May 15

This Day in History

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Lead Story
Madeleine Albright is born, 1937
American Revolution
Continentals capture Fort Granby, South Carolina, 1781
Automotive
Seventeen states put gasoline rationing into effect, 1942
Civil War
VMI cadets fight in Battle of New Market, 1864
Cold War
Soviets begin withdrawal from Afghanistan, 1988
Crime
A young woman and her married lover kill her family, 1976
Disaster
Tornado decimates Texas town, 1896
General Interest
The Seven Years War begins, 1756
First Allied jet flies, 1941
The flight of Faith 7, 1963
Governor George Wallace shot, 1972
Hollywood
Celebrity private detective Anthony Pellicano found guilty, 2008
Literary
Katherine Anne Porter is born, 1890
Music
"Ebony And Ivory" begins a seven-week run at #1 on the pop charts, 1982
Old West
Second vigilante committee organizes in San Francisco, 1856
Presidential
President John Adams orders federal government to Washington, D.C., 1800
Ronald Reagan applies for transfer to Army Air Force, 1942
Sports
Nolan Ryan pitches first no-hitter, 1973
Vietnam War
U.S. positions south of the DMZ come under heavy fire, 1967
Air Force sergeant awarded Medal of Honor, 1970
World War I
Austrians launch massive offensive on Trentino Front, 1916
World War II
Legislation creating the Women's Army Corps becomes law, 1942

Vietnam War

May 15, 1970:

Air Force sergeant awarded Medal of Honor

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At the White House, President Richard Nixon presents Sgt. John L. Levitow with the Medal of Honor for heroic action performed on February 24, 1969, over Long Binh Army Post in South Vietnam. Then an Airman 1st Class, Levitow was the loadmaster on a Douglas AC-47 gunship. His aircraft had been supporting several Army units that were engaged in battle with North Vietnamese troops when an enemy mortar hit the aircraft's right wing, exploding in the wing frame. Thousands of pieces of shrapnel ripped through the plane's thin skin, wounding four of the crew. Levitow was struck forty times in his right side; although bleeding heavily from these wounds, he threw himself on an activated, smoking magnesium flare, dragged himself and the flare to the open cargo door, and tossed the flare out of the aircraft just before it ignited. For saving his fellow crewmembers and the gunship, Airman Levitow was nominated for the nation's highest award for valor in combat. He was one of only two enlisted airmen to win the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam and was one of only five enlisted airmen ever to win the medal, the first since World War II.

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This Week in History, May 15 - May 21

May 15, 1967
U.S. positions south of the DMZ come under heavy fire
May 15, 1970
Air Force sergeant awarded Medal of Honor
May 16, 1965
Accident at Bien Hoa kills 27 U.S. servicemen
May 16, 1968
Navy Corpsman receives Medal of Honor for action
May 16, 1972
U.S. bombing destroys main fuel line
May 17, 1970
Operations continue in Cambodia
May 17, 1972
South Vietnamese reinforcements near An Loc
May 18, 1966
Laird charges
May 18, 1969
Communists attack Xuan Loc
May 19, 1964
U.S. Air Force begins Operation Yankee Team
May 19, 1972
South Vietnamese fight to open road to An Loc
May 20, 1953
French see "light at the end of the tunnel" in Vietnam
May 20, 1969
Kennedy criticizes the "Hamburger Hill" battle
May 21, 1969
Military spokesman defends "Hamburger Hill"

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