In the few firefights and skirmishes we had with local VC, the gun always performed well. Mech. As the entire platoon hit the ground, I saw guys crawling back toward me. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. My bud, Price took over as RTO. %%EOF After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. Both my tours were in the Delta (IV Corps) where the only ground troops were regular ARVNs and RUFF/PUFFS. We had 5 kias and roughly 50 wounded in our company so about one in three got hit. And us the living that served, who suffer from PTSD ,that figure or percent-aged would be about the greatest of all. I think what is missing is the fact that the life expectancy of those firing at us was much shorter than those that they were firing at. Also: for years I have read those life-expectancy numbers never really understanding them, but also noting that they wildly vary. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. As some said, averages are meaningless. Comments were more interesting than the article it self. E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& How many draftees died in Vietnam? - 2023 What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? A Co, 1/5 Cav, 1 Cav Division. Umm..maybe its because we also learn from experience. We were discussing the different units and dangers of each. Originally I went to the 543d TC. If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. As far as I knew that was done in the whole battalion in 1968 . But it was my jobso I tried not to think about it much. of what was usually 5 or 6 going in and many times the leads would find traps, punji pits or the VC waiting. "And in seizing the firm land at the . Please do not send samples. In Vietnam 70% 0f the casualties were Infantry BUT it might be 70% of ALL the Infantry that served in Vietnam. Great reading. C Co, 1st-12th 66-67. MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. rice farmer who was still working with is ox like nothing ever 3 Answers C5H5N in water > C5H5NH+ & OH- Kb = [C5H5NH+] [OH-] / [C5H5N] 1.5e-9 = [x] 1. I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. We all have opinions, this is mine. It was just north of Saigon. Soldiers also act in the mobilization of vehicles, weaponry, troops, and more. Im laying behind a rice paddie dike.I put my whole body as far down in the muck while the bullets were over my head. 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. We used to provide cover for these guys. Our patrols were typically about 14 hours 24/7 We operated of old LSTs and large barges. where can i find red bird vienna sausage? Well, according to current mortality and morbidity statistics for the USright around 77.5 Years! US Wings is a veteran-owned business and an official supplier to the US Military. As of April 14, 2017, there are 1,611 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War across Vietnam (1,258), Laos(297), Cambodia(49), and China(7). First Sgt. As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. 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! Was I lucky ? Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. . 4329 0 obj <>stream (LogOut/ The blasts from the AMMO, really lit up the whole area. He then said that they were generally on patrol moving through their area, both attacking and being attacked depending if the VC knew their location. (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. Contents1 [] 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 assisted Vessey and Capt Cartwright by helping prepare the Bee Hive Rounds (first time they were ever used), firing 4 rounds at proximity 0 range into a human wave attack on or weak side after 5 hours of relentless attacks on the opposite side of the perimeter Those 4 rounds killed @ 400 enemy soldiers, of the 881 total enemy losss John Vessey later became a 4 Star general and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs appointed by Reagan 1983, and at retirement became Chair of the POW MIA Commission for 14 years, Passing away in August 2016 just 6 months before our 50th Reunion. Startled, I quickly pointed my M60 at them. As mentioned, who kept track of that in the first place? https://www.historynet.com/no-1-gun-an-m60-machine-gunner-in-vietnam-tells-his-story/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. We walked the mountains and rice patties all thru Tu Thien Province. So I guess I defied the odds. Company B arrived in-country with four rifle platoons, and each platoon was armed with two M60s. Nixon Presidential Papers. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. Explore the Life of a U.S. Infantryman in Vietnam. Quickly learned to control rate of fire. In total, the 7th Infantry spent four years in Vietnam. We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. I never saw any correlation as to what MOS a soldier was and their survival rate. Our 5th night there, the AMMO area started burning / blowing up. Day in the life of a Vietnam Soldier | History 118: US History Since 1877 Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. For example, life expectancy of Veterans at age 25 population, thus 3.6 and 0.5 life-years smaller income differentials for male and female Veterans, respectively, shown in Tables 17 and 18. Nervous, I set up my gun on the hill and loaded a new hundred-round belt. An interesting comment I had. I prayed I would not have to fire over the heads of the 4th Platoon troops entering the draw to retrieve our dead. 2 Gun.. Back home he returned to hairdressing and got a job at Kenneth Salon in New York City working with top models and fashion magazine editors. Interesting reading. B)Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x. Jimmy aaja -M.I.A. 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. In the First Armored Division, now part of the 23rd Infantry Division, commonly known as the Americal Division, combat medics were called into action every day because the fighting was now. This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. I was to have that experience two more times before it was over. If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. Learned a lot from him. The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was . As we were, steadily building up, our area for protection. Expenditures for a body in a combat zone? Around 3 p.m., when Grandstaff realized we were about to be overrun, he called in artillery right on top of our location. When we reached Company A, we placed our dead in the center of the two-company perimeter. Shermans had fairly thin armor (76mm at the thickest compared to a Tiger with 180mm at the thickest with most around 100mm). They were great patriots fighting for their families and their homeland. I always felt that Infantry units were in more danger because of ambush issues and no permanent defensive structures. Before he was drafted Renza had worked as a hairdresser for women in his hometown of Peekskill, New York. "The Cotton Balers, damn fine Soldiers." The Battalion returned to Fort Benning on October 11, 1970 and was inactivated. Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their . 1 Gun kept a lot of enemy heads down. Ive always considered myself damn lucky to make it out alive. The U.S. Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual contains gems such as infantry "patrol tips," maneuver techniques, and fighting methods for various environments. It doesnt make any sense statistically/mathematically it is impossible. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. Information presented by SFC (Ret) David Hack. Shea's gallantry in action at the cost of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon . Veteran Owned Since 1986. As I carried a PRC25 radio for over seven-months in the > Nam, I was curious to find out what I did RIGHT to surv >, One MOS I figured was a sure short timer was POL{Fuel} Truck Driver. In Vietnam he cut the hair of everyone in his company for free. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall): Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. Very Good , I was a radio operator up in I corps in 68 & to me the worst thing was the walking . We were all in our Bunkers, and at the ready with our weapons. Do the math. 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. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. . Now, the wisdom of this soldier tough but humanly compassionate warrior ethos can be assessed through the 2d Bn recordNO complaints about mistreatment of prisonerswhile achieving the most combat SUCCESSES IN THE BRIGADE. Out of the 3,000,000 men and women in our armed forces and reserves, we have lost 4,500 in this 9 year war. KICK ASS AS NEEDED!!! And yes, please God, bless America. Theres 58,276. And dug Berms, in the area. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. As I was running to the rivers edge, ready to unload on the VC hiding in the elephant grass, I ran past a grass hut and never bothered to clear it. Unable to reach Company A, my company pulled back, formed a perimeter and called in air and artillery support. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. The Department of Defense Vietnam War Service Index officially provided by The War Library originally reported with errors that 2,709,918 U.S. military personnel as having served in-country. I carried the PRC-25 Radio most of that time. 1 Gun used to kill Americans? We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. More importantly, Grandstaff was very gung-ho. Flipping the safety off, I scanned the jungle in front of me. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. Hi, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one We were about 700 yards east of Company A when it was ambushed by an NVA battalion. But I made it back in one piece. Company A searched in vain for the platoon in the dark and finally found the shattered unit on the morning of May 19. 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.. We do have infantry (why do you think we have that MOS? Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. Here are statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993. Together we had passed the test. Life expectancy at birth. 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. 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. Me molesta que mis padres no ______ (cuidar) su alimentacin.. 3. Assigned to HHC 1/77 Armor, 1st, BDE 5th Inf. As it was, less than 40 did not need evacuation. Seattle, Washington(WA), 98106. My good friend who was a RTO was killed. The trailer for Fury claims that the average life expectancy of an Army Infantrymen (11B) are the main land combat force, and known as "Eleven Bravo.". The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. Totally bogus. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. The rule of thumb was , any new guys would get the radio and keep it until another new guy came in. We were told in training that the life expectancy of a machine gunner was about seven seconds from the moment the first round was fired. 4 Answers aaja Come. Welcome home!! They were lazy, cowardly and of questionable loyalty, especially the RUFF/PUFFS, and they would steal your under ware if given half a chance. Activated in 1915, as the 173rd Infantry Brigade, the unit saw service in World War II but is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War. Point, slack and compass. I also was 2/327 B company. All that other stuff about seconds and minutes were story tellers, embellishing things to impress some listeners back home. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the comments and replies are of absolute truth, I was only 18 when I got to Nam ,Im a country boy from NC so here I am Helicopters, F4 fighters. By the time we reached Vietnam in October 1966 I felt the gun had become a part of me. The 4th Platoons single machine gun crewthe platoon had entered the fight short a gunhad been killed in the fighting, and I was to be moved there. I just wanted to get off No. Now we know. 4 Paul Domke, who carried extra belts of ammo and fed them into the gun. Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. My 31-months in-country was in three Direct Support US Army aviation units, 15TC BN, First Cav, 335TH, Americal and 17TH Cav 101ST ABD65-71In the last battle I was directly involved, LAM SON 719, into Laos, cost army aviation units over 600-helicopters shot down or battle damagedthe NVA were waiting for our SECRET mission in early 71I was glad to go home at battles end, in March 71 , almost unscathed, I was TDY for my absurd third tourTo the point, many ARVN Rangers, airborne and their other best died in Lam Son 719US Army Infantry were forbidden entry to Laos in 71.. the ARVN were massacredand many US Army pilots and crew mambers were KIA & WIAeven MIA. He pulled the company into a perimeter and dispatched 4th Platoon to recon the trail to the west, while 1st Platoon performed a similar mission to the east-southeast. 2 tour Nam Vet, The Navys First Vietnamese Admiral Saw His Family Killed by an Infamous Viet CongGuerrilla, The Navy's First Vietnamese Admiral Saw His Family Killed by an Infamous Viet Cong Guerrilla, A Day in the Life of an Infantry Point Man in Vietnam, The Story behind the famous Saigon Execution Photo.
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