Inexorably, the U.S. intensified its air assault against the Vietnamese Communists.
Eight times in 13 days, U.S. and South Vietnamese bombers blasted in stallations north of the 17th parallel, moving ever closer to Hanoi. During a single week, U.S. and South Vietnamese pilots flew 17,570 sorties on both sides of the border. Their chief target was North Viet Nam's radar network: with everything from half-ton bombs to deadly white phosphorous, they hit Donghoi, Hatinh, Cap Mui Ron and, in strikes by 100 Navy planes from the aircraft carriers Coral Sea and Han cock, Bachlongvi Island, only 80 miles from Red China's...