Vietnam Da Nang 2 Vietnam Dong Tranh River 2 Vietnam French Indo China 7 Vietnam Khe Sanh 13 Vietnam Long Binh 3 Vietnam Phan Rang Air Base 18. Easily create a Forum Website with Website Toolbox. Published in the October 2017 issue ofVietnammagazine. A regimental commissar had assured the men in Trans company that the attack would be easily successful and after it was over we would be able to go home to North Vietnam. The rationale given for the supposedly easy victory: The VC battalion would face only desk soldiers without field experience (ouch!). 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. The battle area was quickly illuminated by large spotlights supplemented with dozens of flares fired by our artillery. It had been flying in Vietnam since 1964, first with the air commandos and after that with the special operations squadrons. Sound: No. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1969. Intelligence had indicators of the pending attacks. This place is situated in Bien Hoa Town, Dong Nai, Vietnam, its geographical coordinates are 10 54' 0" North, 106 51' 0" East and its original name (with diacritics) is Long Bnh. 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. The Army always tries to capitalize on a soldiers individual strengths. It isnt every day one peaceably sets off for work knowing someone is intent on ones personal demise. The base was host to US Army Headquarters. --- and so it went for lots of the fighting in Vietnam. The training group headquarters building at Lackland AFB, Tex., is named for him. 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"). The soldiers with old (MPC) currency notes takes the receipt and proceeds towards the next officer. When we were hit, all of us [Owen, Levitow, Sgt. Battle At The Rifle Range. As a soldier unfastens a skid of 8 shells, from the crane, it falls over sideways. Air & Space Forces Magazine is the official publication of the Air & Space Forces Association, 1501 Langston Boulevard, Arlington, Va., 22209-1198. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. 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. It was an unlucky hit. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Sorry, Dad, I couldnt make that happen.. United States Army soldiers exchanging MPC currency at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam. My hope was that no more than one or two VC would reach my position. Day scenes show soldiers defending positions and firing at the enemy. 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. The prisoners revealed that their mission had been to attack Bien Hoa city and the Bien Hoa Air Base. As noted, the 277th S&S BN (DS) stationed in Long Binh became the superior command 30 August 1968, physically arrived in Tay Ninh by early January 1969 and remained in Tay Ninh until mid July 1970 {approximate} when it was re-assigned to Di An {near Saigon} - (see 1970 History, where the 228th was for all intent and purposes reduced to a . Aviation gas was leaking from the fuel lines on the right side, and that wasnt all. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. We're weird, he said. A soldier with a typewriter creates a receipt. 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. (I was a big-shot first lieutenant and chauffeured to work.) Intelligence had indicators of the pending attacks. Answer (1 of 6): Now I can answer that from a very odd perspective. Under Col. Robert Smoker, Task Force 99s new commander, the unit will continue to try to cut through red tape and field new systems quickly. Featured Collections | Dad wanted to be buried standing up. (Vietnam War period). The basic course at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland allocated one week in the field for brushing up on combat skills. . 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. The point man for Team #75, SP/4 Cressman, tripped a Viet Cong antipersonnel mine on the trail that runs down from the south side of the hill to the Buong River. It concentrated on US military installations, especially in the III Corps area around Saigon. (Vietnam War period). (Vietnam War period). Between the town of Bien Hoa and the base was an old French minefield, never cleared and fenced by barbed wire. The flare posed a deadly danger in several ways. Advanced Search | It was thrown out of the aircraft and floated to the ground on a parachute, burning for as long as three minutes with an intensity of two million candlepower and making daylight over a square mile or so. Contact Us | Thomas Baer, the other gunner, and SSgt. Excerpt from 1st Aviation Brigade Newsletter: The VC attack at Long Binh was directed at the 12th Combat Aviation Group and II Field Force Vietnam. I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. He was 55. He showed up for his typical night shift at the office. YouTube, Duration: 2 min 9 sec. I stay away from publicity and things like that. Danil_1969 4 ting trc. He was the center of much attention but also the victim of bureaucracy. 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. The attack lifted momentarily, and the gunship began dropping flares to provide illumination requested by a nearby ground unit. Binh chng c cng c nhim v tp trung nghin cu, tham mu cho B Quc phng Vit Nam xy dng v pht trin cc lc lng . On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 17, 2000. 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. The award-winning exhibit, designed by curator William I. Chivalette, includes a lifelike mannequin of Levitow, paintings, photographs, uniform items, and artifacts. [4]:99, Before dawn on 23 February, the first day of Tt, the PAVN/VC fired 25 122mm rockets at Da Nang's deep water port hitting an ARVN ammunition dump and a fuel tank farm at Da Nang Air Base and cause minor damage to an A-6A and 6 helicopters at the Air Base. Each one of the guns could fire two speeds, Levitow said. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Mr. Cook served with the 1st Infantry Division, 2-16th Infantry, as a 1st Lieutenant in the Long Binh area of Vietnam. CRITICALPAST.COM: Im very careful what I do, he said in an oral history interview in 1986. from 1969 to 1970. Filmmaker Mel Brooks once said he looked upon his Army experience in World War II as a newsreel.. Ike originally intended these dominos to represent Chinas neighbors such as North and South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, but it was not long before some believed that places like Cuba, Angola, Chile, Peru, Michigan and South Carolina would also be on the list. 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. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. 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. He reported to the 3rd Special Operations Squadron at Nha Trang in July 1968 and was assigned to the squadrons forward operating location at Bien Hoa. I was a ticket office supervisor with several Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese women reservations/ticket agents. I was not in this Regiment, but I believe I may have observed some of the Regiment's activities the day of the attack. These units made occasional contact, often with PAVN or VC who fought stubbornly from trenches and spider holes. The view is from the compound of the 20. 6924th Security Squadron Base Name. Long Binh/Bien Hoa. After Levitow left the Air Force, he worked in veterans affairs for more than 22 years. As far as political considerations go, he hardly seemed interested in building a communist utopia at all. 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. Part 2 nya min . Spooky 71 flew with a crew of eight. DaNang Ammo Dump April 27 1969. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. Levitows progress was clearly marked with his own blood on the floor of the aircraft.. There was another motivation for Tran as he attacked the American base. [4]:97, After midnight on 23 February Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines and Company D, 1st Military Police Battalion detected VC approaching the Song Cau Do river bridges and attacked them killing 47 and capturing 11. . Sixteen bulldozers were quickly deployed to spend the rest of the day sealing the entrances. c chuyn cho qun i Ukraine 1.000 v kh chng xe tng v 500 ha tin di t - trn khng Typ/kiu Stinger (bo vc dch l : tn la t i khng).c cng ng thun cho Holland chuyn cho qun Ukraine 400 Panzerfaeuste/ v kh chng xe tng v cc v kh khc do c ch . Jerry Breast/U.S. Thirty-four years after it happened, the story of John L. Levitow has lost none of its power to excite and inspire. 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. The decision to make the fix to. There are some night scenes of the base under attack showing mostly flares, explosions and gunships firing on enemy targets. After sundown on the 22nd, elements of the VC 274th Regiment, 5th Division made their final preparations while occupying three hills along Highway 15 approximately three kilometers south of the base. 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. 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. [1], The VC made several attempts to advance on the base, but were halted. This was a bit disconcerting. More than 100 individual and crew-served weapons were captured. 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. [4]:101. The idea was quite unsettling. 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. The typist soldier types on the form with a type-writer. It would light up, oh, about half a mile, a good area, quite brightly, Levitow said. 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. Top graduates of Air Force Airman Leadership Schools receive the Levitow Honor Graduate Award. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those occasional, more impersonal rocket and mortar shells from the air. Week of December 12-18, 2021: Heroism Amidst an Ambush, December 17, 1968. My Lightboxes | New York Times, January 8, 1969, p. 12. 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. 5 Lt xem. His grieving son had no option but to file away those unanswered questions forever. Behind the driver, strewn about the passenger seat and floor, was his personal combat gear, including his M14 rifle and several magazines filled with ammunition. 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. He worked in "The Iron Triangle" included Phu loi, Ton sahn Nut, and Long B. In early 1969, the 277th was re-assigned from Long Binh to Tay Ninh West Base Camp, where it became the superior command of the 228th. I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. Photo courtesy of Tom Lefavour and taken around October 1969. Citation Nr: 0307323 Decision Date: 04/16/03 Archive Date: 04/24/03 DOCKET NO. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Soldiers walk around outside the headquarters. 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. When attacking, Spooky rolled into a level 30-degree bank turn, flying at an airspeed of almost 140 mph. From there, I had a good view of the perimeter and the rapidlyunfolding battle. . John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a contributing editor. United States Army soldiers participate in military payment certificates (MPC) exchange at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam. 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.] Jim Van Eldik is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. 20 July 1969 circa - Mortar attack on base camp A-414 Thanh Tri. It was his 180th combat mission, but he had never flown with this crew before. They tell me that I had 40 pieces of shrapnel in me at the time, Levitow said. Nothing was more effective than a gunship in breaking up such attacks. I was experiencing what soldiers for more than half a century referred to as the empty battlefield. Modern battlefield weapons had become so lethal that to expose oneself, even for an instant, to their fire was tantamount to suicide. By mid-1967, United States Army, Vietnam (USARV), 1st Logistical Command and many other Army units dispersed in Saigon were moved to Long Binh Post to resolve centralization, security, and troop billeting issues. The intense heat of the flare would burn rapidly through the aluminum floor of the cargo bay and drop on the empennage control cables, destroying them and causing the aircraft to go out of control. His most recent article, Rolling Thunder, appeared in the March issue. This is a brief clip of the ammo dump explosion at Long Binh, Vietnam, taken the morning of the Tet offensive, 1968. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. He was filling in for a loadmaster who had taken his place when he was sick. Let us know if you remember Steve as we seek more information and photos to make a MyPage for him. Hide. Records relating to the Christmas mail program, 1969-72. 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 . South Vietnamese woman 1969 Sep 15, 2017. . June The second of two new outpost's was built on the western end of the Finger Of Land. Hc_Thn. The paperwork for advancement in skill level (from three to five) in his original specialty had been lost. Despite his wounds, Levitow helped secure the airplane on the way back. .Anyway, the U.S. effort in Vietnam was (believe it or not) ultimately successful, for at the end, it was politically untenable for the Soviet Union to establish at Cam Ranh Bay its coveted "warm water" nuclear submarine base --- which, to my thinking, was what Vietnam was all about. at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, South Vietnam, both patient and unit members, to find each other and join in the. An injured North Vietnamese soldier fighting with the Viet Cong, Pvt. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1. TAOR With the enemy still in force south of the Buong River there remained the continuing threat of additional ground, rocket and heavy mortar attacks against Long Binh Post.. Battalion TOC still considered the eastern sector as the weak spot of the TAOR, so they called for a strong-point (outpost) to be constructed on the Finger of Land just to the west of the abandoned tank on the crest of . 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. Southeast Asia is a very strange part of the world, where for centuries its leaders have had little or noregard for the lives of their own people. Nov. Dec. Then there was a blinding flash and the aircraft was rocked from nose to tail by a violent explosion. 1 minigun and a jumble of spilled ammunition. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. History is not a fixed set of facts. Thoughts now turned to what we should do if we came face to face with the enemy.