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. It was fully loaded, heading to South Vietnam. All the bombs went off. It might make an interesting story.
North Vietnamese General Jap(sp?) has stated that they were within days of surrendering when the U.S. bombing of Hanoi was stopped. McNamarra with his influence over LBJ was the main cause of the U.S. loss IMHO. LeMay was absolutely right. Politicians hamstringing the military.
Thanks History Guy! As a sailor in my early 20's back in the 80's I was stationed at NAVCAMSWESPACGUAM, and got to go to Andersen Airforce base, and saw (and have pictures) of a B-52 that was mounted up as a memorial to those who flew out of Guam to missions over Vietnam. It was only then I realized how far those planes flew on their bomb runs. It was thousands of miles round trip, 2 thousand or so, just off the top of my noggin. An amazing feat.
That was a stupid mistake on the air commanders the returning planes from bombing should’ve raised elevation. 200 feet. The incoming planes should’ve dropped 200 feet. There would’ve been a 400 foot gap between them as they came head onto each other even a freaking five-year-old could figure that out.
Perfect presentation as usual with no errors in illustration or facts. The History Guy gives the most important and most interesting bite-size history lessons of all. Thx, THG! And thanks for the memorial at the end, too.
What deserves to be remembered is the thousands and thousands of people killed by these flying war machines for no reason, except maybe the profits of the military-industrial war profiteers.
My close friend, Jim Hardbeck, was leading a group of huey helicopters, flying South over 4 Corps on the early morning of the incident. He recalled seeing a huge fireball ahead of him, but never knew what he had witnessed. At a high school reunion, in conversation with another classmate, who was a retired B-52 pilot, and also flew FACs in South Vietnam, told him what he had seen. Strange memories……..Jim is dead now. Two years later I arrived in South Vietnam as a drafted grunt with the Wolfhounds of the 25th Infantry Division…….
Lived on Anderson 1964-66. My sister and I both thought the B-52s had taken off to bomb the USSR. We just waited to die, until we were still alive and nothing vaporized. In the fall, truckloads of 750 lb. bombs drove past my junior high school every day.
in the early 60's there was a mid air refueling accident between a b52 and a tanker over spain resulting in the temporary loss of a nuke in the Mediterranean sea, some mention of this incident was made in the movie men of honor. i showed this to my dad who was a tender for the sub that ultimately found the nuke and he said the movie got the story wrong and that there was no way a diver could be walking around in 2500' of water looking for the nuke where it was found. i was wondering if you knew and could clarify this story as there aren't many details available, the sub was called the aluminaut (sp?) it was owned by the Reynolds aluminum company. its a story worth remembering iirc 2 aircrews were lost that day.
I live about 2-3 miles from the 4MT nuke thats still buried in a field in NC. Driven by it and there's no sign or marking or anything. Just a 400ft circular stand of pine trees in the middle of a field. With a deer stand at the edge of the trees, of course! It's a field off a road named, no joke, "Big Daddy's Road". 😂
Not long before my dad's enlistment ended in 1968 he was working on a project when the weekend arrived. He'd had plans to spend the weekend with his girlfriend (Who would become my mother about a year and a half later) but he wanted to finish what he had been working on, and as it would only take an hour or so he picked up his girlfriend and took her into his work space. He was a draftsman and a land surveyor and was working on the plans to build a memorial at a park in base, Travis AFB, in California. My mother found a Coke vending machine and put in her money but did not get a Coke. The noise she made attracted the attention of a Colonel who came out of his office. He asked her what she was doing and she said her boyfriend was there trying to help some old man get a star. She had no idea what that meant, but of course the Colonel knew what it meant. He spent time talking to my mother after buying her a Coke, then a bit later my dad met her and they left. The following Monday the Colonel called my dad into his office. His boss asked him what it would take to get him to reenlist. My grandfather had been a Marine and dad spent his childhood being moved from place to place, and spending weeks or months when his dad was deployed. However, he was very fond of the man and didn't want to tell him that he was getting out, and nothing the Colonel could offer would keep him in. He liked being in the Airforce, but he knew his family would not like it. So he thought of the most outargues and unreasonable thing he could think of and said, "Maybe if I could get on a red horse team?" These guys are the badass branch of the AF, like Navy Seals or Army SF. they deploy behind enemy lines and set up air strips. The following day the Colonel had the orders for him. All he had to do was reenlist. Dad actually considered it briefly, but in the end, they turned it down. Good thing too, as the team he would have been assigned to was deployed to Vietnam and as they tried to land on the beach the NVA were ready and wiped out the entire team.
There is something to add now that I have seen a documentary "The most bombed Country in History" by the Gravel Institute. It gives a larger historical perspective of the history of the US wars in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
One can trace the decline if the USA from the Vietnam war. The lies and coverup of a shadow government. The incredible waste of service members lives and Military resources. The toxic poisoning of not just Vietnam but all over the USA from pollution of making fuels and bombs. (my father dealt with Oil spills in the Puerto Rico Navy Base and they are STILL cleaning up Vieques) The broken lives of combat personal. Friends lost limbs. An Uncle flew B-52 planes but was lucky to retire. The National Debt going out of control and just going crazy makes me think we lost that war. And now, Billions off to the Ukraine. Why use Diplomacy? No one profits from that.
This is one example of countless others, in which American servicemen have lost their lives in some far away land or ocean… while serving their country. Many times there was no audience to witness their demise and even when given the recognition they deserved back home , it’s usually never visible in the mainstream news. But it should be !!! When any person loses their life while serving our country in the military … they should be recognized and mourned in a headline report in every news show on tv ! Along with all the great deeds that so many risk their lives to achieve.
Many thanks to the History Guy for the video and many thanks to all our combat veterans… you are very much appreciated !
Thank you for the documentation of this sad event. I served as a Flight Surgeon with the B 52s 1966-1968 off Guam and flew missions with the crews as part of the Arc Light series of action . While I was there we lost two of the B52s in a mid air approaching the initial point for a bomb run. General Crumm was flying as the airborne commander and riding in the non ejection jump seat. It was his last mission before returning stateside. He and several others did not survive. This needs documentation as well to honor the six that did not survive. You did a superior job with this documentation. Thanks. Robert Blake MD
As regards LeMay's comment about "bombing them back to the Stone Age," the problem with that, as regards North Vietnam, is that in large measure, they were still IN the Stone Age, so the raids did not phase them very much.
I was an instructor for training crew chiefs on the B-52. It is a beautiful aircraft, but a pain to work on.
if you do 360 turn you end up going the same way as before
Grandpa BUFF
The men who flew & survived those missions were made of some seriously tough stuff.
Thanks for everything you did, fellas – this doesn't go unappreciated.
As a Navy dependent I would sell Stars and Stripes at the galley in the morning at NCS Finnagan and remember these planes taking off that morning. A day to remember and honor!
Makes me sick how we were hamstrung by Washington politicians on just how to fight that war. Tactical target selection routinely coming daily directly out of the office secretary of defense or the White House. Block upon block of “off limits” SAM antiaircraft missile batteries; Ships loaded with imported weapons, ammunition, missiles, etc. but they were “hands off.” A Russian or Chinese merchant crewman might be harmed if we sunk that cargo vessel.
Waste of blood and treasure in an illegal war based on the Gulf of Tokin lie.
In 1968 a B-52 crashed on takeoff from the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. It was fully loaded, heading to South Vietnam. All the bombs went off. It might make an interesting story.
"Bombs-Away LeMay" the General was called. Operation Flaming Dart was known among the troops as Operation Flaming Fart (what else?)
Sick and Tired of Doing Comments anymore. No One gives a S about what You say. Only what They say. G bye
I was there for that first deployment of B-52’s to Guam. I was stationed at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, TX.
North Vietnamese General Jap(sp?) has stated that they were within days of surrendering when the U.S. bombing of Hanoi was stopped. McNamarra with his influence over LBJ was the main cause of the U.S. loss IMHO. LeMay was absolutely right. Politicians hamstringing the military.
Thank you, Lance. Great job!
Thanks History Guy!
As a sailor in my early 20's back in the 80's I was stationed at NAVCAMSWESPACGUAM, and got to go to Andersen Airforce base, and saw (and have pictures) of a B-52 that was mounted up as a memorial to those who flew out of Guam to missions over Vietnam. It was only then I realized how far those planes flew on their bomb runs. It was thousands of miles round trip, 2 thousand or so, just off the top of my noggin. An amazing feat.
Those pilots were carrying AR7's, I think.
Thank you History Guy
These men deserve our deepest respect. May all R.I.P and thank you for your service.
Hey HG…a minor thing, but I live right down the street from Mather in Sacramento…and its pronounced "MAETHER"…(as in "May")…..
That was a stupid mistake on the air commanders the returning planes from bombing should’ve raised elevation. 200 feet. The incoming planes should’ve dropped 200 feet. There would’ve been a 400 foot gap between them as they came head onto each other even a freaking five-year-old could figure that out.
I so enjoy listening to your videos while driving to work.
Thats what people dont understand about being a pilot, any number of things can put you in instant danger.
Perfect presentation as usual with no errors in illustration or facts. The History Guy gives the most important and most interesting bite-size history lessons of all. Thx, THG! And thanks for the memorial at the end, too.
What deserves to be remembered is the thousands and thousands of people killed by these flying war machines for no reason, except maybe the profits of the military-industrial war profiteers.
The small rifle was am Armalite AR-7 semi-auto .22 stored in a floating stock. Not much use in the middle of the ocean.
FYI: The California air base is pronounced "may-ther"
My close friend, Jim Hardbeck, was leading a group of huey helicopters, flying South over 4 Corps on the early morning of the incident. He recalled seeing a huge fireball ahead of him, but never knew what he had witnessed. At a high school reunion, in conversation with another classmate, who was a retired B-52 pilot, and also flew FACs in South Vietnam, told him what he had seen. Strange memories……..Jim is dead now. Two years later I arrived in South Vietnam as a drafted grunt with the Wolfhounds of the 25th Infantry Division…….
I always like and appreciate all the work you and (I suppose) your team does to research all the wide expanse of History that you show!
ONG!! This is the most distressing story on the YouTubes. Checking my blood pressure. What a great narrative coverage of this long forgotten disaster.
Lived on Anderson 1964-66. My sister and I both thought the B-52s had taken off to bomb the USSR. We just waited to die, until we were still alive and nothing vaporized.
In the fall, truckloads of 750 lb. bombs drove past my junior high school every day.
in the early 60's there was a mid air refueling accident between a b52 and a tanker over spain resulting in the temporary loss of a nuke in the Mediterranean sea, some mention of this incident was made in the movie men of honor. i showed this to my dad who was a tender for the sub that ultimately found the nuke and he said the movie got the story wrong and that there was no way a diver could be walking around in 2500' of water looking for the nuke where it was found. i was wondering if you knew and could clarify this story as there aren't many details available, the sub was called the aluminaut (sp?) it was owned by the Reynolds aluminum company. its a story worth remembering iirc 2 aircrews were lost that day.
I live about 2-3 miles from the 4MT nuke thats still buried in a field in NC. Driven by it and there's no sign or marking or anything. Just a 400ft circular stand of pine trees in the middle of a field. With a deer stand at the edge of the trees, of course! It's a field off a road named, no joke, "Big Daddy's Road". 😂
I used to fly B52s and never heard this story before. Thanks.
"Mayther" AFB
Not long before my dad's enlistment ended in 1968 he was working on a project when the weekend arrived. He'd had plans to spend the weekend with his girlfriend (Who would become my mother about a year and a half later) but he wanted to finish what he had been working on, and as it would only take an hour or so he picked up his girlfriend and took her into his work space. He was a draftsman and a land surveyor and was working on the plans to build a memorial at a park in base, Travis AFB, in California.
My mother found a Coke vending machine and put in her money but did not get a Coke. The noise she made attracted the attention of a Colonel who came out of his office. He asked her what she was doing and she said her boyfriend was there trying to help some old man get a star. She had no idea what that meant, but of course the Colonel knew what it meant.
He spent time talking to my mother after buying her a Coke, then a bit later my dad met her and they left.
The following Monday the Colonel called my dad into his office. His boss asked him what it would take to get him to reenlist.
My grandfather had been a Marine and dad spent his childhood being moved from place to place, and spending weeks or months when his dad was deployed. However, he was very fond of the man and didn't want to tell him that he was getting out, and nothing the Colonel could offer would keep him in. He liked being in the Airforce, but he knew his family would not like it.
So he thought of the most outargues and unreasonable thing he could think of and said, "Maybe if I could get on a red horse team?"
These guys are the badass branch of the AF, like Navy Seals or Army SF. they deploy behind enemy lines and set up air strips.
The following day the Colonel had the orders for him. All he had to do was reenlist.
Dad actually considered it briefly, but in the end, they turned it down. Good thing too, as the team he would have been assigned to was deployed to Vietnam and as they tried to land on the beach the NVA were ready and wiped out the entire team.
God Bless the poor souls who did not survive
Who thought it was a good idea to fly into a typhoon?
There is something to add now that I have seen a documentary "The most bombed Country in History" by the Gravel Institute. It gives a larger historical perspective of the history of the US wars in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
Thank you, THG, for another terrific tale of air combat and the struggles of the men who served in those planes. Than you for remembering those men.
Thank you for this.
One can trace the decline if the USA from the Vietnam war. The lies and coverup of a shadow government. The incredible waste of service members lives and Military resources. The toxic poisoning of not just Vietnam but all over the USA from pollution of making fuels and bombs. (my father dealt with Oil spills in the Puerto Rico Navy Base and they are STILL cleaning up Vieques) The broken lives of combat personal. Friends lost limbs. An Uncle flew B-52 planes but was lucky to retire. The National Debt going out of control and just going crazy makes me think we lost that war. And now, Billions off to the Ukraine. Why use Diplomacy? No one profits from that.
Rest in Peace guys
This is one example of countless others, in which American servicemen have lost their lives in some far away land or ocean… while serving their country.
Many times there was no audience to witness their demise and even when given the recognition they deserved back home , it’s usually never visible in the mainstream news.
But it should be !!!
When any person loses their life while serving our country in the military … they should be recognized and mourned in a headline report in every news show on tv !
Along with all the great deeds that so many risk their lives to achieve.
Many thanks to the History Guy for the video and many thanks to all our combat veterans… you are very much appreciated !
Operation Chrome Dome is related to the movie, Dr Strangelove.
Thank you for the documentation of this sad event. I served as a Flight Surgeon with the B 52s 1966-1968 off Guam and flew missions with the crews as part of the Arc Light series of action . While I was there we lost two of the B52s in a mid air approaching the initial point for a bomb run. General Crumm was flying as the airborne commander and riding in the non ejection jump seat. It was his last mission before returning stateside. He and several others did not survive. This needs documentation as well to honor the six that did not survive. You did a superior job with this documentation. Thanks. Robert Blake MD
There is another video that shows what would it take to make a B-52 into an Airliner.
was stationed on guam in 1965. remember hearing about this.