Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Comments were more interesting than the article it self. I was on a radar crew and we were told that, during war time, we would most likely be killed within minutes. MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. Together we had passed the test. 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). maybe your question i vauge. I too never understood survivor quilt, Enjoyed your article. The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. I lost my cherry very early. 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. wmy:LsN{/^yzJ] 6.7>n-:FqOa#CW>ia?wt?Xa@ghCd bF)`Schl4*f. 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. The Davis Station in Saigon was named for him. Completa las oraciones con la forma correcta del presente de subjuntivo de los verbos entre parntesis.? Life Expectancy of the World Population. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. 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. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. approaching a village and a firefight starts). A "Sapper" is a combat engineer soldier who is with the front line infantry troops. Some Brothers said why spend another year in this hellhole???? Oh, and even the Air Force has ground units. The first thing my platoon sgt. Posterior Thigh _____ 4. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords or 1962 would secure the border). What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? I just wanted to get off No. Not much different than his unit. Despite initial victories by the Communists forces, the Tet Offensive resulted in a major defeat of those forces. In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes, 5,607 helicopters and 578 UAVs). My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x.? The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. We flew north, then made a stop, in Cam Rahn Bay. See also: Population 4314 0 obj <> endobj Average age of men killed: 23.1 years Total Deaths: 23.11 years Enlisted: 50,274; 22.37 years Officers: 6,598; 28.43 years Warrants: 1,276; 24.73 years E1: 525; 20.34 years Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. The average age of the 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. As I made my way to the river, I saw a VC guerrilla jump into the water on the other side. Then the tempo changed suddenly and violently. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded, who survived the first 24 hours, died. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. 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 . Welcome Home Roger. I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served. 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. 1 Gun used to kill Americans? hbbd```b`` ,&Iw sA '#o I also was 2/327 B company. Two rounds smashed into a log inches above my head. In the few firefights and skirmishes we had with local VC, the gun always performed well. 101st Airborne Division. Also: for years I have read those life-expectancy numbers never really understanding them, but also noting that they wildly vary. Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. My heart was pounding out of my chest. John Doever (and yes, you cant ask them, so it would have to be derived from the AA-reports and survivors). Veteran Owned Since 1986. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1961. 1 Gun. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. Nicknamed "the pig" due to its size, weight and sound, the gun struck fear into enemy troops. Life expectancy at birth. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? His comparison to a FB was that if we were fired on we returned fire and requested assistance when needed. 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. If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. 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. In a strange country scared shitless .I was a minesweeper.My first time out on a mission they put me on the drag line fifty yards from the road which was route 1, Then all hell broke lose They were located, next to us, in/on Long Bhin Post. A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? I was told my life expectancy was about 45 secs during a fire fight because of the weapons and demo I carried. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. Commanders like him were few and far between many were afraid of their own shadow and were only there to get their ticket punched. 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. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of aND, mAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! It began just as, it was getting dark. I was an FO back in the day. I know the scouts in my company had a slightly longer rate but not much. We had run patrols for about a month when I first saw action. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Of the . I pumped 200 rounds into that riverbank. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. 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. Thanks for the reply. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. The early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. where can i find red bird vienna sausage? To my surprise, I qualified as an expert with the M60 machine gun, nicknamed the pig because of the size, weight and sound of the weapon. I never understood why they didnt put M60s on Medevacs (once the VC shot them down) but then, we now know they never intended to win that war in the first place. BS but ia a way you are correct. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. Many were killed or wounded ! I was over there twice serving as a Hospital Corpsman with a marine unit. We used to provide cover for these guys. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the . Nixon Presidential Papers. Es ridculo que t ______ (tener) un resfriado en verano. Soldier Life Expectancy in Ukraine 'Meat Grinder' Is 4 Hours: Marine It was just part of the job. Hurrying forward with No. Sholly injured an ankle, and 1st Lt. Cary Allen took command of Company B. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. 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. It was on the Job Training ! What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War? rice farmer who was still working with is ox like nothing ever Contents1 [] Found NVA bunker complex. 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. Ha Ha always enjoyed being a volunteer! It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. If my memory is correct, only the 1st Cab flew wiith doorgunners. I couldnt disagree. I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. I for one commend you for your courage and thank you for your service to your country. I credit my longetivity to great training at Ft Benning. Great reading. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. 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.. One of them gazed in our direction, lowered his AK 47 assault rifle and fired six shots. Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. An interesting essay, even more interesting are the comments. Great story!!! HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Robert Sholly, standing with Platoon Sgt. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers. How many draftees died in Vietnam? - 2023 I was never formally trained as an RTO. The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. News media have reported tha an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc.Those are incorrect. 5 seconds. When the Company B units that landed on the opposite side of the river got to the bank, some troops reached in and pulled the enemy from the water. Diaphragm _____ 3. We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. They were a great bunch. Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. One afternoon, while Company B was still in the Tuy Hoa area, we received orders to gather up our gear and get ready to board choppers for an assault into a hot landing zone. 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 . According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. I was an RTO for 9-1/2 months for Hawk Recon 2/327 101AB from dec, 1969 to sept 70. 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.. Rules may have changed, I was in the Delta region. (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. Supported by a shoulder strap, No. Artillery, and ground forces. Your Dad and I had the same job. 2) by my research, medics suffered 93% casualties with about 33% deaths. If you were an administrative officer or clerk in an air-conditioned trailer in Saigon, your war might be a lot like peacetime duty. _____ 1. As some said, averages are meaningless. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. We fought to an agreed stalemate. Terrified, I dropped down as fast as I could, pulling the gun and two ammo belts of 100 rounds apiece on top of me as I fell back into the dry streambed. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. %%EOF This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. That same day, I along with 3/4 others was transported to Long Bhin Post. 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. The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . Thank You General Vessey for the almost 53 years I have lived since that day. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion 327th Infantry. 4. 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!! Bloody May 1968 Mini TET. 'No. 1 Gun': An M60 Machine Gunner in Vietnam Tells His Story - HistoryNet After every officer in our company was either killed or had serious wounds, our 1st Sgt , David McNerney took over the company and without his leadership, and knowledge of war, and unbelievable courage, our company would probably have been wiped out. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. Startled, I quickly pointed my M60 at them. First thing we did was, Set up a complete circular perimeter. Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) It was reported as an overwhelming success for the Communist forces and a decided defeat for the U.S. forces. 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. Our Aussie Dust off choppers had door gunners, we worked on the theory if the Noggies would shot at Red Cross choppers, we would return fire, Aussie grunt, 60000 00 Aussies fought in Vietnam, Up the Old Red Rooster and more beer. I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. 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? Grab some friends and go outside. It was just north of Saigon. It was a chaotic nightmare. Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial All of the next day, we could see SMOKE from the fire caused by the explosions of the AMMO at, the AMMO DUMP. 4 Joey Piambino were to my right in the streambed. See you in the next life!!!!! At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. 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! 1 Gun onto a small hill and provide security while others retrieved them. An Hinglish word (Hindi/English). S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. As the entire platoon hit the ground, I saw guys crawling back toward me. 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! I am 16 years old an 150 pounds qith some good muscle. A Marine on patrol crosses a rice paddy in Vietnam holding an M60 machine gun in 1966. I personally believe and agree with previous posts that when its your time, not much you can do. Shermans had fairly thin armor (76mm at the thickest compared to a Tiger with 180mm at the thickest with most around 100mm). An NVA soldier had evidently spotted the gun and waited patiently for me to stick my head up. His body was torn to pieces. I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained there for 10 months before deploying to Vietnam as specialist 4. Thats what I figured but didnt know for sure. 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. Phi Pow B.Sc (econ) in Economic History & Economics (college minor), London School of Economics and Political Science Author has 212 answers and 234.6K answer views 2 y Originally Answered: What soldier had the shortest life expectancy? We were about 700 yards east of Company A when it was ambushed by an NVA battalion. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas? Ambulances are not supposed to be armed (either) though in training, medics are told they and their vehicles will be a prime target. The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall): Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. 3 Answers C5H5N in water > C5H5NH+ & OH- Kb = [C5H5NH+] [OH-] / [C5H5N] 1.5e-9 = [x] 1. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. There were also wounded. When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. Great information. Some gave all. Forget the statistics, we all had a job to do, we went where we were told. At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. Day in the life of a Vietnam Soldier | History 118: US History Since 1877 . 67-67 11B 4th Id. Two of my classmates were killed within 2 weeks incountry and three wounded I know of. When I popped back up to put out some automatic fire, a bullet whizzed by my earno more than an inch from my headand slammed into the tree next to me, shattering the bark. Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. The body felt as though it weighed considerably more than it looked. 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. 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:? 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. (LogOut/ It resulted in the death of some 45,000 NVA troops and the complete, if not total destruction of the Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. Nothing could be further from the truth. An interesting comment I had. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2 Dont know why, but generally, their aircraft were not armed (door gunners, etc.).
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