"6 To Face Murder Charges for G.I.'s Riot in Prison." New York Times, October 1, 1968, p. 3. These units made occasional contact, often with PAVN or VC who fought stubbornly from trenches and spider holes. The following is a collection of photographs and letters sent to college friends, dated from 27 November 1969 to 26 May 1970, from John Cook. On 22 February, elements of the VC 274th Regiment, 5th Division assembled at three hills along Highway 15, approximately three kilometers south of Long Binh. . Facebook. Before the night was over, Levitow would perform an act of astounding bravery for which he would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor. Shortly, another mortar battery began firing. Poor guys; they didn't stand a chance. Viet Cong sappers infiltrated the base and lay in long grass between the runways for several hours before placing their satchel charges. Back home in Connecticut, he learned that his Medal of Honor had been approved. Shopping Cart | Textual Records: Correspondence and daily journal, 1972-73. (Vietnam War period). And yet there was nobody, absolutely nobody, visible out there. M113 armored personnel carriers and M551 Sheridan armored reconnaissance vehicles supported the forces on the ground while AH-1 Cobra gunships and OH-6 helicopters provided air support. Opportunity knocks. The remaining elements of the company were held in ready reserve. The resultant damage was a hole two feet in diameter through the wing and over 3,500 shrapnel holes riddling the fuselage, said Lt. Col. Robert A. Davidson, commander of the AC-47 forward operating location at Bien Hoa. Thought to be in retaliation for Chuyen's disappearance. Metacafe, The two huge U.S. bases dripped firepowerdozens of batteries of field artillery, large calibers and small, rows and rows of helicopter gunships and jet fighters loaded to the gills with the most lethal ordnance the world has ever seen, dozens of M113 armored personnel carriers with powerful .50-caliber machine guns manned by surly military police, and, of course, hundreds of trigger-happy clerks and truck drivers, not necessarily eager, but most definitely ready, for action. Most estimates put the Viet Cong deaths at over 100. Levitow declined to board the helicopter until he was finally ordered to do so by Carpenter. As of 1969 Lieutenant General Do Cao Tri's III CTZ . He flew two more AC-47 combat missions and showed up at the flight line for a third when the squadron commander told him he was grounded. Thirty-four years after it happened, the story of John L. Levitow has lost none of its power to excite and inspire. Seriously wounded were, SSG Slaven the squad leader, SP/4 Robert Cressman, PFC Larry W. Holton, and CPL Lee Van Muon, their Popular Forces Interpreter. A battalion of the 274th Viet Cong Main Force (VCMF) Regiment of the 5 North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Division, attacked the southern perimeter of Long Binh Post. One of the MP ambush squads held a position within a kilometer of the VC stronghold. Hamby advises McIntosh to . His most recent article, Rolling Thunder, appeared in the March issue. Among those present was Carpenter, the commander of Spooky 71, now retired and living in Marshall, Tex. Din vin Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Vit Trinh. It led the way for the more powerful AC-119 and AC-130 gunships that came later. Smoke rises from surrounding area. I then looked back to see a flare that had slid up against the cans of 19,000 rounds of ammunition, Platt said. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1969. At about 03:00, as reconnaissance elements of the unit were observed and engaged by US Air Force security forces at the perimeter of Bien Hoa Air Base, the villagers began to flee their homes, running down streets and creek beds. --- and so it went for lots of the fighting in Vietnam. Result: United States and South Vietnam victory: Belligerents I consider the fact that the aircraft was able to fly at all a miracle, Carpenter said. Media in category "Long Binh Post" The following 36 files are in this category, out of 36 total. It concentrated on US military installations, especially in the III Corps area around Saigon. License Agreement | He was told his unit would capture many C-rations. Food was always a dominant concern for the habitually starved Viet Cong. Dad wanted to be buried standing up. The other skid remains upright, as it is unfastened from the crane. Trang ch> attack on Titan final season 3 part 1 > Bnh lun 6. A three-second burst would saturate an area the size of a football field. View of surrounding areas. Tet offensive attack on Long Binh and Bien Hoa, 31 January 1968: Date: 31 January-2 February 1968: Location: Bien Hoa, Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Binh Post, South Vietnam. And that they would already have been shot three or four times before they got there. The paperwork for advancement in skill level (from three to five) in his original specialty had been lost. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1. In early August 1969, the 1st Infantry Division determined that its old nemesis, the 9th PLAF Division, was preparing for a new offensive in Binh Duong province.By this time, the 9th Division had been reorganized and redesignated as a PAVN (NVA) division. Ellis C. Owen, had been working as a team in dropping the flares. Many features may not work properly without it. (On earlier AC-47s, one of the guns had been mounted in the door.) Vit Trinh thng hiu tht l trn Vit Trinh, sinh ngy 27 mon 11 nm 1972, l con gi din vin nng lng in nh, tn dn chng trnh, o din vi gim kho ngi vit Nam. It could lay down an awesome field of fire, with each of its three 7.62 mm Gatling miniguns shooting up to 6,000 rounds per minute. The decision to make the fix to. CRITICALPAST.COM: A South . Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. Binh chng c cng l binh chng chin u c bit tinh nhu ca Qun i nhn dn Vit Nam, do B Tng tham mu Qun i nhn dn Vit Nam trc tip qun l v ch o. Visitors can also watch a videotape of Carpenter and John Levitow Jr. talking about the Medal of Honor mission. A sign reads 'Headquarters II Field Force Vietnam Artillery'. This attack was going to be a big one.. The threat of communism was pounded into our heads all through elementary and high school at Rock Valley, Iowa. Members of the reaction team were, SSG Larry J. Mentink, SGT Dennis E. Wiehle, SP/4 Clinton Brown (WIA), SP/4 Fred H. Pazmino (WIA), SP/4 Clay F. Creamer (WIA), SP/4 Michael A. Coto, PFC Robert S. Johnson, PFC Clinton M. Lloyd (WIA), PFC Simpson and others yet identified. 1965 January 1 - February 7, 1965: Vietcong forces mount a series of attacks across South Vietnam. Once my eight-man crew of ammo counters had assembled, we set aside our usual duties and made the best preparations we could to survive the night. Seventh Air Force, among others, expressed concern that transmissions might be intercepted and give warning of the gunships approach to the enemy. Nov. Dec. Each one of the guns could fire two speeds, Levitow said. Carpenter rolled the gunship wings level and began his run on the mortar positions. Long Binh Post was situated East of Bien Hoa and approximately 20 miles northeast of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City.) Shot up and near stalling, Spooky approached Bien Hoa in the dark. 24:11. The flare was armed just before it was thrown out the door, with timers set to give it some distance from the airplane before the parachute deployed and the flare was triggered. The clouds hung low, making flying helicopters . The AC-47 was the first of the Air Forces side-firing gunships. 5 Lt xem. center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places on June 8, 1972. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 17, 2000. In another scene, a large crane is used to stack shells in the ammunition dump. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. The Spooky 71 crew could see mortar tube flashes about one mile south of the area of the earlier attack. The Air Force sent a C-54 to Hartford to pick up him, his wife, and his parents and take them to Washington. The U.S. created an Afghan air force that was too technologically advanced for its native country to sustain, then pulled the rug out from under it, according to a U.S. government inspector general report. The squad came under an immediate rain of grenades, automatic weapons fire and rocket propelled grenades from an entrenched enemy platoon hidden in the top of the berm. Battle At The Rifle Range. When attacking, Spooky rolled into a level 30-degree bank turn, flying at an airspeed of almost 140 mph. For my personal defense, I relied upon a somewhat rusty M16 kept around the office. With the progression of the battle came a feeling of incredulity. The Long Binh/Bien Hoa complex was huge, with thousands of soldiers and airmen assigned to the combined logistics complex and air base. ), and that the VC suffered heavy casualties that day, with about only 6 VC left after the shooting stopped, and these were taken prisoner. On 29 October the Viet Cong attacked the South Vietnamese district capital of Loc Ninh, ran up the flag of the National Liberation Front, and tried to hold the city. I dont think I was alone in this. After the massive casualties it suffered during the vicious battles in 1966 and 1967, and especially due to the division's disastrous . The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted . (Lt. Cdr. Also in mid-February Company D, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines engaged an entrenched PAVN platoon 22km southwest of Da Nang killing 30 and the ARVN 2nd Battalion, 51st Regiment operating 4km west of the Marines killed 49 PAVN moving north of Go Noi Island. . John L. Levitow. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. An injured North Vietnamese soldier fighting with the Viet Cong, Pvt. Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (1966) From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. On the morning of 26 February following Napalm and Snake Eye air strikes, Company L, reinforced by Company M assaulted the PAVN position making slow progress against determined PAVN resistance. Let us know if you remember Steve as we seek more information and photos to make a MyPage for him. 6924th Security Squadron Base Name. The gunship carried about 150,000 rounds of ammunition on each flight, Levitow said. Unfortunately, the reporting was delayed and did not reach Long Binh until the morning of 22 February 1969, the day the defector warned the attacks were set to begin. Others were there, others were wounded, but Levitow being the furthest removed from the flare, recognized the danger, took action when seconds counted, and saved the lives of the entire crew, Carpenter wrote. On 8 February patrols from 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines found 7 122mm rockets 14km southwest of Da Nang and another 13 140mm rockets 2km further south. Nhng Chin Binh Ph Thu Xinh p tp 29. st_Luna-kun. Danil_1969 4 ting trc. The typist soldier types on the form with a type-writer. The enemy fire was situated across Highway 1A, directing a heavy concentration of fire into the 12th Group and II Field Force compounds. The medics cut away the dead and contaminated flesh to prevent infection, and Levitow was flown to the big Air Force hospital at Tachikawa, Japan, where 40 pieces of shrapnel were removed between his knee and his hip. For the first time the U.S. territory of Tinian, a small island around 100 miles north of the American military hub of Guam, hosted F-22 Raptors. More than 100 individual and crew-served weapons were captured. I worked for Pan American Airways and lived with the 99th Replacement Battallion across from USARV Headquarters in Long Binh from October 1969 through December 1969. Bruce Stern at his desk in Long Binh, circa 1968-69. . Two of the pockets were destroyed by the next morning resulting in the capture of the acting commander of the 141st Regiment. Long Binh Post was a sprawling, 3,500 building . Soldiers of the United States Army Signal Group have military payment certificates exchanged at their headquarters in Long Binh Vi, U.S. soldiers handling 155mm artilery shells in an ammunition dump at Long Binh, Vietnam. from 1969 to 1970. (Vietnam War period). To the Air Forces embarrassment, a hero was not eligible to re-enlist. I crawled to the location of the flare. The research for this After Action Report included OPERATIONAL REPORTS, DAILY STAFF JOURNALS and DUTY OFFICER S LOGS at the Battalion, Brigade and Division levels located in the National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. It was his 180th combat mission, but he had never flown with this crew before. Then came a sound akin to that of large paper sacks tearing, as AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships began strafing the battlefield with 7.62 mm minigun bullets fired at the rate of about 4,000 rounds per minute. Is it possible Tran and his friends would have simply elected to return to North Vietnam and forgotten the idea of an attack on Long Binh altogether? Levitows hometown, Glastonbury, dedicated a memorial to him on the town green May 31, 2004. He had been nominated for the Medal of Honorat Carpenters urging, Gen. George S. Brown, the 7th Air Force commander, had marked the recommendation up from an Air Force Crossand he was no longer allowed to fly in combat. For months I observed various combat actions outside the perimeter and every now and then even sought cover beneath a nearby steel desk as a stray mortar or artillery round came flying in our direction, which, whenever it occurred, was astonishing enough. He flew as a crewman on C-130s for a short tour, then went to Vietnam to fly on AC-47s. South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding . Soon we received word that every spare man was to report for perimeter duty, and within minutes my entire crew had been spirited away, leaving me to fend for myself. Retired Army Col. Paris Davis, 83, stood in the East Room of the White House on Friday as President Joe Biden draped the Medal of Honor around his neck, nearly six decades after he saved the lives of three fellow troops during the Vietnam War.. On 18 February a Company F, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines called in artillery fire on a group of PAVN/VC 5km south of Marble Mountain resulting in 21 secondary explosions believed to be from detonating rockets. So they were given guns and were told to attack Long Binh Post (population 30,000 armed U.S. soldiers). On 19 February, a defector surrendered to Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces and revealed a large VC force would attack key installations in the Saigon area to include Long Binh Post.Unfortunately, the reporting was delayed and did not reach Long Binh until the morning of 22 February 1969, the day the defector . 25/26 January 1969. United States and South Vietnamese forces responded with . Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (1966) Part of the Vietnam War: Date: 4-5 December 1966: Location: Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. [2][3], Since early February 1969, the 1st Marine Division had noted an upsurge in PAVN/VC activity around Da Nang. I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. Interestingly, the only thing that came readily to mind was a small sign I discovered at one of the outdoor latrines set back in the woods: ALL TERDS [sic.] The first explosion, seemingly an earth-shattering blast, occurred perhaps 30 or 40 yards outside our office, spraying the building with gravel and steel fragments, perforating our walls and windows. Aviation gas was leaking from the fuel lines on the right side, and that wasnt all. The Geography and Map Division holds a map from the war that was printed and created by the 66 th Engineer Company (known as the "Topo Corps"). When we were hit, all of us [Owen, Levitow, Sgt. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. Dennis E Haines, Recipient of the Images Of Bravery Award, Patient at the 24th Evacuation Hospital, December 1968. It was presented in ceremonies in February 2002 by his son to CMSgt. [1], The VC made several attempts to advance on the base, but were halted. As a soldier unfastens a skid of 8 shells, from the crane, it falls over sideways. I try to control what I say, although for the most part, Im very quiet. ARVN casualties were 10 killed and 100 wounded and one US Army photographer was killed. (Jim Van Eldik), It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling, Behind the driver, strewn about the passenger seat and floor, was his personal combat gear, including his, The enemy would occasionally probe us, rocket us, mortar us and more than likely sometimes even shop at our PXs, but a ground attack? c, Holland h tr v kh cho Ukraine. Dense blue smoke was pouring out of the burning flare fuze.. SUMMARY: On December 17, 1968, a 39-vehicle convoy from the 48th Transportation Group was moving ammunition and food between Long Binh and Dau Tieng, South Vietnam when the lead vehicles were suddenly hit by mortar fire. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those occasional, more impersonal rocket and mortar shells from the air. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. The ARVN units swiftly moved into blocking positions, and by daybreak, the PAVN/VC were surrounded. The aircraft veered sharply to the right and down.. Later I learned that we were attacked by the 274th Regiment, 5th Viet Cong Division, which was repulsed by the firepower of the 720th Military Police Battalion, the 18th Military Police Brigade and helicopter gunships from the 145th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade. Spooky was flying at about 3,500 feet. The base was host to US Army Headquarters. FAQs - How to Order | Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. Levitow was struggling toward the flare despite the violent maneuvering of the aircraft. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. At the end of his tour in Vietnam, Levitow was assigned to Norton AFB, Calif., as a loadmaster on C-141s. At that time, the air base security forces reported that they had lost contact with the enemy reconnaissance element which withdrew east toward Thai Hiep. "Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report #105 - Special Report: The Fourth Offensive - 23 February-3 April 1969", Cold War International History Project's Cold War Files, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tet_1969&oldid=1142428918, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 09:26. . The villagers told the ARVN forces how they were driven out of their homes and confined to an area near a creek running alongside the village. Amazingly five or six Viet Cong actually did sneak into the compound, but, luckily or unluckily for my sake, depending on the outcome, not in my area. These attacks were repulsed for Marines losses of 18 killed and more than 75 PAVN killed. We were officially MOS (Military Operational Specialty) 32F20, which was depot-level repair and maintenance on AUTOSEVOCOM (AUTOmatic SEcure VOice COMmunications) crypto . Carpenter set it down in a full shuddering stall. Since the headquarters building stood out on the hill like a large bulls eye, I proceeded outside and took up a defensive position behind a corner of our building, on the safe side. See Long Binh photos and images from satellite below, explore the aerial photographs of Long Binh in Vietnam. Long Binh/Bien Hoa. The basic course at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland allocated one week in the field for brushing up on combat skills. After years of Army training one cannot help but itch for a shot at the enemy, especially when all the advantages are on ones own side. Levitow set the timersallowing 10 seconds after the safety pin was pulled before a minor explosion deployed the parachute and another 10 seconds before the flare ignitedthen handed the flare to Owen, who attached a lanyard, which created a little extra distance before the pin was pulled after Owen tossed the flare from the aircraft. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. Ambush at Ap Nhi. He worked in "The Iron Triangle" included Phu loi, Ton sahn Nut, and Long B. Thomas Baer, the other gunner, and SSgt. The loadmaster on Spooky 71 was A1C John L. Levitow, 23, from Glastonbury, Conn.

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