Then there was a blinding flash and the aircraft was rocked from nose to tail by a violent explosion. Long Binh Jail was a prison for American soldiers on the outskirts of Saigon with notoriously harsh conditions. The three guns were mounted in window ports, just forward of the open cargo door. 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. This was teh first time the M551 Sheridan was in action in the Blackhorse Regiment. They briefly seize control of Binh Gia, a village only 40 miles from Saigon. Mini-Tet 1969 Begins February 23, 1969. As usual, I initially took refuge under my desk, then ordered everyone to rush downstairs on the assumption that any direct hits would likely riddle the upper floor. (Vietnam War period). Note the attacking Skyhawk in the lower right and one directly left of the explosions on the bridge. Under Col. Robert Smoker, Task Force 99s new commander, the unit will continue to try to cut through red tape and field new systems quickly. 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. [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. Slow fire was 3,000 rounds a minute each, or fast fire which was 6,000 rounds a minute each. The Spooky 71 crew could see mortar tube flashes about one mile south of the area of the earlier attack. I was a ticket office supervisor with several Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese women reservations/ticket agents. 83 Lt thch,23 Bnh lun.Video TikTok t Nguyn Huy Cng 1969 (@userz65oz3pvgr1969). 21 July 1969 - Rheault, Marasco, and others transferred to Long Binh Jail (LBJ). The panorama took on an aspect of high noon, the entire battlefield bathed with an eerie golden glow. Most of us were "Regular Army," almost a year into a 3-year hitch. 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. Lieutenant General Julian J. Ewell shakes hands with both of the brigadier generals. The post and the 720th MP Battalion were informed of the planned attack late in the afternoon of the 22nd. A U.S. 2nd Field Force soldier poses. 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. The AC-47 was the first of the Air Forces side-firing gunships. Spookys operators had successfully resisted pressure to change the call sign. 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. In 1968, a group of black inmates were fed up with their treatment and the war. Location: Long Binh Vietnam. Jerry Breast/U.S. As a soldier unfastens a skid of 8 shells, from the crane, it falls over sideways. 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. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. The prisoners revealed that their mission had been to attack Bien Hoa city and the Bien Hoa Air Base. Between the town of Bien Hoa and the base was an old French minefield, never cleared and fenced by barbed wire. This attack was going to be a big one.. At the ceremonies, his son, John L. Levitow Jr., said: I have only one apology to make. There was also a Vietnamese liaison officer. [2][3], Since early February 1969, the 1st Marine Division had noted an upsurge in PAVN/VC activity around Da Nang. At most, there would be 20 seconds before it exploded. Stephen Hugh Lane SP5 Lead Clerk Jan 1969 to Sep 1970, MOS 67N20 has checked in and joined the 3/4 Cav Chapter. Filmmaker Mel Brooks once said he looked upon his Army experience in World War II as a newsreel.. The idea seemed absurd! We were officially MOS (Military Operational Specialty) 32F20, which was depot-level repair and maintenance on AUTOSEVOCOM (AUTOmatic SEcure VOice COMmunications) crypto . The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted . I was not in this Regiment, but I believe I may have observed some of the Regiment's activities the day of the attack. The last major battle occurred along the berm of the rifle range on Highway 317 in the early morning just after daylight. I try to control what I say, although for the most part, Im very quiet. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. It concentrated on US military installations, especially in the III Corps area around Saigon. Remember: Using others' images on the web without their permission may be bad manners, or worse, copyright infringement. The rounds landed on post with some igniting the POL fuel site east of the highway. 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. About 11:30 p.m., the gunship was diverted from patrol over the village of Lai Kai, north of Long Binh. YouTube, Investigation reports of the Postal Inspector Division, 1971-73. My class had graduated the month before from our 35-week "Fixed Ciphony Repair" course at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. Two stints one for 6 months and another for 7. Many features may not work properly without it. .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. ARVN psychological operations units broadcast repeated loud-speaker appeals and warnings, and all of the remaining villagers and several wounded PAVN/VC evacuated out of Thai Riep. A soldier counts his notes at the typist's desk. Viet Cong sappers infiltrated the base and lay in long grass between the runways for several hours before placing their satchel charges. 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. Intelligence had indicators of the pending attacks. 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. 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. 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. 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. Includes scenes shot in and around the base showing soldiers preparing for the attack. from 1969 to 1970. The firing grew to a continuous roar, with lines and lines of red tracers emitted by M60 machine guns crisscrossing the battlefield. Levitows Medal of Honor is prominently displayed at Enlisted Heritage Hall. For my personal defense, I relied upon a somewhat rusty M16 kept around the office. The 64-year-old Army veteran died suddenly of a heart attack. Night was approaching as Spooky 71, an AC-47 gunship, took off from Bien Hoa Air Base, a few miles northwest of Saigon. I worked for Pan American Airways and lived with the 99th Replacement Battallion across from USARV Headquarters in Long Binh from October 1969 through December 1969. Near Saigon, the VC made attacks on Long Binh and Bien Hoa. 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. 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. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. . The training group headquarters building at Lackland AFB, Tex., is named for him. The paperwork for advancement in skill level (from three to five) in his original specialty had been lost. Long Binh/Bien Hoa. 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. 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. At approximately 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 23, the battle gradually died out. The enemy would occasionally probe us, rocket us, mortar us and more than likely sometimes even shop at our PXs, but a ground attack? The battle area had been cleared for at least 500 to 1,000 yards from the perimeterall foliage and any source of cover had been bulldozed flat. Nothing was more effective than a gunship in breaking up such attacks. Passing of colors to the new commander. 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. Airman Levitow was setting [the ejection and ignition dials] and handing me the flares, Owen said. The ARVN units swiftly moved into blocking positions, and by daybreak, the PAVN/VC were surrounded. Dad wanted to be buried standing up. License Agreement | More than 500 airmen attended the funeral, and most of them followed the caisson to the grave site. 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. 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 pilot fired the guns, using a sight at the left side of the cockpit. Most attacks centered on military targets near Saigon and Da Nang and were quickly beaten off. The 199th later became known as the "Redcatchers" for its mission objectiveto seek out and destroy Communist cadres in Vietnam. 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. We had no bunkers. 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. My hope was that no more than one or two VC would reach my position. hightForP2 = 330 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. A change of command at 2nd Field Force Artillery Headquarters at Long Binh, Vietnam. maxhightForP2 = 14168; remembrance of shared experience. . It isnt every day one peaceably sets off for work knowing someone is intent on ones personal demise. Ambush at Ap Nhi. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. If I got stopped drinking and driving, its going to say, Medal of Honor Drunk. I realize that. John L. Levitow. About Us | It includes footage shot between 17 Feb and 24 Feb 1969. The spilled ammunition19,000 rounds of it by Platts estimatewould start cooking off in seconds. Full-scale sweeping operations to secure the perimeter began just after noon that day. The Army always tries to capitalize on a soldiers individual strengths. South Vietnamese woman 1969 Sep 15, 2017. . It would light up, oh, about half a mile, a good area, quite brightly, Levitow said. Easily create a Forum Website with Website Toolbox. [1], In the early morning hours of 26 February, a force of approximately 400 men from the VC 275th Regiment, 5th Division, had infiltrated into the tiny village of Thai Hiep on the outskirts of Bien Hoa. Smoke rises from surrounding area. Carpenter set it down in a full shuddering stall. Danil_1969 4 ting trc. 44th Medical Brigade Headquarters Long Binh 1969.jpeg 2,079 1,716; 209 KB. 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. 25/26 January 1969. 45th Air Ambulance Medical Company helipad Long Binh, November 1969.jpg 1,820 1,434 . 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. Large images may take a few minutes to appear. The clouds hung low, making flying helicopters . I visited my friends down the hall in the almost deserted headquarters building, but mostly kept up my vigil of the activity outside the perimeter, which, as darkness descended, now included an occasional flare. c bit n nh mt phi n ngh s nhiu ti ni ting . Dedicated to those who were there.
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long binh attack 1969