Download Bill Patterson - The Stratofortress I Saw Bombing Near Cu Chi

Bill Patterson - The Stratofortress I Saw Bombing Near Cu Chi, Vietnam.
This is probably the world's best known military aircraft, the American B-52 Stratofortress. It was
put into use nearly twenty years before I witnessed the air strike in 1968 or 1969 which I wrote of
earlier. The B-52 is still in use today by our Air Force, has been modified constantly and is projected
to still be useful in the year 2040 and beyond. This is an amazing life span for an airplane.
The B-52's ceiling is listed at 50,000 feet. I believe the one I saw was at or nearly at its ceiling that
day. When I finally spotted it in the sky, it was much smaller that the mouse cursor on my computer
screen. Its silver coating reflected the sun's light and resembled a star. It somehow guided its bombs
directly on to Thunder Road, the dangerous route between Cu Chi and Quan Loi. The bombs'
mushroom clouds reached hundreds of feet high and I saw them easily from my location, probably a
mile or more from their impact zone. They must have been the larger bombs the aircraft carried.
I believe the B-52s were relatively safe from ground fire in South Vietnam but a few were shot down
on missions over North Vietnam. Hanoi, the capital city, was heavily protected by surface-to-air
missles (SAMS). One pilot recorded that a SAM passed by his cockpit barely missing his plane. He
said it looked like a flying telephone pole!
I am again reminded that I was so grateful the North Vietnamese Air Force was not a threat during
our tour on the South Vietnam roads. Our trucks would have been like "ducks on a pond" to their
pilots.
I was very glad the B-52s were on our side!