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Last combat usage On 18 December 1972, during Operation Linebacker II (also known as President Richard Nixon's, "Christmas Bombing"), USAF B-52 Stratofortresses of the Strategic Air Command conducted a maximum effort bombing campaign against North Vietnam. As the bombers approached the target, SAMs (Surface To Air Missiles) commenced to explode around the StratofortressesMcCarthy, p. 139. One bomber, callsign "Brown III", completed its bomb run, and while turning outbound was warned that Vietnam People's Air Force MiGs were now airborne. Brown III's tailgunner, SSGT Samuel O. Turner, locked onto a fast approaching MiG-21 interceptor and shot it down with a burst of his four .50 caliber machine guns. Turner became the first bomber tailgunner to shoot down an enemy aircraft since the Korean War. His B-52 Stratofortress, tail number 55-0676, is currently preserved and on display at Fairchild AFB, Spokane, Washington. On 24 December 1972, during the same bombing campaign, the B-52 Stratofortress "Diamond Lil", now on display at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado, was attacking the railroad yards at Thai Nguyen. Rising for the interception was another NVAF MiG-21, Diamond Lil's tailgunner, Airman Albert E. Moore locked onto the MiG at 4,000 yards, and opened fire with his quad .50 caliber machine guns. Moore's kill was witnessed by another B-52 tailgunner, TSGT Clarence W. Chute, who observed the MiG-21 to fall away on fire. Moore was the last bomber tail gunner to shoot down an enemy aircraft with machine guns during war time.

The last time tail gunners themselves were ever used in combat were in the Gulf War of 1990-1991, where B-52Gs were used in air-strikes against Iraqi positions in Kuwait and Iraq. However after a controversial incident wherein a missile, locked onto the signal of the tail gunner's radar, struck a B-52, tail gunners started being deactivated on all B-52s starting on October 1, 1991. No air-to-air kills were made by B-52s in the Gulf War, and tail gunners have never been used in combat since.

http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Tail%20gunner/

The last time tail gunners themselves were ever used in combat were in the Gulf War of 1990-1991

Correction: The last time tail gunners in the B-52 were ever used in combat were in Desert Storm in 1991. The gunner position was deleted from all remaining B-52s on 1 October 1991.

Currently there are tail/ramp gunners on CH-46s, CH-47s, CH-53s, MV-22s and CV-22s.

I talked to a former Vietnam POW who said that Nixon’s Christmas Bombing was felt in their POW camp. Our B-52s were bombing so extensively, that the ground was vibrating and the POWs could feel it. Not long after that, he said their treatment improved. Unknown to them at the time, they would soon be going home.

I never forgot that story and the brave hero that told it to me.

Here’s an awesome video for Freeper vets:

C-141 Tail Number 60177 was the last of the 285 C-141’s built by Lockheed to leave active service. She flew 100 POWs out of Hanoi on 12 February 1973, some of them tasting freedom for the first time in six years. Each POW put their shot-down date on the face of the oxygen panel during their flight to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. For her retirement ceremony, some of the POWs she brought home were brought back for the ceremony and one last flight by this gracious lady. Most of them are old men now but their enthusiasm, emotions, and excitement were evident during this flight and retirement ceremony. She was then flown to Dayton, Ohio where she will spend her final days in the Air Force Museum.

A very touching video - Be sure to turn on the sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BM09bxf3Ng