never happened,we lost two sweep team members and some Never knew they had life expectancy stats. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. Amen I was a machine gunner for 7 months 503rd infantry 173rd airborne and you hit the nail right on the head. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. I am 16 years old an 150 pounds qith some good muscle. 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." Please do not send samples. If the enemy was near, we never saw any. Soon after, Pfc. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. They kept coming up the hill bringing more bodies to me until all seven had been found. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. 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.. 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 . 1ST MAW 66-68. We went out typically in two boat patrols one lead one cover . Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. 1 Gun used to kill Americans? Was No. The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. Our home base was Quang Tri fire Base, But I spent about 6 months out at Mai Loc with the rig. 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. A "Sapper" is a combat engineer soldier who is with the front line infantry troops. Thank You Roger!!! Lived too tell about it. 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 never hit by enemy fire even though they had multiple opportunities after that I was an rto for the company commander and I have to say both jobs were not fun. There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. 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. Flipping the safety off, I scanned the jungle in front of me. 4322 0 obj
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Change). means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. We were in2dBn 503d . I saw killed and wounded everywhere in our combat operations. Of the . Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture, was Vietnamese. 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975. 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. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. Saw from mostly safe distance almost all the weapons systems that where there used. Company B had seven dead, Grandstaff announced, and I was to take No. PLEASE HELP!!! 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. 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 is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. 2 Gun team, Ranallo and May, without any support. The average age of the men killed: 23.1 years. AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- Combatants on both sides faced physical challenges posed by the climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial Units would send a thorough report of their KIA and WIA, battle action coordinates, estimated enemy troop strength, enemy unit KIA/captured and any known direction heading. 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. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. First thing we did was, Set up a complete circular perimeter. 79% had a high school education or better. 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. Really no mention of the regular rifleman. Also: for years I have read those life-expectancy numbers never really understanding them, but also noting that they wildly vary. No. There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study). Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). 5 Answers There is no word like addressal. 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem. The smell of those charred bodies, blackened and smoking from the napalm strike, is something I can never forget. Veteran Owned Since 1986. 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). How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? 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. I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. The fact that PDoggbiker cant find any decent calculation/explanation, tells us a lot. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. 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. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. Some of my men didnt. Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. 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! The machine gun was also mounted in the UH-1 Huey helicopter and other Army aircraft. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. Thanks for the perceived loss and the countless assassinations and torture visited upon Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians goes mainly to the American media and their undying support-by-misrepresentation of the anti-War movement in the United States. (LogOut/ We did interdictions, blocks and other fun things on the river. 8h%5HF8r,X'q#Vtgz%)P/Oi#rU(uO&*Xx1t^=xVLi In Vietnam he cut the hair of everyone in his company for free. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I know the scouts in my company had a slightly longer rate but not much. I for one commend you for your courage and thank you for your service to your country. Just published my book The Last Goodbye by John Fratangelo, available on line on Barnes and Noble and Amazon Prime Books, Getting great reviews. Ron. I was in the AF a Reo in a F4-C. Who had time to worry about the life I was a point man, M60 Gunner and squad leader. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? My good friend who was a RTO was killed. The body felt as though it weighed considerably more than it looked. This is excellent! The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. As I made my way to the river, I saw a VC guerrilla jump into the water on the other side. Our patrols were typically about 14 hours 24/7 We operated of old LSTs and large barges. Isolated atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of outrage from anti-war critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any media mention at all. I think convoy truck drivers had one of the most dangerous job. We were discussing the different units and dangers of each. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. hbbd```b`` ,&Iw sA '#o 1 Gun was firing. Company A searched in vain for the platoon in the dark and finally found the shattered unit on the morning of May 19. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. Dont know why, but generally, their aircraft were not armed (door gunners, etc.). Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. Back in 1965, I was a door gunner on Medevac recovery operations. "The Cotton Balers, damn fine Soldiers." The Battalion returned to Fort Benning on October 11, 1970 and was inactivated. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. Me, a vehicle mechanic with Btry E, 41st Arty Quads 1970. BS but ia a way you are correct. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. He was killed in an ambush along with three others. 6 Answers They say Kali Ma Theyre referencing this scene from the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: What is the life expectancy of an army infantry soldier? If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. I handled Top Secret Commo on a daily basis. 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. My bud, Price took over as RTO. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. It doesnt make any sense statistically/mathematically it is impossible. I was a cmbt engr demolition specialist carried a 45 auto and an M70 grenade launcher in addition to the C-4 and Det Cord. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of No. 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. (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. Nervous, I set up my gun on the hill and loaded a new hundred-round belt. We fought to an agreed stalemate. Videos, Film, Music, and Movies about VN War, Author interview War & Life: Discussions with a Veteran, A Chat Between Three Veterans [live video with author], Lest We Forget Meet the Authors & Book Signing April 4th: Cherries and Donut Dolly, Interview with author John Podlaski in Examiner Magazine, American Heroes Radio interviews author of Cherries A Vietnam War Novel, Cherries Author Interviewed on British Website, U.K. Blogspot posts interviews author, John Podlaski, More Book Reviews and author interviews about Cherries, Les Scates, U.S. Army (Ret.) His comparison to a FB was that if we were fired on we returned fire and requested assistance when needed. . His body was torn to pieces. I couldnt disagree.