Overrun and utterly destroyed, the 30-man 4th Platoon had suffered 21 killed and one missing. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. I watched in horror as four NVA soldiers ambled through the branches of a downed tree that partially concealed us. 1 Gun onto a small hill and provide security while others retrieved them. 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. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. Every single . Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. Also , it I might add that the, Government big wigs, have a quota [percentage]of a lot of the Military equipment etc that had a certain amount of time to function until it was disable, blow up, wrecked, junk, etc. One of them gazed in our direction, lowered his AK 47 assault rifle and fired six shots. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics 1 gun! Everyone laughed. We are a woman-owned small business and Veteran-owned incorporated in Ohio. I DISAGREETHE ENEMY WOULD SHOOT THE GUY NEXT TO THE RTO-KNOWING HE WAS THE COMMANDER. Shermans had fairly thin armor (76mm at the thickest compared to a Tiger with 180mm at the thickest with most around 100mm). Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. The rule of thumb was , any new guys would get the radio and keep it until another new guy came in. 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. The article was interesting. 1 Gun. I had an assistant gunner, Spc. It called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal of U.S. forces, limitation of both sides forces inside South Vietnam and a commitment to peaceful reunification. . Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. The trailer for Fury claims that the average life expectancy of an B)Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x. Jimmy aaja -M.I.A. 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. Nobody attacked, where we were. 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 Just to show that its hard to get an accurate number, note my typo of 56,220. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. Soon I could take the gun apart and put it back together in the dark. See my calculation below in the comments bogus indeed. Its not all written down. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. Papitto Opportunity Connections Mission: The Papitto Opportunity Connection (POC) is a private foundation dedicated to listening and working together with Rhode Islands BIPOC communities to empower and create individual success stories by investing in education, job skills training, and entrepreneurial ventures. May was eventually able to hand off 2nd Platoons No. I was to have that experience two more times before it was over. In Vietnam 70% 0f the casualties were Infantry BUT it might be 70% of ALL the Infantry that served in Vietnam. 2 Gun.. It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. Please do not send samples. This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. Well, according to current mortality and morbidity statistics for the USright around 77.5 Years! We were all in our Bunkers, and at the ready with our weapons. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. That was supposed to be 58, 220. but wait, there are more numbers for the same story. The rolling fire burned everything to the ground and undoubtedly killed scores of NVA. 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. 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. Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. You just do the best job you can and if you got hit, so be it! Unable to reach Company A, my company pulled back, formed a perimeter and called in air and artillery support. 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. 3 Answers C5H5N in water > C5H5NH+ & OH- Kb = [C5H5NH+] [OH-] / [C5H5N] 1.5e-9 = [x] 1. Me molesta que mis padres no ______ (cuidar) su alimentacin.. 3. (and yes, you cant ask them, so it would have to be derived from the AA-reports and survivors). 1 Gun and I survived our first firefight. Dont know why, but generally, their aircraft were not armed (door gunners, etc.). If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. KICK ASS AS NEEDED!!! Company A searched in vain for the platoon in the dark and finally found the shattered unit on the morning of May 19. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. Everyone in the company hit the dirt. How many draftees died in Vietnam? - 2023 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 used to provide cover for these guys. The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. We wanted a break. The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours, a Marine said. Learned a lot from him. I quit trying to make sense of all the numbers that have been generated about Vietnam. The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. Id love to see the casualties listed by Corps ? We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. They were a great bunch. 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. The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual Review - HistoryNet Soon after, Pfc. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. So I guess I defied the odds. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the . Done ranting. I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division. The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. His body was torn to pieces. 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. endstream endobj startxref document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2 However, Shermans were very outmatched by the German tanks on the field of battle. Certainly got my attention. Proudly holding my M60 over my head, I screamed at the top of my lungs, No. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. July 68 to July 69. I didnt want any medals. of what was usually 5 or 6 going in and many times the leads would find traps, punji pits or the VC waiting. 1 Gun before my luck ran out. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. 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). The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent . First Sgt. Our patrols were typically about 14 hours 24/7 We operated of old LSTs and large barges. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Different strokes for different folks in war fer sure. 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. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. Does this mean addressing to a crowd? I would suspect that stating with any accuracy the life span of a grunt like me, or any other MOS, would be pretty much pure speculation. 1 Gun had registered its first kill. As the entire platoon hit the ground, I saw guys crawling back toward me. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Company B arrived in-country with four rifle platoons, and each platoon was armed with two M60s. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained there for 10 months before deploying to Vietnam as specialist 4. Mi hermana se sorprende N-F C-F Cl-F F-F 2 Answers C-F is the most polar. life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam - lbgf.org It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. 2 Gun to Ranallo. It didnt matter who you were or where you were. And I know what youre going to say, Because the American cs! Bullcrap!!!! No trees or anything on the ground. I put the M60s bipod legs down, lifted the weapon and positioned it on the ground outside the streambed facing the NVA. 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. Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. 4 Answers aaja Come. Sergeant Galiano's experience does not deny Brands depiction of the battle in Vietnam, but offers a typically overlooked perspective of a drafted soldier fighting in the central highlands of Vietnam. Your Dad and I had the same job. Our chase after the enemy unwittingly led us into a large ambush. I couldnt disagree. Cause-specific . An interesting comment I had. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. He served as a sergeant with the Big Red One in Lai Khe, Vietnam. The man listed as missing was machine gunner Joe DeLong, captured along with No. 1 Gun kept a lot of enemy heads down. Completa las oraciones con la forma correcta del presente de subjuntivo de los verbos entre parntesis.? In an instant the jungle erupted in gunfire. I am one lucky SOB. The Australian Vietnam veteran study assessed the postservice mortality of 19 205 Vietnam veterans and 25 677 non-Vietnam veterans through 1981. Eventually I found a spot where the bed leveled off and began firing on the NVA. I kept the radio because I understood the power of having the first communication with the support mechanisms of the military. Mech. 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:? Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. I was an Artillery Forward Observer with the Infantry. We (Americans) had nothing to do with controlling VNAF, according to Lieutenant General (Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of TRAC at that time. I picked up my M60 and walked to the center of the perimeter, where I found the company commander, Capt. We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. But it was my jobso I tried not to think about it much. The jungle seemed to want No. Tumbling end over end, the canisters exploded in a white-hot fireball. Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. Sociologists Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, in their recently published book All That We Can Be, said they analyzed the claim that blacks were used like cannon fodder during Vietnam and can report definitely that this charge is untrue. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. We had 5 kias and roughly 50 wounded in our company so about one in three got hit. As I made my way to the river, I saw a VC guerrilla jump into the water on the other side. Five RTOs. I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas? Hack received the Purple Heart for major combat injuries, and spent the rest of his military career as a recruiter for the US Army in Akron, Ohio. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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 . Nevertheless, I swung No. The machine guns were numbered within each platoon. Thats my experience. So I guess i lasted longer than I was supposed to. It means, IF (!) By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. Totally bogus. Interesting, I carried a Prick 25, for 2 months. RIP KOOKIE forever young, Thank god you are still alive, I am age 77. wias. US Wings is a veteran-owned business and an official supplier to the US Military. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. We had run patrols for about a month when I first saw action. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. As an infantry platoon Sgt of a platoon made up of all draftees my age 21 plus or minus a year We fought the largest single one day battle of the war March 21, 1967 known as the Battle of Soui Tre, fire support base Gold operation Junction City, that base was commanded by LtCol John Vessey of the 2/77 FA Vessey was a 25 year veteran of WWII fame with a DSC at Anzio, and on this day he was looking at the end of his career after that tour in Vietnam. At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. PDF Sobering Statistics Concerning Vietnam Vets As of April 2016 (LogOut/ U.S. Wings is a manufacturer and a supplier. I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. Found NVA bunker complex. Our home base was Quang Tri fire Base, But I spent about 6 months out at Mai Loc with the rig. _____ 1. They were great patriots fighting for their families and their homeland. I personally believe and agree with previous posts that when its your time, not much you can do. It was reported as an overwhelming success for the Communist forces and a decided defeat for the U.S. forces. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. 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. Half of the company hopped off the Huey on one side of the river, and the rest exited on the other side. 2023 CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website, RTO, John Scheur. %%EOF Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. I am 16 years old an 150 pounds qith some good muscle. They were all up there scanning the terrain and looking for signs. 1 Gun was firing. 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. As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. I carried the proc 26 radio after I was asked by my field 1st ( E 7 ) if I would for my platoon . 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. is sharing facts, thats truly good, keep up writing. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during Vietnam This is not Vietnam where a machine gunner's life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. 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! means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. meaning what is the chance of me getting killed in combat. He also worked on Jacqueline Kennedys hair pieces and wigs. Change). 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). When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. I look over to (You can unsubscribe anytime), The US Wings website is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliant and adheres to their standards for accessibility of the internet so people with disabilities can surf the web more easily & efficiently. I just wanted to get off No. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. It was more or less next man up . Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. I was a helicopter pilot I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. I want to know what the life expectancy of a us infantry army soldier is. A Co, 1/5 Cav, 1 Cav Division. We killed a lot of the enemy but we took few serious casualties. year old Marine thinking this is my last day on earth. The one that should be there is the combat medic. He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. Soldier Life Expectancy in Ukraine 'Meat Grinder' Is 4 Hours: Marine I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. Or is it on display in a Hanoi museum so curious citizens of that city can inspect a weapon captured from American imperialists? It was an honor indeed to serve with some of the finest soldiers I have ever met. US Wings recently added to OTEXA's Made in U.S.A. Ernest, Im glad that your first tour with the VN airborne was rewarding. I won a few times, and even when I did not I benefited from handling the gun under stress. He retired in 2012 and lives in Delray Beach, Florida. We were very, lucky. There were also wounded. He was not the type to hump a radio. In your rucksack . Flipping the safety off, I scanned the jungle in front of me. How old are Vietnam vets now? I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. 1ST MAW 66-68. I was wasting ammo and didnt even have a target! They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. Thank You Roger!!! Do the math. (LogOut/ hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ 4329 0 obj <>stream In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. 5 Answers There is no word like addressal. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. But I made it back in one piece. I was told my life expectancy was about 45 secs during a fire fight because of the weapons and demo I carried. They were glad to see me as it had been a while for replacements with the unit. 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. One was holding a carbine. 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. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. 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." 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 our site more accessible to the blind, visually impaired, motor disabled, people with cognitive disabilities and more. Which soldier had the shortest life-expectancy? - Quora