Case One
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In late December, 1972 Richard Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II, round-the-clock strategic bombing of the North Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, in an effort to force the North to a cease-fire.

Three American B-52 bombers were shot down over Hanoi on the night of December 22. One of the bombers was hit by missiles and was believed to have crashed 30 miles south of the city. One of the six aircrew was never accounted for, and in October, 1994, a US excavation team was sent to Hanoi to seek evidence relating to the sixth man.

The B-52 Strato fortress was the largest bomber in the US command, measuring 185 feet from wingtip to wingtip. The aircraft in question was carrying 114 500-lb bombs when it began its approach into Hanoi late on the night of December 22, 1972.Sixteen B-52s were lost during operation Linebacker ll.

The excavations confirmed the crash of a B-52, but produced no trace of the missing airman.

Utilizing eyewitness accounts from residents in a nearby village, US military personnel and Vietnamese laborers identified and excavated three separate crash craters scattered across a series of rice paddies. The largest crater measured 150 feet in diameter and was almost twelve feet deep. Jet fuel still contained in the ground seeped into the excavations at night and had to be pumped out each morning.

The three crash craters were gridded in 4 meter squares, and the excavations proceeded for 30 days. All wreckage was examined by a U.S. Air Force life support technician in an attempt to identify the aircraft in question.