life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam

1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). For example: 7*x^2. said to me. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. I lost my cherry very early. (LogOut/ I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. Hurrying forward with No. Here is an 18 The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and school teachers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Please do not send samples. 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. To my right, Piambino had poked his head out of the trench to fire his M16 rifle. I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. 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. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers. Nevertheless, I swung No. As I made it back to the road I remember seeing the I know the scouts in my company had a slightly longer rate but not much. 1 Gun became my very best friend. 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. In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. Required fields are marked *. In Vietnam 70% 0f the casualties were Infantry BUT it might be 70% of ALL the Infantry that served in Vietnam. Express your answer in terms of x. Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) 97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. V. Victor Renza was sent home after he was wounded on May 18, 1967. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. Roger Loves you too, Im sure. Ambushed on October 4th,1967. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. It was one of my most memorable tours in the Navy I later went to a carrier and was bored silly because I had about 1% of the responsibilities I had as an O-2. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- It was an honor indeed to serve with some of the finest soldiers I have ever met. Take out the power center, youve got the edge. In your rucksack . where can i find red bird vienna sausage? No. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. It doesnt make any sense statistically/mathematically it is impossible. As a Huey door gunner, when we left the ground on a mission, I always thought that this mission would be my last! 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 saw killed and wounded everywhere in our combat operations. The three of us had trained together at Fort Lewis and were good friends. See you in the next life!!!!! Keep in step with US Wings Join our newsletter to receive all our latest news and offers, Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from US Wings. African Americans played a prominent role in the Vietnam War. The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. . One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1961. Then we all, loaded on C-147 cargo planes. Unable to reach Company A, my company pulled back, formed a perimeter and called in air and artillery support. In the hands of a well-trained machine gunner, the M60 was a devastating weaponso feared by our opponents that they usually aimed their first shots at the machine gunners, who were often in positions exposed to enemy fire. Saw from mostly safe distance almost all the weapons systems that where there used. I was a point man, M60 Gunner and squad leader. Was No. In our spare time we did medevacs and medcaps for the local communities and when required inserted SEALs . At Fort Lewis, every recruit learned to operate various weapons. Supported by a shoulder strap, No. hmK#1+yNvA 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. Also: for years I have read those life-expectancy numbers never really understanding them, but also noting that they wildly vary. Thanks for posting! 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. year old Marine thinking this is my last day on earth. Originally I went to the 543d TC. . 1 Gun was firing. 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. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion 327th Infantry. They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. ), special forces, combat support, engineering, medics, and vehicle assault weapons. If youre a foreigner, I respect what you think, but make sure you read ALL your facts, and dont come to rash conclusion until you know everything from BOTH sides. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star in 1974. Before I became a team leader on ambush and recon I was in command of the scout jeep for the 25th ID resupply convoy from January 1968 to June 15, 1968 and I found the resupply convoys a lot more dangerous because the enemy always knew where it would be and when. I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. I wasnt sure if the VC had moved to right or left, so I sprayed the elephant grass in both directions. I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division. The dead were placed on ponchos. There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. US Wings recently added to OTEXA's Made in U.S.A. Back in 1965, I was a door gunner on Medevac recovery operations. The 4th Platoon survivors stayed put for the night. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. Still shaken, I grabbed the gun and crawled to the left inside the streambed. Staying alive was kinda of important. A dense mass of elephant grass hung over the riverbank, and he ducked under it. We walked the mountains and rice patties all thru Tu Thien Province. Information presented by SFC (Ret) David Hack. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. sweep team,then I heard the choppers and they were blowing the hell out in the tree line then it just got so quiet like nothing 1 Gun and I now faced a new and more formidable foethe North Vietnamese Army. The answer that we have always been given is that 1 year in the Infantry is equivalent to 3 years of hard labor. (tirotactico.net). From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. Its not all written down. Well, according to current mortality and morbidity statistics for the USright around 77.5 Years! Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. 1 Gun kept a lot of enemy heads down. In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. I agree with all of the comments, however I would add Tunnel Rats to the group I was one and saw many of my friends die in those tunnels I was very fortunate or very lucky and was never a lead but was at the tail end. Each company had eight M60s. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. I never thought of it that way before but have many times since. Over 600 Navy FMF Hospital Corpsmen were killed in Vietnam. I was an Infantry Scout Dog handler. Before he was drafted Renza had worked as a hairdresser for women in his hometown of Peekskill, New York. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. Appx: 6 months in, all of the 543d TC joined forces with the 572d TC. Life expectancy at birth. Sept 69 to Sept 70. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. Of the eight who remained, seven were wounded. If anything went wrong, I could easily kill some of our soldiers. More importantly, Grandstaff was very gung-ho. 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. We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. 10-4. So do us all a favor and please learn to be tolerant, intelligent, and active. His best friend is 86 and still alive. Thats why I never understand people talking about survivors guilt it should have been me, why him? etc. 1 Gun over my shoulder, grabbed a corner of a poncho and stumbled off with three other soldiers. What Was It Like To Hump The Boonies in Vietnam? I always felt that Infantry units were in more danger because of ambush issues and no permanent defensive structures. An interesting comment I had. Combatants on both sides faced physical challenges posed by the climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. Nixon Presidential Papers. I told by RTO that i could carry my own radio, When he agreed he was humping ammo. We did interdictions, blocks and other fun things on the river. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served. 1 Gun, I jumped into a small dry streambed with Domke, my assistant gunner. DeLong was later killed attempting to escape from a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp in Cambodia. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. We went out typically in two boat patrols one lead one cover . I prayed I would not have to fire over the heads of the 4th Platoon troops entering the draw to retrieve our dead. Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. I was a 2LT on Hamburger Hill and had 4 RTOs over a 7 day period (excluding the times I ended up carrying my own radio). Dont know why, but generally, their aircraft were not armed (door gunners, etc.). May was eventually able to hand off 2nd Platoons No. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome. 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. My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. estimated education differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14 are close to those of U. S. population in 1979-89. It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. Learned a lot from him. a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. What unit lost the most soldiers in Vietnam? After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. I just wanted to get off No. My bud, Price took over as RTO. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. All of the next day, we could see SMOKE from the fire caused by the explosions of the AMMO at, the AMMO DUMP. To keep busy on the boat ride to Vietnam, my unitCompany B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regimentheld competitions where we took the gun apart and put it back together while blindfolded to see who could do it fastest. MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. News media have reported tha an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc.Those are incorrect. I was an M-60 machine gunner for a battalion recon platoon in 1967, for the First Infantry Division, Known as The Black Scarf Battalion. Tumbling end over end, the canisters exploded in a white-hot fireball. I too never understood survivor quilt, Enjoyed your article. As it was, less than 40 did not need evacuation. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded, who survived the first 24 hours, died. 1 Gun and I survived our first firefight. (many of the Soviet casualties were POWs, though). 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. (LogOut/ We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. It was just part of the job. Spanish Help 4 Bill May and Spc. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. Once we turned on the radar they could hit us with a harm missile. Moving west down the trail, 4th Platoon exchanged fire with a single NVA soldier, then a handful and finally a group of about 10-15 around noon. All that other stuff about seconds and minutes were story tellers, embellishing things to impress some listeners back home. He was killed in an ambush along with three others. Really? When Apache Snow began, I was an RTO, after Airborne, and before the CA on Dong Ap Bia, I became the AG for Roeski. We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. July 68 to July 69. No. 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. Umm..maybe its because we also learn from experience. Quickly learned to control rate of fire. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. Re: Helicopter Crews (Medevac & Dustoff): To my knowledge, only the 1st Cav Medevac had M60s for protection. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? The incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three day battle between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of Trang Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to force the NVA out of the village. I was stationed on 2 FSBs (8 & 175mm guns) west of Tay Ninh on the Cambodian boarder in the Ho Chi Minh trail and was wounded but nothing as bad as he was. Change). 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. The fact that PDoggbiker cant find any decent calculation/explanation, tells us a lot. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. Stop staring at your computer already, get up. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. Was it left behind on some forgotten battlefield? 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).