Medal of Honor Podcast Evergreen Podcasts

Airman First Class Jone Lee Levitow served in Vietnam as a loadmaster. On February 24th, 1969, Levitow’s AC-47, a fixed wing gunship, was hit by an enemy mortar round. The explosion tore a hole in the plane, slashed the fuselage, temporarily blinded the pilots, and threw everyone in the cargo hold to the ground, causing numerous injuries. It also knocked a 3 foot long, 27 pound explosive metal flare out of a crew member's hands, with the safety pin still around his finger. Armed and ready to explode, the smoking canister threatened to ignite all 19,000 pounds of ammunition in their aircraft. Despite being weak from the loss of blood, his right leg being partially numb, and the aircraft shaking in a 30 degree tilt,  Levitow attempted to grab the flare as it rolled around the floor. Eventually he threw his body on it, and managed to toss it out of the aircraft right before it ignited.

The pilots of the AC-47 were able to get the aircraft under control, and were met with an ambulance when they arrived back at base. All eight crew members 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.”

Sergeant Major Thomas P. Payne served in Iraq as an Army Ranger. On October 22nd, 2015, Payne’s special operations unit was paired with Kurdish allies in order to complete a hostage rescue mission from an ISIS compound. Payne continuously wethered enemy fire, brownout conditions, and smoke from a burning building on the brink of collapse in order to help rescue 75 Iraqi hostages. 
Sergeant Major Thomas P. Payne was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism and selfless service on that day.

Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith was among the first group of Americans to invade Iraq in 2003, serving as a combat engineer. 

On April 4th, 2003, American forces were attempting to seize Saddam Hussein International Airport. SFC Smith was leading two platoons of about three dozen men with the goal of setting up a holding area for prisoners of war, but they were attacked by over 100 members of the Iraqi Republican Guard. Smith quickly organized their defense, but the overwhelming enemy force began to swarm the area. Then, an RPG explosion sent shrapnel into three of Smith’s men. Smith organized their evac, but they were still vulnerable during their retreat. Seeing that a nearby carrier was unmanned, Smith exposed himself to enemy fire in order to man the .50 caliber machine gun on top of the vehicle. He engaged, covering his allies and killing as many as 50 enemies before being hit in the head by an enemy round. He was pulled to safety, but died a few minutes later in a hospital. 

Smith’s leadership and quick thinking saved the lives of over 100 allied soldiers who were in vulnerable positions just a few hundred meters back. Thanks in part to Smith’s heroism, American forces eventually repelled the Iraqi attack and were able to successfully take control of the airport. 

On April 4th, 2005, Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in protecting his men and fending off the Iraqi attack.

Staff Sergeant Herbert H. Burr served in World War II as a tank gunner. His tank was approaching a town in Germany when they were hit by a bazooka, killing two crewmembers and seriously injuring the platoon sergeant. The surviving crew was forced to evacuate the vehicle, but Burr, delayed by his exit hatch that couldn’t open, feared being targeted upon leaving the vehicle. So, without any other crew, he commandeered the tank and drove it deeper into the town. He made a left turn where he was faced with an anti-tank gun that should have killed him, but Burr did something that was completely unexpected: he advanced. The enemy was thrown off by this decision, giving Burr just enough time to run over the gun with his tank, forcing the enemy to flee. Burr continued on, side swiping a German truck and knocking it over before heading back to his company. Upon his return, he exited the tank and braved sniper fire to reach medics and direct them towards his injured comrades.

Captain Steven Logan Bennett was flying an OV-10 Bronco near Quang Tri, Vietnam in 1972 when he received an urgent call for help. A friendly South Vietnamese ground unit had overextended, and were about to be engaged by nearly 300 enemies. Bennett called for air support, but none was available. He then called for artillery, but it turned out that it would risk hitting enemy troops. Seeing no other way to help, Bennett engaged the ground forces himself, disregarding the fact that his OV-10 was particularly susceptible to surface to air missiles. He strafed four times and avoided at least two missiles before one finally hit, destroying his left engine. He was kept airborne by his right engine, but a fire on his wing threatened to ignite the fuel storage, so he needed to act fast. His backseater couldn’t eject because his parachute had been destroyed by the missile, so the only option was to attempt a water landing. He knew that the OV-10 was not suited for this, and in fact no pilot had ever survived an OV-10 ditching, but he ignored the risks. His aircraft hit the water and was flung into a wing-over-wing tumble before settling nose first underwater. Bennett did not survive the crash, but his backseater did.
On August 8th, 1974, Captain Steven Logan Bennett was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism and unparalleled concern for his companion. He’s credited with saving the lives of many South Vietnamese ground soldiers and his backseater.

Today, in honor of Vietnam War Veteran’s Day, we are re-airing our episode featuring SFC Webster Anderson.
Sergeant First Class Webster Anderson served in the Army in Vietnam. He lost two legs and an arm defending his position near Tam Ky, but his resilience and bravery encouraged his men, led to victory, and earned him the Medal of Honor.