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John Lee Levitow (November 1, 1945 – November 8, 2000) was a United States Air Force (USAF) loadmaster who received the Medal of Honor for exceptional heroism during wartime. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on February 24, 1969, while he was serving on board a Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship of the 3d Special Operations Squadron USAF. He became the lowest ranked serviceman in the Air Force to receive the Medal of Honor, the United States military's highest honor. ==Biography== Born in Hartford, Connecticut, He originally intended to join the United States Navy, but changed his mind and joined the USAF in June 1966. His first job was civil engineering, then he cross-trained into the loadmaster career field. On February 24, 1969, Levitow was asked to fill in for the regular loadmaster on an armed AC-47 call sign ''Spooky 71''. It was Airman Levitow's job to set the ejection and ignition timer controls on Mark 24 magnesium flares and pass them to the gunner for deployment. These flares were metal canisters long that would burn at 4,000 degrees, illuminate with the intensity of two million candlepower and burn for two and a half to three minutes.〔(Flare Aircraft: Parachute Mk24 ) Chapter 3.〕 ''Spooky 71'' was flying night missions near the Tan Son Nhut Air base area when Long Binh came under attack. As the crew of ''Spooky 71'' manned their aircraft patrolling the area, the pilot Major Kenneth Carpenter had seen muzzle flashes outside Long Binh Army Base. The pilot threw the AC-47 and its eight-man crew into a banked turn to engage the Viet Cong in the Tan Son Nhut Air Base area. On the pilot's command, Levitow and the gunner began deploying flares through the open cargo door. Levitow set the timers and handed a flare to the gunner, who held it with his finger through the pull ring attached to the safety pin. Suddenly, ''Spooky 71'' was jarred by a tremendous explosion. A North Vietnamese Army's 82-millimeter mortar shell hit the right wing and exploded inside the structure, raking the fuselage with flying shrapnel. Everyone in the back of ''Spooky 71'' was wounded, including Levitow who was hit by shrapnel and concussion that he was quoted as saying "felt like being hit by a two-by-four." The blast also jarred the flare from the gunner's hands, pulling the safety pin from the canister as it did so and arming the fuse. Despite 40 wounds in his back and legs, Levitow saw the loose flare, its fuse burning with clouds of smoke, rolling amid ammunition cans that contained 19,000 rounds of live ammunition. When the flare exploded it would detonate the ammunition and burn a hole through the floor to the aircraft's control cables below. Through a haze of pain and shock, unable to stand up, and fighting the aircraft's 30-degree bank angle, Levitow crawled to the flare and threw himself upon it. Hugging it to his body, he dragged himself back to the rear of the cabin and pushed it through the open cargo door an instant before it ignited, saving the aircraft and its crew. When the aircraft finally returned to the base, the extent of the damage became apparent. The AC-47 had more than 3,500 holes in the wings and fuselage, one measuring more than three feet long. Levitow received the Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon on, May 14, 1970, on Armed Forces Day. Levitow died of cancer on November 8, 2000. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. His grave can be found in section 66, site 7107, map grid DD/17. The John Levitow Award is the highest honor presented to a graduate of Air Force Enlisted Professional Military Education (PME), including Airman Leadership School, NCO Academy, and the Senior NCO Academy. To be eligible for the award, a graduate must rank in the top 1% of his or her class. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Levitow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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