Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. David H. McNerney, who assumed command of the company when all of its officers were killed or wounded, was presented with the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony in September 1968. AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division.
1 gun! Everyone laughed. 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. Four platoons in a rifle company. 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome. hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV&
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In an instant the jungle erupted in gunfire. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. Total fantasy. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? They were great patriots fighting for their families and their homeland. 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. We were probably not too far away on that day. DeLong was later killed attempting to escape from a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp in Cambodia. I am proud to have fought alongside of them. Flipping the safety off, I scanned the jungle in front of me. If you have other information let me know. 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. Although we do tend to bomb a lot, thats only half of what we do. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. 1 Gun. I had an assistant gunner, Spc. Just to show that its hard to get an accurate number, note my typo of 56,220. Helicopters, F4 fighters. It was very nearly my last. It was a chaotic nightmare. Background [ edit] 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. From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. 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 !!! Contents1 [] To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. Then one hot, sunny day, while walking across rice paddies, we suddenly received small-arms fire from Viet Cong in some distant hills. The one number that is really important is 56,220 and we all know what that number represents. In total, the 7th Infantry spent four years in Vietnam. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunner's life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. Also: for years I have read those life-expectancy numbers never really understanding them, but also noting that they wildly vary. 1 Gun used to kill Americans? No. 1 Gun and I survived our first firefight. First thing we did was, Set up a complete circular perimeter. Quickly learned to control rate of fire. 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 Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. 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. Or is it on display in a Hanoi museum so curious citizens of that city can inspect a weapon captured from American imperialists? I personally believe and agree with previous posts that when its your time, not much you can do. It was just north of Saigon. 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. I remember hearing somewhere about an RTO who wasnt getting the info out correctly and the Lieutenant (Kennedy) grabbed the mic and said My RTO Is Foxtrot Uniform. Cruz quite a lot. US Wings recently added to OTEXA's Made in U.S.A. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. What is the life expectancy of Vietnam veterans? Love this analysis. If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. As it was, less than 40 did not need evacuation. A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. Yes, I made E4 at graduation, that was considered a NCO then. I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). We had been carrying machine guns for over seven months. No combat assignments for another year of service in Vietnam or get out in about a month. (LogOut/ There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. 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. .. In that time 4 us kia and 4 wounded. 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 . The Army suffered the most total casualties, 38,179 or 2.7 percent of its 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. Different strokes for different folks in war fer sure. Ron. Michael Doolittle..I was with 1/8 inf, 1st Brigade, and that day, March 22nd was also our darkest day. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. If it was 1941 and you were an average Soviet soldier, your life expectancy on the front line was days, not weeks, thanks to the ongoing german offence. We can all hold our heads high and be proud of our service. 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. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. . Required fields are marked *. aND, mAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. I wasnt sure if the VC had moved to right or left, so I sprayed the elephant grass in both directions. 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. Work Plz. I am 81 now and survived the encounter by terminated the sniper. 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. Out of thousands of men that invaded that town in southern Afghanistan, we have lost 19. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Totally bogus. I carried the PRC-25 Radio most of that time. It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful. We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. Out of the 3,000,000 men and women in our armed forces and reserves, we have lost 4,500 in this 9 year war. I was on a radar crew and we were told that, during war time, we would most likely be killed within minutes. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. It was the silent power of the pig, I suppose. Lt lost a finger, same time. 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. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. Because if only 1 RTO fought for say only 10 or 15 minutes before being killed, that would up the AVG for the total war! In our spare time we did medevacs and medcaps for the local communities and when required inserted SEALs . I am 16 years old an 150 pounds qith some good muscle. He served as a sergeant with the Big Red One in Lai Khe, Vietnam. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. If anything went wrong, I could easily kill some of our soldiers. !We dont abuse prisoners Now, if he reaches for his weapon to continue the fight BLOW HIS ASS AWAY THIS AINT SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! We were all in our Bunkers, and at the ready with our weapons. Bruce Grandstaff and my best friend, Sgt. See you in the next life!!!!! My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. After a quick lesson, DeLong became the new owner of 4th Platoons No.1 Gun. 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. endstream
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Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. Tumbling end over end, the canisters exploded in a white-hot fireball. 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. You seen the enemy you shots him and vice versa. Commanders like him were few and far between many were afraid of their own shadow and were only there to get their ticket punched. %PDF-1.5
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happened. Appx: 6 months in, all of the 543d TC joined forces with the 572d TC. Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. 4 Bill May and Spc. Thats what I figured but didnt know for sure. I felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. wmy:LsN{/^yzJ] 6.7>n-:FqOa#CW>ia?wt?Xa@ghCd bF)`Schl4*f. 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. Diaphragm _____ 3. The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. Really no mention of the regular rifleman. Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company C, 87th Infantry Regiment, walk on patrol north of the Long . Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. The body felt as though it weighed considerably more than it looked. I was over there twice serving as a Hospital Corpsman with a marine unit. 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. Different jobs have different life expectancy. Really? Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. 1 Gun, as always, thumped out a throaty roar as I fought desperately to push the enemy back. (LogOut/ Supported by a shoulder strap, No. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. In your rucksack . Hurrying forward with No. Overrun and utterly destroyed, the 30-man 4th Platoon had suffered 21 killed and one missing. Still shaken, I grabbed the gun and crawled to the left inside the streambed. Learned a lot from him. 1 Gun, I jumped into a small dry streambed with Domke, my assistant gunner. The enemy fire ceased, and we made arrangements to collect our dead before continuing on to Company A. Thank God I made it. Nixon Presidential Papers. Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. All of the next day, we could see SMOKE from the fire caused by the explosions of the AMMO at, the AMMO DUMP. Hey Robert I was with the 38th Scout Dog Plt. I was an M-60 machine gunner for a battalion recon platoon in 1967, for the First Infantry Division, Known as The Black Scarf Battalion. Thank You General Vessey for the almost 53 years I have lived since that day. After about 30 minutes, the four enemy soldiers got up and left the area. 2 Gun team, Ranallo and May, without any support. They were held in special regard after the Normandy landings, when 225 Rangers scaled cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc on June 6, 1944 under intense enemy fire. They were lazy, cowardly and of questionable loyalty, especially the RUFF/PUFFS, and they would steal your under ware if given half a chance. 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! (many of the Soviet casualties were POWs, though). The article was interesting. both tours. I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. Not to mention that right now its safer than some cities in the us. Was No. My 31-months in-country was in three Direct Support US Army aviation units, 15TC BN, First Cav, 335TH, Americal and 17TH Cav 101ST ABD65-71In the last battle I was directly involved, LAM SON 719, into Laos, cost army aviation units over 600-helicopters shot down or battle damagedthe NVA were waiting for our SECRET mission in early 71I was glad to go home at battles end, in March 71 , almost unscathed, I was TDY for my absurd third tourTo the point, many ARVN Rangers, airborne and their other best died in Lam Son 719US Army Infantry were forbidden entry to Laos in 71.. the ARVN were massacredand many US Army pilots and crew mambers were KIA & WIAeven MIA. Non-divisional aeromedical evacuation units went by the callsign DUSTOFF. I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. Now we know. Here are statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993. Such as in the song Jimmy by M.I.A look at aaja in the dictionary My indian boyfriend told me is meaning come to me, 6 Answers I have never had or heard of that particular brand, but have had several here in Canada, plus a number in the Caribbean and Asia, and there all the same, small cut hot dogs in a can, no need q now please.. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas:? Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. There were also wounded. I had yet to fire a shot with No. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. My bud, Price took over as RTO. More importantly, Grandstaff was very gung-ho. Completa las oraciones con la forma correcta del presente de subjuntivo de los verbos entre parntesis.? Surrounded by an enemy battalion, our hopelessly outnumbered platoon waged a desperate battle for survival. Eventually I found a spot where the bed leveled off and began firing on the NVA. To my right, Piambino had poked his head out of the trench to fire his M16 rifle. I was an FO back in the day. John Doever HOOAH!!! They were a great bunch. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. 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. Great information. His body was torn to pieces. 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). well i have been army infantry for 12 years with 2 deployments, and still going strong. I won a few times, and even when I did not I benefited from handling the gun under stress. 1 Gun was firing. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. We all have opinions, this is mine. When Apache Snow began, I was an RTO, after Airborne, and before the CA on Dong Ap Bia, I became the AG for Roeski. We took fire all the time and responded. Thank You for your courageous service as an RTO with the legendary Hawk Recon Platoon. 85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life. Great reading. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. Like most inexperienced gunners, he underestimated the power of the pig and failed to keep the barrel down when firing. 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. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. The income differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14, however, are estimated to be smaller. The next morning, the blasting could still be, heard. Theres 58,276. My second tour was as the S3 for LTC Anthony Herbertone of Americas greatest leaders and WARRIORS OF ALL TIME. 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. I never thought of it that way before but have many times since. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? to the empployees was very informative. 4 Answers aaja Come. endstream
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The fact that PDoggbiker cant find any decent calculation/explanation, tells us a lot. 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. We were in2dBn 503d . One was holding a carbine. I was wounded 3 times during the 10 1/2 months I was in-country before being medevacd out in Apr of 68. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. 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. I carried the proc 26 radio after I was asked by my field 1st ( E 7 ) if I would for my platoon . Anyway I was wondering about the RTOs in a grunt platoon, was that their MOS or were they 11B that carried a PRC ? No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. Our patrols were typically about 14 hours 24/7 We operated of old LSTs and large barges. Fighters and planes dont make up the Army, thats the Air Force. Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. The group found the first man killed and carried him up the hill, placing his body right next to me. A former expert with the M60 machine gun shares his experiences wielding the fearsome weapon in Vietnam. Ambulances are not supposed to be armed (either) though in training, medics are told they and their vehicles will be a prime target. It was an HONOR and a privilege to serve with these brave men for my 11 month tour. Seattle, Washington(WA), 98106. (tirotactico.net). 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). If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. THANKS! Ha Ha always enjoyed being a volunteer! I had to rely on my gun more than before. Saw from mostly safe distance almost all the weapons systems that where there used. Jimmy aaja, jimmy aaja. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. . They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. 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. So I guess I defied the odds. Walked point way to many times but never had contact. Dap, Hope this helps. Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. "The Rangers pulled themselves over the top," President Ronald Reagan said of the men, in 1984. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of 1 gun and was hoping it would stay that way. Five RTOs. 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? If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. I prayed I would not have to fire over the heads of the 4th Platoon troops entering the draw to retrieve our dead. Wow I was 31.8 Gun shot Carried model 1200 Winchester shot gun WIA May 68 Article was great. A Co, 1/5 Cav, 1 Cav Division. In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. C Co, 1st-12th 66-67. He was wounded and suffered permanent disability shortly before his tour was up. Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) Welcome Home Brothers ! One afternoon, while Company B was still in the Tuy Hoa area, we received orders to gather up our gear and get ready to board choppers for an assault into a hot landing zone. His best friend is 86 and still alive. 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. The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent . Every mission, I had the same thought. Company B arrived in-country with four rifle platoons, and each platoon was armed with two M60s. The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (CACF) Going backwards (Apr. I always found life expectancy numbers interesting in that I could never find any supporting information that could be validated. Terrified, I dropped down as fast as I could, pulling the gun and two ammo belts of 100 rounds apiece on top of me as I fell back into the dry streambed. Stop staring at your computer already, get up. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the VietnamWar? 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. EACH OF US CARRIES OUR OWN MEMORIES AND THEY RUN THE GAMUT. That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. And dug Berms, in the area. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. Mech. 4322 0 obj
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I saw killed and wounded everywhere in our combat operations. A typical Patrol Boat River (PBR) was about 31 feet long and had twin 50s forward an M 60 midships and a 50 aft. located on the South End of, the Post. Got hit inside 15 minutes, first ambush we walked up too. 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.