life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam

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life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam

No. We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. Hurrying forward with No. 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. Great information. First Sgt. The life expectancy of a radio operator in the Vietnam War ranged between five to six seconds all the way up to a slightly-more-optimistic thirty seconds, depending on your source. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. I felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. El subjuntivo 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). Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the M60 machine gun. 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!! I credit my longetivity to great training at Ft Benning. Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. 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. It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful. Flipping the safety off, I scanned the jungle in front of me. Some Brothers said why spend another year in this hellhole???? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. 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." Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. 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. 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. Thats 390 per day. They were glad to see me as it had been a while for replacements with the unit. I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. It means, IF (!) 4. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. Sgt. 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. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. US Wings recently added to OTEXA's Made in U.S.A. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. Thats why I never understand people talking about survivors guilt it should have been me, why him? etc. May they rest in peace. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. (LogOut/ 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. Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. 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). It was the silent power of the pig, I suppose. Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. To an, open area. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. Corrections and confirmations to this errored index resulted in the addition of 358 U.S. military personnel confirmed to have served in Vietnam but not originally listed by the Department of Defense (All names are currently on file and accessible 24/7/365). life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam - lbgf.org If my memory is correct, only the 1st Cab flew wiith doorgunners. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture, was Vietnamese. My second tour was as the S3 for LTC Anthony Herbertone of Americas greatest leaders and WARRIORS OF ALL TIME. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. No. Different type units, different locations, different opinions on dangers. I handled Top Secret Commo on a daily basis. How many draftees died in Vietnam? - 2023 1 gun and was hoping it would stay that way. 79% had a high school education or better. PDF Mortality Rates and Life Expectancy of Veterans from 1980 to 2017, and Now we know. Was the 7th Infantry in Vietnam? - 2023 Opinion | What a Combat Medic Still Carries - The New York Times This is excellent! 10 1/2 months in the bush. Our home base was Quang Tri fire Base, But I spent about 6 months out at Mai Loc with the rig. They were located, next to us, in/on Long Bhin Post. You were a Great RTO. The answer that we have always been given is that 1 year in the Infantry is equivalent to 3 years of hard labor. 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. By mid-April 1967 I was pleading with the captain to get a replacement gunner for my M60 in 4th Platoon. 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. Non-divisional aeromedical evacuation units went by the callsign DUSTOFF. Id love to see the casualties listed by Corps ? Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. Army Infantrymen (11B) are the main land combat force, and known as "Eleven Bravo.". We were probably not too far away on that day. 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. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. It was on the Job Training ! 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. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. Expenditures for a body in a combat zone? I personally carried 300 rounds of ammo at all times, one belt in the gun and two across my chest. Tumbling end over end, the canisters exploded in a white-hot fireball. Robert Sholly, standing with Platoon Sgt. In 1973, Renza opened his own salon in Peekskill. If youre American (which you probably are), I could give a f***. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. US Wings is a verified SAM Contractor and DLA Supplier and is officially listed as a manufacturer/retailer in the US Department of Commerce's Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA) Made in the USA database. THE MAN I INHERITED THE GUN FROM WASNT SO LUCKY. Me molesta que mis padres no ______ (cuidar) su alimentacin.. 3. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. 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. Anyway I was wondering about the RTOs in a grunt platoon, was that their MOS or were they 11B that carried a PRC ? We were very, lucky. Please do not send samples. 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. 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 . Great reading. In my tour everyone had the same chance of getting shot. 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. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the VietnamWar? From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. A battery of big 155 mm howitzers blasted the tiny platoon perimeter, tearing trees out of the ground and hurling chunks of red-hot shell splinters through the air. Thats what I figured but didnt know for sure. hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ Re: Helicopter Crews (Medevac & Dustoff): To my knowledge, only the 1st Cav Medevac had M60s for protection. 4 Answers aaja Come. The rolling fire burned everything to the ground and undoubtedly killed scores of NVA. 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. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. You seen the enemy you shots him and vice versa. Before he was drafted Renza had worked as a hairdresser for women in his hometown of Peekskill, New York. Over 600 Navy FMF Hospital Corpsmen were killed in Vietnam. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. 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. AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. 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. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. . Good article. 2023 CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website, RTO, John Scheur. Totally bogus. Around 3 p.m., when Grandstaff realized we were about to be overrun, he called in artillery right on top of our location. Some were constantly exposed to combat, some not so often. 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. A dense mass of elephant grass hung over the riverbank, and he ducked under it. How Many Vietnam Veterans Are Still Alive In 2022? - CLJ 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.. Army Infantryman (MOS 11B): 2022 Career Profile - Operation Military Kids As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. The gas-operated, belt-fed gun had a maximum rate of fire of 550-650 rounds per minute. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. I had to rely on my gun more than before. 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. The income differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14, however, are estimated to be smaller. Seattle, Washington(WA), 98106. Half of the company hopped off the Huey on one side of the river, and the rest exited on the other side. endstream endobj startxref happened. 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. It weighed 24 pounds, was 43.5 inches long and had bipod legs that folded down to stabilize the weapon when firing from a prone position. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. both tours. As far as I knew that was done in the whole battalion in 1968 . I kept the radio because I understood the power of having the first communication with the support mechanisms of the military. The Australian Vietnam veteran study assessed the postservice mortality of 19 205 Vietnam veterans and 25 677 non-Vietnam veterans through 1981. As a Huey door gunner, when we left the ground on a mission, I always thought that this mission would be my last! We were about 700 yards east of Company A when it was ambushed by an NVA battalion. 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 I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. In my humble opiniona maneven leaders should often recalculate their adversaries capabilities and limitations and his own limitations as wellwhen 10,000 miles from home against a determined worthy foein a strange landThe objective of Lam Son 719? wias. 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 . I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. Work Plz. Shermans had fairly thin armor (76mm at the thickest compared to a Tiger with 180mm at the thickest with most around 100mm). Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. (tirotactico.net). Thank You for your courageous service as an RTO with the legendary Hawk Recon Platoon. In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their . Our chase after the enemy unwittingly led us into a large ambush. Database. .. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. 82nd 2/505th. We were all in our Bunkers, and at the ready with our weapons. Bloody May 1968 Mini TET. 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975. 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. Learned a lot from him. At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. Over the next two months, we exchanged fire with groups of the NVA. Very Good , I was a radio operator up in I corps in 68 & to me the worst thing was the walking . We had 5 kias and roughly 50 wounded in our company so about one in three got hit. An interesting essay, even more interesting are the comments. I was wounded 3 times during the 10 1/2 months I was in-country before being medevacd out in Apr of 68. where can i find red bird vienna sausage? The one number that is really important is 56,220 and we all know what that number represents. A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their Nothing could be further from the truth. May was eventually able to hand off 2nd Platoons No. The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (CACF) Going backwards (Apr. I was still pondering the move to 4th Platoon when U.S. Air Force jets screamed over the treetops with canisters of napalm. We do have infantry (why do you think we have that MOS? Each company had eight M60s. We took fire all the time and responded. Its not all written down. Although we do tend to bomb a lot, thats only half of what we do. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. 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 . Soldier,this is a wardont forget that, and anytime we are in a fight we will be toughest SOBs in the fight!! Interesting, I carried a Prick 25, for 2 months. I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained there for 10 months before deploying to Vietnam as specialist 4. 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 Both my tours were in the Delta (IV Corps) where the only ground troops were regular ARVNs and RUFF/PUFFS. I got shot on a mission with 45 days left. During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served was: 9,492,958. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. to the empployees was very informative. There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years, after the fall of Saigon in 1975, than there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome. I was a REMF but Ive heard of 05Cs that were stuck out in the boonies on a firebase. Had multiple Ks and Ws. See you in the next life!!!!! We had been carrying machine guns for over seven months. If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. We were in2dBn 503d . It began just as, it was getting dark. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. Every single . He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star in 1974. Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. 0 What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? He said fighting was especially deadly in the war-torn city of Bakhmut, dubbed "the meat . 'No. 1 Gun': An M60 Machine Gunner in Vietnam Tells His Story - HistoryNet From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. In the few firefights and skirmishes we had with local VC, the gun always performed well. 2 Gun.. My heart was pounding out of my chest. They were also in a circular formation. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. No trees or anything on the ground. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas? Most of us have memories of these kind of experiences. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. 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 didnt make a move without that gun beside me. Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. PDF Sobering Statistics Concerning Vietnam Vets As of April 2016 Your email address will not be published. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. _____ 1. Not to mention that right now its safer than some cities in the us. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. Different strokes for different folks in war fer sure. I DISAGREETHE ENEMY WOULD SHOOT THE GUY NEXT TO THE RTO-KNOWING HE WAS THE COMMANDER. Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. 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. Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. 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). 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? After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. I know the scouts in my company had a slightly longer rate but not much. Postservice Mortality in Vietnam Veterans : 30-Year Follow-up - JAMA 2: role (MOS?). We are a woman-owned small business and Veteran-owned incorporated in Ohio. He served as a sergeant with the Big Red One in Lai Khe, Vietnam. Can I use this word like this: The addressal by the C.E.O. Assigned to HHC 1/77 Armor, 1st, BDE 5th Inf. Ambulances are not supposed to be armed (either) though in training, medics are told they and their vehicles will be a prime target. is sharing facts, thats truly good, keep up writing. 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. 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! 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. 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 am 81 now and survived the encounter by terminated the sniper. I never saw any correlation as to what MOS a soldier was and their survival rate. This makes our site more accessible to the blind, visually impaired, motor disabled, people with cognitive disabilities and more. They were not randomly selected but simply the best at doing it. 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. rice farmer who was still working with is ox like nothing ever KICK ASS AS NEEDED!!! 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. The machine guns were numbered within each platoon. Proudly holding my M60 over my head, I screamed at the top of my lungs, No. Overrun and utterly destroyed, the 30-man 4th Platoon had suffered 21 killed and one missing. Just published my book The Last Goodbye by John Fratangelo, available on line on Barnes and Noble and Amazon Prime Books, Getting great reviews. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? The Army suffered the most total casualties, 38,179 or 2.7 percent of its force. Yes, I made E4 at graduation, that was considered a NCO then. "The Cotton Balers, damn fine Soldiers." The Battalion returned to Fort Benning on October 11, 1970 and was inactivated. I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom.