Boeing B-52D Stratofortress "Diamond Lil"

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Serial Number: 55-0083
Construction Number: 17199

Preserved here as a gate guard for the US Air Force Academy, B-52D "Diamond Lil" is one of 170 members of her type built for the US Air Force, and shares the distinction of being the final of two B-52's to have shot down an enemy aircraft with her own guns.

Joining the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell Air Force Base in 1957, Diamond Lil joined her squadron in deploying to Anderson Air Force Base in Guam where she began several years of deployments and combat missions as part of the Vietnam War. Forward deployed to U Tapao Airbase in late 1972 as part of the USAF buildup to Operation Linebacker II, Diamond Lil and her crew took off on a bombardment mission in the early morning hours of December 24th, 1972 and made their way towards the Thái Nguyên railroad yards.

Several hours into their mission Diamond Lil's tail gunner, A1C Albert Moore, picked up an inbound North Vietnamese MiG-21 closing on his aircraft and her formation. After alerting his crew to the threat, Moore continued to track the enemy aircraft until it was in range of the B-52D's rear-mounted quad .50 Caliber machine guns and opened fire. Expending over 800 rounds in three bursts of radar-directed fire, Moore observed the enemy aircraft's radar signal "balloon" three times before it suddenly dropped off his screen in Diamond Lil's battle station, followed moments later by visual reports by other B-52's that the MiG was on fire and suffering explosions as it fell out of the sky. Moore's confirmed air-to-air kill on the NVAF MiG-21 would go into the history as the second and final confirmed kill by a B-52 during the Vietnam War, and also would be the last confirmed kill by a bomber's tail gunner in wartime using machine guns.

Diamond Lil continued onward to successfully complete the day's mission and dozens of others before the end of her combat operations in Vietnam in January 1974, after which she returned stateside to assume Nuclear Alert Status against potential Soviet attack. Remaining operational with the 7th Bomb Wing through 1980 and subsequently the 96th Bomb Wing through her 1983 deactivation, Diamond Lil's historic service record saw her selected for preservation as a memorial, and after making her last flight from Dyess AFB to Peterson AFB, she took up her current role and now is a well-maintained memorial to the service of her crew and USAF fliers past and future.

www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123236176
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress
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Coordinates:   39°1'16"N   104°51'1"W

Comments

  • One of two B52s to shoot down an enemy fighter during the Vietnam War.
  • I was the crewchief of this aircraft when it was stationed with the 96th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Tx.
  • I was part of a crew TDY from Carswell to reconstruct on the pedestals it rests on!!!
  • I flew as an EWO in this aircraft while stationed at Carswell and knew the guys who flew it to Peterson AFB.
  • I was part of the crew that put it on the pedestal Phil brown
  • I was one of the teenagers who got to crawl around inside before they put her on the pedestal
  • My brother, Captain Stephen D Cross, "66", flew this aircraft.
  • Show all comments
This article was last modified 2 years ago