GOING DOWNTOWN: The US Air Force Over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia 1961-75

2-230340

Examines the US Air Force's struggle in the skies over Vietnam Southeast Asia, starting in 1962 when instructors were sent to train Vietnamese pilots. Covers the major air operations against the north: Rolling Thunder from 1965 to 1968, and then Linebacker I and II in 1972, with the latter seeing the deployment of America's fearsome B-52 bombers against the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi. These operations were carried out in the face of a formidable Soviet-inspired air defence system bristling with anti-aircraft guns and SAM missile sites. Beyond this, the US Air Force was intimately involved in secret air wars against Laos and Cambodia - one cannot speak of a war only in Vietnam regarding US Air Force operations. The war the Air Force fought was a war in Southeast Asia, including attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions Downtown (Hanoi)..

This book complements Cleaver's The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club (OMM Book number 228230), which covered the US Navy's aerial war over Vietnam.