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United States 2nd Field Force change of command ceremony at Long Binh, Vietnam. 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. I had the lanyard on the flare hooked up and my finger through the safety pin ring. Let us know if you remember Steve as we seek more information and photos to make a MyPage for him. 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. Capt. The 228th per DA consolidated orders of 1970 was "confirmed" as being awarded an MUC for time period 15 February 1969 - 15 August 1969, as was the 277th and other units/sections under its command { HHC . It concentrated on US military installations, especially in the III Corps area around Saigon. 23 July 1969 - SFC Eddie Hamby escorts Sgt McIntosh to Moc Hoa by boat on first leg of stops heading stateside. It was presented in ceremonies in February 2002 by his son to CMSgt. 2023 CriticalPast LLC. 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. More than 100 individual and crew-served weapons were captured. My class had graduated the month before from our 35-week "Fixed Ciphony Repair" course at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. (Vietnam War period). 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. United States Army soldiers participate in military payment certificates (MPC) exchange at their headquarters in Long Binh Vietnam. 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. (Vietnam War period). HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 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. The firing grew to a continuous roar, with lines and lines of red tracers emitted by M60 machine guns crisscrossing the battlefield. Advanced Search | Three B Company ambush squads were positioned along the eastern end of the TAOR on the "Finger Of Land," and a reinforced squad of twelve MP's, including two Scout Dog handlers from the 212th MP Company, were positioned on Hill-15 along the Buong River. 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. To Love Ru Tp 22 - Vit Sub. At most, there would be 20 seconds before it exploded. The gunship had flown into the path of an 82 mm mortar round, which struck the top of the right wing. Over time, the Department of Defense plans to turn. Long Binh Post was situated East of Bien Hoa and approximately 20 miles northeast of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City.) I had a real tough time grabbing hold of it with two hands because of the pain in my leg and everything. The rifle was accompanied by a single magazine of tracer roundsbullets treated with a chemical that creates a trail of light when fired. My Lightboxes | [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. Visitors can also watch a videotape of Carpenter and John Levitow Jr. talking about the Medal of Honor mission. Inbound, Carpenter had called for an ambulance and a medevac helicopter to meet them on the ramp. 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. It was also called Dragonship and Puff the Magic Dragon (after a song, then popular, by Peter, Paul, and Mary) but went mostly by Spooky, the call sign with which it flew its missions. The Air Force sent a C-54 to Hartford to pick up him, his wife, and his parents and take them to Washington. Long Binh Jail was a prison for American soldiers on the outskirts of Saigon with notoriously harsh conditions. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 17, 2000. 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. 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. 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. Textual Records: Correspondence and daily journal, 1972-73. 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. "On the second firing pass, the mortars firing on Long Binh were silenced." The attack lifted momentarily, and the gunship began dropping flares to provide illumination . 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. More recently, Enlisted Heritage Hall obtained a surplus C-47 and converted it to a mock-up of an AC-47, with the colors and markings that Spooky 71 bore in February 1969. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. Im not going to bring shame on either the medal or myself, so I do watch it very carefully.. We're weird, he said. Jerry Breast/U.S. . I dont think I was alone in this. 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. Unlike our headquarters, theirs was built under a hill rather than on top of one. Viet Cong sappers infiltrated the base and lay in long grass between the runways for several hours before placing their satchel charges. The attacks by Vietcong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces were one of several major attacks around Saigon in the first days of the Tet Offensive. The panorama took on an aspect of high noon, the entire battlefield bathed with an eerie golden glow. I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. August 25, 1968, was a typical monsoon season day. Shot up and near stalling, Spooky approached Bien Hoa in the dark. The attack continued into 27 February when the Marines overran the PAVN resulting in a total of more than 200 killed. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. ARVN casualties were 10 killed and 100 wounded and one US Army photographer was killed. 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. nhc nn - Mo One Piece - Thnh Long Jr. 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?. 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. I consider the fact that the aircraft was able to fly at all a miracle, Carpenter said. [4]:101. Sixteen bulldozers were quickly deployed to spend the rest of the day sealing the entrances. A 70-strong VC force attacked the 2/1 Marines command post 6km south of Marble Mountain losing 17 dead. 44th Medical Brigade Headquarters Long Binh 1969.jpeg 2,079 1,716; 209 KB. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. Nothing was more effective than a gunship in breaking up such attacks. 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"). Jim Van Eldik, who kept count of ammunition from an office at the Long Binh logistics complex, spent the battle in a defensive position along the edge of the building, far from the fighting. As of 1969 Lieutenant General Do Cao Tri's III CTZ . 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. Spooky 71 had gone as far as it was going. [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. 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. 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. Remember: Using others' images on the web without their permission may be bad manners, or worse, copyright infringement. Sound: No. 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. Binh chng c cng c nhim v tp trung nghin cu, tham mu cho B Quc phng Vit Nam xy dng v pht trin cc lc lng . NEW on HistoryNet: Attack on Long Binh, a 1969 Viet Cong attack on a US logistics base in Vietnam #VietnamWar http://trib.al/poYUWdo 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. At the ceremonies, his son, John L. Levitow Jr., said: I have only one apology to make. Ni bt nht; Gn y; Gi. 11 November SP/4s Jared Kelley and John R. Klemm, tend to their gear during a recon mission in the Tactical Area Of Responsibility. He was filling in for a loadmaster who had taken his place when he was sick. Includes scenes shot in and around the base showing soldiers preparing for the attack. Those satellites will join the already-planned 28 satellites in the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer of SDAs Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. 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. . 1971 serving with the 95th Military Police Battalion. In another scene, a large crane is used to stack shells in the ammunition dump. Two stints one for 6 months and another for 7. 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. 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. 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 . ATTENTION If you participated in any of the incidents listed on this page or know of some that are not, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page. . The view is from the compound of the 20. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1969. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. He was discharged from active duty after his Vietnam tour and shortly afterward was assigned to an Army Reserve unit. As far as political considerations go, he hardly seemed interested in building a communist utopia at all. 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 last major battle occurred along the berm of the rifle range on Highway 317 in the early morning just after daylight. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those occasional, more impersonal rocket and mortar shells from the air. 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. 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. Levitow had joined the Air Force in June 1966, some 20 days ahead of being drafted into the Army. More than 500 airmen attended the funeral, and most of them followed the caisson to the grave site. 105837N 1064955E / . Photo of the famous Saigon Taxi. A soldier counts his notes at the typist's desk. 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. c, Holland h tr v kh cho Ukraine. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1. Copyright 2023. [1], The VC made several attempts to advance on the base, but were halted. Hamby advises McIntosh to . 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. N Vietnamese forces overrun and capture Phuoc Binh City, Phuoc Long Prov capital, after wklong siege, striking significant psychological blow to S Vietnamese Govt; loss of town, with population . The decision to make the fix to. They tell me that I had 40 pieces of shrapnel in me at the time, Levitow said. It led the way for the more powerful AC-119 and AC-130 gunships that came later. 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.. Navy) The pilot fired the guns, using a sight at the left side of the cockpit. There are some night scenes of the base under attack showing mostly flares, explosions and gunships firing on enemy targets. Things quieted down for a while. It could lay down an awesome field of fire, with each of its three 7.62 mm Gatling miniguns shooting up to 6,000 rounds per minute. Soldiers give forms to the soldier with type-writer. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. The paperwork for advancement in skill level (from three to five) in his original specialty had been lost. 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 18 February a Company F, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines called in artillery fire on a group of PAVN/VC 5km south of Marble Mountain resulting in 21 secondary explosions believed to be from detonating rockets. By 15:00 the 36th Ranger Battalion moved into the village attacking the PAVN/VC force. 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.] I am compiling a history of our Regiment's service in the war. It took considerable effort to get Spooky 71 back to base. 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. A sign reads 'Headquarters II Field Force Vietnam Artillery'. ATTACK ON LONG BINH POST. Privacy Policy | Links And yet there was nobody, absolutely nobody, visible out there. The Tet 1969 offensive was carried out mostly by Viet Cong irregulars. Soldiers walk around outside the headquarters. Poor guys; they didn't stand a chance. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a contributing editor. We were officially MOS (Military Operational Specialty) 32F20, which was depot-level repair and maintenance on AUTOSEVOCOM (AUTOmatic SEcure VOice COMmunications) crypto . Levitow declined to board the helicopter until he was finally ordered to do so by Carpenter. War and peace. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. The intense heat of the flare would burn rapidly through the aluminum floor of the cargo bay and drop on the empennage control cables, destroying them and causing the aircraft to go out of control. 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 Inside the aircraft is a mannequin of Levitow, struggling to get the flare to the door. 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. The brigade was comprised of 2d Battalion, 3d . Note: Your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Metacafe, In 1968, a group of black inmates were fed up with their treatment and the war. Shortly, another mortar battery began firing. Contents. --- and so it went for lots of the fighting in Vietnam. 20 July 1969 circa - Mortar attack on base camp A-414 Thanh Tri. 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. Between 1970 and 72 my father wound up in Vietnam as a civilian aircraft mechanic, working on helicopters. He went back on active duty in 1983 and retired in 1995. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Location: Long Binh Vietnam. [2][3], Since early February 1969, the 1st Marine Division had noted an upsurge in PAVN/VC activity around Da Nang. Night was approaching as Spooky 71, an AC-47 gunship, took off from Bien Hoa Air Base, a few miles northwest of Saigon. The prisoners revealed that their mission had been to attack Bien Hoa city and the Bien Hoa Air Base. The loadmaster on Spooky 71 was A1C John L. Levitow, 23, from Glastonbury, Conn. Brigadier General Leo D. Kinnard speaks to the troops. . DaNang Ammo Dump April 27 1969. 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. The airplane made it over the minefield and onto the overrun, just barely. Din vin Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Vit Trinh. . I try to control what I say, although for the most part, Im very quiet. Very seldom did we ever fire fast rounds at 18,000 rounds a minute because it had a tendency to turn the airplane. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. Most estimates put the Viet Cong deaths at over 100. On 29 October the Viet Cong attacked the South Vietnamese district capital of Loc Ninh, ran up the flag of the National Liberation Front, and tried to hold the city. ), and that the VC suffered heavy casualties that day, with about only 6 VC left after the shooting stopped, and these were taken prisoner. He will look for photos. It was originally called the FC-47D (for fighter cargo) but subsequently changed to AC-47 (attack cargo) in response to objections from fighter pilots. Landing short would have been a disaster. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. 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. 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. hightForP2 = 330 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. The threat of communism was pounded into our heads all through elementary and high school at Rock Valley, Iowa. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those . The Tet 1969 offensive was carried out mostly by Viet Cong irregulars. Instructions to promote Levitow to sergeant without regard to skill level had not been followed. It was modified from the C-47 transport aircraft, plenty of which were available. About 85 per cent of the force was estimated to be PAVN soldiers. It was used as a base of operation for the increased ambush and reconnaissance patrols conducted in the uninhabited eastern end of the TAOR. siento que me voy a morir cuando duermo, breaking news broward county,