Operation Linebacker
Operation Linebacker was the code name for the bombing actions conducted by the United States Air Force during the Eastertide Offensive in the Vietnam War. Its purpose was to stop the North Vietnamese Army offensive launched on March 30, 1972 against South Vietnam. Air strikes against the North Vietnamese attack were initially authorized under the name Freedom Train on April 2. The air strikes were first limited to support of South Vietnamese forces, but restrictions against attacking targets in North Vietnam were later removed and the bombing effort changed to interdiction of enemy supply lines. The first raid against North Vietnam was conducted by 15 B-52Ds against railway yards and oil storage facilities at Vinh. Three days later, the airfields at Bai Thuong were attacked. On the weekend of April 15-16 targets near Hanoi and Haiphong were struck. By mid-April, nearly all of North Vietnam had been cleared for bombing raids for the first time in over 3 years, with Naval aircraft mining North Vietnamese harbors on May 8. The name of the operation against North Vietnam was then changed to Linebacker on May 10. Concurrently, negotiations were conducted in Paris between National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese leader Le Duc Tho in an effort to establish a framework under which the US could disengage from the war and still maintain military parity between North and South Vietnam. On October 23, progress in the Paris peace talks led the US to call off all air operations above the 20th parallel, which placed Hanoi and Haiphong off-limits, halting Operation Linebacker. The bombing pause allowed the North Vietnamese time to strengthen their air defenses and repair damage to their key lines of communication.
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