This declassified film details attacks by the USAF in North Vietnam and Laos in 1966. Some of the attacks include F-4s and F-105s, some flying out of Korat Air Base. Includes rare footage of a North Vietnamese MiGs being shot down by cannon fire. Seventeen MiGs were shot down in 1966, including a MiG-21 shot down by a sidewinder missile.

At the beginning of 1966, the number of U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam totaled 184,314. South Vietnamese military forces totaled 514,000 including the army (ARVN) and the Regional Force and Popular Force (the “Ruff-Puffs”) militias. The North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) numbered 400,000, most still in North Vietnam. 50,000 North Vietnamese cadre and soldiers infiltrated South Vietnam during 1965. Group 559, charged with transporting supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to supply communist troops in both South Vietnam and Laos, numbered 24,400 personnel.

The U.S. estimated the number of Viet Cong (VC) and PAVN soldiers in South Vietnam at nearly 280,000 by June 1966, including part-time guerrillas. A bombing pause of North Vietnam had been announced by President Johnson on December 24 and was in effect.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com