Colonel Robin Olds, commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, devised a bold plan rooted in deception. The operation involved using F-4 Phantom fighters to mimic the flight profiles and radio communications of F-105 bombers.
By June, Vietnamese forces had destroyed multiple bridges along Route 19, isolating Pleiku, Kontum, and Ban Me Thuot from ground access and forcing reliance on air transport.
To enhance their conventional bomb capacity, Project Big Belly retrofitted B-52Ds to carry up to 30 tons of conventional bombs.
The operation officially began on March 11, 1965, with the goal of preventing communist forces from resupplying via the South Vietnamese coast.
The Malmedy Massacre remains one of the most notorious war crimes of World War II’s Western Front, a stark reminder of the brutality that characterized Germany’s desperate final months.
At Đồng Hới, a 29-plane formation from the USS Coral Sea executed low-altitude strikes, with A-4 Skyhawks deploying rockets and bombs against the barracks of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 325th Infantry Division.
Reportedly, the helicopter had been flagged as "Red X’ed" (grounded) the previous evening by Amaral and another crew chief at Bearcat Base Camp.
