Airmen remember Linebacker II

  • Published
  • By Capt. Kimberly Melchor
  • 36th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) --  Thirty-three airmen stood in a somber formation here Dec.18 to mark the 31st anniversary of the Linebacker II missions that led to the end of the Vietnam War.

Each airman, who represented a fallen airman, snapped to attention as a name was read from the list of those lost. Thirty-three airmen and 15 aircraft did not return from this intense 11-day operation.

Andersen-based B-52 Stratofortresses launched more than half of the 729 flying missions against targets in North Vietnam from Dec. 18 to 29, 1972. This resulted in the renewal of the Paris Peace Talks and the signing of a cease-fire agreement with the government of North Vietnam on Jan. 28, 1973.

Network 56, an organization for staff and technical sergeants here, put together the event that joined about 100 veterans, military leaders and people from the Guam community. All paid tribute to the men who lost their lives in the most intense bombing campaign of the Vietnam War, officials said.

“It was really important for me to come out here and be part of today’s ceremony,” said retired Chief Master Sgt. Bill Cundiff, who served here in the supply squadron from 1970 to 1977 and supported the Linebacker missions. He helped lay a wreath at the ceremony.

It all began with Operation Arc Light on June 18, 1965, when 27 B-52 bombers launched from the runway here. These bombing missions flew over Vietnam to strike Viet Cong base operations, enemy troop concentrations and supply lines. Operation Arc Light continued until Aug. 15, 1973, except for a brief pause between late 1970 and early 1972.

The buildup of B-52 bombers for Linebacker II began Dec. 15, 1972, when Capt. Brent White and his five-person crew lifted off from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. By the end of Dec. 17, Andersen AFB increased its bomber force from 34 to 155 bombers. The flightline was filled with endless rows of aircraft and bustling activity as hundreds of vehicles delivered parts, box lunches, jet fuel and people.

During the first day of Operation Linebacker II, 87 B-52s were launched from here in 1 hour, 43 minutes.

“I remember looking up in the sky from my house … and seeing the (B-52) bombers passing overhead. There were lots of them … they flew all day … one after another with their rumbling engines shaking the houses as they passed,” said Rick Iglesias, a local Guam veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars who attended the ceremony.

Between July and December 1972 the base’s population swelled from 3,000 to more than 12,000 people. Facilities were taxed beyond their limits; local hotels were packed with servicemembers. Tents and prefabricated square metal buildings were put up instantly to accommodate the influx of aircrews and support people who worked continuously to keep the aircraft going.

Linebacker II was attributed to bringing North Vietnam to the bargaining table to end the 11-year war and eventually the release of American prisoners of war. Following Linebacker II, Arc Light operations continued over Laos and Cambodia. In the end, Arc Light B-52s flying out of Andersen, U-Tapao, Thailand and Kadena Air Base, Japan, had flown nearly 130,000 missions, accumulated almost 900,000 flying hours, and dropped about 9 million bombs.

Today, Andersen’s Arc Light Memorial Park stands as a tribute, not only to the 33 airmen from Linebacker II, but to the 75 men who lost their lives flying B-52 missions against communist forces in Vietnam between June 18, 1965, and Aug. 15, 1973. (Historical information presented in this article was compiled by the 36th Air Base Wing’s history office staff and extracted from the historical reading presented at the ceremony. Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service)