He was the center of much attention but also the victim of bureaucracy. 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 . It isnt every day one peaceably sets off for work knowing someone is intent on ones personal demise. Video TikTok t Thnh Long Jr (@thlongjr): "Bn tng xem qua v phim attack on Titan bao gi cha? #anime #attackontitan". Hc_Thn. Jerry Breast/U.S. 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. South Vietnamese woman 1969 Sep 15, 2017. . History: 1968-69 | 228th 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. Result: United States and South Vietnam victory: Belligerents Black Vietnam veteran finally awarded Medal of Honor for bravery The post and the 720th MP Battalion were informed of the planned attack late in the afternoon of the 22nd. He spent almost two months recuperating in Japan before returning to Vietnam in April. The Spooky 71 crew could see mortar tube flashes about one mile south of the area of the earlier attack. I was not in this Regiment, but I believe I may have observed some of the Regiment's activities the day of the attack. Once the sun came up, a troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment found 139 dead enemy soldiers, Stars & Stripes reported. Back in the States, the aircraft had been fitted with a tank inside the fuselage to hold isopropyl alcohol. Bn tng xem qua v phim attack on Titan bao gi cha? #anime #at 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. Long Binh Jail was a prison for American soldiers on the outskirts of Saigon with notoriously harsh conditions. New York Times, January 8, 1969, p. 12. 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. Airman Levitow was setting [the ejection and ignition dials] and handing me the flares, Owen said. [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. 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. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press. Some speculate that the attacks were mounted to test the will of the new U.S. President Richard Nixon who retaliated by secretly bombing PAVN/VC sanctuaries in Cambodia the following month. 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. 20 July 1969 circa - Mortar attack on base camp A-414 Thanh Tri. I dont think I was alone in this. Levitow declined to board the helicopter until he was finally ordered to do so by Carpenter. more It was an unlucky hit. Is it possible Tran and his friends would have simply elected to return to North Vietnam and forgotten the idea of an attack on Long Binh altogether? An injured North Vietnamese soldier fighting with the Viet Cong, Pvt. Alsoand central to the story of Spooky 71it carried about 50 magnesium flares to illuminate targets on the ground. If it ignited, it would quickly fill the aircraft with toxic smoke, incapacitating the entire crew. About Us | 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. Includes scenes shot in and around the base showing soldiers preparing for the attack. More than 500 airmen attended the funeral, and most of them followed the caisson to the grave site. It would be relieved by another gunship for the midnight-to-dawn shift. For reasons unknown, it had not been emptied when the AC-47 went to Vietnam. The last major battle occurred along the berm of the rifle range on Highway 317 in the early morning just after daylight. Photo courtesy of Corpman Bill Luppeti HM3 [Rach Soi 1967-1970] LONG BINH POST | Flickr There are some night scenes of the base under attack showing mostly flares, explosions and gunships firing on enemy targets. Long Binh Post was situated East of Bien Hoa and approximately 20 miles northeast of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City.) 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. After Levitow left the Air Force, he worked in veterans affairs for more than 22 years. Ike originally intended these dominos to represent Chinas neighbors such as North and South Vietnam. Brigadier General Leo D. Kinnard speaks to the troops. At the ceremonies, his son, John L. Levitow Jr., said: I have only one apology to make. Brigadier General Francis J. Roberts addresses troops. Vietnam War 50th Year Commemoration | The United States Army .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. Long Binh Vietnam 1969 stock footage and images - CriticalPast 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. Large images may take a few minutes to appear. 20 Seconds Over Long Binh - Air Force Magazine War and peace. Investigation reports of the Postal Inspector Division, 1971-73. Soldiers walk around outside the headquarters. ), and that the VC suffered heavy casualties that day, with about only 6 VC left after the shooting stopped, and these were taken prisoner. I am interested in corresponding with any Black Scarf soldiers who . The enemy was too close for artillery, so gunships were . The Medal of Honor was presented to John L. Levitow at the White House by President Nixon on May 14, 1970. Between 1970 and 72 my father wound up in Vietnam as a civilian aircraft mechanic, working on helicopters. Near Saigon, the VC made attacks on Long Binh and Bien Hoa. Din vin Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Vit Trinh. The prisoners revealed that their mission had been to attack Bien Hoa city and the Bien Hoa Air Base. The medics cut away the dead and contaminated flesh to prevent infection, and Levitow was flown to the big Air Force hospital at Tachikawa, Japan, where 40 pieces of shrapnel were removed between his knee and his hip. 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. If I got stopped drinking and driving, its going to say, Medal of Honor Drunk. I realize that. 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. At about 03:00, as reconnaissance elements of the unit were observed and engaged by US Air Force security forces at the perimeter of Bien Hoa Air Base, the villagers began to flee their homes, running down streets and creek beds. Letters from Long Binh | Michigan Today 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. Big Ernie's Scuttlebutt #2: TET '69 and Cambodian Bombing Night was approaching as Spooky 71, an AC-47 gunship, took off from Bien Hoa Air Base, a few miles northwest of Saigon. Also in mid-February Company D, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines engaged an entrenched PAVN platoon 22km southwest of Da Nang killing 30 and the ARVN 2nd Battalion, 51st Regiment operating 4km west of the Marines killed 49 PAVN moving north of Go Noi Island. We heard that the commander of the tanks was Col. George S. Patton Jr. 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. It weighed 27 pounds. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. 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. Perhaps a word of explanation is in order on how I and all the others in our mix of volunteers and draftees ended up in this hot, smelly, unsafe corner of the world. 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?. The idea seemed absurd! 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. Dedicated to those who were there. Lieutenant General Julian J. Ewell shakes hands with both of the brigadier generals. We were officially MOS (Military Operational Specialty) 32F20, which was depot-level repair and maintenance on AUTOSEVOCOM (AUTOmatic SEcure VOice COMmunications) crypto . Many of the tracers bounced off the ground like rubber balls. Vimeo, (Vietnam War period). independent documentary Letters from Long Binh. A U.S. 2nd Field Force soldier poses. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. At first, he was a power line specialist with the civil engineering squadron at McGuire AFB, N.J. 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. Im not going to bring shame on either the medal or myself, so I do watch it very carefully.. Among the family members present were his son and grandson, John L. Levitow III. Featured Collections | Pan Am had a ticket office on base. (Vietnam War period). He decided to try a different specialty after an experience in which the power was not turned off when I thought it was turned off, so he cross trained as a loadmaster. (Vietnam War period). Supported videos include: On 9 May 1969, Pentagon correspondent William Beecher stated that US air raids against ammo dumps and base camps in Cambodia . 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. [4]:97 Later that day rockets hit the An Hoa Combat Base destroying 15,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and igniting 40,000 gallons of aviation fuel and 50 rockets were fired at Naval Support Activity Da Nang with more than half going into the sea and the remainder causing minor damage. United States 2nd Field Force change of command ceremony at Long Binh, Vietnam. StartPageAugust12_1969 - Quan Loi We had no bunkers. Paris Davis, Black Green Beret in Vietnam, Finally Awarded Medal of 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. It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling Long Binh logistics base about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. 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. 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. 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. United States Army soldiers exchanging MPC currency at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam. Shortly before midnight the entire perimeter lit up with machine gun fire. John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a contributing editor. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Location of service: Long Binh Post THOSE WHO SERVED To mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first U.S. ground troops in Vietnam, the Quad-City Times is profiling two dozen war veterans. Spooky 71 had gone as far as it was going. 44 Declassified Vietnam War Photos The Public Wasn't Meant To See 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. I am compiling a history of our Regiment's service in the war. The gunship carried about 150,000 rounds of ammunition on each flight, Levitow said. 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. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. The rifle was accompanied by a single magazine of tracer roundsbullets treated with a chemical that creates a trail of light when fired. The nomination package included statements from Carpenter and most of the crew. The enemy fire was situated across Highway 1A, directing a heavy concentration of fire into the 12th Group and II Field Force compounds. Most estimates put the Viet Cong deaths at over 100. 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 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. I think it was a very discriminatory flight.. 24:11. The Mk 24 flare was a metal tube, just over three feet long and about five inches in diameter. 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. History: 1969-70 | 228th maxhightForP2 = 14168; While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015.