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. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. 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. [4]:99, To the west of Da Nang, shortly after midnight on the 23rd Company M, 3/7 Marines ambushed a PAVN force killing 10 and later that night a larger force was spotted and artillery fire was called in. Media in category "Long Binh Post" The following 36 files are in this category, out of 36 total. If you like this movie trailer, go to https://militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire 60 minute video. 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. I consider the fact that the aircraft was able to fly at all a miracle, Carpenter said. Inbound, Carpenter had called for an ambulance and a medevac helicopter to meet them on the ramp. Published in the October 2017 issue ofVietnammagazine. (Vietnam War period). It was full until ruptured in the battle. The last pocket along the An Tan ridgeline proved more difficult and Company L, 3/7 Marines suffered numerous casualties forcing it to withdraw. A 70-strong VC force attacked the 2/1 Marines command post 6km south of Marble Mountain losing 17 dead. 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 battle area was quickly illuminated by large spotlights supplemented with dozens of flares fired by our artillery. Let us know if you remember Steve as we seek more information and photos to make a MyPage for him. 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. For the next six hours, Spooky 71 would fly a combat air patrol circuit over the Saigon/Tan Son Nhut area, ready to respond wherever its fire support was needed. The threat of communism was pounded into our heads all through elementary and high school at Rock Valley, Iowa. . 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 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. 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. In early August 1969, the 1st Infantry Division determined that its old nemesis, the 9th PLAF Division, was preparing for a new offensive in Binh Duong province.By this time, the 9th Division had been reorganized and redesignated as a PAVN (NVA) division. Dennis Yenser checks in about Sapper Attack story. 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. Even in the navigation compartment the flash lit up the inside of the aircraft like daylight. (Vietnam War period). The base was host to US Army Headquarters. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. [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. August 25, 1968, was a typical monsoon season day. SSG Richard E, Slaven died from his wounds the next day. At most, there would be 20 seconds before it exploded. 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. That year, traumatic as it was . Soldiers counting the notes. 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. 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. [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. .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. It concentrated on US military installations, especially in the III Corps area around Saigon. Brigadier General Francis J. Roberts addresses troops. I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. We had no bunkers. And yet there was nobody, absolutely nobody, visible out there. The loadmaster on Spooky 71 was A1C John L. Levitow, 23, from Glastonbury, Conn. Ni bt nht; Gn y; Gi. I was not in this Regiment, but I believe I may have observed some of the Regiment's activities the day of the attack. A change of command at 2nd Field Force Artillery Headquarters at Long Binh, Vietnam. Long Binh Post was a sprawling, 3,500 building . I spent nine years working for Congressional Liaison between the Veterans Administration and members of the Congress, he said. Back home in Connecticut, he learned that his Medal of Honor had been approved. 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. A sign reads 'Headquarters II Field Force Vietnam Artillery'. When we were hit, all of us [Owen, Levitow, Sgt. The basic course at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland allocated one week in the field for brushing up on combat skills. ElyRatner, assistant secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, discussed how China continues to prod the U.S. and challenge stability in region, even as, The entire F-35 fleet is slated to get the retrofit engine maker Pratt & Whitney has identified to mitigate the problem that led to suspended deliveries and flight restrictions for some aircraft for nearly two monthsa move that will affect hundreds of fighters globally. June The second of two new outpost's was built on the western end of the Finger Of Land. United States 2nd Field Force change of command ceremony at Long Binh, Vietnam. The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those occasional, more impersonal rocket and mortar shells from the air. 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. Before the night was over, Levitow would perform an act of astounding bravery for which he would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor. 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. On the morning of 26 February following Napalm and Snake Eye air strikes, Company L, reinforced by Company M assaulted the PAVN position making slow progress against determined PAVN resistance. 11 November SP/4s Jared Kelley and John R. Klemm, tend to their gear during a recon mission in the Tactical Area Of Responsibility. Note: Your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT, VIETNAM 1969. The video has no narration. Two stints one for 6 months and another for 7. 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 . On the second firing pass, the mortars firing on Long Binh were silenced.. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Din vin Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Vit Trinh. 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. CRITICALPAST.COM: Many of the tracers bounced off the ground like rubber balls. An injured North Vietnamese soldier fighting with the Viet Cong, Pvt. Thirty-four years after it happened, the story of John L. Levitow has lost none of its power to excite and inspire. Dailymotion, maxhightForP2 = 14168; "Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report #105 - Special Report: The Fourth Offensive - 23 February-3 April 1969", Cold War International History Project's Cold War Files, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tet_1969&oldid=1142428918, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 09:26. 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. 1 minigun and a jumble of spilled ammunition. Furthermore, the flare would be burning at a temperature of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The other skid remains upright, as it is unfastened from the crane. The Spooky 71 crew could see mortar tube flashes about one mile south of the area of the earlier attack. 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. In another scene, a large crane is used to stack shells in the ammunition dump. I heard that five American soldiers were killed and some 30 wounded. They briefly seize control of Binh Gia, a village only 40 miles from Saigon. Flares took away the cover of darkness, on which the Viet Cong depended for their style of warfare. The nomination package included statements from Carpenter and most of the crew. 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. "Text of Camp Lejeune Committee's Report to Commanding General." Unlike our headquarters, theirs was built under a hill rather than on top of one. It was used as a base of operation for the increased ambush and reconnaissance patrols conducted in the uninhabited eastern end of the TAOR. 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 . independent documentary Letters from Long Binh. 5 Lt xem. 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 . "6 To Face Murder Charges for G.I.'s Riot in Prison." New York Times, October 1, 1968, p. 3. 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. As far as political considerations go, he hardly seemed interested in building a communist utopia at all. I am compiling a history of our Regiment's service in the war. I dont think I was alone in this. When attacking, Spooky rolled into a level 30-degree bank turn, flying at an airspeed of almost 140 mph. 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. Im not going to bring shame on either the medal or myself, so I do watch it very carefully.. 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. Many of the tracers bounced off the ground like rubber balls. Answer (1 of 6): Now I can answer that from a very odd perspective. 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. Most attacks centered on military targets near Saigon and Da Nang and were quickly beaten off. Terms & Conditions | 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? (On earlier AC-47s, one of the guns had been mounted in the door.) It was nothing like what I saw in my imagination or what is shown in movie theaters or on television. 30. War and peace. 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. 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. The enemy would occasionally probe us, rocket us, mortar us and more than likely sometimes even shop at our PXs, but a ground attack? I was a 2nd Lieutenant, on my second night in Vietnam when the attack on Long Bing Post began at 2 AM. 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. In 1968, a group of black inmates were fed up with their treatment and the war. Another typist gives MPC currency notes to the soldiers. I must add, though, that from a different perspective the battle I witnessed in Vietnam was exactly the same as those I had seen in movies: One was just as unreal as the other. This site uses cookies to improve your experience and to help show content that is more relevant to your interests. I then looked back to see a flare that had slid up against the cans of 19,000 rounds of ammunition, Platt said. Spooky 71 flew with a crew of eight. c, Holland h tr v kh cho Ukraine. I am interested in corresponding with any Black Scarf soldiers who . 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. 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. 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. Visitors can also watch a videotape of Carpenter and John Levitow Jr. talking about the Medal of Honor mission. Quan Loi August 12/13, 1969 by Bill Rubenstein. Long Binh/Bien Hoa. 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"). Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. It took considerable effort to get Spooky 71 back to base. He was told his unit would capture many C-rations. Food was always a dominant concern for the habitually starved Viet Cong. 20 July 1969 circa - Mortar attack on base camp A-414 Thanh Tri. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. 472.6.8 Records of the U.S. Army Central Finance and Accounting Office, Vietnam. We're weird, he said. The flare was armed just before it was thrown out the door, with timers set to give it some distance from the airplane before the parachute deployed and the flare was triggered.