(true?/false? These units made occasional contact, often with PAVN or VC who fought stubbornly from trenches and spider holes. This was a bit disconcerting. The soldiers with old (MPC) currency notes takes the receipt and proceeds towards the next officer. At 02:00 on 23 February, the 274th VC Regiment initiated their attack with an estimated 78 rounds of rocket and mortar fire from their positions. 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.. We were officially MOS (Military Operational Specialty) 32F20, which was depot-level repair and maintenance on AUTOSEVOCOM (AUTOmatic SEcure VOice COMmunications) crypto . 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. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. 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. 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. . The decision to make the fix to. It would light up, oh, about half a mile, a good area, quite brightly, Levitow said. I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. [1], In the early morning hours of 26 February, a force of approximately 400 men from the VC 275th Regiment, 5th Division, had infiltrated into the tiny village of Thai Hiep on the outskirts of Bien Hoa. Most of us were "Regular Army," almost a year into a 3-year hitch. Lieutenant General Julian J. Ewell shakes hands with both of the brigadier generals. at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, South Vietnam, both patient and unit members, to find each other and join in the. (On earlier AC-47s, one of the guns had been mounted in the door.) 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. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Upon arrival, we observed a large battle going on in the south and east perimeters of the base, Carpenter said. Grabbing my helmet and flak jacket (and finding that, after sitting on the shelf for several months, neither would fit properly), I departed with my Jeep driver for the Logistics Commands large yellow headquarters building. At that rate, a three-second burst placed a shot every square foot in an area the size of a football field. Since my finger was through the safety pin ring the safety pin was pulled.. 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. Levitow declined to board the helicopter until he was finally ordered to do so by Carpenter. On 23 February 1969, Task Force Privette (A and B Troops, 1st Squadron, 11th Cav and a company of 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry) reacted to an attack on the Long Binh perimeter, killing 88 NVA. My driver arrived at the usual time, a little before sundown, on Feb. 22, for my 12-hour graveyard shift at the 1st Logistics Command headquarters. United States 2nd Field Force change of command ceremony at Long Binh, Vietnam. [4]:99100, PAVN/VC retreating to the south from Da Nang were intercepted by elements of the 1st Marine Regiment and ARVN 1st Battalion, 51st Regiment 11km south of Da Nang losing 139 dead in 3 days of fighting. Dedicated to those who were there. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. 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. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in the air, but clear of the aircraft.. Contact Us | 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. Viet Cong sappers infiltrated the base and lay in long grass between the runways for several hours before placing their satchel charges. 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. (Vietnam War period). He was a man that was proud to stand tall. Levitow and one of the gunners, Sgt. On 9 May 1969, Pentagon correspondent William Beecher stated that US air raids against ammo dumps and base camps in Cambodia . 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. 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. After the massive casualties it suffered during the vicious battles in 1966 and 1967, and especially due to the division's disastrous . Clip Type: Unedited. The soldiers with old (MPC) currency notes takes the receipt and proceeds towards the next officer. Levitows hometown, Glastonbury, dedicated a memorial to him on the town green May 31, 2004. Long Binh/Bien Hoa. In reality, it is a collection of ideas, images, and information that enough people have chosen to preserve and disseminate. Dense blue smoke was pouring out of the burning flare fuze.. 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. Bucks County Pennsylvania United States USA, Del Rio Texas Laughlin Air Force Base USA, Roxborough Pennsylvania United States USA, U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base Thailand. F-100C Super Sabre 54-1956 120 TFS, 35 TFW, USAF . Inside the aircraft is a mannequin of Levitow, struggling to get the flare to the door. 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. 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. This attack was going to be a big one.. (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 Tet lunar new year of 1968the one history remembershad seen large-scale coordinated attacks on cities, provincial capitals, and bases all over South Vietnam. Stephen Hugh Lane SP5 Lead Clerk Jan 1969 to Sep 1970, MOS 67N20 has checked in and joined the 3/4 Cav Chapter. All of the enlisted got wounded and the officers did not. c bit n nh mt phi n ngh s nhiu ti ni ting . 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. Flares took away the cover of darkness, on which the Viet Cong depended for their style of warfare. At approximately 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 23, the battle gradually died out. Militarily, it was a failure for the North Vietnamese, but it undercut the confidence of the American public and it was a turning point in the war. 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. The gunship, situated on the lawn of the museum, was dedicated in October 2004. Filmmaker Mel Brooks once said he looked upon his Army experience in World War II as a newsreel.. Nearly 60 years after he was first recommended for the nation's highest military award for his bravery during the Vietnam War, retired Col. Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat, received the Medal of Honor on Friday. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. 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. I was not in this Regiment, but I believe I may have observed some of the Regiment's activities the day of the attack. 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. Trang ch> attack on Titan final season 3 part 1 > Bnh lun 6. The attack continued into 27 February when the Marines overran the PAVN resulting in a total of more than 200 killed. 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. Apparently, not much was out there, as there was no firing to speak of. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. . nhc nn - Nguyn Quc Hng - cng ty Hng Long Phc. 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. One of the larger battles of the Vietnam War had been fought right in front of me, and I never saw the enemy. The Long Binh Army post, adjacent to Spookys home base at Bien Hoa, was under mortar attack. About Us | Another typist gives MPC currency notes to the soldiers. YouTube, Airman Levitow was setting [the ejection and ignition dials] and handing me the flares, Owen said. So they were given guns and were told to attack Long Binh Post (population 30,000 armed U.S. soldiers). It isnt every day one peaceably sets off for work knowing someone is intent on ones personal demise. Thomas Baer, the other gunner, and SSgt. Background. ), and that the VC suffered heavy casualties that day, with about only 6 VC left after the shooting stopped, and these were taken prisoner. History is not a fixed set of facts. The Medal of Honor was presented to John L. Levitow at the White House by President Nixon on May 14, 1970. ARVN psychological operations units broadcast repeated loud-speaker appeals and warnings, and all of the remaining villagers and several wounded PAVN/VC evacuated out of Thai Riep. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. My driver arrived at the usual time, a little before sundown, on Feb. 22, for my 12-hour graveyard shift at the 1st Logistics Command headquarters. We're weird, he said. The last major battle occurred along the berm of the rifle range on Highway 317 in the early morning just after daylight. 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) Part of the Vietnam War: Date: 4-5 December 1966: Location: Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. Dennis Yenser checks in about Sapper Attack story. . He will look for photos. I had the aircraft in a 30-degree bank and how Levitow ever managed to get to the flare and throw it out, Ill never know, Carpenter said. The video has no narration. Between the town of Bien Hoa and the base was an old French minefield, never cleared and fenced by barbed wire. The idea seemed absurd! (Vietnam War period). (Lt. Cdr. If I got stopped drinking and driving, its going to say, Medal of Honor Drunk. I realize that. Once the sun came up, a troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment found 139 dead enemy soldiers, Stars & Stripes reported. 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 2nd Lieutenant, on my second night in Vietnam when the attack on Long Bing Post began at 2 AM. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those . Citation Nr: 0307323 Decision Date: 04/16/03 Archive Date: 04/24/03 DOCKET NO. I crawled to the location of the flare. Thus, Spooky 71 was leaking two highly inflammable substances. The firing grew to a continuous roar, with lines and lines of red tracers emitted by M60 machine guns crisscrossing the battlefield. 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. It was nothing like what I saw in my imagination or what is shown in movie theaters or on television. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. 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. 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]: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. 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. The Viet Cong had constructed some sort of headquarters compound, or staging area, or supply depot or maybe even an officers club. His grieving son had no option but to file away those unanswered questions forever. For reasons unknown, it had not been emptied when the AC-47 went to Vietnam. The ARVN units swiftly moved into blocking positions, and by daybreak, the PAVN/VC were surrounded. Jerry Breast/U.S. At the end of his tour in Vietnam, Levitow was assigned to Norton AFB, Calif., as a loadmaster on C-141s. 472.6.9 Records of the U.S. Army Garrison, Long Binh Post, Vietnam (Provisional) COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT, VIETNAM 1969. Levitow was struggling toward the flare despite the violent maneuvering of the aircraft. I hated it. More to his liking, he went home to Connecticut and became a medical administration officer in the VA hospital system and special assistant to the chief of Medical Administration Service in New England. Date: 1969, August 11. After the battle came another shock. More than 500 airmen attended the funeral, and most of them followed the caisson to the grave site. Shot up and near stalling, Spooky approached Bien Hoa in the dark. 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. The flare posed a deadly danger in several ways. 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 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. Full-scale sweeping operations to secure the perimeter began just after noon that day. 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. hightForP2 = 330 The paperwork for advancement in skill level (from three to five) in his original specialty had been lost. Soldiers give forms to the soldier with type-writer. 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. United States Army soldiers participate in military payment certificates (MPC) exchange at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam. I am interested in corresponding with any Black Scarf soldiers who . from 1969 to 1970. 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. The Mk 24 flare was a metal tube, just over three feet long and about five inches in diameter. Dad wanted to be buried standing up. As a soldier unfastens a skid of 8 shells, from the crane, it falls over sideways. Thirty-four years after it happened, the story of John L. Levitow has lost none of its power to excite and inspire. 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. License Agreement | To Love Ru Tp 22 - Vit Sub. 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. He went back on active duty in 1983 and retired in 1995. 2023 CriticalPast LLC. Jim Van Eldik is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. Smoke rises from surrounding area. After Levitow left the Air Force, he worked in veterans affairs for more than 22 years. By 01:00 the next morning, the bodies of 264 PAVN/VC soldiers lay in the village, and 87 had been captured or surrendered. I was a ticket office supervisor with several Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese women reservations/ticket agents. August 25, 1968, was a typical monsoon season day. Soldiers walk around outside the headquarters. Everybody has their job to do and they do it., Chinas growing capabilities and recent boldness in the air domain represent dangerous and destabilizing behavior patterns, the Pentagons top official on the Indo-Pacific said March 2. Tran, who was from the Haiphong area of North Vietnam, had high expectations for a victory in the attack, according to an interview in Stars and Stripes. A South . independent documentary Letters from Long Binh. "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. Shopping Cart | Nov. Dec. The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted . 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. By Richard E. Killblane - Transportation Branch Historian September 15, 2008. He spent almost two months recuperating in Japan before returning to Vietnam in April. Brigadier General Leo D. Kinnard speaks to the troops. Troops lined up on a field. The Hot War (1968-October 1969) The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army in late 1967 launched several costly attacks.
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