Napalm bombs

Napalm aftermath

Operation Rolling Thunder (continued)

Napalms target range

Cost of napalm

A Napalm Survivor

Napalm bomb rules

Shortly after the operation began, Johnson sent the first U.S. ground troops to the Vietnam War. Although their initial mission was to protect air bases being used in the bombing campaign in South Vietnam, the troops' role soon expanded to include starting the Vietnam Congress in active combat. As the North Vietnamese army became more greatly involved in the conflict, Johnson slowly increased the number of American forces in Vietnam.

Napalm Bombs

by- Sage Magee

In the Vietnam War, the most commonly used amount of napalm held about 130 gallons of gasoline with six percent napalm in it. When dropped from an aircraft about 100 feet in the air, the bomb was able to cover a surface with flames 270 feet long and 75 feet wide.

Napalm was much cheaper than most weapons during the war. Oil in the 1960's was extremely cheap compared to today's prices. As the price for oil started going up, the amount of napalm being used went down.

• Oil prices in the 1960's ranged from $1.63 to $1.27 per barrel
• Today oil prices are around $105.77 per barrel

• Throughout the duration of the war, 1965 – 1973, eight million tons of bombs were dropped over Vietnam; this was more than three times the amount used in WWII.
• Agricultural land was poisoned with defoliant or set alight after being drenched with napalm or diesel.
• Even today there are an estimated 4-6 million items of unexploded ordnance still scattered around Vietnam.

Although napalms were as awful as it is, there were some restrictions with bombing them. such as the following:

• All people should be evacuated from areas that napalm will be used.
• Napalm should not be used in areas where critically endangered wildlife live.
• Napalm bombs that are being used should only have a blast radius of 20 meters. (total maximum area blast of 1,256 meters^2)

The sustained bombing of North Vietnam lasted for more than three years, with occasional brief interruptions. Johnson finally halted the campaign on October 31, 1968. By the time the last American combat troops left Vietnam in 1973, the U.S. military had dropped 4.6 million tons of bombs on Vietnam, destroying a huge part of the nation's land and leaving an estimated 2 million Vietnamese dead.

Napalm effects on humans

What is a napalm bomb?

Operation Rolling Thunder

Deaths and Casualties

How to make napalm:

Napalm being sprayed from U.S river boats

***This recipe is for theory purposes only and should not be made in any form by anyone***

The word 'napalm' comes from the two words ‘naphthene’ and ‘palmitate’. Napalm itself contains a jelly obtained from the salts of aluminum, palmitic or other fatty acids, and naphthenic acids.

Napalm bombs were not only used in the vietnamese war, but many others as well (such as: the war of Iraq, Korea, WWII, etc.).

Citations

Ingredients:

Gasoline

Styrofoam

The Operation Rolling Thunder bombing campaign began on March 2, 1965, partly in response to a Vietnam Congress attack on a U.S. air base. At first, the air strikes were restricted to the southern part of North Vietnam. However, U.S. leaders eventually moved the target area carefully northward to increase the pressure on the Communist government.

By mid 1966, American planes were attacking military and industrial targets throughout North Vietnam. The only areas that were off limits for the bombing raids were the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong and a 10-mile distance along the border of China.

A human being in the open cannot protect themselves against these bombs.When napalm hits a person the result in burns are distinguishable from ordinary burns by the fact that they are covered with a ferocious black magma resembling in tar.

Lastly, concerning the medical effects of napalm recovery, there is the specter of secondary cancers.

Directions

-Fill a 10L bucket with 7.5L of gasoline

-Break styrofoam into small, rough pieces

-Add styrofoam to the bucket until the substance thickens

-Continue adding styrofoam until mixture thickens

-Allow mixture to sit and stabalize for approximately 1 hour

-Light by throwing 1 match onto the mixture which should burn for up to 4 hours

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http://www.911review.org/Wget/www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/littleton/v1201dre.htm

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http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/operation_rolling_thunder.htm

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http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1859.html

youtube video:

Helmenstine,Anne Marie Ph.D. "How to Make Napalm B" http://chemistry.about.com/od/advancedscienceprojects/a/How-To-Make-Napalm-B.htm

About.com n.d 11/12/13

J. Llewellyn et al, “The costs of the Vietnam War”, Alpha History, accessed [today's date], http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/costs-of-the-vietnam-war/. - See more at: http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/costs-of-the-vietnam-war/#sthash.mzuZiXoc.dpuf