We Won: And then there was Linebacker II: Strategic and political issues surrounding the bombing campaign

For the last decade, Dr. Albert Atkins has conducted extensive research on the Vietnam War. This research has taken him to the cockpit of a B-52 where he could see and feel the cramped battle stations for the pilot and co-pilot. As a former military pilot, he saw and understood the complexity of the eight engine bombers' instrument panel, hundreds of switches, and the circuit breaker panels that these B-52 pilots had to master to fly a successful combat mission.

He attended reunions and seminars where he had the opportunity to listen and talk to general officers and combat crew members of the Strategic Air Command relate their personal experiences in the air war over North Vietnam.

Dr. Atkins researched material relating to decisions made by presidents and their National Security Advisors during the Vietnam War. Under the freedom of Information Act, he obtained CIA documents with information about North Vietnam and China that could have altered the course of the war. He has uncovered new material on Operation Linebacker II, the B-52 bombing missions of Hanoi that were responsible for freeing our Prisoners of War.

Dr. Atkins is to be commended for his 10 years diligent research. He makes a strong case that after 11 Days of the B-52 bombing the Hanoi area, “WE HAD WON THE WAR”. The problem was the only people that understood this were the combat crews who flew the missions and support personnel who made Linebacker II a success. Unfortunately no one in Washington asked their opinion. As Dr. Atkins book points out, a similar mistake happened in another war.

James R. McCarthy

Brig. /Gen. (USAF ret.)

Dr. Atkins tells the story of Operation Linebacker II, highlights events before and after the bombing campaign on North Vietnam in December 1972, and poses questions on issues surrounding its outcome. The book looks at factual data and possible assumptions in the decision making and mission planning, involving President Richard Nixon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, China, the Soviet Union and Vietnam.

The book summarizes the development of events and demonstrates that Operation Linebacker II could have been executed in 1968, saving years of war and thousands of lives, provided that: 1.) B-52's had been used to bomb strategic targets in North Vietnam, 2.) Johnson had exercised restrain from controlling the war, and 3.) China did not support North Vietnam.

Henry Kissinger planned a secret trip to China in August 17, 1971. On December 14, 1971, the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, met with the French Prime Minister, George Pompidou, in Paris to conduct peace negotiations regarding the Vietnam War. Was the meeting a warning to Hanoi about the upcoming bombing campaign?

Did America win the air war over Vietnam?

Dr. Albert Atkins is an Aviation Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and an Adjunct Faculty for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is the author of In Like Flint: Strategic Bombing and Technology Management Skills Pioneered by General Curtis E. LeMay during the Cold War, deposited at the National Defense University Library and SAC Museum in Omaha, Nebraska; Air War over Kosovo: Operational and Logistical Issues of the Air Campaign; and Air Marshall Sir Arthur Harris and General Curtis E. LeMay: A Comparative Analytical Biography. He lives in Maple Valley, Washington.