Most estimates put the Viet Cong deaths at over 100. 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. 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. It was his 180th combat mission, but he had never flown with this crew before. In 1968, a group of black inmates were fed up with their treatment and the war. Shopping Cart | Levitows hometown, Glastonbury, dedicated a memorial to him on the town green May 31, 2004. Citation Nr: 0307323 Decision Date: 04/16/03 Archive Date: 04/24/03 DOCKET NO. . 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. Mini-Tet 1969 Begins February 23, 1969. As Ole-Luk-Oie, the pen name for British officer Ernest Swinton, wrote in the 1915 book. The flare posed a deadly danger in several ways. We're weird, he said. Back in the States, the aircraft had been fitted with a tank inside the fuselage to hold isopropyl alcohol. Unlike our headquarters, theirs was built under a hill rather than on top of one. 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. I try to control what I say, although for the most part, Im very quiet. I visited my friends down the hall in the almost deserted headquarters building, but mostly kept up my vigil of the activity outside the perimeter, which, as darkness descended, now included an occasional flare. I was a 2nd Lieutenant, on my second night in Vietnam when the attack on Long Bing Post began at 2 AM. The next day, I was promoted to E-4, retroactive nine months with pay, Levitow said, but by then, he had decided to take an early out. [4]:99, To the west of Da Nang, shortly after midnight on the 23rd Company M, 3/7 Marines ambushed a PAVN force killing 10 and later that night a larger force was spotted and artillery fire was called in. Shot up and near stalling, Spooky approached Bien Hoa in the dark. 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. The other skid remains upright, as it is unfastened from the crane. Airman Levitow was setting [the ejection and ignition dials] and handing me the flares, Owen said. Date: 1969, August 11. 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. 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. In reality, it is a collection of ideas, images, and information that enough people have chosen to preserve and disseminate. He was filling in for a loadmaster who had taken his place when he was sick. 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 . That evening, several ambush squads from the 720th Military Police Battalion, 18th MP Brigade kept watch along potential avenues of approach to Long Binh Post. Duration: 2 min 9 sec. Brigadier General Leo D. Kinnard speaks to the troops. It took considerable effort to get Spooky 71 back to base. The enemy fire was situated across Highway 1A, directing a heavy concentration of fire into the 12th Group and II Field Force compounds. Surely neither the. As Ole-Luk-Oie, the pen name for British officer Ernest Swinton, wrote in the 1915 book The Great Tab Dope: Who can blame a desire for the real thing, or professional zeal, whether it be that of a burglar, a Harley Street appendix hunter, or a trainer of blind monkeys?. If your URL is correct, you'll see an image preview here. It was modified from the C-47 transport aircraft, plenty of which were available. The Army always tries to capitalize on a soldiers individual strengths. At first, he was a power line specialist with the civil engineering squadron at McGuire AFB, N.J. 6924th Security Squadron Base Name. Near Saigon, the VC made attacks on Long Binh and Bien Hoa. I couldnt walk. [1], The VC made several attempts to advance on the base, but were halted. United States Army soldiers exchanging MPC currency at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam. Unit flags at the headquarters. We had no bunkers. 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. On July 1, an article titled "Libya and Syria: When Anti-Imperialism Goes Wrong" was published on the North Star website, signed by "Pham Binh of Occupy Wall Street, Class War Camp." The article argues that imperialist interventions in Libya and Syria are justified because they are demanded by forces the author calls revolutionary. Beyond that was an open area where tanks were patrolling back and forth, apparently looking for VC who had squirreled themselves down into rat holes trying to avoid the tanks. 28 March Ambush and Recon Team #75, and #76 were on a joint night operation on Hill-15 in the southeastern sector of the TAOR. After the massive casualties it suffered during the vicious battles in 1966 and 1967, and especially due to the division's disastrous . 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. . Hc_Thn. A soldier counts his notes at the typist's desk. I dont think I was alone in this. Later I enrolled as an ROTC student at South Dakota State University, became an Army officer and was assigned to Long Binh in August 1968. Soldiers in a line. I stay away from publicity and things like that. nhc nn - Mo One Piece - Thnh Long Jr. August 25, 1968, was a typical monsoon season day. Copyright 2023. They tell me I ended up jumping on it, finally getting control and dragging myself and the flare back to the rear cargo door which was open and just managed to push it outside the door as it ejected and ignited simultaneously., Later, the citation to accompany the Medal of Honor put it this way: Unable to grasp the rolling flare with his hands, he threw himself bodily upon the burning flare. The rocket and mortar attacks on the bases picked up when darkness fell. At the ceremonies, his son, John L. Levitow Jr., said: I have only one apology to make. The soldiers with old (MPC) currency notes takes the receipt and proceeds towards the next officer. 105837N 1064955E / . 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. Website Terms & Conditions | Includes captions and a music soundtrack. 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. Two stints one for 6 months and another for 7. The loadmaster on Spooky 71 was A1C John L. Levitow, 23, from Glastonbury, Conn. 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"). Bruce Stern at his desk in Long Binh, circa 1968-69. . Answer (1 of 6): Now I can answer that from a very odd perspective. Apparently, it was impossible for an Iowa corn farmer to get his mind around the idea of hundreds of men actually trying to kill each other. The occupants were helplessly slammed against the floor and fuselage like so many rag dolls., At that moment, a loud explosion was heard and a bright flash filled the aircraft, said Maj. William P. Platt, the navigator. The retired Green Beret, who was a trailblazer as one of the first Black officers to join the Special Forces, told Military.com on Thursday that he . hightForP2 = 330 Result: United States and South Vietnam victory: Belligerents He flew as a crewman on C-130s for a short tour, then went to Vietnam to fly on AC-47s. Dad wanted to be buried standing up. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. (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? The base was host to US Army Headquarters. Levitow and one of the gunners, Sgt. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Thomas Baer, the other gunner, and SSgt. . His grieving son had no option but to file away those unanswered questions forever. Nhng Chin Binh Ph Thu Xinh p tp 29. st_Luna-kun. There was another motivation for Tran as he attacked the American base. Ambush at Ap Nhi. . 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. Small-arms fire opened up in his path. With the progression of the battle came a feeling of incredulity. . The troops sent to Saigon originally lived in army units dispersed throughout the city. Spooky was flying at about 3,500 feet. (Vietnam War period). 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. It concentrated on US military installations, especially in the III Corps area around Saigon. The gunship, situated on the lawn of the museum, was dedicated in October 2004. The idea seemed absurd! License Agreement | Things quieted down for a while. Tran Van Thiet, 19, had been left behind. U.S. Navy Douglas A-4E Skyhawks from Attack Squadrons VA-163 Saints and VA-164 Ghost Riders attack the Phuong Dinh railroad bypass bridge, 10 kilometers north of Thanh Hoe, North Vietnam, on September 10, 1967. More than 100 individual and crew-served weapons were captured. Nothing was more effective than a gunship in breaking up such attacks. An injured North Vietnamese soldier fighting with the Viet Cong, Pvt. You can imagine how frightful that was to the mind of a 6-year-old. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1969. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. .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. We were officially MOS (Military Operational Specialty) 32F20, which was depot-level repair and maintenance on AUTOSEVOCOM (AUTOmatic SEcure VOice COMmunications) crypto . 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. These attacks were repulsed for Marines losses of 18 killed and more than 75 PAVN killed. Many of the tracers bounced off the ground like rubber balls. The battle area had been cleared for at least 500 to 1,000 yards from the perimeterall foliage and any source of cover had been bulldozed flat. 1st Signal Brigade 1966-1972, Saigon, Long Binh VISIT HOME PAGE 101st Airborne Division 1965-1971, Bien Hoa, Phan Rang, Phu Bai VISIT HOME PAGE 9th Infantry Division 1966-1969, Bear Cat, Dong Tam The Space Development Agency has added another batch of missile-tracking satellites to its expansive constellation, awarding Raytheon a $250 million contract March 2 to build seven spacecraft. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. Long Binh/Bien Hoa. The cavalry troopers also stumbled onto a large tunnel complex not more than a mile from our perimeter. It was Feb. 24, 1969, and the second day of the Tet counteroffensive. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those . 3 Lt xem. The gunship had flown into the path of an 82 mm mortar round, which struck the top of the right wing. He was a man that was proud to stand tall. 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. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. But now the tough Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army itself were coming. After the battle came another shock. . So here I was, wounds and all, finally managed to stand up and Im lifting 140-pound ammo cans and stuffing them between the guns [so they would not] go flying all around and really hurt somebody, Levitow said. A sign reads 'Headquarters II Field Force Vietnam Artillery'. . Most estimates put the Viet Cong deaths at over 100. Long Binh Jail was a prison for American soldiers on the outskirts of Saigon with notoriously harsh conditions. John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a contributing editor. The remaining elements of the company were held in ready reserve. 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. The ARVN units swiftly moved into blocking positions, and by daybreak, the PAVN/VC were surrounded. The attack continued into 27 February when the Marines overran the PAVN resulting in a total of more than 200 killed. [2][3], Since early February 1969, the 1st Marine Division had noted an upsurge in PAVN/VC activity around Da Nang. Textual Records: Correspondence and daily journal, 1972-73. The paperwork for advancement in skill level (from three to five) in his original specialty had been lost. F-100C Super Sabre 54-1956 120 TFS, 35 TFW, USAF . 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. For my personal defense, I relied upon a somewhat rusty M16 kept around the office. . [Three] thousand rounds a minute was more than sufficient.. It had been flying in Vietnam since 1964, first with the air commandos and after that with the special operations squadrons. ATTACK ON LONG BINH POST. The nomination package included statements from Carpenter and most of the crew. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. The MP squad suffered three wounded. 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 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. Convoy of M-113 ARCs and M-551 assault vehicles move out of camp and drive along road. --- and so it went for lots of the fighting in Vietnam. As far as political considerations go, he hardly seemed interested in building a communist utopia at all. As usual, I initially took refuge under my desk, then ordered everyone to rush downstairs on the assumption that any direct hits would likely riddle the upper floor. 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. Troops lined up on a field. (true?/false? Just after 16:00 US Air Force F-100s and F-4s along with Republic of Vietnam Air Force A-1 Skyraiders were directed against the PAVN/VC positions in the village. The decision to make the fix to. It's not widely known that during the course of the Vietnam Conflict, about 2 million (2,000,000) VC and NVA were killed -- which was about 15 percent of North Vietnam's 13 million population. 1971 serving with the 95th Military Police Battalion. The Air Force Scientific Advisory Boarda group of experts and researchers the department taps for independent advice on key science and technology effortsis undertaking four studies in 2023, including two that will likely inform the services approach to Secretary Frank Kendalls operational imperatives. The panorama took on an aspect of high noon, the entire battlefield bathed with an eerie golden glow. Soldiers lined inside the building waiting for their number. Lieutenant General Julian J. Ewell shakes hands with both of the brigadier generals. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. YouTube, Alsoand central to the story of Spooky 71it carried about 50 magnesium flares to illuminate targets on the ground. Among the family members present were his son and grandson, John L. Levitow III. Note: Your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Photo courtesy of Corpman Bill Luppeti HM3 [Rach Soi 1967-1970] The firing grew to a continuous roar, with lines and lines of red tracers emitted by M60 machine guns crisscrossing the battlefield. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. independent documentary Letters from Long Binh. The 199th later became known as the "Redcatchers" for its mission objectiveto seek out and destroy Communist cadres in Vietnam. In my case it was my unusual ability to count. 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. Apparently, not much was out there, as there was no firing to speak of. An ammunition dump at Long Binh, Vietnam. Spooky 71 had gone as far as it was going. (Vietnam War period). He delivered the keynote address. "Text of Camp Lejeune Committee's Report to Commanding General." United States Army soldiers participate in military payment certificates (MPC) exchange at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam. 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. Opportunity knocks. Im very careful what I do, he said in an oral history interview in 1986. . The three guns were mounted in window ports, just forward of the open cargo door. 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. Capt. On 9 May 1969, Pentagon correspondent William Beecher stated that US air raids against ammo dumps and base camps in Cambodia . He showed up for his typical night shift at the office. The award-winning exhibit, designed by curator William I. Chivalette, includes a lifelike mannequin of Levitow, paintings, photographs, uniform items, and artifacts. The pilot fired the guns, using a sight at the left side of the cockpit. Tet Offensive attack on Long Binh and Bien Hoa 31 January 1968.jpg . Then there was a blinding flash and the aircraft was rocked from nose to tail by a violent explosion. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. We were being attacked by at least a full enemy battalion in a fight raging with remarkable intensity. 1969 Amphitheatre - Long Binh - by Dave Ondrey by manhhai 6 1 BOB HOPE Show - Long Binh - Largest Audience Show by manhhai 5 1 1969 Amphitheatre - Long Binh - by Dave Ondrey by manhhai 5 1 LONG BNH 1967 by manhhai 5 2 1 2. It led the way for the more powerful AC-119 and AC-130 gunships that came later. About 85 per cent of the force was estimated to be PAVN soldiers.