| Date: 28 December 1972 |
| Aircraft type: B-52D Stratofortress |
| Serial Number: 56-0599 |
| Military Unit: 7 BW attached to 307 SW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: U-Tapao |
| Name(s): |
| Capt John Mize (Survived) |
| Capt Terrence Gruters (Survived) |
| Capt Dennis Anderson (Survived) |
| Capt William North (Survived) |
| 1Lt William Robinson (Survived) |
| TSgt Peter E Whalen (Survived) |
| Day 9 of Linebacker II involved a total of 60 B-52s consisting of 30 B-52Ds from U-Tapao and 21 B-52Gs and nine B-52Ds from Andersen. The force dropped its bombs in six waves in just 10 minutes thereby concentrating its effort and swamping the defences. The seven targets included the Lang Dang and Trung Quang railway yards, three SAM sites, and a supply depot. Another 30 B-52s from Andersen flew sorties over South Vietnam and the lower provinces of North Vietnam.
One cell was assigned to bomb a particularly ‘hot’ SAM site known as VN549 that was situated just to the southwest of Hanoi. Unfortunately, the SAM site lived up to its reputation and, just after a successful bomb release, Ash 2, which was actually bombing another nearby SAM site, was hit by one of VN549’s missiles at 35,500 feet and badly damaged. The crew counted no less than 15 SAMs fired as a barrage towards the aircraft. Capt Mize was wounded by shrapnel in the left leg and right hand and the rest of the crewmembers were also wounded to some degree by shrapnel from the missile. Capt Mize regained control of the aircraft despite the loss of all the engines on the port side and the loss of power boost on the controls. By sheer determination and physical effort he and his co-pilot Capt Gruters flew the burning aircraft back towards Thailand. Most of the navigational and flight instruments had been damaged so the navigator had to use dead reckoning to guide the aircraft to safety. After just under an hour of exhausting struggle the aircraft crossed into Thailand but then the electrical system started to fail, the bomb bay doors dropped open and the undercarriage began to cycle up and down of its own accord. With total loss of control imminent Capt Mize ordered the crew to eject but Lt Robinson’s seat failed to function and he had to abandon the aircraft manually. Capt Mize then held the aircraft steady for as long as he could until he was certain that Lt Robinson had jumped and then ejected himself. The crew came down about 15 miles southwest of Nakhon Phanom and all were picked up by three HH-53C helicopters from the 40th ARRS except for one man who caught a bus back to NKP! Capt Mize and his crew were from the 28th BW at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, but 56-0599 was a 7th BW aircraft. For his courage and skill in saving his crew, Capt Mize was awarded the Air Force Cross, the only member of SAC so honoured during the war. John Mize was on his fourth Linebacker II mission and his 295th mission of the war. The rest of the crew received DFCs for their actions. Capt Terrence Gruters’ brother Guy had been shot down during a Misty FAC mission on 20 December 1967 and was one of the POWs in Hanoi at the time of the bombing. |
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