life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam
They were located, next to us, in/on Long Bhin Post. I was sitting on the ground one day trying to dry out my gear and better configure my ruck when my squad leader came walking over to me and said, Gow, youve got the radio. As he turned and walked away! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their For example, life expectancy of male and female Veterans with household incomes less than $20,000, at respectively. What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. As we were, steadily building up, our area for protection. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. Startled, I quickly pointed my M60 at them. Screaming Eagles! It was very nearly my last. You were a Great RTO. Together we had passed the test. It was the silent power of the pig, I suppose. Helicopters, F4 fighters. What Was It Like To Hump The Boonies in Vietnam? 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). We were in2dBn 503d . I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. "The Rangers pulled themselves over the top," President Ronald Reagan said of the men, in 1984. .. No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. we were getting it with machine gun and mortars. 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. 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. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. The income differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14, however, are estimated to be smaller. Saw from mostly safe distance almost all the weapons systems that where there used. Thanks for the reply. After every officer in our company was either killed or had serious wounds, our 1st Sgt , David McNerney took over the company and without his leadership, and knowledge of war, and unbelievable courage, our company would probably have been wiped out. Interesting reading. 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. It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful. 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 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. Diaphragm _____ 3. See also: Population Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. Every single . I personally believe and agree with previous posts that when its your time, not much you can do. THE MAN I INHERITED THE GUN FROM WASNT SO LUCKY. We were told in training that the life expectancy of a machine gunner was about seven seconds from the moment the first round was fired. After a quick lesson, DeLong became the new owner of 4th Platoons No.1 Gun. At Fort Lewis, every recruit learned to operate various weapons. I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. Required fields are marked *. The Army suffered the most total casualties, 38,179 or 2.7 percent of its force. 1 Gun was firing. If there was anything to this life expectancy of a few minutes then myself and many of my friends that are still alive today would be a long time dead. Was No. His comparison to a FB was that if we were fired on we returned fire and requested assistance when needed. Nicknamed "the pig" due to its size, weight and sound, the gun struck fear into enemy troops. 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. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? 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. By mid-April 1967 I was pleading with the captain to get a replacement gunner for my M60 in 4th Platoon. Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. 4322 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<4E412331B845E54EBDFDC79FA0627A18>]/Index[4314 16]/Info 4313 0 R/Length 65/Prev 560501/Root 4315 0 R/Size 4330/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream Gotta say I think you hit it on the nose. 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). PLEASE HELP!!! Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. Work Plz. And I know what youre going to say, Because the American cs! Bullcrap!!!! We were expecting, an attack. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. My first tour was as an advisor to the VN Abn. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. I carried the proc 26 radio after I was asked by my field 1st ( E 7 ) if I would for my platoon . 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. Veteran Owned Since 1986. Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. No. Soldier,this is a wardont forget that, and anytime we are in a fight we will be toughest SOBs in the fight!! In 1973, Renza opened his own salon in Peekskill. (You can unsubscribe anytime), The US Wings website is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliant and adheres to their standards for accessibility of the internet so people with disabilities can surf the web more easily & efficiently. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. 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. I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company C, 87th Infantry Regiment, walk on patrol north of the Long . As I made it back to the road I remember seeing the Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. both tours. 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 . DeLong had only fired the weapon once in training, so I let him fire off a few rounds to practice. Sept 69 to Sept 70. Fact: The domino theory was accurate. I was still pondering the move to 4th Platoon when U.S. Air Force jets screamed over the treetops with canisters of napalm. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. 2 Gun team, Ranallo and May, without any support. Re: Helicopter Crews (Medevac & Dustoff): To my knowledge, only the 1st Cav Medevac had M60s for protection. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. I was in 2nd Platoon and carried the platoons No. Cause-specific . 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. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War? In the few firefights and skirmishes we had with local VC, the gun always performed well. He also worked on Jacqueline Kennedys hair pieces and wigs. "And in seizing the firm land at the . He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star in 1974. Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. 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. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Welcome home!! 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. Surrounded by an enemy battalion, our hopelessly outnumbered platoon waged a desperate battle for survival. 2 Gun to Ranallo. happened. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. 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.) I put the M60s bipod legs down, lifted the weapon and positioned it on the ground outside the streambed facing the NVA. Life Expectancy of the World Population. Staying alive was kinda of important. It was just part of the job. I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division. In the 1st Cav medics were right behind the rto making them a very easy find also. For example, life expectancy of Veterans at age 25 population, thus 3.6 and 0.5 life-years smaller income differentials for male and female Veterans, respectively, shown in Tables 17 and 18. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. The average age of the men killed: 23.1 years. 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. I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. There were also wounded. Lived too tell about it. Welcome Home Brothers ! Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. Expenditures for a body in a combat zone? He was killed in an ambush along with three others. Bloody May 1968 Mini TET. !We dont abuse prisoners Now, if he reaches for his weapon to continue the fight BLOW HIS ASS AWAY THIS AINT SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! That was a hell of a responsibility to take on. In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. Interesting but something is missing. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. Like you, I carried a PRC-25 for about 5 months and never got hit. My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. In that time 4 us kia and 4 wounded. If anything went wrong, I could easily kill some of our soldiers. (many of the Soviet casualties were POWs, though). I had to rely on my gun more than before. We killed a lot of the enemy but we took few serious casualties. I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained there for 10 months before deploying to Vietnam as specialist 4. Express your answer in terms of x. All of the next day, we could see SMOKE from the fire caused by the explosions of the AMMO at, the AMMO DUMP. The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (CACF) Going backwards (Apr. the life expectancy of a LT in Vietnam in major combat was 16 minutes. Certainly got my attention. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. BS but ia a way you are correct. He served as a sergeant with the Big Red One in Lai Khe, Vietnam. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. Your email address will not be published. The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 58,148 were killed in Vietnam, 75,000 severely disabled, 23,214 were 100% disabled, 5,283 lost limbs and 1,081 sustained multiple amputations. 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 dead were placed on ponchos. Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. 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). 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. I loved it. I told by RTO that i could carry my own radio, When he agreed he was humping ammo. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Appx: 6 months in, all of the 543d TC joined forces with the 572d TC. Hats off to them. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. 0 We went out typically in two boat patrols one lead one cover . Like most inexperienced gunners, he underestimated the power of the pig and failed to keep the barrel down when firing. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. I am proud to have fought alongside of them. Dap, Hope this helps. Every mission, I had the same thought. Four platoons in a rifle company. They were lazy, cowardly and of questionable loyalty, especially the RUFF/PUFFS, and they would steal your under ware if given half a chance. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. Contents 1 Unclear objectives 2 North Vietnamese strategy Spanish Help Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. Done ranting. They have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups. 2023 CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website, RTO, John Scheur. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served.