A Ticking Time Bomb: AC1 John Lee Levitow

Welcome to the Medal of Honor podcast, brought to you in partnership with the National Medal of Honor Museum. I’m Ken Harbaugh. In each episode, we’ll learn about a different service member who has distinguished him or herself through an act of valor.

John Lee Levitow was born on November 1st, 1945 in Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating high school, he attended the Porter School of Engineering and Design. Then in 1965, at the age of 19, he joined the United States Air Force.

Levitow initially trained as a power line specialist, but ended up cross-training as an aircraft loadmaster. He was then assigned to 3rd Special Operations Squadron, and deployed to Vietnam.

In Vietnam, Airman First Class Levitow served as a loadmaster on an AC-47, a fixed wing gunship. The aircraft was armed with three miniguns and carried Mark 24 flares. These flares were not common hand flares, but instead 3-foot-long metal canisters that weighed 27 pounds. After being armed and tossed out the cargo door, these flares had a charge that would detonate after 10 seconds, deploying a parachute. Then after another 10 seconds, a magnesium flare would ignite, blasting the area with a blinding light for over two minutes, and reaching a temperature of four thousand degrees. The illumination from these flares briefly removed the cover of darkness from enemies on the ground, allowing friendly troops to locate them.

On the night of February 24th, 1969, Levitow’s AC-47 and its eight man crew were on a long combat air patrol mission in the Saigon Area. After receiving word of enemy action, they flew over to the Bien Hoa area where they saw enemy muzzle flashes scattered around the perimeter of Long Binh Army Base. The AC-47 engaged, using its miniguns to rain down 3,000 rounds of fire on the enemy. Following up on a request for illumination, the AC-47 turned around and began heading south. Airman Ellis C. Owen had his finger through a flare’s safety pin, and was preparing to drop it when a large explosion slammed the side of the aircraft. A North Vietnamese Army mortar shell had landed on top of the right wing, ripping a two-foot wide hole and slashing the fuselage with shrapnel. The aircraft immediately started losing altitude and began veering to the right. Temporarily blinded from the blast, the pilots struggled to gain control of the AC-47.

Meanwhile, the impact slammed the helpless crewmembers in the cargo compartment to the ground, causing numerous injuries. Levitow’s side was sprayed with shrapnel, causing serious loss of blood and a partial loss of feeling in his right leg. Seeing that a fellow airman was dangerously close to falling out the cargo door, he ignored his own injuries to move over and drag him away from the opening, leaving a trail of blood. Levitow then realized that the impact had ripped the flare out of Owen’s hands- with the pin still around his finger. The armed flare was now rolling around loose in the compartment. If it detonated, it would ignite over 19,000 rounds of ammunition, killing the entire crew. With no way of knowing how much time he had left, Levitow attempted to grab the smoking canister. The constant rocking from the aircraft, which was now in a 30 degree bank, coupled with how weak he was from the loss of blood, meant Levitow was initially unable to restrain the flare as it rolled around the compartment. He eventually threw himself on top of it, and with his final bit of strength, tossed it out the back of the airplane. Right when it was out of harm's way, the flare ignited, bathing its surroundings in a white light.

The pilots were eventually able to get the aircraft under control. They flew back to base where they were met with an ambulance and a medical evacuation helicopter. Everyone on the AC-47 survived.

On May 14th, 1970, Airman First Class John Lee Levitow was awarded the Medal of Honor for his incredible feat under dire circumstances. His heroism is probably best summarized by Major Ken Carpenter, who flew the AC-47 that day: “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.”

The Medal of Honor podcast is a production of Evergreen Podcasts.

Nathan Corson is our executive producer and mixing engineer, Declan Rohrs is our associate producer, scriptwriter, and recording engineer, and I’m Ken Harbaugh.

We are proud to support the National Medal of Honor Museum. To learn more, and to support their mission, go to mohmuseum.org. Thanks for listening.