During 12 days and nights, from December 18 to December 29, 1972, Hanoi’s tenacious fighting won the "Dien Bien Phu in the air" battle, defeating the US Air Force’s Operation Linebacker II.

90-year-old artist Ngoc Linh will never forget the moment he witnessed a B52 bomber -  one of the most advanced weapons of the US at that time - shot down by Vietnamese soldiers on Hoang Hoa Tham street, Hanoi. 

Proud of the victory, he created a large painting of a B52 falling. It was the first painting of the battle and is now on display at the National Archives.

Linh said: "On the night when the B52 was shot down, I was filming on Thuy Khue street and the plane was shot down over nearby Hoang Hoa Tham street. The next morning, I decided to make a large painting using oil. I painted to remember the moment I saw the B52 shot down by the Hanoi defense force. I feel very proud of the Vietnam People’s Army."

The Hanoi air defense defeated the attack by 190 B52s and more than 1,000 other attack aircraft. The victory inspired poems and songs such as "Hanoi faith and hope" by Phan Nhan, "Our squadron takes off" by Do Nhuan, “Hanoi - Sleepless nights” and "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air" by Pham Tuyen, "Our Air Force takes off" by Trieu Dang and “Our rocket hit the target" by Huy Thuc.

Songwriter Huy Thuc said: "On the morning of December 27, the US bombed Kham Thien street. I wrote the song ‘Our rocket hit the target’ to feature the pain the US caused in this battle. At that time, no other country in the world had shot down a B52. The song has a line: ‘Knocked down flying fortresses right in the middle of the capital."

The 1986 song "My dear, Hanoi street" with music by Phu Quang and lyrics by Phan Vu was inspired by the December 1972 victory. 

Late songwriter Phu Quang, a resident of Kham Thien street in the winter of 1972, recounted: "There was a barber next to my house. He was the head of the household. 26 people in his family died. Only his 73-year old mother survived. She held a broken brick and watched as the bodies of her children were brought out of the house. She didn't cry but stood like a statue. No pain could be greater than that. The lyrics about orphaned street corner and orphaned moon were inspired by the image of that old lady."