John Lee Levitow, the only member of the United States Air Force to receive the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam war and the first Air Force enlisted serviceman to be awarded our nation’s highest military honor.
Photo Credit: Congressional Medal of Honor Society
During the night of February 24, 1969, airman and loadmaster John Levitow was onboard “Spooky 71,” an AC-47 gunship, 3D Special Operations Squadron. They were above Long Binh Army Post, which was under attack by Viet Cong forces, dropping Mark 24 magnesium flares to illuminate the battlefield for US Army ground troops. Levitow’s job was to set the ignition timer controls of the large, heavy, slow-burn parachuted flares and pass them to the gunner for deployment through an open cargo door.
Image of the plane "Spooky" prior to damage sustained in battle.
Minutes into the mission, Spooky 71 was hit by an 82mm North Vietnamese mortar round. It exploded inside the aircraft, leaving a gaping hole and raking the fuselage and crew with shrapnel. Every crew member was wounded. Levitow suffered 40 wounds and a concussion, later reporting that “It felt like I had been hit on the head with a 2x4.” But still he immediately moved to assist those in more serious condition.
Damaged wing of the AC-47 gunship
In the process, Levitow realized that the explosion had jarred an armed flare from the gunner’s hands, leaving it rolling loose on the floor of the aircraft as the pilot struggled to maintain control of his badly damaged plane. Though concussed, bleeding and in extreme pain, Levitow recognized the extremity of their situation. The burning fuse was in danger of touching off 19,000 rounds of live ammunition. The other magnesium flares aboard would burn at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It was certain death for everyone aboard.
“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.”
Without the dexterity to grab it with his hands, and with no regard for his own life, Levitow threw himself upon the smoking flare. Hugging it to his body, he dragged it to the cargo door and pushed it out seconds before it ignited. In those few moments, Airman Levitow had saved his AC-47, its Captain and its entire crew. Years later, when asked about his heroism that night, he simply said, “It was a conditioned response. I just did it”.
Levitow received the Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon on May 14, 1970
Remarkably, after a little less than three months of recuperation Airman Levitow returned to duty in Vietnam, adding 20 more missions to the 180 combat sorties he had to his credit before that fateful day. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard M. Nixon on May 14, Armed Forces Day, 1970.
John Lee Levitow was born November 1, 1945, in Hartford, Connecticut. And though he died of cancer just 55 years later, his legacy lives on.
John Levitow Jr. (center) with family and Levitow Award winners.
The John Levitow Award is presented to the top performer at the Air Force Airman Leadership School. It is the highest award achievable at any level of Air Force Enlisted Professional Military Education (EPME). He was further honored by the Airforce in January 1998, when, in a ceremony at Long Beach, California, a C-17 Globemaster was named for him.
John Levitow now rests at our nation’s most hallowed ground, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
Levitow's burial procession at Arlington National Cemetery.
“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 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. 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 fellow men, 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.”
Sgt. Levitow's Medal of Honor CItation