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I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. I was with HHC and 1st Platoon C Company in 70-71. I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. They run into the fire to help the wounded and many get wounded or killed. 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. Over the next two months, we exchanged fire with groups of the NVA. Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. 17 photos showing the life of an elite US Army Ranger The fact is that most machine gunners, RTOs, junior officers and other extremely dangerous jobs survived the war. PLEASE HELP!!! 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 . We did interdictions, blocks and other fun things on the river. 85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life. In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their . life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam - lbgf.org For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? Now, to calmly answer your question, air strikes have actually been an efficient technique used by us for years now. In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. When we reached Company A, we placed our dead in the center of the two-company perimeter. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. 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. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War? Was No. A "Sapper" is a combat engineer soldier who is with the front line infantry troops. The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome. _____ 1. Statistics about the Vietnam War - VHPA Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim Phucs brothers were killed in this incident. 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. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. You were a Great RTO. How many draftees died in Vietnam? - 2023 Yes, I made E4 at graduation, that was considered a NCO then. I just wanted to get off No. by Zita Ballinger Fletcher 1/18/2022. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. DeLong had only fired the weapon once in training, so I let him fire off a few rounds to practice. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the By the time we reached Vietnam in October 1966 I felt the gun had become a part of me. I also was 2/327 B company. MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. I for one commend you for your courage and thank you for your service to your country. 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. Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. The machine gun was also mounted in the UH-1 Huey helicopter and other Army aircraft. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. 'No. 1 Gun': An M60 Machine Gunner in Vietnam Tells His Story - HistoryNet I was told to help carry one of the bodies. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. I won a few times, and even when I did not I benefited from handling the gun under stress. The Regiment traces its lineage back to World War II. 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. Thank You General Vessey for the almost 53 years I have lived since that day. I agree with all of the comments, however I would add Tunnel Rats to the group I was one and saw many of my friends die in those tunnels I was very fortunate or very lucky and was never a lead but was at the tail end. Half of the company hopped off the Huey on one side of the river, and the rest exited on the other side. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunner's life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. Once we turned on the radar they could hit us with a harm missile. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. 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. 1 Gun before my luck ran out. Overrun and utterly destroyed, the 30-man 4th Platoon had suffered 21 killed and one missing. 1 gun! Everyone laughed. An interesting essay, even more interesting are the comments. 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. We fought to an agreed stalemate. The two platoons were to advance no more than 200 yards from the main body of the company. The one number that is really important is 56,220 and we all know what that number represents. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? Database. As I was running to the rivers edge, ready to unload on the VC hiding in the elephant grass, I ran past a grass hut and never bothered to clear it. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. Michael Doolittle..I was with 1/8 inf, 1st Brigade, and that day, March 22nd was also our darkest day. 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. 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. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War This is excellent! Lived too tell about it. We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. What is the life expectancy of Vietnam veterans? Many were killed or wounded ! I was still pondering the move to 4th Platoon when U.S. Air Force jets screamed over the treetops with canisters of napalm. They were lazy, cowardly and of questionable loyalty, especially the RUFF/PUFFS, and they would steal your under ware if given half a chance. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. I was drafted on Nov. 10, 1965, and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. Soon I could take the gun apart and put it back together in the dark. Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. Hurrying forward with No. I had been shot in the back early in the battle and was lying behind a log with two other soldiers. 1 Gun. Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. First thing we did was, Set up a complete circular perimeter. 1st Cav, 101st, etc. C Co, 1st-12th 66-67. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. In that time 4 us kia and 4 wounded. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. Seattle, Washington(WA), 98106. The Bn & Company I was assigned to, was on the last row of Bldgs. Two of my closest friends in the company, Spc. I never thought of it that way before but have many times since. Look for the blue accessibility symbol floating on every page of our website and click on it to tailor your viewing experience to your particular disability. We killed a lot of the enemy but we took few serious casualties. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2 Life expectancy at birth. 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. As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. The answer that we have always been given is that 1 year in the Infantry is equivalent to 3 years of hard labor. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. !We dont abuse prisoners Now, if he reaches for his weapon to continue the fight BLOW HIS ASS AWAY THIS AINT SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. (LogOut/ S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. In the few firefights and skirmishes we had with local VC, the gun always performed well. Opinion | What a Combat Medic Still Carries - The New York Times Very Good , I was a radio operator up in I corps in 68 & to me the worst thing was the walking . All that other stuff about seconds and minutes were story tellers, embellishing things to impress some listeners back home. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. Nothing could be further from the truth. Expenditures for a body in a combat zone? However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. They were glad to see me as it had been a while for replacements with the unit. Spent my year in a Recon platoon 2/35th 4th ID. What was the life expectency of a private soldier in vietnam? Cause-specific . Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. Lowering my gun, I turned around and noticed two VC sitting in the doorway of the hut, staring at me. The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours, a Marine said. 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 think what is missing is the fact that the life expectancy of those firing at us was much shorter than those that they were firing at. As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. Found NVA bunker complex. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. 10-4. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in World War II? They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. Army Infantryman (MOS 11B): 2022 Career Profile - Operation Military Kids 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. 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. 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. Interesting, I carried a Prick 25, for 2 months. 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). The gas-operated, belt-fed gun had a maximum rate of fire of 550-650 rounds per minute. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. Thank You Roger!!! According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. And I know what youre going to say, Because the American cs! Bullcrap!!!! 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. I felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. We were probably not too far away on that day. It was a chaotic nightmare. Anxiously extending the bipod legs on the M60, I added a 100-round belt to the one I already had in the gun. Ever since that fateful day in 1967, I have often wondered what became of my beloved M60. The Australian Vietnam veteran study assessed the postservice mortality of 19 205 Vietnam veterans and 25 677 non-Vietnam veterans through 1981. Ambushed on October 4th,1967. 1 gun and was hoping it would stay that way. I loved it. 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion 327th Infantry. Point, slack and compass. 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: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. Your article was quite interesting. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. wmy:LsN{/^yzJ] 6.7>n-:FqOa#CW>ia?wt?Xa@ghCd bF)`Schl4*f. An NVA soldier had evidently spotted the gun and waited patiently for me to stick my head up. 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 The incredibly important role in the U.S. Army is responsible for defending the country through real-life combat. But I made it back in one piece. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.