Sixteen bulldozers were quickly deployed to spend the rest of the day sealing the entrances. About Us | He was discharged from active duty after his Vietnam tour and shortly afterward was assigned to an Army Reserve unit. Soldiers counting the notes. Many of the tracers bounced off the ground like rubber balls. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. 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. His most recent article, Rolling Thunder, appeared in the March issue. For reasons unknown, it had not been emptied when the AC-47 went to Vietnam. License Agreement | Once the sun came up, a troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment found 139 dead enemy soldiers, Stars & Stripes reported. Since my finger was through the safety pin ring the safety pin was pulled.. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those . 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. Brigadier General Leo D. Kinnard speaks to the troops. The Rangers met only slight, disorganized resistance. The video has no narration. The pilot fired the guns, using a sight at the left side of the cockpit. 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. An ammunition dump at Long Binh, Vietnam. Thirty-four years after it happened, the story of John L. Levitow has lost none of its power to excite and inspire. Spooky 71 flew with a crew of eight. ATTACK ON LONG BINH POST. The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted . I am the historian for the 11th Armored Cavalry Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia (11th ACVVC). To Love Ru Tp 22 - Vit Sub. It would be relieved by another gunship for the midnight-to-dawn shift. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. Easily create a Forum Website with Website Toolbox. Lieutenant General Julian J. Ewell shakes hands with both of the brigadier generals. He was a man that was proud to stand tall. [4]:101. So they were given guns and were told to attack Long Binh Post (population 30,000 armed U.S. soldiers). Let us know if you remember Steve as we seek more information and photos to make a MyPage for him. It isnt every day one peaceably sets off for work knowing someone is intent on ones personal demise. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.. The remaining elements of the company were held in ready reserve. Contact Us | Inside the aircraft is a mannequin of Levitow, struggling to get the flare to the door. 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. An ambush platoon reaction team that was held in ready reserve was assigned to conduct a sweep of the tree line where the post perimeter had received heavy enemy fire from during the early morning attack. Before the night was over, Levitow would perform an act of astounding bravery for which he would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor. The spilled ammunition19,000 rounds of it by Platts estimatewould start cooking off in seconds. The rifle was accompanied by a single magazine of tracer roundsbullets treated with a chemical that creates a trail of light when fired. The battle area was quickly illuminated by large spotlights supplemented with dozens of flares fired by our artillery. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. Terms & Conditions | This is a brief clip of the ammo dump explosion at Long Binh, Vietnam, taken the morning of the Tet offensive, 1968. Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (1966) From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. On 7 February Company D, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines found a PAVN/VC base area near the Nam O bridge northwest of the Red Beach Base Area, leaving the base untouched, they returned at night setting up a series of ambushes that killed 18 PAVN and captured 2. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Vietnam War period). 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. Levitow declined to board the helicopter until he was finally ordered to do so by Carpenter. It was modified from the C-47 transport aircraft, plenty of which were available. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. 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. 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. Hc_Thn. [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. 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.] Im very careful what I do, he said in an oral history interview in 1986. 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. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. 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. [Three] thousand rounds a minute was more than sufficient.. Photo of the famous Saigon Taxi. The panorama took on an aspect of high noon, the entire battlefield bathed with an eerie golden glow. I was a 2nd Lieutenant, on my second night in Vietnam when the attack on Long Bing Post began at 2 AM. As far as political considerations go, he hardly seemed interested in building a communist utopia at all. ARVN casualties were 10 killed and 100 wounded and one US Army photographer was killed. June The second of two new outpost's was built on the western end of the Finger Of Land. But now the tough Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army itself were coming. Facebook. Website Terms & Conditions | I spent nine years working for Congressional Liaison between the Veterans Administration and members of the Congress, he said. The loadmaster on Spooky 71 was A1C John L. Levitow, 23, from Glastonbury, Conn. John L. Levitow. 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. He was 55. He spent almost two months recuperating in Japan before returning to Vietnam in April. . Thought to be in retaliation for Chuyen's disappearance. Each one of the guns could fire two speeds, Levitow said. I must add, though, that from a different perspective the battle I witnessed in Vietnam was exactly the same as those I had seen in movies: One was just as unreal as the other. Instructions to promote Levitow to sergeant without regard to skill level had not been followed. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. 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. At the ceremonies, his son, John L. Levitow Jr., said: I have only one apology to make. Photo courtesy of Tom Lefavour and taken around October 1969. I was not in this Regiment, but I believe I may have observed some of the Regiment's activities the day of the attack. 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. In the attack on Bien Hoa Air Base the PAVN lost 264 killed and 87 captured while ARVN losses were 10 killed and US. I had the lanyard on the flare hooked up and my finger through the safety pin ring. The Long Binh/Bien Hoa complex was huge, with thousands of soldiers and airmen assigned to the combined logistics complex and air base. 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. nhc nn - Mo One Piece - Thnh Long Jr. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Levitows progress was clearly marked with his own blood on the floor of the aircraft.. 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. I realize that what I say will be represented not only as a Vietnam veteran but as a Medal of Honor recipient, and the media will have a field day. The Air Force sent a C-54 to Hartford to pick up him, his wife, and his parents and take them to Washington. Note the attacking Skyhawk in the lower right and one directly left of the explosions on the bridge. [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. See Long Binh photos and images from satellite below, explore the aerial photographs of Long Binh in Vietnam. Jim Van Eldik is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. . [4]:98, At dawn PAVN sappers attacked the 1st Marine Division headquarters on Hill 327 and the 2/7 Marines command post to the northwest. 21 July 1969 - Rheault, Marasco, and others transferred to Long Binh Jail (LBJ). Passing of colors to the new commander. 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. A soldier counts his notes at the typist's desk. Ni bt nht; Gn y; Gi. "Text of Camp Lejeune Committee's Report to Commanding General." 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. I think it was a very discriminatory flight.. 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. The Viet Cong were no longer in the tunnels around Long Binh, most probably having taken the subway back to the main tunnel complex at Cu Chi. 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. 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. Day scenes show soldiers defending positions and firing at the enemy. Ellis C. Owen, had been working as a team in dropping the flares. As a soldier unfastens a skid of 8 shells, from the crane, it falls over sideways. The typist soldier types on the form with a type-writer. Except for the eruptions from our perimeter bunkers, the entire battlefield seemed devoid of peopleat least people who could be seen. With the progression of the battle came a feeling of incredulity. On December 1, 1969 at 8:13 P.M. EST my birthday was randomly drawn as Number 36 for the draft in the first National Lottery . Another typist gives MPC currency notes to the soldiers. He worked in "The Iron Triangle" included Phu loi, Ton sahn Nut, and Long B. The ARVN units swiftly moved into blocking positions, and by daybreak, the PAVN/VC were surrounded. 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. . Shrapnel and jagged shards of metal ricocheted through the cargo bay, and a shock wave from the explosion swept the interior of the airplane. Soldiers in a line. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press. 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. Additional South Vietnamese Regional Force elements moved in and the ARVN troops continued to contain the PAVN/VC forces until 11:00 when assault forces, in the form of the ARVN 36th Ranger Battalion, reinforced the contact. 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. The miniguns fired four rounds of invisible ball bullets followed by one tracer round, but the bullets came so fast they looked like a continuous red stream. Tet Offensive attack on Long Binh and Bien Hoa 31 January 1968.jpg . . 1965 January 1 - February 7, 1965: Vietcong forces mount a series of attacks across South Vietnam. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. Even in the navigation compartment the flash lit up the inside of the aircraft like daylight. 24:11. These attacks were repulsed for Marines losses of 18 killed and more than 75 PAVN killed. Long Binh/Bien Hoa. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. Clip Type: Unedited. A three-second burst would saturate an area the size of a football field. The Hot War (1968-October 1969) The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army in late 1967 launched several costly attacks. Members of the 1st Squadron 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, surround their M551, Air Droppable Assault Vehicle as they wait for the word to move out, 23 February 1969 Overview; The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launch artillery attacks on over 100 population centers and military . 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. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. It led the way for the more powerful AC-119 and AC-130 gunships that came later. . The rounds landed on post with some igniting the POL fuel site east of the highway. Long Binh Post was a sprawling, 3,500 building .