BOXART STORY

#70142

A surplus star

The last major offensive of the Vietnam War

was launched by the North Vietnamese Army

on March 30, 1972, under the name Nguen Hue.

In response to this “Easter Offensive,” President

Nixon suspended the ongoing peace talks and

ordered the launch of the airborne Operation

Linebacker. Intended to disrupt supplies to enemy

troops, it was conducted from May 9 to October

23, 1972, when it was suspended on the promise

of further peace talks. But these collapsed again,

and so Linebacker II was launched. Beginning on

December 18, an intensive twelve-day bombing

campaign began, during which more than

20,000 tons of bombs were dropped on military

and industrial targets. Fifteen B-52s were shot

down in the process, mostly by SAM anti-aircraft

missiles. One Stratofortress was claimed by

Pham Tuan, future Vietnam’s first astronaut, who

took off against the enemy on the night of 26–27

December in MiG-21MF No. 5121 from Noi Bai

base. The GCI directed him to a B-52 formation,

and he was given permission to attack with two

missiles and withdraw immediately.

It was the ninth day of Operation Linebacker

II and a total of 57 B-52s were sent to the

airstrikes that night. These were to bomb railway

stations at Lang Dang, Due Noi and Trung Quan,

six were to target warehouses at Van Dien and

three formations of three aircraft were to attack

three different SAM missile sites. Over Due Noi,

Black 03 suffered minor damage but returned to

Utapao base without incident. Much worse was

the situation over Trung Quan, where 12 bombers

were targeted by 45 SAM missiles and one of

them hit the Cobalt 01 of Capt. Frank D. Lewis.

32

INFO Eduard

All crew members suffered injuries, navigator

1/Lt. Ben. L Fryer being mortally wounded. The

machine was engulfed in flames, electrical

systems failed. Shortly after the hit, the pilot

ordered all crew members to eject. In the

process, Maj. Allen L. Johnson, EWO, lost his life.

This was the last B-52 shot down with its crew

captured.

The event, which occurred during an attack on

a SAM site VN-243, had a happier ending despite

its drama.

The Ash 02 of Capt. John D. Mize was one of

a trio bombing that target and one of the 15 SAM

missiles fired at them hit his left wing while he

was executing a steep turn away from the target

after dropping the bombs. Shrapnels injured

the pilot’s left leg and arm. The badly damaged

B-52 lost all its left engines, one of which was

on fire. The bomber fell several thousand feet

before Mize was able to get it levelled off. It was

almost superhuman effort, as the big bomber

had lost most of its boosters, not to mention the

asymmetrical thrust of the engines. Morerover,

Mize was wounded, as was the navigator,

1/Lt William L. Robinson, who anyway was able

to give his pilot a heading to leave the target

area without navigational equipment. “It was

not a question of making it back to the base, but

one of how far we could get before we had to

abandon the aircraft”, Mize later said, flying the

crippled bomber only by his skills and instincts

as all he had left of his flight instruments were

the airspeed indicator and altimeter.

A rescue ship HC-130 joined Ash 02 on the

border with Laos and, sitting on its right wing,

Text: Richard Plos

Illustration: Adam Tooby

gave it cross-check and directed Mize and his

men to a safe area. But the badly wounded B-52

was literally disintegrating in mid-air. Mize was

about to give the order to eject, but the navigator

cautioned him that they were over mountains,

and if they could stay airborne for some thirty

miles, they would have flat rice-paddy fields

under them. With the last of his strength

Capt. Mize kept his aircraft in the air, but after

a while he had to give up and order the crew to

eject. Lt. Robinson suffered an ejection system

malfunction and informed his Captain he would

attempt to jump out through the hole made by

ejection of radar navigator. Mize gave him three

minutes, knowing that once the navigator left

his seat, he would lose contact with him. Almost

exactly after that time elapsed, all electrical

systems failed, and Mize had no choice but to

eject himself as well. But, to his relief, the whole

crew landed safely on parachutes and was

rescued. Capt. Mize was awarded the Air Force

Cross for his heroic performance. He was later

promoted to rank of Major and stayed in service

until August 1, 1984. He passed away on June 15,

2012. Other crew members were awarded the

DFC and the Purple Heart.

And what about Pham Tuan? It is highly unlikely

that his missile could have caused such extensive

damage to a B-52, nor does the testimony of the

crew itself add up. The Vietnamese fighter fired

his missiles, but they probably didn’t hit anything.

His MiG-21MF is now on display in a museum with

eight kill stars under the cockpit, but at least one

of them is surplus ...

August 2023