7/5/2023 0 Comments Gunship iii flaresAll five crewmen in the hold were hit Levitow had been struck by more than 40 shell fragments on his right side. The shrapnel tore up the wing and the plane’s body, causing her pilot to struggle to maintain control. forces on the ground used the light to spot the enemy, while Spooky 71’s crew sprayed 6,000 rounds a minute at the North Vietnamese with the gunship’s 7.62-millimeter mini guns.Īs the battle raged, Spooky 71 flew into the path of a North Vietnamese 82-millimeter mortar round. Flying about 1,000 feet above the battle, Spooky 71’s crew launched 27-pound MK-24 flares, each capable of burning at 3,000 degrees and creating two million candelas of luminous intensity, out of the cargo door to light up the sky. American forces in the area were under attack by North Vietnamese soldiers, who had used the cover of darkness to come out of the jungle. That evening, Spooky 71 took flight and was later ordered to the Bien Hoa area, about 30 kilometers east of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). 24, 1969, Airman 1st Class Levitow was asked to fill in for the regular loadmaster on a Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship, known to her crew as “Spooky 71.” Growing impatient, Levitow went next door and joined the Air Force instead.Īfter training, Levitow was assigned to the Third Special Operations Squadron as a C-130 loadmaster and sent to Vietnam. But when he arrived at the Navy recruiting office in New Haven, the recruiters were busy. 1, 1945, in Hartford, Connecticut, John Lee Levitow planned to join the Navy in 1966 after high school.
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