From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. Though I flew only about 1/2 dozen missions as a Huey door gunner, I was initially told to sit on my flak jacket I always did so (personal protection first). 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). Shortly before 11 a.m. on May 18, the point squad in Company Bs 2nd Platoon spotted three NVA soldiers walking on a trail near the Cambodian border and attempted to capture them, but the NVA dashed off into the jungle. But I made it back in one piece. Fact: Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. I am proud to have fought alongside of them. Diaphragm _____ 3. Tony told me that either he or I would greet all incoming troops and we did- and here is the speech we gave to them. The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1961. Soldiers also act in the mobilization of vehicles, weaponry, troops, and more. Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. The group found the first man killed and carried him up the hill, placing his body right next to me. The next three weeks passed uneventfully. If you look at all of the things the radio operators were tasked with, it becomes abundantly clear why commo guys weren't expected to last long. Do the math. I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. It is Honor in the Valley of Tears. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. His best friend is 86 and still alive. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim Phucs brothers were killed in this incident. Overview - Medics and Corpsmen - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund February 5 th, 1967, Galiano was headed to Saigon, Vietnam with 90 fellow Americans on an Air Force c-131, but orders were quickly altered . What is the life expectancy of an army infantry soldier? The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. In Vietnam 70% 0f the casualties were Infantry BUT it might be 70% of ALL the Infantry that served in Vietnam. I served in A Company 3/22 of the 3rd Brigade 4th Infantry 12/66, then Hq Co 2/12 of the 3rd Brigade 25th Inf until the night of the TET offensive end of January 1968 and returned home July 18 1968. Fact: 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races. (many of the Soviet casualties were POWs, though). From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. He was killed in an ambush along with three others. I was a cmbt engr demolition specialist carried a 45 auto and an M70 grenade launcher in addition to the C-4 and Det Cord. Dont know why, but generally, their aircraft were not armed (door gunners, etc.). There were also wounded. We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. Out of thousands of men that invaded that town in southern Afghanistan, we have lost 19. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. To my right, Piambino had poked his head out of the trench to fire his M16 rifle. We can all hold our heads high and be proud of our service. No. As I made my way to the river, I saw a VC guerrilla jump into the water on the other side. 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome. The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. PDF Mortality Rates and Life Expectancy of Veterans - Veterans Affairs Why is my internet redirecting to gslbeacon.ligit.com and how do I STOP THIS. Done ranting. Isolated atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of outrage from anti-war critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any media mention at all. I was lucky too but VN never left me. We had been carrying machine guns for over seven months. I remember hearing somewhere about an RTO who wasnt getting the info out correctly and the Lieutenant (Kennedy) grabbed the mic and said My RTO Is Foxtrot Uniform. 11 c mos , meaning I was also cross trained for mortars . Our home base was Quang Tri fire Base, But I spent about 6 months out at Mai Loc with the rig. Company B arrived in-country with four rifle platoons, and each platoon was armed with two M60s. Hi, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one I was a grunt with c co. 4/31 196th it inf bade. I lost my cherry very early. Or is it on display in a Hanoi museum so curious citizens of that city can inspect a weapon captured from American imperialists? 23,24 This study found that the death rate for Vietnam veterans was 1.3 times that for non-Vietnam veterans; however, the excess deaths were limited to Engineer Corps members (RR, 2.5). I had yet to fire a shot with No. (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. The key may be the word initial since we became more savvy with successive combats and had improved survivability. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. Soon after, Pfc. The blasts from the AMMO, really lit up the whole area. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. . Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. three, he believes he is doing what his country wants him to dojust like you So you better damn well treat him with the compassion you want for you!! In all that time, the Tet 1968 fighting in Saigon was the only time the unit fought a pitched urban battlevery unusual during the war. 101st Airborne Division. Sept 69 to Sept 70. Four platoons in a rifle company. !We dont abuse prisoners Now, if he reaches for his weapon to continue the fight BLOW HIS ASS AWAY THIS AINT SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. Quickly learned to control rate of fire. Black fatalities amounted to 12 percent of all Americans killed in Southeast Asia, a figure proportional to the number of blacks in the U.S. population at the time and slightly lower than the proportion of blacks in the Army at the close of the war.. Contents1 [] I saw aircraft loaded with troops explode in mid-air. Oh, and even the Air Force has ground units. I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. I want to know what the life expectancy of a us infantry army soldier is. 2. It didnt matter who you were or where you were. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. His body was torn to pieces. endstream endobj 4315 0 obj <>/Metadata 89 0 R/Pages 4312 0 R/StructTreeRoot 120 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 4316 0 obj <>/MediaBox[0 0 612 792]/Parent 4312 0 R/Resources<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 4317 0 obj <>stream TONY DISAGREED> hE SAID TAKE A 19 YEAR OLD, WHO HAS JUST TAKEN TWO ROUNDS TO HIS BODY, And IS watching his best friend die from multiple, bleeding wounds he wont give a shit about the Geneva Convention. "The Rangers pulled themselves over the top," President Ronald Reagan said of the men, in 1984. How Many Vietnam Veterans Are Still Alive In 2022? - CLJ Our chase after the enemy unwittingly led us into a large ambush. Fact: Assuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving in Vietnam to be 19 years old is a myth, it is actually 22. BUT WE MUST ALSO BE COGNIZANT OF OUR REQUIREMENT TO BE COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS. My father was on a lrrp team!65-67never was shot but killed alot.He never really got over it though died in 2012! Death by a Bottle! We were like sitting Ducks. We were in2dBn 503d . What percentage of Vietnam veterans actually saw combat? There were no Americans involved in any capacity. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. Supported by a shoulder strap, No. In 1973, Renza opened his own salon in Peekskill. Either way, thats a lot of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen, male and female that made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and there are still people dying as a result of their wounds receiver so very long ago in a place called Vietnam. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. Now we know. of what was usually 5 or 6 going in and many times the leads would find traps, punji pits or the VC waiting. BS but ia a way you are correct. You of course had the radio plus xtra batteries & handsets plus your rucksack with 7 to 8 canteens , 20 mags ( I used to carry 17 rounds in the mags instead of 20 ) because the springs would force the round into the chamber causing jams . Some Brothers said why spend another year in this hellhole???? Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. The rule of thumb was , any new guys would get the radio and keep it until another new guy came in. Fortunately, it was recorded on Spotify and can be listened to here: Thank you for both articles: (1)Going up river to port and (2) the flight from Italy back to Nam. I have a fried Who is killed in Vietnam six months before I got there cause of death was other how would I find out since his parents are long gone, Do a search for his name n Coffeltdatabase.org, Sir, would you mind me translating this into Spanish and getting it posted in our blog? I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. See you in the next life!!!!! I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? A Co, 1/5 Cav, 1 Cav Division. You can find the polarity of a compound by finding electronegativities (an atoms desire for an electron) of the atoms; Carbon has an electronegativity of 2.5, compared to Fluorines A) Enter the the Ksp expression for the solid AB2 in terms of the molar solubility x. We went out typically in two boat patrols one lead one cover . If my memory is correct, only the 1st Cab flew wiith doorgunners. Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. Such as in the song Jimmy by M.I.A look at aaja in the dictionary My indian boyfriend told me is meaning come to me, 6 Answers I have never had or heard of that particular brand, but have had several here in Canada, plus a number in the Caribbean and Asia, and there all the same, small cut hot dogs in a can, no need q now please.. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas:? Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. Around 3 p.m., when Grandstaff realized we were about to be overrun, he called in artillery right on top of our location. I was a REMF but Ive heard of 05Cs that were stuck out in the boonies on a firebase. Take out the power center, youve got the edge. Great reading. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the designer of the Tet Offensive, is considered by some as ranking with Wellington, Grant, Lee and MacArthur as a great commander. After a quick lesson, DeLong became the new owner of 4th Platoons No.1 Gun. Company B had seven dead, Grandstaff announced, and I was to take No. Prayers for all. I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. 4314 0 obj <> endobj 4329 0 obj <>stream Still shaken, I grabbed the gun and crawled to the left inside the streambed. DeLong had only fired the weapon once in training, so I let him fire off a few rounds to practice. There were usually 3 man (At least 2) point teams. From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. Originally I went to the 543d TC. We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. Spent my year in a Recon platoon 2/35th 4th ID. Ha Ha always enjoyed being a volunteer! E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& All of the next day, we could see SMOKE from the fire caused by the explosions of the AMMO at, the AMMO DUMP. I couldnt disagree. The enemy fire ceased, and we made arrangements to collect our dead before continuing on to Company A. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? Men and women die everyday. Knowing I had a 100-round belt in my M60, I opened up on that hillside, my gun getting so hot that the barrel smoked. I loved it. If it was 1941 and you were an average Soviet soldier, your life expectancy on the front line was days, not weeks, thanks to the ongoing german offence. Here are statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993. I had scary thoughts about myself humping the bush as a RTO, I was a real puny guy back then. It doesnt make any sense statistically/mathematically it is impossible. What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? Id had a premonition, and asked the LT to let me trade off to become the AG. My assistant gunner and my ammo bearer also carried 300 rounds each. Sorry,I was one of your Brothers in Arms that helped talk you out of enlisting for another year in Vietnam. rice farmer who was still working with is ox like nothing ever As a point of reference, Patterson explained that combat troops in World War II, on average, spent 36 days in a combat environment; the average infantryman in Vietnam spent 245 days in constant. Was Billeted near an Army medevac Unit and was offered a chance to lay on my stomach with an M16 and door gun for them I decided not a good Idea. This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. HOOAH!!! Interesting, I carried a Prick 25, for 2 months. He said when they were ambushed they took defensive positions, returned fire, called for assistance when needed, and retreated when necessary. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. Really? Mi hermana se sorprende N-F C-F Cl-F F-F 2 Answers C-F is the most polar. Welcome home. They were located, next to us, in/on Long Bhin Post. Address: 561 E Hines Hill Road Hudson, Ohio 44236 Phone: 1-800-650-0659 / 330-655-5050 Fax: 330-653-3750 Email: [emailprotected], Retail Store Hours: Monday-Friday: 9am - 5pm EST Saturdays: 10am -3pm (Oct-Jan) Sundays: Closed. In Service to My Men | Article | The United States Army They were held in special regard after the Normandy landings, when 225 Rangers scaled cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc on June 6, 1944 under intense enemy fire. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. Our battalion operated at a base camp near Tuy Hoa in Phu Yen province along the South China Sea from October 1966 to January 1967. You seen the enemy you shots him and vice versa. Great information. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in battle on - Quora Thanks for the reply. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. Every mission, I had the same thought. Startled, I quickly pointed my M60 at them. I, in turn, would take an M16 rifle, which felt like a feather in comparison. Because if only 1 RTO fought for say only 10 or 15 minutes before being killed, that would up the AVG for the total war! The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall): Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. Vietnam War the helicopters that came in to transport soldiers were the hardest hit with mass casualties . 1 Gun and I now faced a new and more formidable foethe North Vietnamese Army. 1 Gun was firing. You just do the best job you can and if you got hit, so be it! Some of my men didnt. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunner's life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. Then one hot, sunny day, while walking across rice paddies, we suddenly received small-arms fire from Viet Cong in some distant hills. Mech. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.? The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. I am one lucky SOB. Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). It was a chaotic nightmare. 97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged. Jimmy aaja, jimmy aaja. Tumbling end over end, the canisters exploded in a white-hot fireball. I applaud the courage and difficult and all so dangerous job of Roger Herforth when he served as an RTO for the Hawk Recon Platoon of the 101st airborne division in Vietnam.. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Artillery, and ground forces. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds. I was a helicopter pilot The early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. Two rounds smashed into a log inches above my head. I pumped 200 rounds into that riverbank. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. The gas-operated, belt-fed gun had a maximum rate of fire of 550-650 rounds per minute. The 4th Platoon survivors stayed put for the night. The Davis Station in Saigon was named for him. In that time 4 us kia and 4 wounded. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. I put the M60s bipod legs down, lifted the weapon and positioned it on the ground outside the streambed facing the NVA. Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. According to the American War Library, as of February 28, 2019, it is estimated that approximately 610,000 Americans who served in land forces during the Vietnam War or in air missions over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are still alive to this day. I just wanted to get off No. Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! I watched in horror as four NVA soldiers ambled through the branches of a downed tree that partially concealed us. I never saw any correlation as to what MOS a soldier was and their survival rate. As I made it back to the road I remember seeing the meaning what is the chance of me getting killed in combat. This has been going on for about a week Every time I try to watch a video on Youtube from my laptop I get instantly redirected to "gslbeacon.ligit.com." During this Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in-country is: 13,853,027. I was sitting on the ground one day trying to dry out my gear and better configure my ruck when my squad leader came walking over to me and said, Gow, youve got the radio. As he turned and walked away! Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. We used to provide cover for these guys.