Air-to-air victories

During the Vietnam War, B-52D tail gunners were credited with shooting down two MiG-21 "Fishbeds". On 18 December 1972, tail gunner SSgt Samuel O. Turner's B-52 had just completed a bomb run for Operation Linebacker II and was turning away when a North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-21 approached.[78] The MiG and the B-52 locked onto one another. When the fighter drew within range, Turner fired his quad .50 caliber machine guns.[79] The MiG exploded aft of the bomber,[78] a victory confirmed by MSG Lewis E. Le Blance, the tail gunner in a nearby Stratofortress. Turner received a Silver Star for his actions.[80] His B-52, tail number 55-0676, is preserved on display at Fairchild AFB in Spokane, Washington.[78]

On 24 December 1972, during the same bombing campaign, the B-52 Diamond Lil was headed to bomb the Thai Nguyen railroad yards when tail gunner A1C Albert E. Moore spotted a fast-approaching MiG-21.[81] Moore opened fire with his quad fifties at 4,000 yards, and kept shooting until the fighter disappeared from his scope. TSG Clarence W. Chute, a tail gunner aboard another Stratofortress, watched the MiG catch fire and fall away. The Diamond Lil is preserved on display at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.[81]

Moore was the last bomber gunner to shoot down an enemy aircraft with machine guns in aerial combat.[79] The last Arc Light mission took place on 15 August 1973 and all B-52s left Southeast Asia shortly thereafter.[63]

These victories make the B-52 the largest aircraft to be credited with air-to-air kills.[82]