Tag Archives: Saigon

Rolling Thunder


The sound of bombs landing in a small area delivered by B-52s

VIETNAM WAR BOMB CRATERS As our choppers headed toward Saigon, I looked down and could see many craters in the terrain caused by bombs dropped over the course of the war. Quite often the Blues were inserted to assess the damage and detonate unexploded bombs inflicted by B-52 strikes. Our mission in Saigon was for Charlie Troop 1/9th to recon the outskirts of the city in preparation for an upcoming visit by V.P. Agnew scheduled for August 27th, 1970. b52-runway

The 52s had three nick names: *Whispering Death. So called by the NVA because the altitude from which the B52s released their bombs meant you got no warning of their presence. When the bombs arrived was the first sign. Luckily for them bombs do little damage in a jungle. *Rolling Thunder. From the sound of 318 bombs landing in a small area in a carpet bombing mode with only 3 planes. Rarely did the Yanks use only 3 planes. In 3 years they dropped 860,000 TONS of bombs. 52,000 North Vietnamese died as a result. *BUFFS. The troops called them this from “Big Ugly Fat Fuckers” or in the presence of the Vicar or ladies, “Big Ugly Fat Fellows” Their normal bomb load was 84 bombs internally and 24 bombs under the wings. Each bomb weighed 500 pounds. Sometimes they carried 750 lb bombs.

212-Buttons-BS-05-12

This photo was taken by Bert Schreibstein at Fire Support Base Buttons in January, 1970. A B-52 air strike (Arc Light) can be seen miles away.

1513861_662004290537482_1023384316_n

B-52 bomb craters full of water

15192516_10207808551672069_6998243386710744824_n

B-52 Stratofortress cutaway

5 Comments

Filed under Vietnam War

Saigon Mission


V.P. Spiro Agnew was scheduled to visit Saigon August 27th

Charlie Troop 1/9th was chosen to recon the outskirts of Saigon in preparation for an upcoming visit by V.P. Agnew. Just a bit of added security for the Vice President.

This mission was a nice break from the hot steamy jungle which we had grown accustomed to. We even set up a volley ball net in the center of the race track and got a little recreation in…

4066587285_88e820a440_o

Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, August 27, 1970: Vice President Spiro Agnew walks past a South Vietnamese military band during an awards ceremony.
(Jack Fuller, copyright Stars and Stripes)

3825806819_f5f2c9879b

Squad of Blues somewhere in Saigon

3961585277_a5782aeac9_o

3826579268_0680cdcf60

Downtown Saigon

3826566140_f22012b8bc

Sports field in Saigon

3961595711_d733ac124f_o

The Phu Tho horse racing track in Saigon where we set up camp.

12670432_10205827292181820_1682421430000044504_n

The Phu Tho Horse Racing Track, located in western Saigon between the heart of Cholon and Tan Son Nhut Airport to the north.

Photographer unknown

12715258_10205827290821786_4336166449591511500_n

3825795829_96f4aee475

This is the only horse that I saw in Vietnam.

3825930005_d4ccf788a4

Saigon was a very conjested city.

3825784145_3154c03401

Saigon River

2 Comments

Filed under Vietnam War