Linebacker II an eleven-day campaign, also known as the “Christmas bombings,” launched by President Richard M. Nixon in late December 1972. The second series of Linebacker attacks, it was the most intense air assault of the Vietnam War. Tactical aircraft flew more than 1,000 sorties and B-52s, about 740 against targets in the heart of Hanoi and Haiphong.
The North Vietnamese destroyed twenty-seven American aircraft, including eighteen B-52s. By the end of the campaign, Hanoi had used its entire supply of antiaircraft missiles, and B-52s could fly over the North Vietnamese cities with impunity.
How to cite this entry: "Linebacker II" The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Berkley Books, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 23 December 2011
