[4]:100, After dawn on 23 February a VC unit was detected near the Ha Vang District and the Marine security force killed 6 and captured 2 and forced the rest of the unit to retreat into a cemetery where they were attacked by the ARVN 21st Ranger Battalion the next day losing a further 57 killed. 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. 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. 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. The nomination package included statements from Carpenter and most of the crew. He delivered the keynote address. Then there was a blinding flash and the aircraft was rocked from nose to tail by a violent explosion. 128 KB. Battle At The Rifle Range. As darkness approached some comfort was provided by the constant sweeps outside the perimeter made at treetop level by the guys in their little OH-6 Loach light observation helicopters. A 70-strong VC force attacked the 2/1 Marines command post 6km south of Marble Mountain losing 17 dead. His most recent article, Rolling Thunder, appeared in the March issue. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. The threat of communism was pounded into our heads all through elementary and high school at Rock Valley, Iowa. 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. Small-arms fire opened up in his path. 472.6.9 Records of the U.S. Army Garrison, Long Binh Post, Vietnam (Provisional) Unlike our headquarters, theirs was built under a hill rather than on top of one. As Ole-Luk-Oie, the pen name for British officer Ernest Swinton, wrote in the 1915 book. Media in category "Long Binh Post" The following 36 files are in this category, out of 36 total. In another scene, a large crane is used to stack shells in the ammunition dump. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those . He did not yet have a five-level as a loadmaster, and without a five-level, he could not be promoted, and if not promoted, he could not re-enlist. South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding . 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. The troops sent to Saigon originally lived in army units dispersed throughout the city. It was an unlucky hit. In 1998, Air Mobility Command named a C-17 Globemaster, The Spirit of Sgt. They briefly seize control of Binh Gia, a village only 40 miles from Saigon. Color: Color. more 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 . 25/26 January 1969. 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. It was modified from the C-47 transport aircraft, plenty of which were available. Among the family members present were his son and grandson, John L. Levitow III. 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. 44th Medical Brigade Headquarters Long Binh 1969.jpeg 2,079 1,716; 209 KB. YouTube, Between 1970 and 72 my father wound up in Vietnam as a civilian aircraft mechanic, working on helicopters. Tet offensive attack on Long Binh and Bien Hoa, 31 January 1968: Date: 31 January-2 February 1968: Location: Bien Hoa, Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Binh Post, South Vietnam. Long Binh Post was a sprawling, 3,500 building . Inbound, Carpenter had called for an ambulance and a medevac helicopter to meet them on the ramp. Those satellites will join the already-planned 28 satellites in the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer of SDAs Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. In my case it was my unusual ability to count. Published in the October 2017 issue ofVietnammagazine. It led the way for the more powerful AC-119 and AC-130 gunships that came later. (Vietnam War period). Once the sun came up, a troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment found 139 dead enemy soldiers, Stars & Stripes reported. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. August 25, 1968, was a typical monsoon season day. A sign reads 'Headquarters II Field Force Vietnam Artillery'. 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. Things quieted down for a while. All was relatively quiet until approximately 11:30 p.m., when suddenly a string of 82 mm mortar rounds marched directly across our end of the headquarters complex. 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. 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.. Dennis Yenser checks in about Sapper Attack story. Airman Levitow was setting [the ejection and ignition dials] and handing me the flares, Owen said. In reality, it is a collection of ideas, images, and information that enough people have chosen to preserve and disseminate. Near Saigon, the VC made attacks on Long Binh and Bien Hoa. Sorry, Dad, I couldnt make that happen.. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. The training group headquarters building at Lackland AFB, Tex., is named for him. The VC attacks on Bien Hoa and the Long Binh complex were abject failures, due in part to the fact that on January 31, 1968, they had run into the Panthers of the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. Surely neither the. My hope was that no more than one or two VC would reach my position. Nhng Chin Binh Ph Thu Xinh p tp 29. st_Luna-kun. aring, as AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships began strafing the battlefield with 7.62 mm minigun bullets fired at the rate of about 4,000 rounds per minute. The last pocket along the An Tan ridgeline proved more difficult and Company L, 3/7 Marines suffered numerous casualties forcing it to withdraw. Top graduates of Air Force Airman Leadership Schools receive the Levitow Honor Graduate Award. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. Military aviation and technology are ever-changing, from the prevalence of drones to a shift to jets for special mission surveillance, once the province of propeller aircraft. Shot up and near stalling, Spooky approached Bien Hoa in the dark. But a battle was waiting instead. Soldiers give forms to the soldier with type-writer. United States 2nd Field Force change of command ceremony at Long Binh, Vietnam. And that they would already have been shot three or four times before they got there. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. View of surrounding areas. In anticipation of what they would seize, many of Trans comrades packed can openers in addition to the noodle packets and dried rice they all carried. Partway through the mission he had come forward and was talking to the flight crew when the action unfolded that night. Jerry Breast/U.S. Unit flags at the headquarters. It was Feb. 24, 1969, and the second day of the Tet counteroffensive. Landing short would have been a disaster. 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. If I got stopped drinking and driving, its going to say, Medal of Honor Drunk. I realize that. I was a 2nd Lieutenant, on my second night in Vietnam when the attack on Long Bing Post began at 2 AM. Then came a sound akin to that of large paper sacks tearing, as AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships began strafing the battlefield with 7.62 mm minigun bullets fired at the rate of about 4,000 rounds per minute. At most, there would be 20 seconds before it exploded. 99-08 286 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis, A three-second burst would saturate an area the size of a football field. 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. [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. Spooky 71 flew with a crew of eight. This attack was going to be a big one.. That year, traumatic as it was . Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. At that rate, a three-second burst placed a shot every square foot in an area the size of a football field. Brigadier General Francis J. Roberts addresses troops. Intelligence had indicators of the pending attacks. "Text of Camp Lejeune Committee's Report to Commanding General." An ammunition dump at Long Binh, Vietnam. Sixteen bulldozers were quickly deployed to spend the rest of the day sealing the entrances. 1 minigun and a jumble of spilled ammunition. Tran Van Thiet, 19, had been left behind. 1965 January 1 - February 7, 1965: Vietcong forces mount a series of attacks across South Vietnam. The view is from the compound of the 20. 5 Lt xem. [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. 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. He was told his unit would capture many C-rations. Food was always a dominant concern for the habitually starved Viet Cong. After the battle came another shock. hightForP2 = 330 And yet there was nobody, absolutely nobody, visible out there. 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. History is not a fixed set of facts. Instructions to promote Levitow to sergeant without regard to skill level had not been followed. I had a real tough time grabbing hold of it with two hands because of the pain in my leg and everything. The attacks on Bin Ha, Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Binh Post, occurred during the early hours of 31 January 1968 and continued until 2 February 1968. On 9 May 1969, Pentagon correspondent William Beecher stated that US air raids against ammo dumps and base camps in Cambodia . . 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. Ambush at Ap Nhi. Large images may take a few minutes to appear. Very seldom did we ever fire fast rounds at 18,000 rounds a minute because it had a tendency to turn the airplane. 45th Air Ambulance Medical Company helipad Long Binh, November 1969.jpg 1,820 1,434 . Long Binh/Bien Hoa; Da Nang; References; External links; Most attacks centered on military targets near Saigon and Da Nang and were quickly beaten off. [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. Aviation gas was leaking from the fuel lines on the right side, and that wasnt all. We heard that the commander of the tanks was Col. George S. Patton Jr. The typist soldier types on the form with a type-writer. Back home in Connecticut, he learned that his Medal of Honor had been approved. Levitows hometown, Glastonbury, dedicated a memorial to him on the town green May 31, 2004. 24:11. (Vietnam War period). This site uses cookies to improve your experience and to help show content that is more relevant to your interests. Vimeo, 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. The paperwork for advancement in skill level (from three to five) in his original specialty had been lost. Stacks of 155mm artillery shells are loaded onto a truck by a crane, in groups of 16 at a time, on wooden skids holding 8 apiece.The soldiers are stripped to the waist. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those occasional, more impersonal rocket and mortar shells from the air. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. I spent nine years working for Congressional Liaison between the Veterans Administration and members of the Congress, he said. Carpenter waved off taxi instructions from the tower and the crew got out fast. Other members of the squad have yet to be identified. 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. 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. 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. 6924th Security Squadron Base Name. Long Binh Post was situated East of Bien Hoa and approximately 20 miles northeast of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City.) They fought to the last because (1) they were told that they would be tortured mercilessly by US soldiers should they be captured, and (2) being Buddhists, they did not want to die on foreign soil, but hoped to escape so they could go home to North Vietnam to die. I consider the fact that the aircraft was able to fly at all a miracle, Carpenter said. at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, South Vietnam, both patient and unit members, to find each other and join in the. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 17, 2000. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps. They could'nt tell how big the post was, for the post's perimeter lighting had not yet been installed. . From there, I had a good view of the perimeter and the rapidlyunfolding battle. Day scenes show soldiers defending positions and firing at the enemy. Background. He flew as a crewman on C-130s for a short tour, then went to Vietnam to fly on AC-47s. Supported videos include: Im very careful what I do, he said in an oral history interview in 1986. Air & Space Forces Magazine is the official publication of the Air & Space Forces Association, 1501 Langston Boulevard, Arlington, Va., 22209-1198. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. (Vietnam War period). About Us | Privacy Policy | Links The flare was armed and rolling loose in 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. It was his 180th combat mission, but he had never flown with this crew before. I think it was a very discriminatory flight.. 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. For my personal defense, I relied upon a somewhat rusty M16 kept around the office. 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. Week of December 12-18, 2021: Heroism Amidst an Ambush, December 17, 1968. License Agreement | The right tire was flat, having been cut by shrapnel, and it was all Carpenter could do, standing on the left brake, to keep control until he brought the airplane to a stop. Dennis E Haines, Recipient of the Images Of Bravery Award, Patient at the 24th Evacuation Hospital, December 1968. It isnt every day one peaceably sets off for work knowing someone is intent on ones personal demise. 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. A South . They tell me that I had 40 pieces of shrapnel in me at the time, Levitow said. But now the tough Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army itself were coming. Records relating to the Christmas mail program, 1969-72. The firing grew to a continuous roar, with lines and lines of red tracers emitted by M60 machine guns crisscrossing the battlefield. A three-second burst would saturate an area the size of a football field. 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. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. Between the town of Bien Hoa and the base was an old French minefield, never cleared and fenced by barbed wire. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. He was a man that was proud to stand tall. [1], The VC made several attempts to advance on the base, but were halted. This was a bit disconcerting. Long Binh Post was a sprawling logistics facility and the largest U.S. Army base in Vietnam, with a peak of 60,000 personnel in 1969. Jim Van Eldik is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. Includes captions and a music soundtrack. Soldiers counting the notes. 1971 serving with the 95th Military Police Battalion. 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 . Before the night was over, Levitow would perform an act of astounding bravery for which he would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor. A VC mortar attack on the airfield at Binh Thuy on the banks of the Mekong resulted in the destruction of a Bird Dog FAC aircraft. So they were given guns and were told to attack Long Binh Post (population 30,000 armed U.S. soldiers). Edward Fuzie, the flight engineer] were knocked to the floor and the flare was knocked out of my hands. 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. 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 . United States and South Vietnamese forces responded with . After the massive casualties it suffered during the vicious battles in 1966 and 1967, and especially due to the division's disastrous . It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1969. He was filling in for a loadmaster who had taken his place when he was sick. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. As Levitow dragged one of the other airmen toward the center of the cabin, he saw the flare between No. Another typist gives MPC currency notes to the soldiers. I try to control what I say, although for the most part, Im very quiet. ATTACK ON LONG BINH POST. At the ceremonies, his son, John L. Levitow Jr., said: I have only one apology to make. Mr. Cook served with the 1st Infantry Division, 2-16th Infantry, as a 1st Lieutenant in the Long Binh area of 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. 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. Although at first overwhelmed by the intensity of the enemy fire the MPs stood their ground, suppressed the enemy fire, eliminated an enemy machine gun emplacement and were able to evacuate their seriously wounded point man, SP/4 Brown. A soldier counts his notes at the typist's desk. 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. 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. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. . 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. Shrapnel and jagged shards of metal ricocheted through the cargo bay, and a shock wave from the explosion swept the interior of the airplane. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. 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. We had no bunkers. We had a perfect view of the VC hill, and it slowly began to dawn on me that for the past seven months, as each evenings shift began with my casually scanning the quiet hills to the south and southeast of Long Binh, there was a fair probability I was being scanned right backlikely by some VC ammo counter busily inventorying his AK-47 bullets, 122 mm rockets, 82 mm mortars and B-40 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, while I counted M16 bullets, Claymore mines and howitzer shells. Textual Records: Correspondence and daily journal, 1972-73. Hc_Thn. These units made occasional contact, often with PAVN or VC who fought stubbornly from trenches and spider holes. 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. . I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. 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. 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. Carpenter rolled the gunship wings level and began his run on the mortar positions.

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