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Casualty Info
Home Town Searcy, AR
Last Address Searcy, AR
Casualty Date Aug 15, 1972
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Thua Thien (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Oaklawn Cemetery - Searcy, Arkansas
Description Apr 5 – May 10 Operation Freedom Train was the Initial US bombing campaign in response to the PAVN Easter Offensive, later superseded by Operation Linebacker
The US high command had been expecting an attack in 1972, but the size and ferocity of the assault caught the defenders off balance because the attackers struck on three fronts simultaneously with the bulk of the North Vietnamese army. This first attempt by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to invade the south since the Tet Offensive of 1968 became characterized by conventional infantry/armor assaults backed by heavy artillery, with both sides fielding the latest in technological advances in weapons systems.
In the I Corps Tactical Zone, North Vietnamese forces overran South Vietnamese defensive positions in a month-long battle and captured Quảng Tri city before moving south in an attempt to seize Huế.
PAVN similarly eliminated frontier defense forces in the II Corps Tactical Zone and advanced to seize the provincial capital of Kon Tum, which would have opened the way to the sea, splitting South Vietnam in two.
Northeast of Saigon, in the III Corps Tactical Zone, PAV forces overran Loc Ninh and advanced to assault the capital of Bình Long Province at An Loc.
The campaign can be divided into three distinct phases: April was a month of PAVN advances; May became a period of equilibrium; in June and July the South Vietnamese forces counterattacked, culminating in the recapture of Quảng Tri City in September.
On all three fronts of the offensive, initial North Vietnamese successes were hampered by high casualties, inept tactics and the increasing application of U.S. and South Vietnamese air power. One result of the offensive was the launching of Operation Linebacker II, the first sustained bombing of North Vietnam by the U.S. since November 1968.
Although South Vietnamese forces withstood their greatest trial thus far in the conflict, the North Vietnamese accomplished two important goals: they had gained valuable territory within South Vietnam from which to launch future offensives, and they had obtained a better bargaining position at the peace negotiations being conducted in Paris.
