Linebacker II (The Christmas Bombings)

Counts of the December 1972 raids still differ. The United States acknowledged 16 B-52s lost, North Vietnam claimed 34, one study of mission records finds about 15 downed and five badly damaged, and other estimates run from 22 to 27 once bombers written off after landing are included. The official civilian toll is 1,624, and strikes on a hospital and Kham Thien Street drew harsh criticism abroad. Both sides claimed victory. The Paris accords of January 27, 1973 largely repeated an October draft, and historians argue over what the bombing changed.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spring Street Museum — 3.9 mi
  An 1866 bank building downtown that also held a Freedman's Savings and Trust branch in 1870, now a free LSUS-run museum with a Victorian parlor and the original vault.
• Shreveport Municipal Auditorium — 4.1 mi
  The Art Deco hall of 1929 where the Louisiana Hayride went out over KWKH from 1948 to 1960 and where Elvis Presley first played Shreveport on October 16, 1954.
• Shreveport Water Works Museum — 4.3 mi
  An 1887 brick pumping station on McNeill Street where Worthington steam pumps ran until 1980, now a free museum and a National Historic Landmark.
• R. W. Norton Art Gallery — 5.1 mi
  A free art museum and 40 acres of azalea gardens in Shreveport, founded in 1946 on Rodessa oil money, with Remington and Russell, an Audubon folio and no photography allowed.

More markers nearby

• 1st CEVG Combat Skyspot Memorial — steps away
• "Hell's Angels" — steps away
• Bowling at Holiday Lanes — 0.8 mi
• Fort Humbug — 2.6 mi