President Richard Nixon ends U.S. ‘Christmas Bombings’ of North Vietnam after Hanoi agrees to negotiate 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 30 1972)

1970s, Cold War, Vietnam War


Video: 'Wings over Vietnam - Part VIII of VIII - Linebacker II'

(Saturday, December 30, 1972, 9:45 a.m. EST; during Operation Linebacker II, part of the Vietnam War — part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — The White House announced today that President Richard Nixon had ordered a halt to “The Christmas Bombing” of North Vietnam above the 20th Parallel after the North Vietnamese agreed to resume negotiations for a settlement in Paris on Jan. 8, 1973.


Video: 'Operation Linebacker II - The B-52s go to Hanoi, 1972 - Animated'

After a White House briefing, the Defense Department disclosed that all bombing and all naval shelling of the North Vietnamese heartland, the area north of the 20th Parallel, had actually ceased last night, Washington time.


Video: '45 85 Part 12' (Dec. 18-29, 1972 at 2:46)


Video: 'Carpet Bombing'

A total of 20,370 tons of bombs had been dropped on North Vietnam over eleven days.


Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Peace is at Hand [9/11]' (Operation Linebacker II at 41:40)

The North Vietnamese government reported later that 1,318 civilians had been killed in Hanoi during the air raids, including 28 at the Bach Mai Hospital.


Video: 'Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War - Peace [11/13]' (Operation Linebacker II at 40:39)