VIETNAM: Vietnamese remember the Christmas bombings of December 1972 as the next generation celebrates the festival

Record ID: 357602

  • Title: VIETNAM: Vietnamese remember the Christmas bombings of December 1972 as the next generation celebrates the festival
  • Date: 23rd December 2012
  • Summary: MODERN KHAM THIEN STREET VARIOUS OF NGUYEN VAN BINH, SURVIVOR, WALKING AROUND THE SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) NGUYEN VAN BINH, SURVIVOR, SAYING: "The was a shelter right here where I jumped in. It collapsed. When I was pulled out, I told them that my grandfather was right here and my brother and sisters were over there with my aunt. They dug them out but no one was aliv
  • Embargoed: 7th January 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Vietnam
  • Country: Vietnam
  • Topics: Conflict,History,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6V0ED12LQYX3V3ZCM23PYLFGR
  • Story Text: Vietnam commemorates the 40th anniversary of "Dien Bien Phu in the air", known in the U.S as "Operation Linebacker II", which lasted from the 18th to 29th of December 1972.
    Also dubbed as "The Christmas Bombings" and "The December Raids," Operation Linebacker II saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of World War Two.
    During the operation, the U.S. reported a total of 741 B-52 aircraft had been dispatched to bomb North Vietnam with more than 15,000 tons of ordnance.
    North Vietnamese air defence forces said that 34 B-52s and four F-111s had been shot down during the 11 days war.
    Today, much of the wreckage remains around Hanoi where the aircraft were shot down 40 years ago as relics and tourist attractions.
    Despite U.S. claims that the operation had succeeded in forcing Hanoi to return to negotiations, the Paris Peace Accords was signed shortly afterwards which clearly benefited North Vietnam.
    While the bombing did severe infrastructure damage in Northern Vietnam, it did not break the stalemate in the South, nor halt the endless stream of supplies flowing along the Hochiminh Trail.
    Retired professor Le Xuan Vinh, 75, says he still remembers the feeling when news of the first B52 being shot down was broadcast on the radio.
    "No country had ever shot down a B-52. Vietnam was the first and only country that ever did. It stirred up the pride and spirit of each and every Vietnamese and most of all, of Hanoian. And that proud feeling is something that will never fade away," Vinh said.
    Nguyen Van Binh was sleeping sharing a bed with his grandfather when the street where he lived with his family was hit.
    "The was a shelter right here where I jumped in. It collapsed. When I was pulled out, I told them that my grandfather was right here and my brother and sisters were over there with my aunt. They dug them out but no one was alive," Binh said.
    Binh lost eight members of his family. Nearly 300 others were also killed during the raid.
    After 40 years, Hanoi is a different place.
    Christmas lights and decorations line the streets and the younger generations focus on different activities during the month of December.
    Hotel Metropole always has one of the biggest decorated trees, but very few of the teenagers taking photos in front of it will know that a shelter which saved the lives of many of the hotel guests 40 years ago lies just below it.
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