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It was December 26, 1972. The vibration from bombs
exploding in the distance resonated through the walls of the
North Vietnamese prison.
In his cell, an American
pilot peered through the barred windows where he saw the
silhouette of a B-52 Stratofortress in flames. He could only
watch as the same fate that lead him to his prison cell was
handed over to his fellow Airmen.
This American
pilot is retired Col. Peter Giroux, a B-52 pilot and a
captain at the time, who now resides in Kansas. He was taken
as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese December 22,
1972, while supporting Operation Linebacker II.
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Left - Retired Col. Peter Giroux, a B-52 pilot and POW, poses for a
photo on December 19, 2016, at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas.
Right -Capt. Peter Giroux was taken as a prisoner of war by the
North Vietnamese on December 22, 1972, during his mission in part of
Operation Linebacker II. (Image created by USA Patriotism! from U.S.
Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jenna K. Caldwell and U.S. Air
Force courtesy photo)
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Operation Linebacker II was an 11–day aerial bombing
campaign that occurred near the end of the Vietnam Conflict.
The heavy bombing strikes were an effort by the U.S. to get
the North Vietnamese government to return to the discussion
table for a cease-fire agreement. In the first three days of
the operation, the U.S. lost nine B-52s, according to the
Air Force historical fact sheet.
On day four of the
offensive, Giroux and his crew were sent to Hanoi on a
bombing mission. This particular target was right in the
middle of the city where enemy Surface-to-Air Missile
defenses were concentrated.
“It was going to be the
highest risk mission we’d flown,” said Giroux. “You bet your
boots we were concerned about it, but that’s it. We had to
do our job and hope that the tactics and strategies were
going to work out.”
Before takeoff, the crew learned
from flight records that the aircraft they were to use had
radar failure on the previous mission. However; the crew
took off despite the risks. As they began the turn for the
bomb run, the bomber’s radar navigation system failed. As
lead aircraft, Giroux was forced to swap formation
positions.
“We were going to attempt to get in
behind them and let the second aircraft gunner direct our
bomb release,” said Giroux. “That is difficult under normal
circumstances and it’s extraordinary difficult in a combat
environment because we can’t see them visually or on radar.”
While the aircraft was attempting to change formation
positions, Giroux got a call from the gunner who said he
believed they had an enemy aircraft behind them.
“We
immediately go into a defense turning maneuver,” said
Giroux. “As we’re maneuvering up here, down on the ground
are all these SAM operators that have been watching us for
days, and they have started to figure things out.”
As
they evaded a possible enemy aircraft, Giroux’s aircraft was
separated from their formation. They were without radar and
could not complete their bombing mission. They also lost the
protection of mutual electronic countermeasures that could
deceive enemy detection systems. They then began to take
missile fire from enemies on the ground, and their aircraft
was hit.
“We immediately had both wings on fire,”
said Giroux. “All the system lights and fire lights were
going off and the aircraft was difficult to control. The
gunner calls on the intercom and says we have fire on the
right side past the tail so we shut down two engines. I’m
was still using differential power and I still can’t get the
aircraft to fly straight.”
Unbeknownst to him, the
parachute used to pull the large right tip tank off the
aircraft had deployed and made control of the aircraft
nearly impossible. At that point, the aircraft had complete
electrical failure and all the lights went out. The crew
then ran through emergency procedures, to no avail.
“You got to do what you got to do,” said Giroux as a matter
of fact. “We were compromised. We had no choice. I ordered
the crew to bail out. I knew we had to eject and were
probably going to get captured, if we didn’t get killed
first.”
The aircraft was above 30,000 feet when it
depressurized. Giroux temporarily lost consciousness. When
he came to, the aircraft had gone belly up. He then managed
to pull the ejection handle on his seat.
“I woke up
on the ground in a field, semi conscience, surrounded by a
bunch of North Vietnamese,” said Giroux. “The next time I
wake up I’m on the back of a truck on a stretcher that is
headed into Hanoi. I had a broken left arm, was burned and
was in rough shape from the ejection.”
For the next
few hours Giroux drifted in and out of consciousness. He
received basic medical care and was then transported to a
prison known as the “Hanoi Hilton.” where he joined other
recent “shootdowns.” About ten days later he was given
treatment at a medical facility where they set his arm and
put him in a chest cast.
“I was just happy to be
there; happy to be alive,” said Giroux recalling his prison
cell. “We were in a long church-like room. It had a platform
and we each had a long heavy wooden palate and a bamboo mat.
We had mosquito nets and rats. The rats would be running
around in the middle of the night.”
Giroux was in a
prison cell with 30 plus other prisoners; many of whom had
been POWs for five to six years. He made a point to try and
reassure them that the end of the war would be soon because
of the effectiveness of the bombing.
“I knew what
damage we’d inflicted on the enemy so I was pretty
optimistic,” said Giroux. “They were still skeptical. I was
trying to tell the other prisoners who had been there for
six years the amount of effort and the amount damage we were
inflicting so that they had a rough idea of what was going
on.”
By the end of Operation Linebacker the 700
nighttime sorties flown by B-52s and 650 daytime strikes by
fighter and attack aircraft persuaded the North Vietnamese
government to return to negotiations, according to the Air
Force historical fact sheet.
At last, the news came
in that cease-fire negotiations had been sorted out. POWs
were to be released in waves, in order of shoot down and
medical status. In February 1973, Giroux was released. He
returned to the U.S and reunited with his family, where he
received proper medical attention and corrective surgery.
By U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jenna Caldwell
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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