AC-47
in Flight
KKE 28311 – A U.S. Air Force AC-47 aircraft in flight near Binh Thuy,
AB, Vietnam. Oct 1967.
U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO
One of the 13 Medals of Honor awarded to U.S. Air Force personnel was
earned by A/1C John L. Levitow. The
following information is taken from Air Force Heroes in Vietnam, USAF
Southeast Asia Monograph Series, Volume VII, Monograph 9.
************
John
L. Levitow
For
conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above
and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant John L. Levitow (then Airman First
Class), United States Air Force, distinguished him self by exceptional
heroism on 24 February 1969, while assigned as a loadmaster aboard an AC-47
aircraft flying a night mission in support of Long Binh Army Post, Republic of
Vietnam.
On
that date Sergeant Levitow's aircraft was struck by a hostile mortar round.
The resulting explosion ripped a hole two feet in diameter through the wing
and fragments made over 3,500 holes in the fuselage. All occupants of the
cargo compartment were wounded and helplessly slammed against the floor and
fuselage. The explosion tore an activated flare from the grasp of a crewmember
who had been launching flares to provide illumination for Army ground troops
engaged in combat. Sergeant Levitow, though stunned by the concussion of the
blast and suffering from over forty fragment wounds in the back and legs,
staggered to his feet and turned to assist the man nearest to him who had been
knocked down and was bleeding heavily. As he was moving his wounded comrade
forward and away from the opened cargo compartment door, he saw the smoking
flare ahead of him in the aisle. Realizing the danger involved and completely
disregarding his own wounds, Sergeant Levitow started toward the burning
flare. The aircraft was partially out of control and the flare was rolling
wildly from side to side. Sergeant Levitow struggled forward despite the loss
of' blood from his many wounds and the partial loss of feeling in his right
leg. Unable to grasp the rolling flare with his hands, he threw himself bodily
upon the burning flare. 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. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in the air, but
clear of the aircraft.
Sergeant
Levitow, by his selfless and heroic actions, saved the aircraft and its entire
crew from certain death and destruction. Sergeant Levitow's conspicuous gallantry,
his profound concern for his fellowmen, and his intrepidity at the risk of his
life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest
traditions of the United States Air Force and reflect great credit upon
himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
February 24, 1969
On the
evening of 24 February 1969, an AC-47 with the call sign "Spooky 71"
lifted off the runway at Bien Hoa Air Base. As the Gooney Bird climbed into
the clear night sky, her eight-man crew prepared for a long combat air patrol
mission in the Saigon area. In the cargo compartment, the crew's loadmaster,
Airman First Class John L. Levitow, was airborne on his 180th combat
mission.
One of John's responsibilities on the gunship was handling the Mark 24
flares. He would set the ejection and ignition controls and pass the flare to
the gunner, Airman Ellis C. Owen, who attached it to a lanyard. On the pilot's
command, Owen would simultaneously pull the safety pin and toss the flare
through the open cargo door.
The Mark 24 looked innocent enough. It was a three-foot-long metal tube
weighing 27 pounds. Ten seconds after release an explosive charge deployed a
parachute. In another ten seconds the magnesium flare would ignite, quickly
reaching a temperature of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit and illuminating the
countryside with two million candlepower. Drifting slowly beneath its chute,
each flare would burn for over a minute.
The Vietcong guerrillas, peasants by day and terrorists by night, were
denied the protection of darkness when Spooky was about. Spooky 71 and her
crew had been airborne for 4 1/2 hours when the pilot, Major Ken Carpenter,
received word of enemy action around Bien Hoa. As Carpenter wheeled the Gooney
Bird back toward its home field, he and his copilot saw muzzle flashes from
the perimeter of the Long Binh Army Base below. The Vietcong were busy here,
also.
The gunship circled in an orbit centered around the muzzle flashes. In two
lightning-quick attacks with mini-guns chattering, she slammed 3,000 rounds of
ammunition into the enemy positions. Spooky 71 received an urgent request to
remain in the vicinity to provide illumination for friendly ground forces.
Obviously, the area around Long Binh was the new hot spot.
Major Carpenter received a second call requesting illumination in an area
two miles south of Long Binh. As the aircraft swung to the south, the pilots
saw flashes from a heavy mortar barrage ahead. The crew in the cargo
compartment followed the sounds of the action. Later, John Levitow recalled,
"Every once in a while, you'd hear a muffled noise when a mortar hit. You
could hear the engines on the aircraft, the noise of the guns firing and the
pilot giving instructions."
Suddenly,
Spooky 71 was jarred by a tremendous explosion and bathed in a blinding flash
of light. The crew would learn later that a North
Vietnamese Army 82-millimeter mortar shell had landed on top of the right wing
and exploded inside the wing frame. The blast raked the fuselage with flying
shrapnel.
In the cockpit the pilots struggled to bring the lurching Gooney Bird
under control. They had been momentarily blinded, and the navigator, Major
William Platt recalls, "Even in the navigation compartment, the flash
lit up the inside of the aircraft like daylight. The aircraft veered sharply
to the right and down." Though the situation was desperate in the
cockpit, it was even worse in the cargo compartment.
Sergeant Edward Fuzie, who was wounded in the back
and neck, remembers, "I saw Sergeant Baer, Airman Owen, and Airman
Levitow go down right away. Baer was covered with blood."
John Levitow thought one of the mini-guns had exploded. In his words,
"But when I was actually hit, the shrapnel felt like a two-by-four, or
a large piece of wood which had been struck against my side. It stung me. I
really didn't know what it was."
Airman Owen was the first to realize that the Spooky crew was still in
mortal danger. "I had the lanyard on one flare hooked up, and my finger
was through the safety pin ring. When we were hit, all three of us were thrown
to the floor. The flare, my finger still through the safety pin ring, was
knocked out of my hand. The safety pin was pulled and the flare rolled on the
aircraft floor, fully armed!"
Major Carpenter learned via the intercom that everyone in the back was
wounded and a live flare was loose in the plane. In the meantime, John Levitow
came to the aid of a fellow crewmember, who was perilously close to the open
cargo door. As he dragged his buddy back toward the center of the cabin, John
saw the flare.
The canister rolled crazily amidst the ammunition cans which contained
over 19,000 rounds of live ammunition. In less than 20 seconds the AC-47 would
become a flaming torch, plunging its crews to destruction in the night sky.
John had no way of knowing how many seconds remained. The beating the flare
had already taken could have damaged the timer, causing ignition before the 20
seconds had elapsed. He was weak from loss of blood and numb from the 40
wounds on his right side. But John knew he was the closest to the flare.
Time and again the smoking tube eluded his grasp as the aircraft pitched
and rolled. In desperation, he threw himself on the flare and painfully
dragged it toward the cargo door, leaving a trail of blood behind. The seconds
ticked by. With a final superhuman effort John heaved the flare through the
door. It barely cleared the aircraft before igniting in an incandescent blaze.
Major Carpenter recalls, "I had the aircraft in a 30-degree bank and
how Levitow ever managed to get to the flare and throw it out, I'll never
know." As he finally brought the ship back to straight and level flight,
Major Carpenter headed toward Bien Hoa. He radioed for an ambulance and a
medical evacuation helicopter to meet the gunship.
Major Carpenter
spoke later about John Levitow and the Gooney Bird. "After the mission I
was able to reconstruct what happened by the blood trail left by John. He
collapsed after throwing the flare overboard and was evacuated to the base
hospital immediately upon landing. In my experience, I have never seen such a
courageous act performed under such adverse circumstances. The entire
eight-man crew owes their lives to John, and his quick reactions surely saved
the aircraft. It was not possible to bail out as we had two seriously injured
men aboard, one of them John Levitow. How the plane ever flew back to the
base, I'll never know. How a plane with over 3,500 holes in the wings and
fuselage stayed airborne defies description. One hole measured 3 feet, 1/4
inches."
