In the dark night skies over Vietnam, a terrifying new weapon had been introduced by American forces trying to protect their troops on the ground, a combination of older aeroplanes and cutting edge technology that resulted in the creation of fire spewing dragons capable of laying down 6,000 rounds of suppressing fire every minute. 

The venerable Douglas C-47 Skytrain had been modified to become one of the most feared weapons of the conflict, however, ‘Spooky’ crews wouldn’t always have it their own way.

On the night of 24th February 1969, the crew of gunship 43-49770 ‘Spooky 71’ had been called to provide fire support for troop under attack at Long Binh, but whilst doing so, their aircraft had taken a direct mortar round hit in the right wing, resulting in a gaping hole and the aircraft being peppered with 3,500 shrapnel holes. 

The aircraft lurched violently and the fire crew were thrown off their feet, all suffering from multiple shrapnel wounds. Bleeding profusely, Airman First Class John Levitow could see one of his crewmates was in danger of falling out of the open cargo door, and fought through the pain of his wounds to drag him to a safer position. 

Unfortunately, he also saw that the flare his colleague had been trying to throw out of the aircraft prior to the mortar hit had blown back into the cabin and was smoking, about to detonate. He threw his body on top of the flare and slowly ushered it towards the open door using his last reserves of strength, rolling it into the night sky seconds before it detonated. 

For his heroic, selfless actions which saved both his aircraft and crewmates, John Levitow was rightfully awarded the Medal of Honor. Despite the drama and devastation in the night sky above the Long Binh US Army post, the aircraft did manage to make it back to its home base safely, where ground crews were able to assess the damage from the mortar strike, and count every one of the 3,500 shrapnel holes which peppered the wings and fuselage of the aircraft.