First Bridge – The start of the Vietnam War

The F-105Ds were capable of carrying 14,000 pounds of ordnance deep into North Vietnam. These Thuds had just topped off their tanks and were headed up into the Hanoi area. The tail codes identify them as being from two different squadrons, but both were based out of Korat AB in Thailand with the 355th TFW. (Photo by James Wood via Warren Thompson)

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General Curtis E. LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, was not happy. First-line U.S. fighters had been in South East Asia in small numbers since 1960. By mid-1964, more fighters began rotating through bases in South Vietnam and Thailand as a show of force. Reconnaissance missions with a pair of fighters as escorts, known as “armed recce,” were being flown into Laos and Vietnam, but they were severely restricted in their operations. The fighters escorting...

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