Thus, my daily mission (with the aid of my eight-man crew) was to account for all the ammunition in South Vietnam, at least every round not yet in the hands of the fighting troops. Nowhere, however, is Levitows memory recalled more vividly than at the Enlisted Heritage Research Institute at the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Maxwell AFB, Gunter Annex, Ala. Levitow willed his Medal of Honor to the Enlisted Heritage Hall there. SSG Richard E, Slaven died from his wounds the next day. On the other hand, one is left to ponder what affect seeding the battlefield or, even better, seeding the Ho Chi Minh Trail itself with C-ration packets of the despicable Ham and Lima Beans might have had. He was the center of much attention but also the victim of bureaucracy. The pilot was Maj. Kenneth B. Carpenter, flying his first combat mission as aircraft commander. Tet 1969 refers to the attacks mounted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) in February 1969 in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, one year after the original Tet Offensive.. Numerous bases were attacked, these attacks were all beaten back but did inflict casualties and reinforced the fact that PAVN/VC forces were able to mount attacks at will. June The second of two new outpost's was built on the western end of the Finger Of Land. Back home in Connecticut, he learned that his Medal of Honor had been approved. The other skid remains upright, as it is unfastened from the crane. Tran Van Thiet, 19, had been left behind. Small-arms fire opened up in his path. Dennis Yenser checks in about Sapper Attack story. ARVN casualties were 10 killed and 100 wounded and one US Army photographer was killed. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. More recently, Enlisted Heritage Hall obtained a surplus C-47 and converted it to a mock-up of an AC-47, with the colors and markings that Spooky 71 bore in February 1969. 23 February, Attack on Long Binh Post The rumors of an impending attack became fact when at 0200 hours [2:00 AM] the first enemy rockets soared across the eastern end of the TAOR and landed on Long Binh Post. I am compiling a history of our Regiment's service in the war. 83 Lt thch,23 Bnh lun.Video TikTok t Nguyn Huy Cng 1969 (@userz65oz3pvgr1969). If I got stopped drinking and driving, its going to say, Medal of Honor Drunk. I realize that. "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. About 11:30 p.m., the gunship was diverted from patrol over the village of Lai Kai, north of Long Binh. The rounds landed on post with some igniting the POL fuel site east of the highway. Long Binh Post was situated East of Bien Hoa and approximately 20 miles northeast of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City.) Perhaps a word of explanation is in order on how I and all the others in our mix of volunteers and draftees ended up in this hot, smelly, unsafe corner of the world. Most attacks centered on military targets near Saigon and Da Nang and were quickly beaten off. He was told his unit would capture many C-rations. Food was always a dominant concern for the habitually starved Viet Cong. . Thirty-four years after it happened, the story of John L. Levitow has lost none of its power to excite and inspire. ATTENTION If you participated in any of the incidents listed on this page or know of some that are not, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page. These ingredientswhen mixed with the C-ration Beef, Spiced with Sauce or the Beans w/ Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Saucewould have provided the Viet Cong a feast for the ages. 1971 serving with the 95th Military Police Battalion. I am interested in corresponding with any Black Scarf soldiers who . His grieving son had no option but to file away those unanswered questions forever. At most, there would be 20 seconds before it exploded. Full-scale sweeping operations to secure the perimeter began just after noon that day. "On the second firing pass, the mortars firing on Long Binh were silenced." The attack lifted momentarily, and the gunship began dropping flares to provide illumination . Long Binh Post was a sprawling, 3,500 building . Once the sun came up, a troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment found 139 dead enemy soldiers, Tran, who was from the Haiphong area of North Vietnam, had high expectations for a victory in the attack, according to an interview in, On the other hand, one is left to ponder what affect seeding the battlefield or, even better, seeding the, https://www.historynet.com/long-binh-battle/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. Hugging the deadly device to his body, he dragged himself back to the rear of the aircraft and hurled the flare through the open cargo door. August 25, 1968, was a typical monsoon season day. Background. 44th Medical Brigade Headquarters Long Binh 1969.jpeg 2,079 1,716; 209 KB. It was presented in ceremonies in February 2002 by his son to CMSgt. DaNang Ammo Dump April 27 1969. License Agreement |
Spooky was flying at about 3,500 feet. The enemy would occasionally probe us, rocket us, mortar us and more than likely sometimes even shop at our PXs, but a ground attack? 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.] I try to control what I say, although for the most part, Im very quiet. It was used as a base of operation for the increased ambush and reconnaissance patrols conducted in the uninhabited eastern end of the TAOR. Shortly before midnight the entire perimeter lit up with machine gun fire. Between 1970 and 72 my father wound up in Vietnam as a civilian aircraft mechanic, working on helicopters. Some of our troops had recaptured it from the VC a few months before. Back in the States, the aircraft had been fitted with a tank inside the fuselage to hold isopropyl alcohol. For the next six hours, Spooky 71 would fly a combat air patrol circuit over the Saigon/Tan Son Nhut area, ready to respond wherever its fire support was needed. This was teh first time the M551 Sheridan was in action in the Blackhorse Regiment. ElyRatner, assistant secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, discussed how China continues to prod the U.S. and challenge stability in region, even as, The entire F-35 fleet is slated to get the retrofit engine maker Pratt & Whitney has identified to mitigate the problem that led to suspended deliveries and flight restrictions for some aircraft for nearly two monthsa move that will affect hundreds of fighters globally. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. I am the historian for the 11th Armored Cavalry Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia (11th ACVVC). OVER 30 POUNDS IN WEIGHT MUST BE LOWERED BY ROPE. With no clear idea of what to do in combat, I would have to improvise. 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.. The villagers met elements of the South Vietnamese 5th Marine Battalion, the 3rd Battalion, 48th Infantry Regiment, 18th Division and the 3rd Squadron, 5th Armored Cavalry moving on the road less than a half mile from Thai Hiep in response to the contact at the air base. In my case it was my unusual ability to count. Some of my first recollections as a youngster from the cornfields of Iowa were the television and radio presentations of an ominous phenomena known as the yellow peril, although on our black-and-white TV sets this threat appeared more as black swaths oozing first from Russia across China, then over North Korea and finally covering the countries of Southeast Asia on their way across the ocean to the United States. The attacks by Vietcong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces were one of several major attacks around Saigon in the first days of the Tet Offensive. When attacking, Spooky rolled into a level 30-degree bank turn, flying at an airspeed of almost 140 mph. 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. Levitow also gave Enlisted Heritage Hall his fathers uniform and ribbons, the original Medal of Honor citation signed by President Nixon, photos, and other memorabilia. It was full until ruptured in the battle. The nomination package included statements from Carpenter and most of the crew. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. If your URL is correct, you'll see an image preview here. "Text of Camp Lejeune Committee's Report to Commanding General." . Bruce Stern at his desk in Long Binh, circa 1968-69. . A blistering, 148-page document by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that Afghan, SDA Taps Raytheon for Seven More Missile-Tracking Satellites, Photos: F-22s Deploy to Tinian for First Time as Part of ACE Exercise, In Message to Force, Austin Touts Once-in-a-Generation Investments, Heres What USAFs Science Board Is Studying Now, Were Weird: New Commander Details Life Inside Task Force 99, Top Pentagon Official: Chinas Air Actions Are Dangerous and Destabilizing, Entire F-35 Fleet to Get Fix for Engine Vibration Issue, Service Will Remain at Heart of King Aerospace No Matter How Aviation and Technology Change, US Set Up Afghans for Failure, With a Force Too Complex to Maintain, IG Says. maxhightForP2 = 14168;
Includes captions and a music soundtrack. So proficient had I become at this task that I had acquired the nickname Lieutenant Bullets. Officially, however, I was an ammunition stock control officer in the Army Ordnance Corps. The troops sent to Saigon originally lived in army units dispersed throughout the city. We were young men in the U.S. Army. Seventh Air Force, among others, expressed concern that transmissions might be intercepted and give warning of the gunships approach to the enemy. Ahead of the release of Pentagons 2024 budget release in the coming weeks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin touted major investments by the DOD across a broad array of portfolios, including the nuclear triad, space, and next-generation fighter aircraftwhile promising once-in-a-generation expenditures for shipyards and munitions manufacturing in particular. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. The MP squad suffered three wounded. Shortly, another mortar battery began firing. These units made occasional contact, often with PAVN or VC who fought stubbornly from trenches and spider holes. Soldiers walk around outside the headquarters. Well, not everybody had departed. Citation Nr: 0307323 Decision Date: 04/16/03 Archive Date: 04/24/03 DOCKET NO. With usual soldier directness the driver divulged the ominous news: Sir, were gonna get hit tonight, so youre gonna need your helmet, flak jacket and rifle., A Viet Cong deserter had warned South Vietnamese officials on Feb.19 that an attack would occur on Feb. 22, but Long Binh didnt get the word until the day of the planned assault. This region includes ten provinces: Binh Duong, Binh Hyua, Binh Long, Binh Tuy, Hau Nghia, Long An, Long Kahnh, Phuoc Long, Phuac Tuy Tay Ninh. 472.6.9 Records of the U.S. Army Garrison, Long Binh Post, Vietnam (Provisional) The ARVN units swiftly moved into blocking positions, and by daybreak, the PAVN/VC were surrounded. ), and that the VC suffered heavy casualties that day, with about only 6 VC left after the shooting stopped, and these were taken prisoner. It would light up, oh, about half a mile, a good area, quite brightly, Levitow said. They tell me that I had 40 pieces of shrapnel in me at the time, Levitow said. Upon arrival, we observed a large battle going on in the south and east perimeters of the base, Carpenter said. It led the way for the more powerful AC-119 and AC-130 gunships that came later. Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (1966) From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. The Rangers met only slight, disorganized resistance. He had a serious leg wound and was evacuated to the field hospital across the street from my barracks. Result: United States and South Vietnam victory: Belligerents In the interest of security - and to ease communications - the army centralized Saigon's American forces in 1967 by stationing them all at an enormous compound built just outside of the city. The airplane made it over the minefield and onto the overrun, just barely. With no friendly troops visible between me and the battle, into my M16 went the magazine of tracers in preparation for a confrontation with anyone who might break through that wall of gunfire, something at which the Viet Cong were quite adept. The enemy fire was situated across Highway 1A, directing a heavy concentration of fire into the 12th Group and II Field Force compounds. 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. The pilot fired the guns, using a sight at the left side of the cockpit. Nothing was more effective than a gunship in breaking up such attacks. Edward Fuzie, the flight engineer] were knocked to the floor and the flare was knocked out of my hands. Most estimates put the Viet Cong deaths at over 100. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Media Battle of Long Binh 1969 Parts 1 & 2 11thACRCombat Operations After Action Report of Attacks in Northern Binh Long Province 10-13aug69 (All content and photos on this site are the property of their named owners and may not be copied or used for any other purposes without permission. Soldiers of the 221st Signal Company Vietnam have military payment certificates (MPC) exchanged at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam as part of a country wide general order. Let us know if you remember Steve as we seek more information and photos to make a MyPage for him. The rocket and mortar attacks on the bases picked up when darkness fell. 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.
