Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

Fact Sheet Search

  • Boeing WB-50D Superfortress

    The B-50, the last propeller-driven bomber delivered to the U.S. Air Force, made its initial flight on June 25, 1947. Basically an improved version of the B-29, this aircraft's large number of modifications caused its redesignation as the B-50. Between 1948 and 1954, B-50s served with the Strategic

  • Bell Model 8048

    This liquid-fueled rocket engine powered early Agena spacecraft that played a crucial role in putting the first reconnaissance and early warning satellites into orbit in the 1950s and 1960s. Used as a second stage to boost satellites into higher orbits, Agena upper stages transformed Air Force

  • Boeing LGM-30G Minuteman III

    The Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is the United States' only current operational land-based strategic nuclear missile. It is one leg of the nuclear deterrent "triad" that also includes USAF bombers and U.S. Navy submarine-launched missiles. U.S. nuclear forces are on alert

  • Boeing LGM-30A Minuteman IA

    The Minuteman missile concept pushed rocket technology to a new level and it vastly improved U.S. nuclear strategic deterrence. Minuteman was the first U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to use solid fuel, permitting quick-response launches in case of attack. The first Minuteman missiles

  • Brutality and Endurance

     North Vietnam did not treat Americans as prisoners of war. Instead, they justified brutalizing POWs by claiming they were simply outlaws in an "undeclared war." Sixty-five POWs died in captivity, either by execution, torture, injury or disease. Torture was Common North Vietnamese brutally and

  • B-52 Tail Gunners 2 - MiGs 0

    Thirty-one B-52s were lost in Southeast Asia. Eighteen were lost to surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) or ground fire, and the other 13 were non-combat losses. No B-52s were lost to communist aircraft, but during Operation Linebacker II, two B-52D tail gunners, Staff Sgt. Samuel Turner and Airman 1st

  • B-52s and Linebacker II

    Operation Linebacker II was a complex, multi-service operation over North Vietnam in December 1972. The B-52 missions flown during Linebacker II became the best known B-52 operations of the Southeast Asia War. The first Operation Linebacker was the aerial interdiction campaign to halt the flow of

  • B-52D Battle Damage Report

    There are approximately 56 holes causing extensive damage to skin structures at the following locations: fuselage, left and right wings, nose radome, left aft wheel door, vertical stabilizer, left and right horizontal stabilizers, and the left and right drop tanks. (Damage indicated by yellow dots)

  • B-52 Stratofortress in Southeast Asia

    The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress became a powerful weapon and an icon during the Southeast Asia War. Although the B-52 was developed to deliver nuclear weapons, its first combat mission took place in 1965 when it dropped conventional bombs on communist forces in South Vietnam. In Operation Arc Light,

  • Beyond 100 Missions North

    Some customs of "100 Missions up North" spread beyond completing a 100-mission tour over North Vietnam. Airmen that did not fly most (or any) of their missions over the North directly copied the design of the original F-105 patch, while others used the idea of a mission tally in a humorous way. The