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Southeast Asia War: Rolling Thunder – 34
Although the U.S. Air Force began sending advisory personnel to South Vietnam in 1961, and
carried out combat missions in South Vietnam shortly thereafter, U.S. forces did not initially
strike North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese Navy attack in the Tonkin Gulf in August 1964,
however, led to retaliatory raids by U.S. Navy aircraft. The U.S. Air Force made its first strike
against North Vietnam on February 8, 1965, in response to a Viet Cong attack against Pleiku Air
Base, South Vietnam.
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER: 1965-1968
On March 2, 1965, the U.S. Air Force began a systematic bombing campaign against North
Vietnam named ROLLING THUNDER. Planners hoped to provide a morale boost to South
Vietnamese forces, interdict the flow of supplies going south and discourage North Vietnamese
aggression.
Flying from bases in South Vietnam and Thailand, the U.S. Air Force started hitting targets near
the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, between North and South Vietnam. By advancing the target
areas northward across North Vietnam, planners intended to apply gradual pressure and halt
bombing raids as incentives to negotiate.
Sanctuaries and Bombing Halts
To avoid the possible entrance of Chinese or Soviet forces into the conflict, Washington tightly
controlled these bombing operations. Limitations included no bombing in the “sanctuaries”
around Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, Haiphong, North Vietnam’s main port, and a buffer
zone along the Chinese border. Moreover, many types of targets remained off limits early in the
campaign, including enemy airfields, surface-to-air missile, or SAM, sites and petroleum
facilities.
In July 1965, the U.S. had its first loss by a SAM in Southeast Asia when a Soviet-built SA-2
shot down a U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom. The U.S. began flying anti-SAM IRON HAND
missions against the rapidly expanding missile sites, which the North Vietnamese concentrated
in the Hanoi-Haiphong sanctuary. The Hanoi-Haiphong SAM sites were initially placed off
limits for fear of killing Soviet or Chinese technicians working there. By the end of the year,
U.S. reconnaissance aircraft had located 56 multiple-launcher SAM sites.
Planners hoped to halt bombings to encourage Hanoi to discuss a political settlement. The first
ROLLING THUNDER bombing halt lasted six days during May 1965. On December 24, 1965,
President Johnson declared another bombing halt that lasted until January 30, 1966. Hanoi used
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these pauses to rebuild its strength, repair damage and send more troops and supplies to the battle
zone. So, when ROLLING THUNDER missions resumed, U.S. aircrews not only had to attack
new targets, but also those previously destroyed and repaired during the bombing halts.
In September 1966, North Vietnam sent up MiG-21 interceptors in force for the first time. They
flew from five undamaged air bases not previously attacked due to U.S. policy. By the end of the
year, ROLLING THUNDER had progressed northward, finally reaching the Hanoi area.
In early 1967, Washington approved ROLLING THUNDER targets closer to Hanoi. By this
time, North Vietnam fielded about 100 MiG fighters, and U.S. aircraft losses mounted. Finally,
in April, U.S. aircrews received permission to attack four of the five MiG airfields. By the end of
1967, the U.S. aircrews downed 75 MiGs at a cost of 25 U.S. aircraft in air-to-air combat.
On March 31, 1968, President Johnson ordered another bombing halt north of the 20th parallel,
hoping once again to bring North Vietnam's leaders to the peace table. As before, North Vietnam
continued to move troops into South Vietnam. With operations against North Vietnam halted, the
U.S. doubled its air operations south of the 20th parallel, concentrating on enemy troops and
supplies crossing the DMZ.
After several months of discussion in Paris, on October 31, 1968, Johnson ordered a complete
halt to all air, naval and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam, and the ROLLING
THUNDER campaign came to an end.
Reconnaissance and Retaliatory Strikes
President Johnson ended the bombing of North Vietnam in October 1968, believing that U.S. Air
Force unarmed reconnaissance aircraft would be permitted to fly over the country unopposed.
When North Vietnam fired on some of these planes, newly elected President Richard Nixon
ordered several retaliatory strikes against air defense sites.
Still, North Vietnam imported materiel by rail from China or by sea through North Vietnam’s
ocean ports, primarily Haiphong, without fear of attack. Furthermore, the rainy season that began
in May greatly limited the effectiveness of U.S. air attacks, and North Vietnam began stockpiling
supplies and equipment inside its border with Laos—it even built an oil pipeline into the
panhandle of Laos.
Although the bombing halt continued throughout 1970, the U.S. Air Force attacked antiaircraft
and SAM sites that fired at unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. Because of the repeated North
Vietnamese SAM firings, Washington directed the U.S. Air Force to intensify its retaliatory
strikes. From February through September 1971, U.S. Air Force fighter-bombers attacked SAM
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sites, enemy road construction through the DMZ and oil storage facilities. Most of these missions
were in southern North Vietnam, leaving Hanoi to continue its build-up in the north. By late in
the year, the North Vietnamese Air Force’s MiGs had become a significant threat. As a result,
Washington authorized the U.S. Air Force and Navy to bomb the three MiG airfields in southern
North Vietnam, and in November, the U.S. neutralized these bases, making them inoperable.
(Narrated by Carl Day).