John Levitow Medal of Honor

 

 

 

 

  

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 Ok, campers, there's going to be a lot of smoke and noise, death and destruction in this posting.  When y'all were kids (Sarge was in his 30's but still a kid), we all listened to the song "Puff the magic Dragon" released by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963.  Catchy tune!

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Anyhow, somehow that became the nickname for the AC-47.  The C-47 was an early cargo transport for the new USAF.  As in "OK Army, we don't belong to you anymore, but we'll still deliver cargo and provide air support for you provided you give us your cargo aircraft".   Voila!, the C-47 became an Air Force Aircraft.  Well, as the aircraft aged and bigger, better, faster cargo airplanes were developed, the Army  said, "Hey Air Force, we need some Air support aircraft that can provide a lot of firepower and can stay on target for a long period of time." 

 

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The Air Force said "we can put some Gatling guns on the C-47 and turn it into a Close Air Support aircraft.  But because it's old, slow and has to be fairly close to the target, it's got to be used at night."

"Light up the sky" takes on a new meaning 

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So, the AC-47  went to war and did a pretty darn good job. and subsequent more capable versions were/are being built.  Currently that mission is handled by the AC-130.

Anyhow, back to A1C Levitow. The Medal of Honor action occurred on February 24 1969 when he was asked to fill in as Loadmaster for another guy. The aircraft's call sign was "Spooky 71"

His job would be to "set the ejection and ignition timer controls on Mark 24 magnesium flares and pass them to the gunner for deployment. These flares were 27-pound (12 kg) metal canisters 3 feet (0.91 m) long that would burn at 4,000°F, illuminate with the intensity of two million candlepower and burn for two and a half to three minutes."  Source

The gunner wold place the safety pin ring on his finger to pull it quickly when given the order by the pilot.  Unfortunately, the aircraft had a AAA round go off which damaged the aircraft, wounded several people, including A1C Levitow.  It also threw the gunner off balance and he dropped the flare, pulling the fuse.  Despite A1C Levitow's wounds, he managed to crawl over to the fuse, pick it up, hugging it to his body (remember the temperature I cited above, the heat  was rapidly getting there) and crawled to  the door and threw it out.  A couple of seconds later, the flare exploded further damaging, but not destroying the aircraft.  The aircraft managed to make it home.

I'm known to say "I'd rather be lucky than good".  In this case, it was infinitely better that A1C Levito was good AND lucky!
 

President Nixon presented him with the Medal of Honor on May 14, 1970.  Well deserved IMHO.  Unfortunately, SGT Levito died of cancer in November 2000.

SGT Levito proved the validity of this statement.

"No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause."

Theodore Roosevelt.

 

Rest in Peace, Hero! You earned it! 

 

Citation to accompany the award of the Medal of Honor to Sgt John Levitow

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Levitow (then A1C), U.S. Air Force, distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while assigned as a loadmaster aboard an AC-47 aircraft flying a night mission in support of Long Binh Army post. Sgt. Levitow's aircraft was struck by a hostile mortar round. The resulting explosion ripped a hole 2 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. Sgt. Levitow, though stunned by the concussion of the blast and suffering from over 40 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, Sgt. Levitow started toward the burning flare. The aircraft was partially out of control and the flare was rolling wildly from side to side. Sgt. 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. Sgt. Levitow, by his selfless and heroic actions, saved the aircraft and its entire crew from certain death and destruction. Sgt. Levitow's gallantry, his profound concern for his fellowmen, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Levitow 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_AC-47_Spooky 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter,_Paul_and_Mary