THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. We should be forever thankful for the sacrifices of you and so many others to ensure the freedoms we so often take for granted.

Dwight (as my family has always called him) was my mother's cousin. He was killed before I was born but I've always felt a connection to him through our mutual love of aviation and the guitar. In educating myself on the Linebacker II campaign I can't help but be overwhelmed with respect for the brave men who flew into such a harrowingly dangerous situation. He was an EWO aboard Tan 03 on December 20 when they were shot down. A life full of so much promise cut down in his prime.

Dear Cap. Ronald Perry, Thank you for your service as a Navigator. Glad you were identified in 1976. Welcome home, Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is spring, and flowers are blooming. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Operation Linebacker II was a U.S. 7th Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial bombing campaign, conducted against targets in North Vietnam during the final period of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The operation took place December 18-29, 1972, leading to several informal names such as "The December Raids" and "The Christmas Bombings." Linebacker II was a "maximum effort" bombing campaign to destroy major target complexes in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas, which could only be accomplished by B-52s. It saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of World War II. During Operation Linebacker II, a total of 741 B-52 sorties were dispatched to bomb North Vietnam; 729 completed their missions. B-52s dropped a total of 15,237 tons of ordnance on eighteen industrial and fourteen military targets, including eight surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, while fighter-bombers added another 5,000 tons of bombs to the tally. Another 212 B-52 missions were flown within South Vietnam in support of ground operations during the campaign. North Vietnamese forces fired about 1,240 SAMs. The Air Force lost 15 B-52 bombers, which amounted to a loss rate of less than two percent. Ten B-52s were shot down over the North and five others were damaged and crashed in Laos or Thailand. Thirty-three B-52 crew members were killed or missing in action, another thirty-three became prisoners of war, and twenty-six more were rescued. The lost B-52 crewmen included SMSGT Walter L. Ferguson, LTC Donald L. Rissi, CAPT Robert J. Thomas, MAJ Richard W. Cooper Jr., CMSGT Charlie S. Poole, MAJ Irwin S. Lerner, CMSGT Arthur V. McLaughlin Jr., LTC Randolph A. Perry Jr., LTC John F. Stuart, CAPT Craig A. Paul, MAJ Warren R. Spencer, MSGT Charles J. Bebus, COL Keith R. Heggen, COL Edward H. Johnson, MAJ Robert R. Lynn, CAPT Donovan K. Walters, CAPT Randall J. Craddock, MAJ Charles E. Darr, COL Bobby A. Kirby, CAPT George B. Lockhart, CAPT Ronald D. Perry, COL Frank A. Gould, COL Gerald W. Alley, MAJ Thomas W. Bennett Jr., CAPT Joseph B. Copack Jr., CAPT Robert J. Morris Jr., MAJ Nutter J. Wimbrow III, LTC Donald A. Joyner, MAJ Lawrence J. Marshall, CAPT Roy T. Tabler, CAPT James M. Turner, 1LT Bennie L. Fryer, and LTC Allen L. Johnson. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and airforcemag.com]

Captain Ronald Dwight Perry was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement while engaged in aerial flight. He served as a Navigator/Electronic Warfare Officer and was assigned to the 340th Bomber Squadron, 72nd Strategic Wing, Strategic Air Command.
See https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=81226