life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam

Four platoons in a rifle company. If youre American (which you probably are), I could give a f***. The next three weeks passed uneventfully. 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. AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. 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. Tumbling end over end, the canisters exploded in a white-hot fireball. hbbd```b`` ,&Iw sA '#o Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years, after the fall of Saigon in 1975, than there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. I didnt make a move without that gun beside me. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. I DISAGREETHE ENEMY WOULD SHOOT THE GUY NEXT TO THE RTO-KNOWING HE WAS THE COMMANDER. One was holding a carbine. Ernest, Im glad that your first tour with the VN airborne was rewarding. Shermans had fairly thin armor (76mm at the thickest compared to a Tiger with 180mm at the thickest with most around 100mm). Assigned to HHC 1/77 Armor, 1st, BDE 5th Inf. Veteran Owned Since 1986. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. How Many Vietnam Veterans Are Still Alive In 2022? - CLJ BS but ia a way you are correct. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. I told by RTO that i could carry my own radio, When he agreed he was humping ammo. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. 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 was a point man, M60 Gunner and squad leader. My dad died of cancer at 52. S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. 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 Lucky you. What Was It Like To Hump The Boonies in Vietnam? The Army suffered the most total casualties, 38,179 or 2.7 percent of its force. And dug Berms, in the area. Very interesting I carried theM 60 for 5 months that gun would cut down anything. So I guess i lasted longer than I was supposed to. I was in the AF a Reo in a F4-C. Who had time to worry about the life This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. The trailer for Fury claims that the average life expectancy of an I wasnt sure if the VC had moved to right or left, so I sprayed the elephant grass in both directions. 8h%5HF8r,X'q#Vtgz%)P/Oi#rU(uO&*Xx1t^=xVLi I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division. %%EOF We wanted a break. This makes our site more accessible to the blind, visually impaired, motor disabled, people with cognitive disabilities and more. 82nd 2/505th. In all that time, the Tet 1968 fighting in Saigon was the only time the unit fought a pitched urban battlevery unusual during the war. The 4th Platoons single machine gun crewthe platoon had entered the fight short a gunhad been killed in the fighting, and I was to be moved there. My good friend who was a RTO was killed. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the Can I use this word like this: The addressal by the C.E.O. 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. I too never understood survivor quilt, Enjoyed your article. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the M60 machine gun. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. 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. The one that should be there is the combat medic. TONY DISAGREED> hE SAID TAKE A 19 YEAR OLD, WHO HAS JUST TAKEN TWO ROUNDS TO HIS BODY, And IS watching his best friend die from multiple, bleeding wounds he wont give a shit about the Geneva Convention. As mentioned, who kept track of that in the first place? Comments were more interesting than the article it self. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. As it was, less than 40 did not need evacuation. Hack received the Purple Heart for major combat injuries, and spent the rest of his military career as a recruiter for the US Army in Akron, Ohio. Lt lost a finger, same time. News media have reported tha an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc.Those are incorrect. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. An interesting essay, even more interesting are the comments. Isolated atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of outrage from anti-war critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any media mention at all. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.? In a strange country scared shitless .I was a minesweeper.My first time out on a mission they put me on the drag line fifty yards from the road which was route 1, Then all hell broke lose Welcome home brothers and sisters. 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. In our spare time we did medevacs and medcaps for the local communities and when required inserted SEALs . Spent my year in a Recon platoon 2/35th 4th ID. The enemy fire ceased, and we made arrangements to collect our dead before continuing on to Company A. Staying alive was kinda of important. Thanks. Which soldier had the shortest life-expectancy? - Quora In Vietnam he cut the hair of everyone in his company for free. hmK#1+yNvA A former expert with the M60 machine gun shares his experiences wielding the fearsome weapon in Vietnam. Not to mention that right now its safer than some cities in the us. They also struggled with logistical problems and the complex political situation in Vietnam. Each company had eight M60s. In that time 4 us kia and 4 wounded. . In Vietnam 70% 0f the casualties were Infantry BUT it might be 70% of ALL the Infantry that served in Vietnam. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. 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. "The Cotton Balers, damn fine Soldiers." The Battalion returned to Fort Benning on October 11, 1970 and was inactivated. After a couple of hours, the Viet Cong stopped shooting and melted back into the jungle. E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. 1 Gun and I survived our first firefight. 4329 0 obj <>stream Yes, I made E4 at graduation, that was considered a NCO then. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas? Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. We had run patrols for about a month when I first saw action. They were a great bunch. Es ridculo que t ______ (tener) un resfriado en verano. You just do the best job you can and if you got hit, so be it! The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in battle on - Quora HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. RIP KOOKIE forever young, Thank god you are still alive, I am age 77. 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. Nervous, I set up my gun on the hill and loaded a new hundred-round belt. approaching a village and a firefight starts). US Wings recently added to OTEXA's Made in U.S.A. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. Not long after the artillery barrage ended, the North Vietnamese swept through 4th Platoon and executed some of the survivors. What Is The Average Life Expectancy Of A Vietnam Veteran? Thanks for the reply. Contents1 [] After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. The first thing my platoon sgt. Vietnam War the helicopters that came in to transport soldiers were the hardest hit with mass casualties . I was lucky too but VN never left me. (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. His best friend is 86 and still alive. 1 Gun before my luck ran out. Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. He served as a sergeant with the Big Red One in Lai Khe, Vietnam. How old are Vietnam vets now? I had been shot in the back early in the battle and was lying behind a log with two other soldiers. Does this mean addressing to a crowd? We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. Vietnam War soldiers Id had a premonition, and asked the LT to let me trade off to become the AG. 17 photos showing the life of an elite US Army Ranger 2 Gun to Ranallo. Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. The NVA had wedged a blocking force between our company and Company A, preventing us from advancing any farther. If you were an administrative officer or clerk in an air-conditioned trailer in Saigon, your war might be a lot like peacetime duty. It was reported as an overwhelming success for the Communist forces and a decided defeat for the U.S. forces. 1 Gun. I had an assistant gunner, Spc. 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. Many were killed or wounded ! It was a chaotic nightmare. We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. !We dont abuse prisoners Now, if he reaches for his weapon to continue the fight BLOW HIS ASS AWAY THIS AINT SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! Unable to reach Company A, my company pulled back, formed a perimeter and called in air and artillery support. When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. %PDF-1.5 % Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! 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. In total, the 7th Infantry spent four years in Vietnam. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics both tours. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. Cause-specific . By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. I never thought of it that way before but have many times since. we were getting it with machine gun and mortars. 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. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. You were a Great RTO. 10 1/2 months in the bush. 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. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. three, he believes he is doing what his country wants him to dojust like you So you better damn well treat him with the compassion you want for you!! The blasts from the AMMO, really lit up the whole area. 1 gun and was hoping it would stay that way. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. As I carried a PRC25 radio for over seven-months in the > Nam, I was curious to find out what I did RIGHT to surv >, One MOS I figured was a sure short timer was POL{Fuel} Truck Driver. Most of us have memories of these kind of experiences. 4 Paul Domke, who carried extra belts of ammo and fed them into the gun. While traveling through the boonies the first few men were usually always shot first. 67-67 11B 4th Id. Deltoid muscle _____ 2. Point, slack and compass. 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. 1: physical position (in the field / column) 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. Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. And us the living that served, who suffer from PTSD ,that figure or percent-aged would be about the greatest of all. Remember he wanted to reenlist for one more year in Vietnam. A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. By the time we reached Vietnam in October 1966 I felt the gun had become a part of me. 1 Gun and I now faced a new and more formidable foethe North Vietnamese Army. The Australian Vietnam veteran study assessed the postservice mortality of 19 205 Vietnam veterans and 25 677 non-Vietnam veterans through 1981. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I think convoy truck drivers had one of the most dangerous job. An Hinglish word (Hindi/English). The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. 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? 1st Cav, 101st, etc. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. See my calculation below in the comments bogus indeed. The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left 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. Postservice Mortality in Vietnam Veterans : 30-Year Follow-up - JAMA U.S. Wings is a manufacturer and a supplier. Fighters and planes dont make up the Army, thats the Air Force. 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. 10-4. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. Me molesta que mis padres no ______ (cuidar) su alimentacin.. 3. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. Cruz quite a lot. Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. There were also wounded. my left and saw this rice paddie farmer and his ox and I was trying to motion him to get down he just looks at me and starts The early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. Commanders like him were few and far between many were afraid of their own shadow and were only there to get their ticket punched. 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. Two of my closest friends in the company, Spc. Fortunately, it was recorded on Spotify and can be listened to here: Thank you for both articles: (1)Going up river to port and (2) the flight from Italy back to Nam. 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. It was more or less next man up . 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. Great story!!! Thats what I figured but didnt know for sure. Although we do tend to bomb a lot, thats only half of what we do. 101st Airborne Division. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. They were glad to see me as it had been a while for replacements with the unit. Seattle, Washington(WA), 98106. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. The dead were placed on ponchos. I know the scouts in my company had a slightly longer rate but not much. We can all hold our heads high and be proud of our service. 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. Hats off to them. I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 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. I loved it. V. Victor Renza was sent home after he was wounded on May 18, 1967. The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual Review - HistoryNet 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. The man listed as missing was machine gunner Joe DeLong, captured along with No. Our patrols were typically about 14 hours 24/7 We operated of old LSTs and large barges. 79% had a high school education or better. In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. This has been going on for about a week Every time I try to watch a video on Youtube from my laptop I get instantly redirected to "gslbeacon.ligit.com." What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. My assistant gunner and my ammo bearer also carried 300 rounds each. The group found the first man killed and carried him up the hill, placing his body right next to me. 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. Originally I went to the 543d TC. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. Appx: 6 months in, all of the 543d TC joined forces with the 572d TC. Soon after, Pfc. The incredibly important role in the U.S. Army is responsible for defending the country through real-life combat. Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. Suddenly I realized that my platoon sergeant was screaming at me to stop firing. Ron. The rolling fire burned everything to the ground and undoubtedly killed scores of NVA. Just published my book The Last Goodbye by John Fratangelo, available on line on Barnes and Noble and Amazon Prime Books, Getting great reviews. Database. I personally believe and agree with previous posts that when its your time, not much you can do. I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. As I remember it the life expectancy was based on after the ambush was sprung or the fire fight started. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. In Service to My Men | Article | The United States Army The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. Sometimes on Family Guy when there about to take someones heart out they say, calimar or maybe its spelled different. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. I put the M60s bipod legs down, lifted the weapon and positioned it on the ground outside the streambed facing the NVA. This is excellent! For example: 7*x^2. He also worked on Jacqueline Kennedys hair pieces and wigs. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. Hi, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one We were like sitting Ducks. Great reading. 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 . 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. 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..

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