- 6/7/2025
For educational purposes
The Discovery Channel brings you a comprehensive look at the fierce air campaigns of the Vietnam Era.
Experience dogfights between Russian supplied MIGs and the US's F-4 Phantom, hear secret military mission plans, and witness stunning war footage.
Also included are interviews with the courageous pilots of the Skyhawks, F-105 Thunder Chiefs, giant B-52 bombers, AC-47s, and others!
The Discovery Channel brings you a comprehensive look at the fierce air campaigns of the Vietnam Era.
Experience dogfights between Russian supplied MIGs and the US's F-4 Phantom, hear secret military mission plans, and witness stunning war footage.
Also included are interviews with the courageous pilots of the Skyhawks, F-105 Thunder Chiefs, giant B-52 bombers, AC-47s, and others!
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:30As ground forces dug into the jungles of Vietnam, the skies above saw a different kind of war.
00:40If you take every emotion you've ever felt in your life, love, hate, anger, I mean just rage, fear to the part where you want to throw up, all of those things are going through you as you get into a dogfight.
01:00The American Air War in Southeast Asia is now just a distant memory.
01:22But vestiges of the battle remain, and none is more tangible than the F-4 Phantom II.
01:34Despite its age, today's wild weasel is virtually a new weapon, an integral part of the machine that demolished Iraq's war-making capability in the Persian Gulf.
01:51Designed to intercept nuclear bombers, the F-4 is one of the most important fighters in military aviation history.
02:07Although the Phantom's internal systems are state-of-the-art, the plane's airframe is nearly identical to those that flew in the skies above Vietnam more than 20 years ago.
02:28Most of the aircraft are older than the men who fly them.
02:40The A-9 Sidewinder missile is little changed from those used in Vietnam, and pilots still say that the delay between trigger pull and missile launch is one of the longest seconds in combat aviation.
02:52Like the Phantom, the Sidewinder is adapted to modern times, and like the Phantom, it is the remnant of one of the most divisive chapters in American history.
03:04In early 1965, over 30 Americans lose their lives to Viet Cong rocket and bomb attacks in South Vietnam.
03:18There are rumors of captured U.S. advisors being tortured.
03:23For many, the car bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon is the final blow.
03:28Although it is later proven that South Vietnamese guerrillas have acted without the direction or consent of leaders in Hanoi, American wrath is quick to follow.
03:45President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who until now is reluctant to order air attacks against the North, reacts swiftly.
03:52Limited strikes are launched on targets just above the demilitarized zone that separates North from South.
04:00The first of these is called Flaming Dart.
04:05It marks the beginning of an air campaign by the White House that will continue for three years.
04:12It also marks the beginning of a micromanagement of the war that will first paralyze and then destroy the Johnson presidency.
04:22The White House often goes so far as to choose the type of ordnance to be carried on particular missions.
04:29Instructions which are then relayed to pilots flying strikes over hostile territory halfway around the globe.
04:38That's the way it was.
04:39I mean, Johnson himself boasted that the U.S. Air Force can't bomb an outhouse in North Vietnam without I say so.
04:48And he meant it.
04:51They selected the targets.
04:53They would select sometimes even the path of approach.
04:57They drew circles around things that were not permitted to be attacked.
05:02You know, a 13-mile radius or something around Hanoi, 4-mile radius around the center of Haiphong Port, a 30-mile line below the China border.
05:16Beyond this, you dared not fly if you were an Air Force guy.
05:20It is a mere four years since the Cuban Missile Crisis pushed the superpowers to the brink of Armageddon.
05:28Johnson treads lightly, fearful that full-scale bombing of the North might widen the war.
05:35The president's relationship to his generals is, at best, a distant one, marked by an undercurrent of distrust.
05:44As the war drags on, this distrust turns to open antagonism.
05:48The bomber generals who ran the Air Force at the beginning of Vietnam had essentially not much knowledge of and certainly no sympathy with the whole idea of a limited war.
06:02These are men who grew up in World War II, came of age as military leaders, and all of Europe was their target.
06:12They knew no bounds.
06:18Yankee Station, 50 miles off of the coast of North Vietnam.
06:25In these orders, U.S. carriers sail their racetrack courses in a cycle that will continue for more than eight years.
06:33By March 1965, Flaming Dart has given way to a sustained air campaign called Rolling Thunder.
06:39Yet the rules of engagement are still severe.
06:48Soviet supply ships in Haiphong Harbor and even surface-to-air missile sites are off-limits for fear of killing the Russian advisers manning them.
06:57Pilots are forbidden to attack enemy anti-aircraft sites unless fired upon first.
07:02With each passing day, northern defenses become denser and more sophisticated.
07:08There was enormous frustration amongst us as we watched supplies and military equipment being offloaded in the port of Haiphong.
07:20Surface-to-air missile crates, ammunition that would be used against us the following day, and we couldn't touch them because of the rules.
07:27There was kind of a not-so-funny ha-ha floating around amongst the troops that the only people who were authorized to get killed in North Vietnam were fighter pilots from the United States.
07:37It was a very ludicrous way to fight a war.
07:41On October 26, 1967, several targets within the city of Hanoi are finally approved.
07:49Flying from the carrier Oriskany and his A-4 Skyhawk, Lieutenant John McCain sets out on the mission that would become the longest of his tour.
08:00Given two years to prepare themselves, North Vietnamese defenses are now formidable.
08:05The mission that I was shot down on was the first strike inside the city of Hanoi.
08:14At that time, Hanoi was the most heavily defended place in the history of air warfare.
08:19It had three rings of surface-to-air missiles around the city.
08:25We were striking the thermal power plant, i.e. the electrical generating plant built by the French inside of Hanoi.
08:33When I was shot down, the surface-to-air missile took the wing off my airplane.
08:43So I was in a very wildly gyrating dive.
08:46And so when I ejected, I broke my arms and my leg.
08:51My chute opened just before my feet to hit the water of the leg.
08:55Thereby precluding any escape and evasion opportunities.
08:59It was a very interesting experience to land in a city that you just finished bombing.
09:05And I got a less than warm reception, or you might describe as a very warm reception.
09:12And the Vietnamese came out and pulled me out into the arms of a very agitated crowd of Vietnamese
09:20who bayoneted me a couple of times and broke my shoulder.
09:23And fortunately, the Vietnamese army came along and took me to the Hanoi prison,
09:29which we know of as the Hanoi Hilton.
09:43Despite bombing restrictions and the losses that these often bring about,
09:47morale among American pilots is high.
09:49As rolling thunder continues, strikes against the North are increasingly carried out
09:55by U.S. Air Force F-105 Thunder Chiefs flying from bases in Thailand.
10:04But most of the real fighting in Vietnam takes place on the ground and in the South.
10:10It is here that planes like the 105 prove how potent close air support can be.
10:15Thunder Chiefs are called on time and again to rescue trapped American G.I.s.
10:21And in November 1965, at a place called Yadrang,
10:25ground attack aircraft save an American unit from slaughter.
10:31I'm sitting here today alive and able to talk to you because close air support works.
10:38And in those circumstances, work very well most of the time.
10:45In the Yadrang Valley, we were a battalion of 450 men
10:50surrounded by 2,000-plus North Vietnamese regulars.
10:56The only thing that kept us alive was artillery and air.
11:00On the second morning of that battle, the forward air controller
11:04who was on the ground with us, wonderful guy,
11:07good time Charlie Hastings, lieutenant, phantom pilot.
11:10Boy, was he getting his feet wet as an infantryman.
11:14He radioed a code called Broken Arrow,
11:17which meant American unit in danger of being overrun.
11:26And what that signal meant
11:28was that every available aircraft in South Vietnam
11:32had to come to our rescue.
11:34And they came.
11:52Air Force, Navy, Marines,
11:55they stacked them up every 1,000 feet
11:59from 7,000 to 35,000 feet.
12:0682 is south of you,
12:07just about to the Second River,
12:09I am 4,5002.
12:10Roger, let's go get in.
12:13In the face of being overrun,
12:15the survivors at Yadrang
12:17call in airstrikes just 30 meters
12:19from their own positions.
12:20And it was awesome.
12:31They poured it on.
12:32And we talked to the North Vietnamese
12:34a couple of years ago
12:36about what it was like
12:38over there on the other side.
12:40And one colonel said,
12:42we thought we were in a sea of fire.
12:44We didn't think any of us would live.
12:46Okay, Detroit, let's get out of here
12:52to the southwest.
13:04The Thunder Chief is heavy and powerful.
13:07Called the Thud, or Lead Sled,
13:10by the men who fly it,
13:11the 105 will make more trips downtown,
13:14meaning missions over Hanoi,
13:16than any other aircraft of the war.
13:20Accordingly, Thud pilots
13:21are shot out of the sky
13:22in greater numbers
13:23than any of their brethren.
13:28Early in the war,
13:30men who survive 100 missions
13:32earn the right to rotate home.
13:34Often they can thank the durability
13:35of the Thud for getting them there.
13:46The 105 was designed primarily
13:50for low-altitude, high-speed ingress,
13:53egress, and delivery,
13:55and either with tactical nuclear weapons
13:57or with conventional weapons.
14:00And so it was designed
14:01to do the air-to-ground mission.
14:04It had good sight system.
14:07It had a good delivery system
14:08that would give you
14:09a fairly precise delivery
14:11for air-to-ground munitions.
14:19The Thunder Chief never possesses
14:22the agility of a dogfighter,
14:23but as a steady ground attack platform,
14:26it proves deadly.
14:28Its long legs
14:29and aerial refueling capability
14:31become crucial to men and machines
14:33hoping to make it from Thai air bases
14:35to targets over Hanoi
14:37and back again.
14:40Like most aircraft
14:41in the American arsenal,
14:43the 105 is a product
14:44of the Cold War,
14:45constructed to fly very fast
14:47and very far
14:48to deliver a nuclear payload
14:50to Russian soil.
14:56By 1966,
14:59Rolling Thunder is in full force.
15:01During the three years
15:02of this air campaign,
15:03nearly five times
15:05the explosives dropped
15:06in the entire Pacific theater
15:08of World War II
15:09are loosed on a nation
15:10the size of Texas.
15:13At the top of the list
15:14are the bridges leading
15:15from China to Hanoi
15:17and from Hanoi to the south.
15:19Knocking out these supply lifelines
15:21would destroy the ability
15:22of Viet Cong forces
15:23to wage their war of liberation.
15:33The bridges like the one
15:40at Thanh Hoa
15:40become symbols of defiance
15:42for the Vietnamese people
15:43and intricate flak traps
15:45are erected around it.
15:48U.S. flyers call it
15:50the Dragon's Jaw.
15:52Over 30 American pilots
15:53are lost attacking the bridge.
15:57Three years and hundreds
15:58of sorties matter little.
15:59Unknown to U.S. airmen,
16:07the Vietnamese have built
16:08a parallel bamboo bridge
16:10300 yards downstream
16:12submerged just beneath the water.
16:19From the beginning,
16:21the people of the north
16:22display a remarkable flexibility
16:24in reacting to the American air onslaught.
16:27They were very good,
16:29very quick to react.
16:35We attacked fuel depots
16:37that oiled the PT boats
16:39and the north Vietnamese
16:40patrol boats, etc.
16:42Almost immediately,
16:44the north Vietnamese
16:45began disassembling
16:47their above-ground fuel depots
16:49because clearly these
16:50were not going to be safe
16:52and they simply dispersed them.
16:54They started digging in
16:55underground tanks
16:56all over the country
16:57and that was the end of that.
17:02You know,
17:03General LeMay said,
17:04let's bomb them back
17:05to the Stone Age.
17:06Well, the problem with that
17:07is that they weren't
17:08very far out of the Stone Age
17:10when we started.
17:14But air defenses
17:15over this peasant society
17:17prove anything but primitive.
17:19From their Russian benefactors,
17:21the Vietnamese receive
17:22hundreds of state-of-the-art
17:24SA-2 surface-to-air missiles.
17:27Many of these sites
17:28are still off-limits
17:30to American pilots
17:31flying overhead.
17:32It is a deadly arrangement.
17:36And by 1967,
17:38nearly 100 U.S. aircraft
17:40have been lost
17:41to SAM attacks.
17:42Finally,
17:46after months of sitting there
17:47watching them
17:48building these SAM sites,
17:49they knock one of us down
17:51and we begin immediately.
17:53Then,
17:54let's go after them.
17:55So they do planning
17:56and they mount a raid.
17:59And they send a dozen
18:00F-105s out of
18:02Khorat, Thailand
18:03against this thing.
18:06What happens?
18:07Six of them,
18:08half of them,
18:08are shot down.
18:10Because they have moved
18:12the missiles,
18:14put up cardboard decoys,
18:16and built this monster
18:17flak trap.
18:20We're getting flak
18:21out of the target board.
18:22Watch it.
18:25A lot of flak
18:27out of that missile site.
18:31Here to go in
18:32at low level,
18:34one four-man group
18:35after another
18:36down the same
18:38line of flight
18:39to the target.
18:42Maybe the first four
18:43get through okay,
18:44but then the gunners
18:46all have the range,
18:47the altitude,
18:48and they just sit there
18:49and shoot you
18:50out of the sky.
18:51And the pilots themselves
18:53drove them crazy.
18:55I found that
19:03in all of my missions,
19:05the time when
19:05it bothered us the most
19:08was going out
19:09to the airplane,
19:09that time of quiet
19:11when all of us
19:12are sitting there
19:13and you could almost
19:13smell the fear
19:14between air crews.
19:18Ground-based defenses
19:19aren't the only danger.
19:22Flying from safe havens
19:24within restricted zones,
19:26Russian-supplied MiG fighters
19:27are smaller
19:28and much more nimble
19:29than any American plane
19:30in the sky.
19:33Soviet instructors
19:35soon turn green
19:36North Vietnamese pilots
19:38into a force
19:39to be reckoned with.
19:45Americans trained
19:46to fight a nuclear war
19:48aren't prepared
19:49for the close-in dogfights
19:50that lie ahead.
19:51Our Phantom pilots
19:54were trained
19:55as interceptor pilots.
19:57There was not going
19:57to be any more dogfights.
19:58You were only going
19:59to shoot bombers
19:59from Russia
20:00coming across
20:01at .9 Mach.
20:02And we were engaged
20:03with tight-turning MiGs
20:04and we weren't doing
20:05very well.
20:06We had a one-to-one
20:06kill ratio.
20:09Despite their losses,
20:10American flyers
20:11in Vietnam
20:12pilot one of the
20:13greatest fighters
20:14of all time.
20:16Today's F-4
20:17Wild Weasel
20:18is testimony
20:19to the aircraft's
20:20endurance
20:20and versatility.
20:23And its negative
20:24dihedral tail
20:25is still unique
20:26to modern combat aircraft.
20:32Underneath,
20:33a 600-gallon
20:34centerline drop tank.
20:36And in back,
20:37two General Electric
20:38J-79 engines,
20:40each providing
20:41nearly 18,000 pounds
20:43of thrust.
20:44The Phantom's
20:45dual engines
20:45have always meant
20:46added insurance
20:47for the men
20:48in the cockpit.
20:50By war's end,
20:51Phantom pilots
20:52account for
20:52over 75 MiG kills.
20:56But this tally
20:57is hard won.
21:05The Phantom
21:06was a powerful machine.
21:08It had very good
21:09weapon systems,
21:10a good radar system.
21:11But a MiG
21:12would out-turn me.
21:14The MiG-17
21:15turned at about
21:1619 degrees a second.
21:17The Phantom
21:18turned at about
21:1811 degrees a second.
21:20Which tells me
21:20if I get behind him
21:21and he turns
21:22at 19 degrees
21:23and I turn
21:23at 11 degrees,
21:24it doesn't take
21:25a mathematician
21:25very long
21:26to figure out
21:26he's going to
21:27come back around
21:28and shoot me
21:28if I try
21:29and stay
21:29in a horizontal fight.
21:32The upcoming
21:33showdown
21:33between MiG
21:34and Phantom
21:35marks a watershed
21:36in American
21:37military aviation.
21:38By 1968,
21:44the Navy's
21:44top gun school
21:45is founded.
21:47There,
21:47men trained
21:48to fight
21:48a nuclear war
21:49are retrained
21:50to learn
21:51traditional
21:52dogfighting techniques.
21:56We went up
21:57and fought
21:58against the F-106s
21:59at McCord
22:00with the Air Force.
22:01We fought
22:02against anything
22:02that would turn
22:03that was dissimilar
22:04to the Phantom.
22:05And when I met
22:06my first MiG,
22:07I had 200 simulated
22:09combats under my belt.
22:11I had far more
22:12experience
22:12than the MiG driver had.
22:15After Top Gun
22:16was established,
22:17the Navy went
22:18to a 12 to 1
22:19kill ratio.
22:20If you were engaged
22:21by a MiG-21
22:22and were at
22:24a disadvantage,
22:25the best maneuver
22:26is to get rapidly
22:27below 10,000 feet
22:29in full power,
22:30full afterburner,
22:31and then work
22:32in the vertical.
22:33We could outturn
22:34the MiG-21
22:34under those conditions
22:36and gain an advantage.
22:40In the skies
22:41above Vietnam,
22:42pilots hurtled
22:43at one another
22:44faster than
22:44the speed of sound.
22:46But their tactics
22:46often replicate
22:47those employed
22:48by aces flying
22:49over the trenches
22:50of World War I Europe
22:51half a century before.
22:55To me,
22:56dying was a pretty
22:56serious thing.
22:57I was a student
22:58of Richthofen
22:59and Emelman
23:00and Galan
23:01and Pappy Boynton
23:02and Chuck Yeager
23:04and Wally Sheraw,
23:06people that had
23:06set the stage
23:07for us.
23:08And I knew
23:09why they were successful
23:10because they focused
23:11on the air.
23:12When I knew
23:13that I was going
23:14to meet another pilot
23:15in the air,
23:17that I wasn't going
23:18to walk away alive
23:19if I wasn't prepared.
23:20You look at the advantages
23:23of your airplane
23:25and the disadvantages
23:26of the enemy.
23:27What are his weapon systems?
23:29How can he bring them
23:29to bear?
23:30And while you're doing
23:31that, unfortunately,
23:32quite often,
23:33you've got a lot
23:33of other airplanes around.
23:35So what you would do
23:36with each of them
23:37is see,
23:38A, what's the capability
23:40of the pilot?
23:41If he's not flying
23:42his airplane very well,
23:43I'll go right for his throat
23:44and kill him quick.
23:46If he is flying
23:47a very good airplane,
23:49then I will fight him
23:50a little more defensively,
23:52make him make a mistake,
23:54and then I will go
23:55for his throat.
23:59With Top Gun
24:00and the F-4,
24:01American air superiority
24:03in Vietnam
24:04is never again
24:05in question.
24:06The difference
24:06that we face
24:07is that we only saw
24:08MiGs three times.
24:10And at one time,
24:10there was a massive
24:11MiGs up.
24:12On May 10, 1972,
24:14Randall Cunningham
24:15becomes the war's
24:17first ace
24:17after splashing
24:18three MiGs
24:19in one day.
24:22This is the cockpit audio
24:24from that mission.
24:27This is Red Crown
24:28on guard.
24:29Bandits,
24:30Bandits,
24:31bullseye,
24:32036435.
24:36Heading at 222.
24:38Altitude on zone.
24:39Time 0-0.
24:40Red Crown out.
24:41Lake 17.
24:42Lake 17.
24:43Lake 17,
24:43Bray.
24:44South by 2.
24:45Lake 17.
24:45Two-bye.
24:46Two-bye.
24:46I'll go ahead.
24:47I'll take a drag.
24:48Are you kidding me?
24:49I'm not sure.
24:50Where is he?
24:51He's got a non-smoking.
24:53Two of them down low.
24:55Okay.
24:55Three eyes up.
24:57That's a block.
24:58Look, look, look, look.
24:59If you take every emotion
25:01you've ever felt in your life,
25:02love, hate, anger,
25:05I mean, just rage,
25:06fear,
25:07to the part
25:08where you want to
25:09throw up,
25:10all of those things
25:12are going through you
25:13as you get into
25:14a dogfight.
25:15Goddamn thing.
25:17The feeling of watching
25:18the other guy go down
25:19in flames instead of you,
25:21it's like being reborn.
25:23Okay.
25:23In the case,
25:25when you go through that
25:27and you take a deep breath
25:29and all of a sudden
25:29you're engaged
25:30by 22 other MiGs.
25:32This is Red Crown out of the guard.
25:33If you allow yourself
25:40the luxury of fear,
25:41if you allow those motions
25:43to take over
25:43and control you,
25:44you're vulnerable
25:45at the same time.
25:47The first MiG,
25:47I was pretty much in control.
25:49The second MiG,
25:50when he came in behind me,
25:51I saw tracers coming by
25:53and I remember
25:53I almost froze.
25:54I'm like,
25:55what am I going to do?
25:56And I remember the fear
25:58that started to take over.
25:59Red Crown out.
26:01I don't know how to
26:02show you this fucking plane.
26:04I don't know.
26:05There's no real thing
26:06behind you.
26:06It's over.
26:07Splash 2.
26:08Splash 2.
26:09Okay.
26:10Nice show, guys.
26:11Get the ride.
26:12You're right now.
26:14You got a minute behind you.
26:15Easy.
26:16Okay, he's right in the tail.
26:17Just on 11th and get down.
26:18It's a 17.
26:19And now it's running.
26:20Keep working.
26:21I got you, baby.
26:21I got you.
26:22All right.
26:23You got another one.
26:25More anger than fear.
26:28The other rotten fellow
26:30did umbrage
26:32to one of your friends.
26:33And so you don't really
26:34fear the bastard.
26:35You want to go kill him.
26:37I guess that's
26:38that's the warrior
26:40nature of fighter pilots.
26:45Only five in Vietnam
26:47reached the voltage status
26:48of ace.
26:50Did you guys have a party
26:50last night?
26:51Did we ever.
26:52I remember coming back
27:06to the carrier
27:06and one of the pilots
27:08said, Duke,
27:08how did it feel
27:09to kill somebody?
27:10And it hadn't struck me
27:12until that moment.
27:13And I remember, again,
27:14the impact.
27:15I think if you ever
27:19get used to taking
27:20another human life,
27:22you shouldn't be there.
27:32But life is readily
27:33taken in Vietnam
27:34and neither side
27:36is immune.
27:37Before war's end,
27:38more than 800 U.S.
27:39airmen are killed
27:40in the skies
27:41above Southeast Asia.
27:42As with body counts
28:04in the ground war,
28:05policy makers
28:06turned the skies
28:07above Vietnam
28:08into a macabre
28:09battle of statistics.
28:11For air commanders,
28:12the sortie,
28:13not the body count,
28:14becomes the means
28:15of proving to the White House
28:16that victory is near.
28:21The problem was not just
28:23with the President
28:24of the United States.
28:25It rested with
28:26the Secretary of Defense,
28:27the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
28:29and the military commanders
28:30all the way down
28:31to unit commanders.
28:32They would launch airplanes
28:33with less than a full bomb load
28:35against targets
28:37that were relatively meaningless
28:38in order to say
28:40that they had flown
28:40so many, quote,
28:41sorties that day.
28:43I'll never forget
28:43my first mission.
28:45I received a readout on it
28:47was called
28:47the VIN military barracks,
28:49which sounds good.
28:50And then when I examined
28:51the history of the target,
28:52I found that it had only
28:53been bombed 12 times before.
28:57So I went over
28:58and dropped my bombs
28:59on a pile of concrete
29:00that had been bombed
29:0112 times previously.
29:03This whole thing
29:05became somewhat
29:06of a charade.
29:11Throughout the war,
29:12the most elusive targets
29:13are those along
29:14the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
29:16Interdicting the supplies
29:17that run down it
29:18from the north
29:19is constantly
29:20at the forefront
29:20of the American air effort.
29:24First of all,
29:25you have to understand
29:26it wasn't one trail.
29:27I mean, there wasn't
29:28this six-lane superhighway
29:30out there in the jungle.
29:31This was a network,
29:32and it was literally
29:33hundreds of trails.
29:47And if you cut one,
29:48they went around
29:49and started a new one.
29:52We had not much success
29:54at shutting that down.
29:55We made it costly.
29:56We made them pay
29:57a terrible price in lives
29:59and blown up equipment.
30:01But they were willing
30:02to pay that price.
30:11Acoustic and seismic detectors
30:12are dropped
30:13to pick up movement
30:14beneath the dense layers
30:15of jungle canopy.
30:17But this advanced technology
30:19is often rendered ineffective
30:20by the land's
30:21torturous climate
30:22and terrain.
30:22By 1968,
30:2575 tons of supplies
30:27moved south every day.
30:29What I laughingly called
30:31the secret weapon
30:32of the Vietnam War
30:35was this bicycle
30:36with a bamboo pole
30:39tied to the left handlebar
30:41and the frame
30:42supporting two poles
30:44that stuck up.
30:45And to these poles,
30:47they tied
30:48four or five hundred
30:50pounds of stuff.
30:52And this is what
30:53they moved
30:54their war supply
30:55with
30:56down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
30:59Now,
30:59here we are
31:00with
31:00Mach 1 1⁄2
31:03fighter planes
31:04trying to blow up
31:07a guy pushing
31:08a bicycle.
31:09This is not
31:10effective use
31:11of air action.
31:14And it didn't
31:15work very well.
31:21One of the primary
31:22weapons in hitting
31:23the trail
31:24was the B-52.
31:26Like the Phantom,
31:27it still flies today.
31:31Any rings,
31:32watches.
31:33Make sure you guys
31:34have your protection on.
31:35Have a nice,
31:36safe load.
31:3710-0.
31:37Break.
31:3810-0.
32:08nuclear penetrator.
32:10The 52 was another
32:11product of the Cold War
32:12that had to adapt
32:13to the conventional
32:14task of fighting
32:15in Vietnam.
32:16But formation bombing
32:17and delivering
32:18conventional stores
32:19was a mission
32:20to which it
32:21readily adapted.
32:23One of the most
32:24lethal loads
32:25is the cluster bomb.
32:27It's a
32:28baseball-type
32:29bomblet
32:30with embedded
32:31ball bearings.
32:32When these were
32:34dropped out of
32:34canisters
32:35from the B-52
32:36bomb bay,
32:38the canisters
32:39opened up
32:39and these fell
32:40free and individually.
32:42And the
32:43falling through the air,
32:44these veins
32:45caused the
32:46bomblet to spin.
32:48And once this
32:49bomb spins
32:50up to about
32:512,000
32:52revolutions
32:53per minute,
32:54then these little
32:55arming clips
32:56will fly off.
32:57And then
32:58on first contact,
33:00the bomb
33:00would explode.
33:04This will
33:05make sieves
33:06out of anything
33:06it hits.
33:07I'm told that
33:07these little
33:08ball bearings
33:08and this thing
33:09explodes can
33:10penetrate a
33:10quarter-inch
33:11steel plate
33:1150 yards away.
33:13Right, right.
33:14Ready, ready.
33:15Now.
33:16These were
33:17very successfully
33:18used against
33:19fuel storage
33:20locations or
33:22trucks amassed
33:23for convoy work
33:24and personnel
33:26concentration.
33:27flying at
33:37altitudes in
33:38excess of
33:3930,000 feet,
33:40those below
33:41cannot hear
33:41the planes
33:42overhead.
33:43Often,
33:43they hit the
33:44same stretch
33:45of the trail
33:45twice in one
33:46day in hopes
33:47of catching
33:47laborers out
33:48in the open.
33:49Stand by to
33:49release.
33:49Ready, ready,
33:50now.
33:51Door is open.
33:53Roger, standing
33:53by release.
33:56TDI, sir.
33:57Stand by to
34:00release.
34:00Ready, ready,
34:01now.
34:02Bombs run.
34:04From a kilometer
34:04away, the sonic
34:05roar of a 52-drop
34:07tears eardrums
34:08and knocks
34:09victims senseless.
34:10From a half
34:11kilometer,
34:12bunkers collapse,
34:13burying alive
34:14those cowering
34:15inside.
34:15one Viet Cong
34:23survivor recalled,
34:24it seemed as
34:25I had been
34:25caught in the
34:26apocalypse.
34:27The terror
34:27was complete.
34:29One lost
34:29control of
34:30bodily functions
34:31as the mind
34:32screamed in
34:33comprehensible orders
34:34to get out.
34:35When the B-52s
34:36found their mark,
34:37it was not just
34:38that things were
34:39destroyed.
34:39In some
34:40awful way,
34:41they ceased
34:42to exist.
34:42Aspyrus.
34:43Brain,
34:43computer power
34:44switch.
34:46Train display
34:47mode,
34:48select the switch.
34:48Aspyrus.
34:49Brain,
34:50computer power
34:50switch.
34:51Aspyrus.
34:52By January
34:551968,
34:57one of the
34:57war's most
34:58compelling dramas
34:59is about to
34:59play itself out.
35:00At a distant
35:01airstrip in the
35:02central highlands
35:03near the hamlet
35:04of Khe Sanh,
35:056,000 marines
35:06find themselves
35:07surrounded by
35:08upwards of
35:0830,000 NVA
35:10regulars.
35:16For the first
35:17time in the war,
35:18the enemy amasses
35:19division-sized units
35:20for a set-piece
35:21battle.
35:22Here,
35:27more than
35:27anywhere,
35:28the strato
35:28fortress plays
35:29a pivotal role.
35:35At Khe Sanh,
35:37reinforcement
35:37and resupply
35:38by air
35:39is the only
35:39alternative.
35:42The marines
35:43dig in
35:44for the coming
35:45battle.
35:48Enemy shells
35:49hit the base
35:50at the rate
35:50of one
35:51every minute
35:52for five weeks.
35:55In desperation,
35:57B-52 strikes
35:58are called in
35:59around the clock
36:00to keep the enemy
36:00at bay.
36:05For nearly three
36:06months, the bombers
36:08fly in from Guam
36:09and Thailand.
36:10The normal target
36:12boundary from friendly
36:13forces is two miles,
36:14but the Vietnamese
36:15know this and move
36:17inside the circle.
36:18as the NVA threat
36:21grows,
36:22strikes are called in
36:23just 200 yards
36:24from the marine
36:25trenches.
36:39Bomber cells
36:40arrive over Khe Sanh
36:41every three hours
36:43for nearly six weeks.
36:44they unleash
36:45over 75,000 tons
36:47of bombs
36:48on the enemy
36:48below.
37:04These are things
37:06that are
37:06never forgotten.
37:08A friend of mine,
37:13a Vietnamese
37:14photographer,
37:15was drafted
37:16into the South
37:17Vietnamese Army
37:18and his battalion
37:20was wiped out
37:21in a misplaced
37:22B-52 strike.
37:23He survived,
37:24but his hair
37:25turned white.
37:26I mean,
37:27he was 19 years old
37:28and he went
37:29absolutely white-headed.
37:31The destructive
37:33power of a
37:34B-52 strike
37:35truly has to be
37:36seen to be believed.
37:42The savior
37:44of the marines
37:44at Khe Sanh
37:45is not the
37:46Stratofortress alone.
37:47C-123
37:58and C-130
37:59transport pilots
38:00brave one of the
38:01most dangerous
38:01landings in history
38:02to bring in
38:03fresh men and supplies
38:05and take out
38:05the wounded.
38:11Most of our
38:12operations,
38:12we'd fly in
38:13at high altitude,
38:14which for us
38:14was about
38:153,000 to 5,000 feet,
38:16and then we'd
38:17throw out
38:17full flaps
38:18and drop the gear
38:19and just dive
38:19at the runway
38:20and flare just
38:21before contact
38:22so that they
38:23didn't have time
38:23to decide
38:24whether they
38:24wanted to shoot
38:24or not.
38:29For many
38:29trash haulers,
38:30NVA gunners
38:31aren't the only
38:32threat.
38:35I think I took
38:36more gunfire
38:37from the United
38:38States Marines
38:39than I did
38:39from any of
38:40the North
38:41Vietnamese
38:41regulars.
38:43Usually we'd
38:43start real early
38:44in the morning
38:45as we flew over
38:45the Marine
38:46fire bases
38:46and we woke
38:47them up
38:48and they didn't
38:48like that
38:48so they'd
38:49take a few
38:49shots at us.
38:55Twelve weeks
38:56after it began,
38:57the siege at
38:58Khe Sanh is
38:58lifted.
39:01Two months
39:02later,
39:03the base
39:03is abandoned.
39:081968 also
39:09marks the end
39:10of rolling
39:10thunder.
39:11President Johnson
39:12imposes a bombing
39:13halt over the
39:14North that
39:15will last
39:15four years.
39:17But we will
39:17not surrender
39:18and we will
39:21not retreat.
39:26But in the
39:27South, it is
39:28business as
39:29usual.
39:31Many regions
39:32have been declared
39:32free fire zones.
39:34By war's end,
39:36nearly 75% of the
39:37ordnance dropped
39:38will fall not in
39:39North, but in
39:40South Vietnam.
39:45Nothing epitomizes
39:47the brutal efficiency
39:48of American airpower
39:49better than the
39:50AC-47 and AC-130
39:52gunship.
39:54The plane's 20mm
39:56cannon fired a rate
39:57of over 5,000 rounds
39:59per minute.
40:01Turning slowly on
40:02one wing, these
40:04aircraft can level
40:05any target.
40:06We got a call from
40:11the ground
40:11controllers telling
40:12us to leave the
40:13area because there
40:13was heavy artillery
40:14coming in.
40:15And of course, the
40:16low-flying aircraft
40:17were supposed to
40:18leave that area
40:18because the arc of
40:19the artillery, we
40:20didn't want the
40:21aircraft to get
40:21struck.
40:22And we were trying
40:23to tell him that
40:24there's no heavy
40:25artillery coming in.
40:26We were the
40:27heavy artillery.
40:28And of course, he's
40:30thinking, well,
40:30these 105 howitzer
40:31shells aren't coming
40:32from an airplane.
40:33And we went back
40:35and forth a few
40:36minutes and then
40:36told him, he says,
40:37look, there's a
40:38house about two
40:39clicks south of you
40:40with a red roof.
40:41Do you see it?
40:43He says, yeah, got it.
40:44Keep an eye on it.
40:46And we gave him a
40:46two-shot drill, which
40:48is 205 howitzer
40:49shells within three
40:50seconds.
40:53It's a good drill.
40:55And we fired him
40:56off and the pilot
40:57says, you see that
40:58house?
40:59And he keyed his
41:00mic and said, yeah.
41:00And about that time,
41:01it just disintegrated.
41:03And all he could
41:06say was, damn, stick
41:08around.
41:09We got some targets
41:09for you.
41:14In spite of official
41:16statements otherwise,
41:17CIA documents from
41:18the time warned the
41:20White House that over
41:211,500 innocent
41:22Vietnamese civilians are
41:23dying every week from
41:25Allied bombing.
41:26time that you move down
41:31onto the Coastal Plains
41:32where you have a high
41:34density rural population,
41:37I mean, every fence row's
41:38got another hooch in it.
41:40Anything you shoot, even a
41:42rifle bullet, is going to
41:44hit something that it
41:45probably wasn't intended to
41:46hit.
41:47And certainly if you're
41:48firing artillery, and even
41:50more so if you're dropping
41:51bombs and firing cannon and
41:53shooting napalm, you do
41:55fierce damage to the
41:57people who live there.
42:01You've got a farmer, and
42:03he's paying taxes to both
42:04sides, and he's doing his
42:06best to get by.
42:07And you come along, and
42:09your helicopter strafes his
42:12area and kills his water
42:14buffalo.
42:14Boy, that makes him angry.
42:16You've just hurt his rice
42:18bowl.
42:19You've broken his rice bowl.
42:20How's he going to farm
42:21without his tractor, which
42:22is his water buffalo?
42:24You come along with the
42:25Air Force, and you drop a
42:26bomb down his smokestack,
42:28and you kill his wife and
42:30kids.
42:30You've just made a Viet Cong.
42:33Good evening, my fellow
42:35Americans.
42:36Tonight, I want to speak to
42:38you of peace in Vietnam and
42:40Southeast Asia.
42:42Tonight, I have ordered our
42:43aircraft and our naval
42:44vessels to make no attacks on
42:46North Vietnam.
42:47In the face of growing
42:49criticism, the president
42:51halts the bombing campaign
42:52of the North, but his public
42:53support evaporates anyway.
42:57Accordingly, I shall not
43:00seek, and I will not accept,
43:03the nomination of my party
43:05for another term as your
43:06president.
43:07In truth, the Johnson
43:09administration never grasps
43:11the intensity of Vietnamese
43:12nationalism or the depth of
43:14enemy resolve.
43:17The bombing halt gives
43:18Northern leaders four
43:19precious years to strengthen
43:20their air defenses.
43:23Vietnamese optimism never
43:24runs higher.
43:30As the spring of 1972
43:32approaches, nearly 20,000 more
43:34Americans have died in Vietnam
43:36since Nixon took office on a
43:38platform promising to get out
43:40of the war.
43:41Morale is at a low point.
43:43As the U.S. scales down its
43:45commitment, negotiations drag on
43:47in Paris.
43:50By winter, the White House has
43:52run out of patience.
43:53President Richard Nixon is
43:55consumed with a showdown
43:56mentality.
43:57In a memo to Kissinger, he
43:59writes,
43:59I cannot emphasize too strongly
44:01that I have determined that we
44:03should go for broke.
44:05I intend to stop at nothing to
44:07bring the enemy to his knees.
44:09He has gone over the brink,
44:11and so have we.
44:12We have the ability to destroy
44:14his war-making capacity.
44:16The only question is whether
44:18we have the will to use that
44:19power.
44:20What distinguishes me from
44:22Johnson is that I have the
44:24will in spades.
44:30American aircraft are again
44:31flying over the north.
44:33Advances in smart bomb
44:34technology enable them to do
44:36the impossible.
44:37Using 2,000-pound laser-guided
44:40bombs, a pair of phantoms
44:41strike the bridge at Tan Hwa.
44:44In just seconds, the dragon's
44:46jaw is no more.
44:52Across the region, over 200 B-52s
44:55are assembled.
44:56In Guam alone, they take up over
44:58five miles of ramp space.
45:07For the first time, the major
45:09rules of engagement are lifted,
45:11and American bombers will be used
45:13strategically.
45:15Crews arrive at their evening
45:17briefing unaware of the change in
45:19U.S. policy.
45:20When we went in to brief, we had
45:23more staff members there, the
45:25chaplains were there.
45:27I mean, I'd flown already about
45:29two, three months, and I hadn't
45:31seen a chaplain.
45:32Now we're praying before our
45:33mission.
45:33That was weird.
45:34Then they bust us all off to the
45:35dining facility for steak and
45:36eggs.
45:37And this was like 3 o'clock in the
45:38morning.
45:39We'd never done that before either.
45:40I said, there's something strange
45:42going on here.
45:42It was good to finally go to the
45:47heart of the enemy, where his
45:49thinking and planning was going on.
45:53It was good to know that we were
45:55going to finally hit targets that
45:57could hurt him instead of trying to
45:59chase him up and down the trails of
46:00Vietnam.
46:02We knew we had targets.
46:04We were taking down his power grid.
46:06We were taking down his airport.
46:07We were taking down his rail system.
46:10Those are the kind of targets that a B-52
46:12designed it to hit.
46:27In little more than a week, U.S.
46:29forces drop over 100,000 bombs.
46:36For their part, Vietnamese gunners
46:38fire off over 1,000 missiles knocking
46:41nearly 30 American airplanes out of
46:43the sky.
46:49The way you can tell the SAM is coming
46:51towards your aircraft, basically, is
46:53you'll see him when he launches from
46:54the ground, because you'll see a large
46:56puff of flame and it'll continue.
46:59And if it's moving horizontally in
47:01relation to you, you're safe, because
47:04then it's not coming towards you.
47:06If it continues to maintain that same
47:08pinpoint at you without moving
47:10horizontally, then he's coming towards
47:12your aircraft.
47:13Zab, Zab, Zab, vicinity of a high
47:15fog, E.C. out.
47:17Get out, get out, get out.
47:19On the way out over a little town called
47:22Nam Den, I was hit with a surface-to-air
47:24missile.
47:25I remember thinking that I didn't want
47:35to be a prisoner of war because the
47:36airplane actually went upside down.
47:39And I remember thinking that, well, the
47:41only time I'd ever ask for any divine
47:42guidance is when I'd been in trouble.
47:44And I remember thinking, God, I don't
47:46want to be a prisoner of war because I
47:48was over the Red River Valley.
47:50It's like flying over downtown Los
47:51Angeles.
47:52I knew if I ejected, I'd be a
47:54prisoner.
47:55Get all that up for you.
47:57Who are you talking to?
47:58I remember taking the stick and putting
48:01it to the left-hand side and the
48:03airplane righted itself.
48:04And I remember thinking, God didn't
48:05have anything to do with this.
48:07It was my just superior flying skills.
48:10About that time, the airplane went
48:11back upside down.
48:12And I can remember thinking, God, I
48:13didn't mean it'd get me out of here.
48:17When I ejected, I came down in the
48:18mouth of the Red River.
48:19They sent PT boats out after us.
48:23Our guys stayed and almost ran out of
48:25fuel, keeping the VC off of my back
48:27seater and I before the marine
48:29helicopter could come in and pick us
48:30up.
48:39So it's a team effort.
48:43After all those dogfights, after
48:45bombing the target, after coming down in a
48:47parachute, having the VC trying to get to me
48:49where the helicopters came in, when I got
48:52back on the carrier, I remember I wept like a baby.
48:55I got on my knees and said, God, thank you.
49:07For the men of the Hanoi Hilton, the Christmas
49:09bombings of 1972 bring renewed hope.
49:12One night, air raid sirens went off and began perhaps the most
49:19spectacular and, to us, encouraging display of
49:24military power that we'd ever observed.
49:28And that was wave after wave of B-52s flying at night,
49:33somewhere around 30, 35,000 feet.
49:35And they were dropping enormous amounts of bombs on
49:40designated military targets.
49:45Even though they were far away, the room would shake.
49:48Sometimes even the air would be sucked out of the room
49:52slightly.
49:52When a B-52 was hit, it would light up the entire sky
50:01in a pink glow, marked its progress from over 30,000 feet
50:06to the ground.
50:09The North Vietnamese are never really caught off guard
50:12by U.S. strikes.
50:13Soviet intelligence trawlers drift in the waters off of Guam
50:17and shadow U.S. carriers.
50:18They supplement a sophisticated early warning radar net
50:22and throughout the war relay flight data on impending raids
50:26to Hanoi.
50:34We'd usually be out on the balcony of the BOQs at Anderson.
50:38That's where I was flying from.
50:39And we'd count the airplanes as they took off.
50:41And then we knew when they'd be about back.
50:43And we'd go out and count them coming back.
50:45And sure enough, there'd be fewer.
50:48We'd read every day about the bombers that didn't come back.
50:54Yeah, we knew it was happening.
50:56And we were concerned about it because every airplane
50:58was flying the same track, in and out.
51:03Vietnamese gunners sight in on well-worn American bombing paths.
51:07In the first four days, 11 stratofortresses go down in flames.
51:11When some crews refuse to fly, tactics are changed.
51:15And after eight years of restraint,
51:17the bomber generals finally have their way.
51:20I tried not to think about what we were doing to those people personally,
51:31but I tried to think about those friends that I'd lost.
51:35And the friends that I lost daily,
51:38because we had people get killed daily.
51:40Airplanes not come back.
51:42And when you get back and you see someone come in to clear out a locker,
51:48it kind of gave us a little bit of a feeling of,
51:53to hell with them, let's do what we've got to do and get this over with.
51:57With the bulk of their air defenses destroyed,
52:02the Vietnamese return to the bargaining table
52:05with quickened resolve to end the war.
52:08And on January 23rd, 1973,
52:12less than a month after the last bomb is dropped,
52:15hostilities end.
52:17Although the air war over Hanoi forces this diplomatic breakthrough,
52:22peace with honor is anything but victory.
52:24In little more than two years' time,
52:28Saigon would be firmly in North Vietnamese hands.
52:32There were many military leaders that knew
52:35that the air war in Vietnam could not succeed.
52:39And there were many leaders that knew
52:40that our strategy in South Vietnam could not succeed.
52:44And very, very few of them ever spoke up.
52:48An air campaign that poured
52:51so many millions of tons of high explosive on that place,
52:56in the end, didn't make that much difference.
53:00You can't get that bicycle.
53:02You can't stop that sort of a supply line.
53:06It will get through,
53:07especially a people as determined as our enemy were there.
53:11For men like John McCain,
53:23the war is nearly over.
53:26There was a kind of a moment
53:31when the pilot of the airplane
53:33came over the loudspeaker
53:34when we were leaving Vietnam
53:35that we had left Vietnamese soil
53:39and were over the water
53:40that probably was a demarcation point,
53:43both mentally and physically.
53:45Everybody cheered,
53:47hollered and shouted and cheered.
53:53On February 12, 1973,
53:56the first released American pilots
53:58landed Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.
54:00After seven years, six months,
54:04and 24 days in captivity,
54:06Navy Commander Jeremiah Ditton
54:08steps forward to speak for McCain and the rest.
54:11The whole country welcomes you.
54:13We're so glad to have you back
54:15and so thankful for what you
54:16and all of you have done for us.
54:18We are honored to have had the opportunity
54:29to serve our country
54:32under difficult circumstances.
54:37We are profoundly grateful
54:39to our Commander-in-Chief
54:42and to our nation
54:44for this day.
54:48God bless America.
54:50God bless America.
55:02We could have nuked the place.
55:04We could have turned all of North Vietnam
55:06into a glass-floored self-lighting parking lot.
55:09In 1965,
55:11Lyndon Johnson gave a speech
55:13at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore
55:14where he basically offered
55:15$2 billion in aid
55:17to the North Vietnamese
55:18if they would stop their aggression
55:19in South Vietnam.
55:21Lyndon Johnson was forever puzzled
55:23as to why he didn't hear from Ho Chi Minh.
55:26Even if we had invaded North Vietnam
55:28and taken the place,
55:30my son today
55:32would probably be in an army
55:34that was garrisoning
55:36South and North Vietnam.
55:39Giant volunteer
55:53First time after
55:54marginalized
55:54He showed the following
55:54of North Vietnam
55:54And he was a parent
55:59And then there was time
56:00to return
56:00and of course
56:03He told me
56:04to take took on
56:04our退休
56:05and get two
56:05and Oz
56:06And then there was
56:06and a little
56:06and a little
56:07and it gave us
56:08what the people
56:08may have happened
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52:06
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