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HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. That was supposed to be 58, 220. but wait, there are more numbers for the same story. It was very nearly my last. Lt lost a finger, same time. Sept 69 to Sept 70. Our 5th night there, the AMMO area started burning / blowing up. Company A searched in vain for the platoon in the dark and finally found the shattered unit on the morning of May 19. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. 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. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. Assigned to HHC 1/77 Armor, 1st, BDE 5th Inf. We were expecting, an attack. 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. %%EOF I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. 1 Gun and I survived our first firefight. Company B arrived in-country with four rifle platoons, and each platoon was armed with two M60s. 1 Gun had registered its first kill. 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. It was an HONOR and a privilege to serve with these brave men for my 11 month tour. There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study). Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. In that time 4 us kia and 4 wounded. Thanks for posting! 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. 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. First Sgt. No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. It was just part of the job. Foot soldiers went by the grace of God, but had a better chance than the infantry platoon commander in combat. 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. Love this analysis. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ 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. (LogOut/ I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. Needless too say I depended on Sgt. (LogOut/ I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. 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. 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. El subjuntivo Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. A soldier or Marine in Vietnam had a 98% chance of survival if he was evacuated within the first hour of being injured the best odds in the history of American warfare up to that time. Ambushed on October 4th,1967. 1 gun! Everyone laughed. We flew north, then made a stop, in Cam Rahn Bay. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. I carried the PRC-25 Radio most of that time. (tirotactico.net). Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. We were discussing the different units and dangers of each. Why is my internet redirecting to gslbeacon.ligit.com and how do I STOP THIS. The Australian Vietnam veteran study assessed the postservice mortality of 19 205 Vietnam veterans and 25 677 non-Vietnam veterans through 1981. said to me. I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained there for 10 months before deploying to Vietnam as specialist 4. DeLong had only fired the weapon once in training, so I let him fire off a few rounds to practice. According to the American War Library, as of February 28, 2019, it is estimated that approximately 610,000 Americans who served in land forces during the Vietnam War or in air missions over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are still alive to this day. 2) by my research, medics suffered 93% casualties with about 33% deaths. Supported by a shoulder strap, No. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. The dead were placed on ponchos. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. I want to know what the life expectancy of a us infantry army soldier is. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. Hi, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& The 4th Platoon survivors stayed put for the night. An NVA soldier had evidently spotted the gun and waited patiently for me to stick my head up. Around 3 p.m., when Grandstaff realized we were about to be overrun, he called in artillery right on top of our location. The incredibly important role in the U.S. Army is responsible for defending the country through real-life combat. 23,24 This study found that the death rate for Vietnam veterans was 1.3 times that for non-Vietnam veterans; however, the excess deaths were limited to Engineer Corps members (RR, 2.5). The rule of thumb was , any new guys would get the radio and keep it until another new guy came in. Database. Required fields are marked *. Expenditures for a body in a combat zone? My second tour was as the S3 for LTC Anthony Herbertone of Americas greatest leaders and WARRIORS OF ALL TIME. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. There were usually 3 man (At least 2) point teams. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. The man listed as missing was machine gunner Joe DeLong, captured along with No. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. Jimmy aaja, jimmy aaja. Then the tempo changed suddenly and violently. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture, was Vietnamese. Anyway I was wondering about the RTOs in a grunt platoon, was that their MOS or were they 11B that carried a PRC ? He said when they were ambushed they took defensive positions, returned fire, called for assistance when needed, and retreated when necessary. 2023 CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website, RTO, John Scheur. I know the scouts in my company had a slightly longer rate but not much. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. Amazingly, the NVA men then walked a short distance away, sat down and ate lunch. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. Some were constantly exposed to combat, some not so often. 8h%5HF8r,X'q#Vtgz%)P/Oi#rU(uO&*Xx1t^=xVLi hbbd```b`` ,&Iw sA '#o Saw from mostly safe distance almost all the weapons systems that where there used. Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. well i have been army infantry for 12 years with 2 deployments, and still going strong. I didnt make a move without that gun beside me. Found NVA bunker complex. Spent my year in a Recon platoon 2/35th 4th ID. Grab some friends and go outside. I had scary thoughts about myself humping the bush as a RTO, I was a real puny guy back then. Explore the Life of a U.S. Infantryman in Vietnam. 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. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? 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. It was on the Job Training ! Company B had seven dead, Grandstaff announced, and I was to take No. 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. I was a medic on one for two yrs and the only weapon I was issue was a six-shot .38. See you in the next life!!!!! 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. I think convoy truck drivers had one of the most dangerous job. 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. Artillery, and ground forces. 1 Gun, I jumped into a small dry streambed with Domke, my assistant gunner. Mech. Many were killed or wounded ! waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the Phi Pow B.Sc (econ) in Economic History & Economics (college minor), London School of Economics and Political Science Author has 212 answers and 234.6K answer views 2 y Originally Answered: What soldier had the shortest life expectancy? An interesting comment I had. From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. estimated education differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14 are close to those of U. S. population in 1979-89. I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. maybe your question i vauge. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. Great reading. Bruce Grandstaff and my best friend, Sgt. Now, the wisdom of this soldier tough but humanly compassionate warrior ethos can be assessed through the 2d Bn recordNO complaints about mistreatment of prisonerswhile achieving the most combat SUCCESSES IN THE BRIGADE. 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.. I got shot on a mission with 45 days left. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful. 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. Background [ edit] Quickly learned to control rate of fire. Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. Great story!!! The machine gun was also mounted in the UH-1 Huey helicopter and other Army aircraft. Id love to see the casualties listed by Corps ? .. We had run patrols for about a month when I first saw action. Joe DeLong joined the company, and Sholly informed me that he would be the M60 gunner. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. I was with HHC and 1st Platoon C Company in 70-71. Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial Welcome home brothers and sisters. The article was interesting. RIght there and the NVA we were usually up against knew this. I look over to 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. 5 seconds. Anxiously extending the bipod legs on the M60, I added a 100-round belt to the one I already had in the gun. Just to show that its hard to get an accurate number, note my typo of 56,220.