A Toast to the 'Diamond Lil'

A Boeing B-52D Stratofortress, Air Force serial number 55-083, and nicknamed the ‘Diamond Lil,’ she flew from 1957-1983 on over 200 combat missions, and racked up over 15,000 flight hours.

During the Vietnam Warm and while flying out of Utapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield in southern Thailand, the crew of ‘Diamond Lil’, mission callsign 'Ruby 3', shot down a MiG-21 'Fishbed' northeast of Hanoi during ‘Linebacker II’ on Christmas Eve, 1972.  Targeted by tail gunner Airman First-Class Albert E. Moore, from San Bernardino, CA, and flying with the 307th Strategic Wing, he acquired a fast-moving bogey on his radar scope. He notified his crew to dispense chaff and flares, got target lock-on at 4,000 yards, and as the bandit closed to 2,000 yards, opened fire. He continued firing until the target blossomed on his scope, then disappeared. His feat was witnessed by T/Sgt. Clarence W. Chute, also a gunner, who saw the MIG-21 “on fire and falling away.'  The downed fighter was one of only two confirmed MiG "kills" by a B-52D bomber in the entire conflict.

Today, the bomber is located near the north gate of the United States Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Note: This recipe is a variation of the well-known "B-52" shooter.