[Three] thousand rounds a minute was more than sufficient.. 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.. I then looked back to see a flare that had slid up against the cans of 19,000 rounds of ammunition, Platt said. Intelligence had indicators of the pending attacks. I think it was a very discriminatory flight.. 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. But now the tough Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army itself were coming. 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. In my case it was my unusual ability to count. 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. 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. Large images may take a few minutes to appear. 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. Shrapnel and jagged shards of metal ricocheted through the cargo bay, and a shock wave from the explosion swept the interior of the airplane. Between the town of Bien Hoa and the base was an old French minefield, never cleared and fenced by barbed wire. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Then there was a blinding flash and the aircraft was rocked from nose to tail by a violent explosion. 25/26 January 1969. Easily create a Forum Website with Website Toolbox. 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. It was his 180th combat mission, but he had never flown with this crew before. Location: Long Binh Vietnam. At the end of his tour in Vietnam, Levitow was assigned to Norton AFB, Calif., as a loadmaster on C-141s. United States 2nd Field Force change of command ceremony at Long Binh, Vietnam. To the Air Forces embarrassment, a hero was not eligible to re-enlist. 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. 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. 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. Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (1966) From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. 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. The Long Binh Army post, adjacent to Spookys home base at Bien Hoa, was under mortar attack. Viet Cong sappers infiltrated the base and lay in long grass between the runways for several hours before placing their satchel charges. The clouds hung low, making flying helicopters . About 85 per cent of the force was estimated to be PAVN soldiers. There are some night scenes of the base under attack showing mostly flares, explosions and gunships firing on enemy targets. . At that rate, a three-second burst placed a shot every square foot in an area the size of a football field. New York Times, January 8, 1969, p. 12. 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. Soldiers give forms to the soldier with type-writer. . . . Hc_Thn. c chuyn cho qun i Ukraine 1.000 v kh chng xe tng v 500 ha tin di t - trn khng Typ/kiu Stinger (bo vc dch l : tn la t i khng).c cng ng thun cho Holland chuyn cho qun Ukraine 400 Panzerfaeuste/ v kh chng xe tng v cc v kh khc do c ch . About 11:30 p.m., the gunship was diverted from patrol over the village of Lai Kai, north of Long Binh. 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. . 5 Lt xem. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. 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. .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. The decision to make the fix to. My Lightboxes | The prisoners revealed that their mission had been to attack Bien Hoa city and the Bien Hoa Air Base. . 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. The AC-47 was the first of the Air Forces side-firing gunships. The enemy would occasionally probe us, rocket us, mortar us and more than likely sometimes even shop at our PXs, but a ground attack? In the attack on Bien Hoa Air Base the PAVN lost 264 killed and 87 captured while ARVN losses were 10 killed and US. 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. 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 . Sixteen bulldozers were quickly deployed to spend the rest of the day sealing the entrances. 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. SSG Richard E, Slaven died from his wounds the next day. There was also a Vietnamese liaison officer. Long Binh Post was situated East of Bien Hoa and approximately 20 miles northeast of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City.) 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. On 22 February, elements of the VC 274th Regiment, 5th Division assembled at three hills along Highway 15, approximately three kilometers south of Long Binh. Surely neither the Viet Cong nor North Vietnamese Army would attempt such a suicidal mission. As of 1969 Lieutenant General Do Cao Tri's III CTZ . Aviation gas was leaking from the fuel lines on the right side, and that wasnt all. When it finally ended with the assistance of several Cobra gunbships, 23 enemy dead were discovered. FAQs - How to Order | At approximately 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 23, the battle gradually died out. 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 . Over the years, there were numerous other recognitions. The 64-year-old Army veteran died suddenly of a heart attack. He was told his unit would capture many C-rations. Food was always a dominant concern for the habitually starved Viet Cong. 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. 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. 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. This site uses cookies to improve your experience and to help show content that is more relevant to your interests. . Levitow declined to board the helicopter until he was finally ordered to do so by Carpenter. The MP squad suffered three wounded. I felt as if someone had taken a two-by-four and squarely hit me against the whole right-hand side of my body, Levitow said later. 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. 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. He flew as a crewman on C-130s for a short tour, then went to Vietnam to fly on AC-47s. The idea seemed absurd! He was a man that was proud to stand tall. Dedicated to those who were there. 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. 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.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 attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted . Video TikTok t Thnh Long Jr (@thlongjr): "Bn tng xem qua v phim attack on Titan bao gi cha? #anime #attackontitan". The idea seemed absurd! The Medal of Honor was presented to John L. Levitow at the White House by President Nixon on May 14, 1970. 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. (Vietnam War period). Clip Type: Unedited. Jim Van Eldik is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. As Levitow dragged one of the other airmen toward the center of the cabin, he saw the flare between No. 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. Two of the pockets were destroyed by the next morning resulting in the capture of the acting commander of the 141st Regiment. 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. They could'nt tell how big the post was, for the post's perimeter lighting had not yet been installed. I try to control what I say, although for the most part, Im very quiet. The basic course at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland allocated one week in the field for brushing up on combat skills. Photo courtesy of Corpman Bill Luppeti HM3 [Rach Soi 1967-1970] Thought to be in retaliation for Chuyen's disappearance. By Richard E. Killblane - Transportation Branch Historian September 15, 2008. . If it ignited, it would quickly fill the aircraft with toxic smoke, incapacitating the entire crew. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. Includes scenes shot in and around the base showing soldiers preparing for the attack. There was another motivation for Tran as he attacked the American base. Trans primary motivations seem quite similar to our own: eating and getting home. Troops lined up on a field. Partway through the mission he had come forward and was talking to the flight crew when the action unfolded that night. 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 . Brigadier General Francis J. Roberts addresses troops. 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. 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. The base was host to US Army Headquarters. He was the center of much attention but also the victim of bureaucracy. 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 retired Green Beret, who was a trailblazer as one of the first Black officers to join the Special Forces, told Military.com on Thursday that he . Air & Space Forces Magazine is the official publication of the Air & Space Forces Association, 1501 Langston Boulevard, Arlington, Va., 22209-1198. c bit n nh mt phi n ngh s nhiu ti ni ting . (On earlier AC-47s, one of the guns had been mounted in the door.) He was filling in for a loadmaster who had taken his place when he was sick. The panorama took on an aspect of high noon, the entire battlefield bathed with an eerie golden glow. I spent nine years working for Congressional Liaison between the Veterans Administration and members of the Congress, he said. The pilot was Maj. Kenneth B. Carpenter, flying his first combat mission as aircraft commander. Once the sun came up, a troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment found 139 dead enemy soldiers, Stars & Stripes reported. 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. 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 following is a collection of photographs and letters sent to college friends, dated from 27 November 1969 to 26 May 1970, from John Cook. COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT, VIETNAM 1969. My class had graduated the month before from our 35-week "Fixed Ciphony Repair" course at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. A change of command at 2nd Field Force Artillery Headquarters at Long Binh, Vietnam. A U.S. 2nd Field Force soldier poses. Tran Van Thiet, 19, had been left behind. [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. I am interested in corresponding with any Black Scarf soldiers who . The aircraft veered sharply to the right and down.. South Vietnamese woman 1969 Sep 15, 2017. . Things quieted down for a while. I was a 2nd Lieutenant, on my second night in Vietnam when the attack on Long Bing Post began at 2 AM. Thus, my daily mission (with the aid of my eight-man crew) was to account for all the ammunition in South Vietnam, at least every round not yet in the hands of the fighting troops. 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 dont think I was alone in this. War and peace. 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 . 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. 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. 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. He showed up for his typical night shift at the office. 1 minigun and a jumble of spilled ammunition. This was a bit disconcerting. 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. 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 . My hope was that no more than one or two VC would reach my position. Records relating to the Christmas mail program, 1969-72. 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. The pilot, copilot, and navigator were in the forward cabin, and the flight engineer, two gunners, and the loadmaster were in the cargo bay in back. 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 83 Lt thch,23 Bnh lun.Video TikTok t Nguyn Huy Cng 1969 (@userz65oz3pvgr1969). If your URL is correct, you'll see an image preview here. The Tet 1969 offensive was carried out mostly by Viet Cong irregulars. 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. Nov. Dec. I was not in this Regiment, but I believe I may have observed some of the Regiment's activities the day of the attack. 11 November SP/4s Jared Kelley and John R. Klemm, tend to their gear during a recon mission in the Tactical Area Of Responsibility. So they were given guns and were told to attack Long Binh Post (population 30,000 armed U.S. soldiers). Other members of the squad have yet to be identified. The rounds landed on post with some igniting the POL fuel site east of the highway. Day scenes show soldiers defending positions and firing at the enemy. An ammunition dump at Long Binh, Vietnam. In 1998, Air Mobility Command named a C-17 Globemaster, The Spirit of Sgt. Soldiers of the United States Army Signal Group have military payment certificates exchanged at their headquarters in Long Binh Vi, U.S. soldiers handling 155mm artilery shells in an ammunition dump at Long Binh, Vietnam. 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. 1965 January 1 - February 7, 1965: Vietcong forces mount a series of attacks across South Vietnam. Thoughts now turned to what we should do if we came face to face with the enemy. Background. remembrance of shared experience. See Long Binh photos and images from satellite below, explore the aerial photographs of Long Binh in Vietnam. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. Filmmaker Mel Brooks once said he looked upon his Army experience in World War II as a newsreel.. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps. This is a brief clip of the ammo dump explosion at Long Binh, Vietnam, taken the morning of the Tet offensive, 1968. It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1. The Spooky 71 crew could see mortar tube flashes about one mile south of the area of the earlier attack. Shortly before midnight the entire perimeter lit up with machine gun fire. 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. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. 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. . Some of my first recollections as a youngster from the cornfields of Iowa were the television and radio presentations of an ominous phenomena known as the yellow peril, although on our black-and-white TV sets this threat appeared more as black swaths oozing first from Russia across China, then over North Korea and finally covering the countries of Southeast Asia on their way across the ocean to the United States. 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. 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. 1971 serving with the 95th Military Police Battalion. Poor guys; they didn't stand a chance. nhc nn - Nguyn Quc Hng - cng ty Hng Long Phc. 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. A regimental commissar had assured the men in Trans company that the attack would be easily successful and after it was over we would be able to go home to North Vietnam. The rationale given for the supposedly easy victory: The VC battalion would face only desk soldiers without field experience (ouch!). Bruce Stern at his desk in Long Binh, circa 1968-69. . Some of our troops had recaptured it from the VC a few months before. Another typist gives MPC currency notes to the soldiers. ARVN casualties were 10 killed and 100 wounded and one US Army photographer was killed. Despite his wounds, Levitow helped secure the airplane on the way back. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press. ATTACK ON LONG BINH POST. Soldiers walk around outside the headquarters. Apparently, it was impossible for an Iowa corn farmer to get his mind around the idea of hundreds of men actually trying to kill each other. The attack continued into 27 February when the Marines overran the PAVN resulting in a total of more than 200 killed. 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.
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