This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
Barrows, Henry Charles, Lt Col USAF(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Bremerhaven, West Germany
Last Address Washington, D.C.
Date of Passing Feb 11, 2002
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
On his 2nd tour in the Vietnam War, he had to bail out of his stricken B-52 and becames a POW for 101 days. His final assignment was as an Analysis Coordinator and then Deputy for Airborne Reconnaissance with the Air Force Element of the Defense Support Project Office at the Pentagon from October 1986 until his retirement from the Air Force on May 1, 1992. He had a fatal heart attack Feb 11, 2002 at his home in Washington, D.C.
His 5th Distinguished Flying Cross w/Valor citation:
Captain Harry C. Barrows distinguished himself by heroism while participating in aerial flight as a B-52 Electronic Warfare Officer in Southeast Asia on 19 December 1972. On that date, Captain Barrows participated in a high priority bombing mission against a vital military target in a heavily defended area of North Vietnam. Despite the intensity of the hostile reactions and the great threat posed by them, Captain Barrows displayed extraordinary courage, a remarkable ability to perform under severe stress, and a willingness to place the mission requirements above his own safety as he successfully countered and neutralized those threats, thereby enabling his crew to release their ordnance on the designated target. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Captain Barrows reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Vietnam War/Cease-Fire Campaign (1972-73)/Operation Linebacker II
From Month/Year
December / 1972
To Month/Year
December / 1972
Description Operation Linebacker II (18–29 December 1972) was a US Seventh Air Force and US Navy Task Force 77 aerial bombing campaign, conducted against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) during the final period of US involvement in the Vietnam War. The operation was conducted from 18–29 December 1972, leading to several of informal names such as "The December Raids" and "The Christmas Bombings".
Unlike the Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Linebacker interdiction operations, Linebacker II, would be 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 US Air Force since the end of World War II. Linebacker II was a modified extension of the Operation Linebacker bombings conducted from May to October, with the emphasis of the new campaign shifted to attacks by B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers rather than smaller tactical fighter aircraft.
