B-52 raid on Hanoi with combat livemap - 12/26/1972

[doughishere]

Not on subject at all but I thought it was cool.

 

B-52 raid on Hanoi with combat livemap - 12/26/1972 :

43 minutes from start to finish.

 

Here is an audio recording and combat live map of LILAC 2 (highlighted throughout the video in red), an American B-52D that took part in a raid on 26 Dec. 1972 as part of Operation Linebacker 2. 

 

About 03:30 LILAC appears on the east(right) edge.

 

About 26:00 into the clip LILAC 2 drops its ordinance over Hanoi.

 

About 27:45 into the clip another B-52D, EBONY 2, gets shoot down. You can hear the crews AN/URT-21 emergency beacons go off.

 

About 40:00 ASH 1 gets hit by a SAM.

 

Crew of EBONY 2:

 

Ebony 2          B52D      12-26-72    U-Tapao    Capt Robert Morris          Pilot          NR

                      No. 56-0674                                1stLt Robert Hudson        Co-Pilot    RR

                                      Giap Nhi                      Capt Michael LaBeau    R/Nav        RR

                                                                          1stLt Duane Vavroch      Nav            RR

                                                                          Capt Nutter Wimbrow      EWO          NR

                                                                          TSgt James Cook            Gunner      RR

 

AN/URT-21 Beacon: http://www.greenradio.de/e_urt21.htm

Operation Linebacker 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linebacker_II

B52 Combat Losses/Operational Losses in Vietnam: http://www.nampows.org/B-52.html

 

U-Tapao is the Thai base the B52s operated from.

 

Operation Linebacker 2

From Wikipedia:

120 bombers lifted off to strike Thái Nguyên, the Kinh No complex, the Duc Noi, Hanoi, and Haiphong Railroads, and a vehicle storage area at Văn Điển. 78 of the bombers took off from Andersen AFB in one time block, the largest single combat launch in SAC history, while 42 others came in from Thailand.[63] The bombers were supported by 113 tactical aircraft which provided chaff corridors, escort fighters, Wild Weasel SAM suppression, and electronic countermeasures support.[64]

 

The North Vietnamese air defense system was overwhelmed by the number of aircraft it had to track in such a short time period and by a dense blanket of chaff laid down by the fighter-bombers.[65] 250 SAMs had been fired from 18 until 24 December,[43] and the strain on the remaining North Vietnamese inventory showed, since only 68 were fired during the mission.[66] One B-52 was shot down near Hanoi and another damaged aircraft made it back to U-Tapao, where it crashed just short of the runway. Only two members of the crew survived.[67]

 

 

 

Ash-1 has a 9/11 connection, sad as it is.

 

Ash 1- B52D 12-26-72 U-Tapao Hit at Kinh No. Crashed at U-Tapao. Attempted go-around with 4 engines out on same side. 4 KIA. CP, 1st Lt Bob Hymel & Gunner, TSgt Spencer Grippen were rescued. No. 56-0584. The A/C made a determination that they should bailout before the crash, but since the gunner was wounded and they felt he might not be able to physically execute the bailout, they decided as a crew to try and bring the plane in. Ironically, the only survivors of the crash were the C/P and the wounded gunner. In addition, the C/P would not have survived had he not been rescued by a crewmember from another BUF who watched the crash, and rushed into the wreck to pull the C/P out before the plane burned up. Lord, that we could have more men like these. September 11, 2001, Lt Col Hymel, Retired, was sitting at his desk as a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst in the Pentagon. He was one of the thousands of Americans killed that day. (Combat loss, 5).

 

http://www.nampows.org/B-52.html

 

 

 

[randomep]

 

 

+1

 

Thanks I love it!

 

It is as close to the action as you can get without being there. Really puts our money problems in perspective.