We all die, so its not even worth worrying about when in my opinion, id rather do something that i knew was worth it and risk dieing instead of living in fear of death. V. Victor Renza was sent home after he was wounded on May 18, 1967. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. 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. DeLong was later killed attempting to escape from a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp in Cambodia. And us the living that served, who suffer from PTSD ,that figure or percent-aged would be about the greatest of all. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. May they rest in peace. 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. They were lazy, cowardly and of questionable loyalty, especially the RUFF/PUFFS, and they would steal your under ware if given half a chance. Some Brothers said why spend another year in this hellhole???? Thats 390 per day. I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. As I carried a PRC25 radio for over seven-months in the > Nam, I was curious to find out what I did RIGHT to surv >, One MOS I figured was a sure short timer was POL{Fuel} Truck Driver. Some of my men didnt. The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was . I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. 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. Great story!!! Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. 1ST MAW 66-68. .. Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company C, 87th Infantry Regiment, walk on patrol north of the Long . What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War? The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. THANKS! 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? Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. Foot soldiers went by the grace of God, but had a better chance than the infantry platoon commander in combat. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. Cruz quite a lot. 1 Gun before my luck ran out. Welcome home. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the M60 machine gun. I was constantly untangling the barrel and bipod of the gun from grasping vines and branches. 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. All that other stuff about seconds and minutes were story tellers, embellishing things to impress some listeners back home. Its not all written down. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. The next three weeks passed uneventfully. In total, the 7th Infantry spent four years in Vietnam. Each company had eight M60s. 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. Nobody attacked, where we were. In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Nevertheless, I swung No. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. My bud, Price took over as RTO. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. Hi, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. (LogOut/ Just to show that its hard to get an accurate number, note my typo of 56,220. Arthur Parker and Spc. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study). He was not the type to hump a radio. 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. I am 16 years old an 150 pounds qith some good muscle. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. Done ranting. It means, IF (!) 79% had a high school education or better. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. 2: role (MOS?). Suddenly I realized that my platoon sergeant was screaming at me to stop firing. A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. The one that should be there is the combat medic. Work Plz. Diaphragm _____ 3. I am convinced the same NVA soldier who shot at me moments before had killed my good friend, a budding doo-wop singer from Long Island, New York. I was an FO back in the day. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. Two rounds smashed into a log inches above my head. We gathered the casualties and set out for Company A. then youd carry an extra 200 rounds of M60 ammo for the machine gunner , plus drag grenades , one smoke grenade plus etc. 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. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. 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. 76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds. Please do not send samples. Some were constantly exposed to combat, some not so often. I remember hearing a Lieutenant (Kennedy) say to one of his two platoon RTOs My RTO is Foxtrot Uniform. 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. They were not randomly selected but simply the best at doing it. News media have reported tha an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc.Those are incorrect. I would carry when on ambush. The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . 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. For example, life expectancy of male and female Veterans with household incomes less than $20,000, at respectively. The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. C Co, 1st-12th 66-67. 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). Lt lost a finger, same time. The Bronze Star was awarded to ALL that were awarded the CIB in WWII because the Infantry accounted for over 70% of the casualties in WWLL BUT NOT 70% )F ALL THE INFANTRY !!! Two of my closest friends in the company, Spc. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. Now we know. Every mission, I had the same thought. 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. THE MAN I INHERITED THE GUN FROM WASNT SO LUCKY. We had been carrying machine guns for over seven months. Like you, I carried a PRC-25 for about 5 months and never got hit. Can I use this word like this: The addressal by the C.E.O. I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& To an, open area. Screaming Eagles! 1 Gun used to kill Americans? Database. This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. Your email address will not be published. His comparison to a FB was that if we were fired on we returned fire and requested assistance when needed. Just published my book The Last Goodbye by John Fratangelo, available on line on Barnes and Noble and Amazon Prime Books, Getting great reviews. RIght there and the NVA we were usually up against knew this. Oh, and even the Air Force has ground units. Back in 1965, I was a door gunner on Medevac recovery operations. 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). I couldnt disagree. I told by RTO that i could carry my own radio, When he agreed he was humping ammo. No. wias. My good friend who was a RTO was killed. Joe DeLong joined the company, and Sholly informed me that he would be the M60 gunner. Found NVA bunker complex. I picked up my M60 and walked to the center of the perimeter, where I found the company commander, Capt. 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. The Vietnam War gave us trouble because we didnt know how to counteract against guerrilla warfare in a jungle (dont forget that the US Army was switching to M16s, which often jammed). Soldier,this is a wardont forget that, and anytime we are in a fight we will be toughest SOBs in the fight!! The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours, a Marine said. PLEASE HELP!!! I applaud your courage as I know an RTOs job is essential, difficult (carrying the weight of his radio transmitter, his rifle, his ammo, and his rucksack), and dangerous as the enemy surely wanted to knock out any communications for support. Fact: The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. I was on a radar crew and we were told that, during war time, we would most likely be killed within minutes. said to me. 1 gun! Everyone laughed. No trees or anything on the ground. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. 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 Proudly holding my M60 over my head, I screamed at the top of my lungs, No. But, once the enemy lays down his weapon, I want YOU TO REMEMBER THREE THINGS: 1, HE IS A SOLDIER, JUST LIKE YOU.2, HE IS AWAY FROM HOME And family, just like you. And yes, please God, bless America. Different strokes for different folks in war fer sure. 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! As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded, who survived the first 24 hours, died. EACH OF US CARRIES OUR OWN MEMORIES AND THEY RUN THE GAMUT. 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. Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21 years old. Totally bogus. See also: Population Interesting reading. In my tour everyone had the same chance of getting shot. 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. Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. I handled Top Secret Commo on a daily basis. Here is an 18 Then we all, loaded on C-147 cargo planes. 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. Thats why I never understand people talking about survivors guilt it should have been me, why him? etc. Although we do tend to bomb a lot, thats only half of what we do. I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). Combatants on both sides faced physical challenges posed by the climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. The three of us had trained together at Fort Lewis and were good friends. ), special forces, combat support, engineering, medics, and vehicle assault weapons. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture, was Vietnamese. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. 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. Saw from mostly safe distance almost all the weapons systems that where there used. 2 Gun to Ranallo. I was already lugging around a 24-pound weapon, 300 rounds of ammo and a pack that weighed a good 45 pounds. I was a medic on one for two yrs and the only weapon I was issue was a six-shot .38. 82nd 2/505th. 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. 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? No. Together we had passed the test. 4329 0 obj <>stream 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. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Once we turned on the radar they could hit us with a harm missile. So I guess I defied the odds. 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. Umm..maybe its because we also learn from experience. We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (CACF) Going backwards (Apr. I kept the radio because I understood the power of having the first communication with the support mechanisms of the military. 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. "And in seizing the firm land at the . I also earned a Combat Infantryman Badge, signifying that I had been actively engaged in combat. I was told to help carry one of the bodies. Well he didnt make it. Different type units, different locations, different opinions on dangers. 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. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. Commanders like him were few and far between many were afraid of their own shadow and were only there to get their ticket punched. Hurrying forward with No. I too never understood survivor quilt, Enjoyed your article. They were a great bunch. I had scary thoughts about myself humping the bush as a RTO, I was a real puny guy back then. 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion 327th Infantry. Do the math. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. Thats what I figured but didnt know for sure. 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 We fought to an agreed stalemate. My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. On average US troops served 1-2 years in Vietnam, and the percentage of troops killed was actually fairly low for a war this size, 2.14% of all who served were killed, the life expectancy was roughly around 1 year, 5 months and 3 weeks (taking into account the 1-2 year difference in some troops's serving times) Sponsored by Primal Labs By the time we reached Vietnam in October 1966 I felt the gun had become a part of me. They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. I think the number of Army and Hospital Corpsmen serving with the Marine Corp was very high, with the ratio of the number of them over there. Or is it on display in a Hanoi museum so curious citizens of that city can inspect a weapon captured from American imperialists? Thanks. _____ 1. El subjuntivo Thank You General Vessey for the almost 53 years I have lived since that day. Dap, Hope this helps. Ron. Ambulances are not supposed to be armed (either) though in training, medics are told they and their vehicles will be a prime target. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. (many of the Soviet casualties were POWs, though). It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. No. Welcome home!! 3 Answers C5H5N in water > C5H5NH+ & OH- Kb = [C5H5NH+] [OH-] / [C5H5N] 1.5e-9 = [x] 1. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. In 1973, Renza opened his own salon in Peekskill. But it was my jobso I tried not to think about it much. I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. 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. How old are Vietnam vets now? Learned a lot from him. 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. It was just north of Saigon. If you have other information let me know. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. Robert Sholly, standing with Platoon Sgt. I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. The rule of thumb was , any new guys would get the radio and keep it until another new guy came in. As some said, averages are meaningless. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. 4314 0 obj <> endobj Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. I also was 2/327 B company. 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!! 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. Men and women die everyday. The man listed as missing was machine gunner Joe DeLong, captured along with No. Half of the company hopped off the Huey on one side of the river, and the rest exited on the other side. (and yes, you cant ask them, so it would have to be derived from the AA-reports and survivors). He was wounded and suffered permanent disability shortly before his tour was up. I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. The NVA had wedged a blocking force between our company and Company A, preventing us from advancing any farther. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. 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. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. So I guess i lasted longer than I was supposed to. Was No. I was a grunt with c co. 4/31 196th it inf bade. Sorry,I was one of your Brothers in Arms that helped talk you out of enlisting for another year in Vietnam. I was wounded 3 times during the 10 1/2 months I was in-country before being medevacd out in Apr of 68. Still shaken, I grabbed the gun and crawled to the left inside the streambed. Id had a premonition, and asked the LT to let me trade off to become the AG. 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.) For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. 1 Gun. No. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. 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. Great information. I was a point man, M60 Gunner and squad leader. 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. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. I never saw any correlation as to what MOS a soldier was and their survival rate. BUT WE MUST ALSO BE COGNIZANT OF OUR REQUIREMENT TO BE COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS. 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. This is excellent! Hats off to them. That was a hell of a responsibility to take on. hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ A dense mass of elephant grass hung over the riverbank, and he ducked under it. He served as a sergeant with the Big Red One in Lai Khe, Vietnam. I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. Vietnam War the helicopters that came in to transport soldiers were the hardest hit with mass casualties . To my right, Piambino had poked his head out of the trench to fire his M16 rifle. a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. 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. I am one lucky SOB. That was supposed to be 58, 220. but wait, there are more numbers for the same story. 1 Gun. I had an assistant gunner, Spc. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. Eventually I found a spot where the bed leveled off and began firing on the NVA. Army Infantrymen (11B) are the main land combat force, and known as "Eleven Bravo.". The two platoons were to advance no more than 200 yards from the main body of the company. Love this analysis. If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. Carrying a dead man some 300 yards through thick jungle in 100-degree heat was extraordinarily difficult. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. Not long after the artillery barrage ended, the North Vietnamese swept through 4th Platoon and executed some of the survivors. The incredibly important role in the U.S. Army is responsible for defending the country through real-life combat. we were getting it with machine gun and mortars. well i have been army infantry for 12 years with 2 deployments, and still going strong. In our spare time we did medevacs and medcaps for the local communities and when required inserted SEALs . 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. 10-4. I was a helicopter pilot Welcome Home Roger. 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. My heart was pounding out of my chest.

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