That was a hell of a responsibility to take on. happened. Spanish Help 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. EACH OF US CARRIES OUR OWN MEMORIES AND THEY RUN THE GAMUT. It is Honor in the Valley of Tears. Sholly injured an ankle, and 1st Lt. Cary Allen took command of Company B. Very Good , I was a radio operator up in I corps in 68 & to me the worst thing was the walking . 79% had a high school education or better. The rule of thumb was , any new guys would get the radio and keep it until another new guy came in. We were discussing the different units and dangers of each. 4314 0 obj <> endobj He retired in 2012 and lives in Delray Beach, Florida. The man listed as missing was machine gunner Joe DeLong, captured along with No. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. Great information. The planes doing the bombing near the village were VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) and were being flown by Vietnamese pilots in support of South Vietnamese troops on the ground. DeLong had only fired the weapon once in training, so I let him fire off a few rounds to practice. Assigned to HHC 1/77 Armor, 1st, BDE 5th Inf. An Rtos job was essential, tough,(Carrying the extra weight of the radio transmitter along with his rucksack), and dangerous. 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. One was holding a carbine. Hi, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one Cruz quite a lot. Here are statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993. I always found life expectancy numbers interesting in that I could never find any supporting information that could be validated. Amen I was a machine gunner for 7 months 503rd infantry 173rd airborne and you hit the nail right on the head. I was an RTO for 9-1/2 months for Hawk Recon 2/327 101AB from dec, 1969 to sept 70. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. The machine gun was also mounted in the UH-1 Huey helicopter and other Army aircraft. 8h%5HF8r,X'q#Vtgz%)P/Oi#rU(uO&*Xx1t^=xVLi Shermans had fairly thin armor (76mm at the thickest compared to a Tiger with 180mm at the thickest with most around 100mm). My second tour was as the S3 for LTC Anthony Herbertone of Americas greatest leaders and WARRIORS OF ALL TIME. July 68 to July 69. In your rucksack . I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. Welcome Home Roger. Not long after the artillery barrage ended, the North Vietnamese swept through 4th Platoon and executed some of the survivors. 97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged. 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 I had been shot in the back early in the battle and was lying behind a log with two other soldiers. A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. Shea's gallantry in action at the cost of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon . 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. Army Infantrymen (11B) are the main land combat force, and known as "Eleven Bravo.". I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. . The early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. As far as I knew that was done in the whole battalion in 1968 . The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. I was a 2LT on Hamburger Hill and had 4 RTOs over a 7 day period (excluding the times I ended up carrying my own radio). We were expecting, an attack. So I guess I defied the odds. I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. After about 30 minutes, the four enemy soldiers got up and left the area. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. Fact: 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races. maybe your question i vauge. Correct. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. No. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. Staying alive was kinda of important. I just wanted to get off No. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. Now, to calmly answer your question, air strikes have actually been an efficient technique used by us for years now. 101st Airborne Division. Despite initial victories by the Communists forces, the Tet Offensive resulted in a major defeat of those forces. Amazingly, the NVA men then walked a short distance away, sat down and ate lunch. 2) by my research, medics suffered 93% casualties with about 33% deaths. It was an honor indeed to serve with some of the finest soldiers I have ever met. At Fort Lewis, every recruit learned to operate various weapons. John Doever It was an HONOR and a privilege to serve with these brave men for my 11 month tour. But I made it back in one piece. A former expert with the M60 machine gun shares his experiences wielding the fearsome weapon in Vietnam. And dug Berms, in the area. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the . I remember hearing a Lieutenant (Kennedy) say to one of his two platoon RTOs My RTO is Foxtrot Uniform. The first six or seven months I walked point for our platoon and led many ambushes and green eye patrols. Oh, and even the Air Force has ground units. Hack volunteered for service in Vietnam in 1968, joining the 1st Infantry Division. never happened,we lost two sweep team members and some Nobody attacked, where we were. Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. Back in 1965, I was a door gunner on Medevac recovery operations. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. As mentioned, who kept track of that in the first place? 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 Thats what I figured but didnt know for sure. They also struggled with logistical problems and the complex political situation in Vietnam. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas? B)Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x. Jimmy aaja -M.I.A. No. 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. It was the silent power of the pig, I suppose. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. I am proud to have fought alongside of them. General Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike (a professor at the University of California, Berkeley), a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. wias. 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. He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. I was in 2nd Platoon and carried the platoons No. I, in turn, would take an M16 rifle, which felt like a feather in comparison. By mid-April 1967 I was pleading with the captain to get a replacement gunner for my M60 in 4th Platoon. I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. 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. It was just part of the job. The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall): Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. US Wings is a verified SAM Contractor and DLA Supplier and is officially listed as a manufacturer/retailer in the US Department of Commerce's Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA) Made in the USA database. While traveling through the boonies the first few men were usually always shot first. Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial In the 1st Cav medics were right behind the rto making them a very easy find also. 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. As with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and misinterpreted the 1968 Tet Offensive. I had to rely on my gun more than before. approaching a village and a firefight starts). We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. The Bn & Company I was assigned to, was on the last row of Bldgs. US Wings is a veteran-owned business and an official supplier to the US Military. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. 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 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. The smell of those charred bodies, blackened and smoking from the napalm strike, is something I can never forget. located on the South End of, the Post. And yes, please God, bless America. I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. My bud, Price took over as RTO. I felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the M60 machine gun. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. Combatants on both sides faced physical challenges posed by the climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? News media have reported tha an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc.Those are incorrect. 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. US Wings provides aviation apparel to the U.S. Government and commercial customers along with the general public. 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. It didnt matter who you were or where you were. Suddenly I realized that my platoon sergeant was screaming at me to stop firing. There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study). Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. Sorry,I was one of your Brothers in Arms that helped talk you out of enlisting for another year in Vietnam. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. An interesting comment I had. Love this analysis. S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. Point, slack and compass. 10-4. Thanks for the reply. Really? I lost my cherry very early. HOOAH!!! 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served. Anyway I was wondering about the RTOs in a grunt platoon, was that their MOS or were they 11B that carried a PRC ? Of the . The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (CACF) Going backwards (Apr. Got hit inside 15 minutes, first ambush we walked up too. Our chase after the enemy unwittingly led us into a large ambush. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. I was to have that experience two more times before it was over. 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. However, Shermans were very outmatched by the German tanks on the field of battle. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. If my memory is correct, only the 1st Cab flew wiith doorgunners. BS but ia a way you are correct. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of In an instant the jungle erupted in gunfire. Your email address will not be published. See you in the next life!!!!! The three of us had trained together at Fort Lewis and were good friends. Grab some friends and go outside. No. Bob Sanzone. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. Company A searched in vain for the platoon in the dark and finally found the shattered unit on the morning of May 19. I was wasting ammo and didnt even have a target! 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 Well he didnt make it. Fact: The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. Soon I could take the gun apart and put it back together in the dark. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers. 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. Contents 1 Unclear objectives 2 North Vietnamese strategy The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. Was it left behind on some forgotten battlefield? The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. Overrun and utterly destroyed, the 30-man 4th Platoon had suffered 21 killed and one missing. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. Total fantasy. Was I lucky ? Very memorable comments. "The Rangers pulled themselves over the top," President Ronald Reagan said of the men, in 1984. This makes our site more accessible to the blind, visually impaired, motor disabled, people with cognitive disabilities and more. We all gotta die sometime, Red. SSgt Barnes, Platoon, its nothing to really concern yourself with, on a long enough time line everyones survival rate is 0%. If the enemy was near, we never saw any. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. Flipping the safety off, I scanned the jungle in front of me. 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). Certainly got my attention. 4329 0 obj <>stream 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. 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. Lt lost a finger, same time. 1st Cav, 101st, etc. You seen the enemy you shots him and vice versa. To my right, Piambino had poked his head out of the trench to fire his M16 rifle. RIght there and the NVA we were usually up against knew this. 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 first thing my platoon sgt. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. where can i find red bird vienna sausage? 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. 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. Still shaken, I grabbed the gun and crawled to the left inside the streambed. I was still pondering the move to 4th Platoon when U.S. Air Force jets screamed over the treetops with canisters of napalm. _____ 1. The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . Four platoons in a rifle company. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. Take out the power center, youve got the edge. Sometimes on Family Guy when there about to take someones heart out they say, calimar or maybe its spelled different. In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their . 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! Rules may have changed, I was in the Delta region. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). 3 Answers C5H5N in water > C5H5NH+ & OH- Kb = [C5H5NH+] [OH-] / [C5H5N] 1.5e-9 = [x] 1. Work Plz. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star in 1974. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. 4 Paul Domke, who carried extra belts of ammo and fed them into the gun. Screaming Eagles! The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1961. Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. The man with the carbine immediately dropped it, and the two VC surrendered. My first tour was as an advisor to the VN Abn. Most of us have memories of these kind of experiences. We were in2dBn 503d . I pumped 200 rounds into that riverbank. 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. We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. 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. Your email address will not be published. There were usually 3 man (At least 2) point teams. No. Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. We had run patrols for about a month when I first saw action. The fact is that most machine gunners, RTOs, junior officers and other extremely dangerous jobs survived the war. Dont know why, but generally, their aircraft were not armed (door gunners, etc.). The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. 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. 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? Sure, its softer than it was before, but the training they go through is intense, something a loser who spends his time on the computer all day attacking people he doesnt know anything about and all the facts CANNOT do. As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. I wasnt sure if the VC had moved to right or left, so I sprayed the elephant grass in both directions. What percentage of Vietnam veterans actually saw combat? An interesting essay, even more interesting are the comments. They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Not much different than his unit. I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! Here is an 18 5 Answers There is no word like addressal. Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. The blasts from the AMMO, really lit up the whole area. We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. Nothing could be further from the truth. 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. 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.

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