MEDIA DIGEST

NORTH VIETNAMESE BRIDGE TOOK SEVEN YEARS TO DESTROY

The road and railway bridge at Thanh Hoa south of Hanoi spanned the Ma River and was a vital link in the movement of communist troops and supplies. For the better part of a decade, U.S. Navy, Marine and Air Force aviators braved the flak-filled skies over North Vietnam on missions to destroy the 56-foot-wide bridge, christened the “Dragon’s Jaw” by locals, and sever that link. Dragon’s Jaw: An Epic Story of Courage and Tenacity in Vietnam, by New York Times bestselling author Stephen Coonts and noted aviation historian Barrett Tillman, chronicles that epic campaign, whose early failures became a symbol of North Vietnamese resolve and resistance to American air power.

Originally built by the French during the colonial period, the bridge was destroyed in 1945 by communist-led Viet Minh forces fighting for independence and replaced with a stronger structure that opened in 1964. American military planners targeted the Dragon’s Jaw in Operation Rolling Thunder, the bombing campaign initiated on March 2, 1965, to interdict enemy transportation routes.

Air Force F-105D Thunderchiefs based in Thailand attacked the Dragon’s Jaw twice in April 1965, blasting it with 348 bombs and missiles. The assaults blew out chunks of supporting concrete, cratered