RARE “Military Heroes” John Levitow & William Westmoreland Signed FDC For Sale

Up for sale a RARE! “Military Heroes” John Levitow & William Westmoreland Signed First Day Cover Dated 1984.

26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably

commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff

of the United States Army from 1968 to 1972. Westmoreland

adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army,

attempting to drain them of manpower and supplies. He also made use of the

United States' edge in artillery and air power, both in tactical confrontations

and in relentless strategic bombing of North Vietnam. Nevertheless, public

support for the war eventually diminished, especially after the Battle of

Khe Sanh and the Tet Offensive in 1968. By the time he was re-assigned as

Army Chief of Staff, United States military forces in Vietnam had reached a

peak of 535,000 personnel. Westmoreland's strategy was ultimately politically

unsuccessful. Growing United States casualties and the draft undermined United

States support for the war, while large-scale casualties among non-combatants

weakened South Vietnamese support. This also failed to weaken North Vietnam's

will to fight, and the Government of South Vietnam—a

factor largely out of Westmoreland's control—never succeeded in establishing

enough legitimacy to quell defections to the Viet Cong. William Childs

Westmoreland was born in Spartanburg County, South

Carolina, on March 26, 1914 to Eugenia Talley Childs and James

Ripley Westmoreland. His upper middle class family

was involved in the local banking and textile industries. At the age of 15,

William became an Eagle Scout in

his Boy Scouts of America (BSA)

local council's Troop 1, and was recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo from the BSA as a young adult. After

spending a year at The Citadel in 1932, he was appointed to attend the United States Military Academy on

the nomination of Senator James F. Byrnes, a family friend. His motive for entering West Point was "to

see the world". He was a member of a distinguished West Point class that

also included Creighton Abrams and Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Westmoreland

graduated as First Captain—the highest cadet rank—and received the Pershing

Sword, which is "presented to the cadet with highest level of also served as the superintendent of the

Protestant Sunday School Teachers.

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 for his acts of heroism while serving on board

a Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship

of the 3d Special Operations Squadron USAF on

February 24, 1969. An Airman First Class at

the time of his actions, he became the first enlisted serviceman in the Air Force to receive the Medal

of Honor, the United States military's highest honor. 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 27-pound (12 kg) metal canisters 3 feet

(0.91 m) 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.[4] 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 experienced a 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 more than 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. 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.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous gallantry

and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of

duty. Sgt. Levitow (then A1C), U.S. Air Force, distinguished himself by

exceptional heroism while assigned as a loadmaster aboard an AC-47 aircraft flying

a night mission in support of Long Binh Army post. Sgt. Levitow's aircraft was

struck by a hostile mortar round. The resulting explosion ripped a hole 2 feet

in diameter through the wing and fragments made over 3,500 holes in the

fuselage. All occupants of the cargo compartment were wounded and helplessly

slammed against the floor and fuselage. The explosion tore an activated flare

from the grasp of a crewmember who had been launching flares to provide

illumination for Army ground troops engaged in combat. Sgt. Levitow, though

stunned by the concussion of the blast and suffering from over 40 fragment

wounds in the back and legs, staggered to his feet and turned to assist the man

nearest to him who had been knocked down and was bleeding heavily. As he was

moving his wounded comrade forward and away from the opened cargo compartment

door, he saw the smoking flare ahead of him in the aisle. Realizing the danger

involved and completely disregarding his own wounds, Sgt. Levitow started

toward the burning flare. The aircraft was partially out of control and the

flare was rolling wildly from side to side. Sgt. Levitow struggled forward

despite the loss of blood from his many wounds and the partial loss of feeling

in his right leg. Unable to grasp the rolling flare with his hands, he threw

himself bodily upon the burning flare. Hugging the deadly device to his body,

he dragged himself back to the rear of the aircraft and hurled the flare

through the open cargo door. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in

the air, but clear of the aircraft. Sgt. Levitow, by his selfless and heroic

actions, saved the aircraft and its entire crew from certain death and

destruction. Sgt. Levitow's gallantry, his profound concern for his fellowmen,

at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with

the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon

himself and the Armed Forces of his country.