John Levitow - Biography

Biography

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, He originally intended to join the United States Navy, but changed his mind and joined the USAF in June 1966. His first job was civil engineering, then he cross-trained into the loadmaster career field.

On February 24, 1969, Levitow was asked to fill in for the regular loadmaster on an armed AC-47 call sign Spooky 71. It was Airman Levitow's job to set the ejection and ignition controls on Mark 24 magnesium flares and pass them to the gunner for deployment. These flares were 27-pound (12 kg) metal tubes 3 feet (0.91 m) long that would burn at 4000 degrees, illuminate with the intensity of two million candela and burn for more than a minute. Spooky 71 was flying night missions near the Tan Son Nhut Air base area when Long Binh came under attack.

As the crew of Spooky 71 manned their aircraft patrolling the area, the pilot Kenneth Carpenter had seen muzzle flashes outside Long Binh Army Base. The pilot threw the AC-47 and its eight-man crew into a banked turn to engage the Viet Cong in the Tan Son Nhut Air Base area.

On the pilot's command, the gunner pulled the safety pin and tossed the flare through the open cargo door. Suddenly, Spooky 71 was jarred by a tremendous explosion. A North Vietnamese Army's 82-millimeter mortar shell hit the right wing and exploded inside the structure. The blast raked the fuselage with flying shrapnel. Everyone in the back of Spooky 71 was wounded, including Levitow who was hit by shrapnel that he was quoted as saying "felt like being hit by a two-by-four."

Despite his wounds, Levitow saw a loose, burning Mark 24 flare had been knocked free in the fuselage and was rolling amid ammunition cans that contained 19,000 rounds of live ammunition. Through a haze of pain and shock,; with 40 shrapnel wounds in his legs, side and back; and fighting the aircraft's 30-degree bank angle; Levitow crawled to the flare and threw himself upon it. Hugging it to his body, he dragged himself back to the rear of the cabin and hurled it through the open cargo door, saving the aircraft and its crew. When the aircraft finally returned to the base, the extent of the damage became apparent. The AC-47 had more than 3,500 holes in the wings and fuselage, one measuring more than three feet long.

Levitow received the Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon on, May 14, 1970, on Armed Forces Day. Levitow died of cancer on November 8, 2000. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. His grave can be found in section 66, site 7107, map grid DD/17.

The John Levitow Award is the highest honor presented to a graduate of Air Force Enlisted Professional Military Education (PME), including Airman Leadership School, NCO Academy, and the Senior NCO Academy.