March
1969 - May 1970. Operation
Menu. In a
series of secret bombings known as Operation Menu, U.S. B-52
bombers target suspected communist base camps and supply zones in Cambodia. [243] The bombings are kept under wraps by Nixon
and his administration since Cambodia is officially neutral in the war,
although The New York Times would reveal the operation on May 9, 1969.
[4] [46]
March
18, 1969. “Menu” operations begins. B-52s, operating
under “special security and reporting procedures,” bomb North Vietnamese and
Viet Cong sanctuaries in Cambodia. Between March 18, 1969, and May 20, 1970,
the B-52s fly 4,308 sorties in Cambodia. [1] [46]
March 18, 1969 - May 26, 1970. Operation
Menu was a covert United States Strategic Air Command (SAC) tactical
bombing campaign conducted in eastern Cambodia. [243] The
prolonged US bombing of communist positions in Cambodia and Laos, lasting more
than 14 months. It was broken into smaller operations dubbed Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Dessert and Supper.
[46] Each of the target areas was small. Area 353
(Breakfast), was only 25 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi) in size and
had an estimated population of 1,640 people. B-52s flew 228 sorties into this
single area to bomb. According to General Abrams’s headquarters (MACV), Area
353 was only one of 15 Communist sanctuaries. [243] Each
B-52 can carry up to 108 bombs weighing 225 kilograms (496 lb) and spread
them equally over a "box" about 1.5 kilometer long by one-half
kilometer wide (1 mile by .3 miles); thus, nearly 25,000 bombs may have been
dropped in Area 353 alone. The other target areas had similar saturation rates
of bombs. While Operation Menu killed large numbers of
communist soldiers, it failed to prevent enemy operations in Cambodia and Laos.
An official United States Air Force record of U.S. bombing activity over
Indochina from 1964 to 1973 was declassified by U.S. President Bill Clinton in
2000. The report gives details of the extent of the bombing of Cambodia, as
well as of Laos and Vietnam. According to the data, the Air Force began bombing
the rural regions of Cambodia along its South Vietnam border in 1965 under the
Johnson administration; this was four years earlier than previously believed.
The Menu bombings were an escalation of what had previously been tactical air
attacks. Newly inaugurated President Richard Nixon authorized for the first
time use of long-range Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers to carpet bomb
Cambodia. Operation Freedom Deal immediately followed
Operation Menu. Under Freedom Deal, B-52 bombing was expanded to a much larger
area of Cambodia and continued until August 1973.
March 18, 1969. Operation Breakfast (Base Area 353). The bombing began on the night of 18 March
with a raid by 60 B-52 Stratofortress bombers, based at Andersen Air Force
Base, Guam. The target was a 25-square kilometer area with 1,630 Cambodians and
the supposed headquarters location of COSVN in the Fishhook. [71] [126]Although the aircrews
were briefed that their mission was to take place in South Vietnam, 48 of the
bombers were diverted across the Cambodian border and dropped 2,400 tons of bombs.
The mission was designated Breakfast,
after the morning Pentagon planning session at which it was devised. Breakfast was so successful (in U.S.
terms) that General Abrams provided a list of 15 more known Base Areas for
targeting. [75] The five remaining missions and targets were:
March 18, 1969. Operation Lunch (Base Area 609). [74] Located on the
Laotian-Cambodian-Vietnamese borders and inhabited by 198 Cambodians. [243]
March 18, 1969. Operation Snack (Base Area 351). [74] 101 square kilometer area
in the Fishhook, including one town and 383 Cambodians. [243]
March 18, 1969. Operation Dinner (Base Area 352). [74] Located in the Fishhook
including one town and 770 Cambodians. [243]
March 18, 1969. Operation Supper (Base Area 704). [74] 247 B-52 missions were
flown against it. Located north of the Fishhook with 120 Cambodians. [243]
March 18, 1969. Operation Dessert (Base Area 350). [74] [243]
March
18, 1969. Operation Menu. A
13-man Daniel Boone team from MACV-SOG was landed by
helicopter at the Base Area 353 impact site to capture
survivors, but they were met by intense enemy fire and only 2 of the team
members were rescued. [73] [243] SAC flew 3,800 B-52
sorties against these targets, and dropped 108,823 tons of ordnance during the
missions. [75] Due to the continued reference to meals in the codenames, the
entire series of missions was referred to as Operation Menu.
[46] MACV-SOG provided 70 percent of the Operation Menu
bomb damage intelligence. [76] *
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