Over 7 million tons of bombs were dropped by the US during the Vietnam War; over 2 million tons were dropped during WW2. NOTE: A US B-17 Flying Fortress over Germany in WW2 carried about 10 airmen and possibly 17 bombs. A US B-52 Stratofortess flying over North Vietnam carried 6 crewmen and could carry 108 750 pound bombs. ONE Vietnam War B-52 was equal to about SIX WW2 B-17s. One F-4 Phantom jet fighter bomber, manned by two crewmen, could carry as many bombs as a WW2 B-17 bomber (with a 10 man crew).
Chat with our AI personalities
Refer to sites concerning Operation ROLLING THUNDER, which commenced in 1965; Operation LINEBACKER and LINEBACKER II which both occurred in 1972. Mass amounts of aerial bombs were dropped during those phases. Normal bombing occurred thru out the war. Total tonnage dropped, approximately 7 million tons; however this figure includes North & South Vietnam (and possibly Laos and Cambodia).
7.8 million tons of bombs were dropped during the whole war in Vietnam (compared to 2.7 in WWII).
Richard Nixon is responsible for calling a cease-fire to end US bombing of North Vietnam. Shortly thereafter, all of the other actors in the war agreed to the cease-fire.
Wild Weasels were invented in Vietnam. Those aircraft would go after the AAA and SAM sites drawing them away from the bombers. Original Wild Weasels were the F100 Supersabres, then the F4 Phantoms replaced them. Strategic bombing was the course of the war in North Vietnam; tactical bombing in support of ground troops was the norm in South Vietnam. As a rule, USMC jets only worked in South Vietnam; while USN jets bombed North Vietnam. As difficult it is for some historians to believe, the USAF F104 Starfighter and F102 Delta Dagger (President Bush Junior's jet) were used for ground support close air strike missions (dropping bombs); approximately 14/15 Starfighters and Delta Daggers were lost in the war. One F102 was downed in aerial combat with a MIG21; one Starfighter was downed in air to air combat with a Red Chinese MIG-19 (probably a J6 version) in 1965, when the F104 strayed to close to Hainan Island.
The nation of North Vietnam (which no longer exists...it's called Vietnam today). The country that the US was allied to, South Vietnam, doesn't exist either...it was consumed by North Vietnam. The official name of SOUTH Vietnam was the "Republic of South Vietnam."
He is a Vietnam Era Veteran.
US Veterans Affairs.