never happened,we lost two sweep team members and some I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. 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. That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. As some said, averages are meaningless. Men and women die everyday. Great information. The dead were placed on ponchos. Thats why I never understand people talking about survivors guilt it should have been me, why him? etc. Flipping the safety off, I scanned the jungle in front of me. Out of thousands of men that invaded that town in southern Afghanistan, we have lost 19. 2 Gun team, Ranallo and May, without any support. I was still pondering the move to 4th Platoon when U.S. Air Force jets screamed over the treetops with canisters of napalm. 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. Fighters and planes dont make up the Army, thats the Air Force. 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. Bloody May 1968 Mini TET. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. The average age of the men killed: 23.1 years. Carried the prc25 for about 7 months. Welcome Home Roger. 5 Answers There is no word like addressal. If the enemy was near, we never saw any. 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. Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. Unable to reach Company A, my company pulled back, formed a perimeter and called in air and artillery support. I DISAGREETHE ENEMY WOULD SHOOT THE GUY NEXT TO THE RTO-KNOWING HE WAS THE COMMANDER. I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. Database. We used to provide cover for these guys. The first six or seven months I walked point for our platoon and led many ambushes and green eye patrols. Now we know. I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. 1st Cav, 101st, etc. hbbd```b`` ,&Iw sA '#o What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. 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!! What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? He said when they were ambushed they took defensive positions, returned fire, called for assistance when needed, and retreated when necessary. Express your answer in terms of x. When we reached Company A, we placed our dead in the center of the two-company perimeter. Joe DeLong joined the company, and Sholly informed me that he would be the M60 gunner. We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. well i have been army infantry for 12 years with 2 deployments, and still going strong. Fact: Assuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving in Vietnam to be 19 years old is a myth, it is actually 22. Love you Wortman!!!! said to me. Not much different than his unit. Information presented by SFC (Ret) David Hack. wmy:LsN{/^yzJ] 6.7>n-:FqOa#CW>ia?wt?Xa@ghCd bF)`Schl4*f. The rolling fire burned everything to the ground and undoubtedly killed scores of NVA. Can I use this word like this: The addressal by the C.E.O. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. Was Billeted near an Army medevac Unit and was offered a chance to lay on my stomach with an M16 and door gun for them I decided not a good Idea. Lucky you. Each company had eight M60s. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. There were usually 3 man (At least 2) point teams. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. 3 Answers C5H5N in water > C5H5NH+ & OH- Kb = [C5H5NH+] [OH-] / [C5H5N] 1.5e-9 = [x] 1. I always found life expectancy numbers interesting in that I could never find any supporting information that could be validated. No. Overrun and utterly destroyed, the 30-man 4th Platoon had suffered 21 killed and one missing. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. It was more or less next man up . So do us all a favor and please learn to be tolerant, intelligent, and active. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War? As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. I was lucky too but VN never left me. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. I was a medic on one for two yrs and the only weapon I was issue was a six-shot .38. It was very nearly my last. 1 Gun had registered its first kill. endstream endobj startxref What unit lost the most soldiers in Vietnam? (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. Thanks for posting! When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. 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. Artillery, and ground forces. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. 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 !!! I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. I had to rely on my gun more than before. I had been shot in the back early in the battle and was lying behind a log with two other soldiers. Some were constantly exposed to combat, some not so often. Thanks. First Sgt. It didnt matter who you were or where you were. Oh, and even the Air Force has ground units. A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their 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. Hi, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 1 Gun used to kill Americans? 97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. Rules may have changed, I was in the Delta region. rice farmer who was still working with is ox like nothing ever At age 55, World War 2 Veterans Most of us have memories of these kind of experiences. An Rtos job was essential, tough,(Carrying the extra weight of the radio transmitter along with his rucksack), and dangerous. Was I lucky ? 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. to the empployees was very informative. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. 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. Es ridculo que t ______ (tener) un resfriado en verano. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. 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 1/2 months in the bush. We gathered the casualties and set out for Company A. 82nd 2/505th. AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- I was already lugging around a 24-pound weapon, 300 rounds of ammo and a pack that weighed a good 45 pounds. The key may be the word initial since we became more savvy with successive combats and had improved survivability. 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.? How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? 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. Some gave all. Forget the statistics, we all had a job to do, we went where we were told. Our 5th night there, the AMMO area started burning / blowing up. I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained there for 10 months before deploying to Vietnam as specialist 4. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. I for one commend you for your courage and thank you for your service to your country. The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. On Sun, Mar 8, 2020 at 4:00 PM CherriesWriter Vietnam War website wrote: > pdoggbiker posted: A friend recently sent me the link to an article > claiming that the life expectancy of a radio operator in the Vietnam War > was only 5 seconds. So I guess I defied the odds. Just published my book The Last Goodbye by John Fratangelo, available on line on Barnes and Noble and Amazon Prime Books, Getting great reviews. 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. John Doever No combat assignments for another year of service in Vietnam or get out in about a month. It was an honor indeed to serve with some of the finest soldiers I have ever met. 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." 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). Change). I was wounded 3 times during the 10 1/2 months I was in-country before being medevacd out in Apr of 68. Screaming Eagles! See you in the next life!!!!! 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. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. Love this analysis. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. Done ranting. Of the eight who remained, seven were wounded. The Regiment traces its lineage back to World War II. Life Expectancy of the World Population. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served was: 9,492,958. In my tour everyone had the same chance of getting shot. Contents 1 Unclear objectives 2 North Vietnamese strategy As soon as he did, a round hit him in the forehead, blowing out the back of his skull. US Wings is a veteran-owned business and an official supplier to the US Military. Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. 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. Nevertheless, I swung No. An interesting comment I had. And dug Berms, in the area. 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. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. The one that should be there is the combat medic. 4 Paul Domke, who carried extra belts of ammo and fed them into the gun. V. Victor Renza was sent home after he was wounded on May 18, 1967. The enemy fire ceased, and we made arrangements to collect our dead before continuing on to Company A. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? I was trained as a RTO in 1970 at Fort Ord then went to Fort Gordon for teletype school, my MOS was 05C20 when I finished. 1 Gun and I now faced a new and more formidable foethe North Vietnamese Army. Also: for years I have read those life-expectancy numbers never really understanding them, but also noting that they wildly vary. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. 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. The Bn & Company I was assigned to, was on the last row of Bldgs. Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. 10-4. If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds. 1ST MAW 66-68. Your email address will not be published. Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. 2) by my research, medics suffered 93% casualties with about 33% deaths. Moving west down the trail, 4th Platoon exchanged fire with a single NVA soldier, then a handful and finally a group of about 10-15 around noon. 0 Arthur Parker and Spc. 4 Joey Piambino were to my right in the streambed. Before he was drafted Renza had worked as a hairdresser for women in his hometown of Peekskill, New York. sweep team,then I heard the choppers and they were blowing the hell out in the tree line then it just got so quiet like nothing 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). In 1973, Renza opened his own salon in Peekskill. I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). After a quick lesson, DeLong became the new owner of 4th Platoons No.1 Gun. My good friend who was a RTO was killed. The next three weeks passed uneventfully. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. Thats my experience. Then he said youre on a FB, the enemy always knows your location, can pretty much attack at will, and you really dont have the capability to retreat. Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. This is excellent! History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. He was wounded and suffered permanent disability shortly before his tour was up. I would carry when on ambush. E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& Lived too tell about it. It was a chaotic nightmare. Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. Umm..maybe its because we also learn from experience. 1 Gun before my luck ran out. 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. 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 early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. Eventually I found a spot where the bed leveled off and began firing on the NVA. Got hit inside 15 minutes, first ambush we walked up too. We were very, lucky. The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. Every mission, I had the same thought. I was drafted on Nov. 10, 1965, and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. 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. 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. Interesting reading. 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? My bud, Price took over as RTO. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. In Vietnam he cut the hair of everyone in his company for free. Carrying a dead man some 300 yards through thick jungle in 100-degree heat was extraordinarily difficult. An Hinglish word (Hindi/English). MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. 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. I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! 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.. 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). 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. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. He was not the type to hump a radio. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. Shermans had fairly thin armor (76mm at the thickest compared to a Tiger with 180mm at the thickest with most around 100mm). 2: role (MOS?). 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. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. As I made it back to the road I remember seeing the The next morning, the blasting could still be, heard. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. I am 16 years old an 150 pounds qith some good muscle. Over 600 Navy FMF Hospital Corpsmen were killed in Vietnam. Everyone in the company hit the dirt. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. They kept coming up the hill bringing more bodies to me until all seven had been found. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. Hack volunteered for service in Vietnam in 1968, joining the 1st Infantry Division. Re: Helicopter Crews (Medevac & Dustoff): To my knowledge, only the 1st Cav Medevac had M60s for protection. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. An interesting essay, even more interesting are the comments. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. 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. No. Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21 years old. The two platoons were to advance no more than 200 yards from the main body of the company. Mech. Sgt. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of While traveling through the boonies the first few men were usually always shot first. The one number that is really important is 56,220 and we all know what that number represents. The Davis Station in Saigon was named for him. 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. 1 Gun. Roger Loves you too, Im sure. We were expecting, an attack. where can i find red bird vienna sausage? Bravo, 3/187th Inf, 101st Airborne Div, 2nd Plt, 2nd Sq, Hamburger Hill, May 69. 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. then youd carry an extra 200 rounds of M60 ammo for the machine gunner , plus drag grenades , one smoke grenade plus etc. I was told my life expectancy was about 45 secs during a fire fight because of the weapons and demo I carried. Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. After about 30 minutes, the four enemy soldiers got up and left the area. We were probably not too far away on that day. Many were killed or wounded ! The income differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14, however, are estimated to be smaller. It was the silent power of the pig, I suppose. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. Thank You for your courageous service as an RTO with the legendary Hawk Recon Platoon. I kept the radio because I understood the power of having the first communication with the support mechanisms of the military. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. is sharing facts, thats truly good, keep up writing. The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent . (tirotactico.net). African Americans played a prominent role in the Vietnam War. Needless too say I depended on Sgt. Your article was quite interesting. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. Wow I was 31.8 Gun shot Carried model 1200 Winchester shot gun WIA May 68 Article was great. 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 makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. No. Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. I was a point man, M60 Gunner and squad leader.
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