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Witness History: Vietnam - the 'Christmas Bombings'

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Vietnam - the 'Christmas Bombings'

27/01/2013

BBC World Service - Witness History, Vietnam - the 'Christmas Bombings'

One girl's memories of the bombing that came before the ceasefire of 27 January 1973.

On 27 January 1973, a ceasefire took effect in Vietnam, following the intense bombing of North Vietnam by American B-52s. Ha Mi, ten at the time, recalls the 'Christmas Bombings'.

On January 27th 1973 a ceasefire took effect in Vietnam, allowing the USA to pull its troops out of the country. It followed an intense aerial bombardment of North Vietnam by American B-52s - the 'Christmas Bombing Campaign'. 40 years on, it is still not clear what the bombardment was meant to achieve, as the January deal was much the same as one that had been drawn up before the bombing started. Ha Mi was just ten years old and living in Hanoi with her family when the bombs began to fall.

Photo: Ha Mi in the summer of 1972.

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