At the ceremony (Photo: VNA) In December 1972, US launched a strategic aerial bombing operation called “Linebacker II”in Hanoi and Hai Phong. In this operation, the US military mobilised thegreatest force since World War II: 193 of the 400 B-52 bombers that the US hadat that time; 1,077 of the 3,043 tactical aircraft (including a squadron ofabout 50 F-111 fighters); six of the 24 aircraft carriers; more than 50 tankeraircraft, other types of service planes, and 60 warships of all kinds from theUS Seventh Fleet in the Pacific.
Throughout 12 days and nights, US planes dropped more than 100,000 tonnes of bombs onto Hanoi, Hai Phong and a number of localities in northern Vietnam.
Vietnamese defence forces and people of the North resisted strongly, shooting down 81 aircraft, including 34B-52s, and killing or catching hundreds of US pilots. The heavy losses forced the USadministration to stop bombardments on areas to the north of the20th parallel, invite Vietnam to return to the negotiations in Paris, andprepare for the signing of the agreement on ending the war and restoring peacein Vietnam.
The Paris Agreement, signed on January 27, 1973,laid the foundation for the complete liberation of the south and reunificationof the country.
An art performance at the event (Photo: VNA) It was one of the most glorious feats of arms in thecountry’s history of fighting foreign invaders in the Ho Chi Minh era, hecontinued, stressing that the entire Party, people and army are resolved topreserve and promote the tradition during the cause of national constructionand defence.
Hanoi’s Party organisation, people and armed forces haveupheld the valuable lessons learned from the struggle for national liberationand reunification, including those from the “Dien Bien Phu in the Air”campaign, to serve the city’s development, as well as national construction anddefence, the official said.
Delegates at the event recalled the 12 days andnights of the campaign, and enjoyed special art performances celebrating thevictory.
Prior to the ceremony, a delegation of the PartyCommittee, People’s Council and People’s Committee, Vietnam Fatherland FrontCommittee, departments and agencies of Hanoi paid tribute to victims of the 1972 bombing at a monument on Kham ThienStreet./.
VNA
