The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. Originally I went to the 543d TC. Quickly learned to control rate of fire. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. I had been shot in the back early in the battle and was lying behind a log with two other soldiers. 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. Tony told me that either he or I would greet all incoming troops and we did- and here is the speech we gave to them. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. The Australian Vietnam veteran study assessed the postservice mortality of 19 205 Vietnam veterans and 25 677 non-Vietnam veterans through 1981. Was No. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. DeLong was later killed attempting to escape from a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp in Cambodia. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. The answer that we have always been given is that 1 year in the Infantry is equivalent to 3 years of hard labor. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. Roger Loves you too, Im sure. Welcome Home Roger. I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). 4 Joey Piambino were to my right in the streambed. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). I look over to The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. El subjuntivo I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. Around 3 p.m., when Grandstaff realized we were about to be overrun, he called in artillery right on top of our location. 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. I am 16 years old an 150 pounds qith some good muscle. And us the living that served, who suffer from PTSD ,that figure or percent-aged would be about the greatest of all. In that time 4 us kia and 4 wounded. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. The article was interesting. 1 gun! Everyone laughed. Deltoid muscle _____ 2. Well, according to current mortality and morbidity statistics for the USright around 77.5 Years! 5 Answers There is no word like addressal. We were in2dBn 503d . I carried the PRC-25 Radio most of that time. I was constantly untangling the barrel and bipod of the gun from grasping vines and branches. One of them gazed in our direction, lowered his AK 47 assault rifle and fired six shots. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the designer of the Tet Offensive, is considered by some as ranking with Wellington, Grant, Lee and MacArthur as a great commander. No. a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. I saw killed and wounded everywhere in our combat operations. An Hinglish word (Hindi/English). But I made it back in one piece. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. 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. An interesting comment I had. The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (CACF) Going backwards (Apr. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. He also worked on Jacqueline Kennedys hair pieces and wigs. "And in seizing the firm land at the . 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. 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 makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. 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. Change). He was killed in an ambush along with three others. Thats 390 per day. 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 was just part of the job. As a Huey door gunner, when we left the ground on a mission, I always thought that this mission would be my last! 4 Paul Domke, who carried extra belts of ammo and fed them into the gun. MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. 1 Gun over my shoulder, grabbed a corner of a poncho and stumbled off with three other soldiers. More importantly, Grandstaff was very gung-ho. 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. 1 Gun. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. An Rtos job was essential, tough,(Carrying the extra weight of the radio transmitter along with his rucksack), and dangerous. We walked the mountains and rice patties all thru Tu Thien Province. The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords or 1962 would secure the border). When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. (many of the Soviet casualties were POWs, though). If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. In 1973, Renza opened his own salon in Peekskill. 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. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. The man with the carbine immediately dropped it, and the two VC surrendered. 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 think the number of Army and Hospital Corpsmen serving with the Marine Corp was very high, with the ratio of the number of them over there. Now, to calmly answer your question, air strikes have actually been an efficient technique used by us for years now. It was an honor indeed to serve with some of the finest soldiers I have ever met. 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. Dap, Hope this helps. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. THE MAN I INHERITED THE GUN FROM WASNT SO LUCKY. The U.S. Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual contains gems such as infantry "patrol tips," maneuver techniques, and fighting methods for various environments. Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) Once we turned on the radar they could hit us with a harm missile. Nicknamed "the pig" due to its size, weight and sound, the gun struck fear into enemy troops. I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. Does this mean addressing to a crowd? Lucky you. Completa las oraciones con la forma correcta del presente de subjuntivo de los verbos entre parntesis.? Every single . 1 Gun before my luck ran out. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. Not long after the artillery barrage ended, the North Vietnamese swept through 4th Platoon and executed some of the survivors. 11 c mos , meaning I was also cross trained for mortars . I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. Theres 58,276. I was told my life expectancy was about 45 secs during a fire fight because of the weapons and demo I carried. They also struggled with logistical problems and the complex political situation in Vietnam. Keep in step with US Wings Join our newsletter to receive all our latest news and offers, Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from US Wings. One was holding a carbine. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. I lost my cherry very early. B)Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x. Jimmy aaja -M.I.A. After a quick lesson, DeLong became the new owner of 4th Platoons No.1 Gun. Diaphragm _____ 3. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. It was more or less next man up . No. 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. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. It was on the Job Training ! 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. 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. The next three weeks passed uneventfully. This makes our site more accessible to the blind, visually impaired, motor disabled, people with cognitive disabilities and more. Anxiously extending the bipod legs on the M60, I added a 100-round belt to the one I already had in the gun. Total fantasy. 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. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. Me, a vehicle mechanic with Btry E, 41st Arty Quads 1970. News media have reported tha an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc.Those are incorrect. 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? How old are Vietnam vets now? He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. 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. I DISAGREETHE ENEMY WOULD SHOOT THE GUY NEXT TO THE RTO-KNOWING HE WAS THE COMMANDER. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. 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. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. Five RTOs. My dad died of cancer at 52. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. I just wanted to get off No. The early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. Sgt. As I made it back to the road I remember seeing the I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. 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. The jungle seemed to want No. My good friend who was a RTO was killed. We took fire all the time and responded. No. Different jobs have different life expectancy. Sometimes on Family Guy when there about to take someones heart out they say, calimar or maybe its spelled different. First Sgt. V. Victor Renza was sent home after he was wounded on May 18, 1967. . Welcome home. If anything went wrong, I could easily kill some of our soldiers. US Wings recently added to OTEXA's Made in U.S.A. There were usually 3 man (At least 2) point teams. I loved it. I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. They were great patriots fighting for their families and their homeland. 2 Gun to Ranallo. hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ We were like sitting Ducks. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. If youre American (which you probably are), I could give a f***. There must have been a real mathematician to come up with those calculations. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. Bravo, 3/187th Inf, 101st Airborne Div, 2nd Plt, 2nd Sq, Hamburger Hill, May 69. The two platoons were to advance no more than 200 yards from the main body of the company. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served. then youd carry an extra 200 rounds of M60 ammo for the machine gunner , plus drag grenades , one smoke grenade plus etc. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. . Got hit inside 15 minutes, first ambush we walked up too. 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. 1 Gun was on my hip with the safety off, ready to rock and roll. 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!! So I guess i lasted longer than I was supposed to. Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. We were all in our Bunkers, and at the ready with our weapons. My bud, Price took over as RTO. I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. (tirotactico.net). Why is my internet redirecting to gslbeacon.ligit.com and how do I STOP THIS. Some gave all. Forget the statistics, we all had a job to do, we went where we were told. 97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. However, Shermans were very outmatched by the German tanks on the field of battle. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.? They were Kims cousins not her brothers. The rolling fire burned everything to the ground and undoubtedly killed scores of NVA. Helicopters, F4 fighters. Now we know. So do us all a favor and please learn to be tolerant, intelligent, and active. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. ), special forces, combat support, engineering, medics, and vehicle assault weapons. Two points: 1) at least in Army units, Medevacs (dust offs) flew unarmed aircraft. After a couple of hours, the Viet Cong stopped shooting and melted back into the jungle. Required fields are marked *. 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 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.. When the Company B units that landed on the opposite side of the river got to the bank, some troops reached in and pulled the enemy from the water. I was already lugging around a 24-pound weapon, 300 rounds of ammo and a pack that weighed a good 45 pounds. 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 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. That was a hell of a responsibility to take on. Contents1 [] We had run patrols for about a month when I first saw action. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. It was an HONOR and a privilege to serve with these brave men for my 11 month tour. by Zita Ballinger Fletcher 1/18/2022. Well he didnt make it. 2 Gun team, Ranallo and May, without any support. I was told to help carry one of the bodies. I was over there twice serving as a Hospital Corpsman with a marine unit. 1ST MAW 66-68. 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. I carried the proc 26 radio after I was asked by my field 1st ( E 7 ) if I would for my platoon . The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. Surrounded by an enemy battalion, our hopelessly outnumbered platoon waged a desperate battle for survival. I never even got a shot off. I credit my longetivity to great training at Ft Benning. 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. Sholly injured an ankle, and 1st Lt. Cary Allen took command of Company B. Certainly got my attention. I won a few times, and even when I did not I benefited from handling the gun under stress. I was an Infantry Scout Dog handler. Combatants on both sides faced physical challenges posed by the climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. In your rucksack . Please do not send samples. In the hands of a well-trained machine gunner, the M60 was a devastating weaponso feared by our opponents that they usually aimed their first shots at the machine gunners, who were often in positions exposed to enemy fire. John Doever I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. 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%. It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful. I was a grunt with c co. 4/31 196th it inf bade. 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 . I always felt that Infantry units were in more danger because of ambush issues and no permanent defensive structures. Fact: The domino theory was accurate.
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