Jan 21st marked the 45th anniversary of Project Crested Ice, after the crash
of a USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52 bomber carrying four thermonuclear
warheads crashed near Thule Air Base in Greenland in 1968.
The crew of seven ejected or bailed but, but one suffered a fatal head injury.
Upon impact, the conventional high explosive components of the four 1.1 megaton
hydrogen bombs exploded causing the plutonium and tritium reservoirs
from the primary stages to scatter over an area of about 3 square miles.
The fire from the jet fuel melted the sea ice which resulted in some parts of the aircraft
and H-bombs to sink to the ocean floor.
The name of the clean-up operation was Project Crested Ice, what SAC
referred to as a "Broken Arrow" accident.
In this now declassified SAC Film Report from 1968, it shows some footage of
the operation starting at the 6:35 point -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfFztSW81MI
Interested readers can learn more about this Cold War incident here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Th...ase_B-52_crash
January 21st in 1968 was also the beginning of the Battle of Khe Sanh, which was
an attempt by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) to overrun a combat post
held by a US Marine force and South Vietnamese army (ARVN) troops.
The NVA either were looking to bring a humiliating defeat to the American forces,
much as they had done to the French years earlier at Dien Bien Phu or they
hoped the operation would act as a diversion to the Tet Offensive which they
launched several days later.
The USAF, Marines and Navy launched 22,126 sorties against the area and
dropped over 39-thousand tons of bombs, making it one of the most heavily
bombed sites in all of history.
In a now declassified communication to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS),
General Wheeler, from Admiral Sharp, Commander in Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC)
it was proposed that an operation called Fracture Jaw would employ
tactical nuclear weapons at Khe Sanh should the "highest national authority direct their use".
See attached PDF of scan of original communication.
Today, where the Marine airbase had been at Khe Sanh, is now covered with coffee
plantations and it is hard to imagine that it was once the place of such a desperate battle.
Interested readers can learn more here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh
