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B-52 Bombers Based In Thailand

April 10, 1967

1967-04-10_B52s_00023B
1967-04-10_B52s_00023B
A U.S. Air Force B-52 lands at U-Tapao Air Base, Thailand after a mission, October 4–17, 1968. (National Archives)

A contingent of U.S. Air Force B-52s lands at U-Tapao Air Base, Thailand, after flying missions in support of Operation JUNCTION CITY. They are the first B-52s based in Thailand. The Air Force moves a number of B-52s from Guam to U-Tapao to be closer to their targets, making it possible for the aircraft to fly more frequent missions. The Air Force does this in response to General Westmoreland’s increasing requests for Arc Light strikes. B-52s remain based at U-Tapao until the end of the war.1

1John Schlight, A War Too Long: The USAF in Southeast Asia, 1961–1975 (Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program, 1996), 31; John Schlight, The War in South Vietnam: The Years of the Offensive, 1965–1968, The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia  (Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program, 1999), 256.