life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam

Rules may have changed, I was in the Delta region. Cause-specific . "The Rangers pulled themselves over the top," President Ronald Reagan said of the men, in 1984. (LogOut/ Why is my internet redirecting to gslbeacon.ligit.com and how do I STOP THIS. 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. I personally carried 300 rounds of ammo at all times, one belt in the gun and two across my chest. Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. Thank You for your courageous service as an RTO with the legendary Hawk Recon Platoon. Yes, I made E4 at graduation, that was considered a NCO then. Express your answer in terms of x. 11 c mos , meaning I was also cross trained for mortars . Work Plz. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. I too never understood survivor quilt, Enjoyed your article. I was a medic on one for two yrs and the only weapon I was issue was a six-shot .38. I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). The Davis Station in Saigon was named for him. I was an Infantry Scout Dog handler. I was never formally trained as an RTO. Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. His comparison to a FB was that if we were fired on we returned fire and requested assistance when needed. Together we had passed the test. Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. Both my tours were in the Delta (IV Corps) where the only ground troops were regular ARVNs and RUFF/PUFFS. S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. Got hit inside 15 minutes, first ambush we walked up too. I kept the radio because I understood the power of having the first communication with the support mechanisms of the military. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. Certainly got my attention. I was wasting ammo and didnt even have a target! My heart was pounding out of my chest. Interesting but something is missing. The fact that PDoggbiker cant find any decent calculation/explanation, tells us a lot. EACH OF US CARRIES OUR OWN MEMORIES AND THEY RUN THE GAMUT. estimated education differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14 are close to those of U. S. population in 1979-89. You just do the best job you can and if you got hit, so be it! I was told to help carry one of the bodies. Nevertheless, I swung No. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. I want to know what the life expectancy of a us infantry army soldier is. Different type units, different locations, different opinions on dangers. Grab some friends and go outside. 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. 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. They were Kims cousins not her brothers. Really no mention of the regular rifleman. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. He also worked on Jacqueline Kennedys hair pieces and wigs. 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. When I was assigned to the M60 in advanced individual training, I decided that if I had to be a gunner I would learn everything there was to know about the weapon. The jungle seemed to want No. 1 Gun became my very best friend. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. 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 May they rest in peace. Life Expectancy of the World Population. We did interdictions, blocks and other fun things on the river. As the entire platoon hit the ground, I saw guys crawling back toward me. 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. We are a woman-owned small business and Veteran-owned incorporated in Ohio. 'No. 1 Gun': An M60 Machine Gunner in Vietnam Tells His Story - HistoryNet Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21 years old. You seen the enemy you shots him and vice versa. If youre American (which you probably are), I could give a f***. Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. Totally bogus. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. One was holding a carbine. US Wings provides aviation apparel to the U.S. Government and commercial customers along with the general public. 8h%5HF8r,X'q#Vtgz%)P/Oi#rU(uO&*Xx1t^=xVLi Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful. I would carry when on ambush. Spent my year in a Recon platoon 2/35th 4th ID. Ha Ha always enjoyed being a volunteer! We killed a lot of the enemy but we took few serious casualties. Surrounded by an enemy battalion, our hopelessly outnumbered platoon waged a desperate battle for survival. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. Bob Sanzone. Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. In the few firefights and skirmishes we had with local VC, the gun always performed well. In Service to My Men | Article | The United States Army Information presented by SFC (Ret) David Hack. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. As I made it back to the road I remember seeing the As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. I carried the proc 26 radio after I was asked by my field 1st ( E 7 ) if I would for my platoon . Vietnam War soldiers meaning what is the chance of me getting killed in combat. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I had been shot in the back early in the battle and was lying behind a log with two other soldiers. The next three weeks passed uneventfully. After a couple of hours, the Viet Cong stopped shooting and melted back into the jungle. What Was It Like To Hump The Boonies in Vietnam? 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion 327th Infantry. When I popped back up to put out some automatic fire, a bullet whizzed by my earno more than an inch from my headand slammed into the tree next to me, shattering the bark. 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. THE MAN I INHERITED THE GUN FROM WASNT SO LUCKY. Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. 2) by my research, medics suffered 93% casualties with about 33% deaths. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? Two of my classmates were killed within 2 weeks incountry and three wounded I know of. When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. As with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and misinterpreted the 1968 Tet Offensive. Prayers for all. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. Sholly injured an ankle, and 1st Lt. Cary Allen took command of Company B. 97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged. 1 Gun kept a lot of enemy heads down. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. Staying alive was kinda of important. If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. 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). My assistant gunner and my ammo bearer also carried 300 rounds each. 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. 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 I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. My good friend who was a RTO was killed. I didnt make a move without that gun beside me. 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. Jimmy aaja, jimmy aaja. He retired in 2012 and lives in Delray Beach, Florida. It was just north of Saigon. Was the 7th Infantry in Vietnam? - 2023 The man listed as missing was machine gunner Joe DeLong, captured along with No. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2 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. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star in 1974. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. The two platoons were to advance no more than 200 yards from the main body of the company. He was killed in an ambush along with three others. In 1973, Renza opened his own salon in Peekskill. I, in turn, would take an M16 rifle, which felt like a feather in comparison. Postservice Mortality in Vietnam Veterans : 30-Year Follow-up - JAMA 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 . We took fire all the time and responded. The Bn & Company I was assigned to, was on the last row of Bldgs. 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! Originally I went to the 543d TC. The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. July 68 to July 69. A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their 85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life. They have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups. 2. We were about 700 yards east of Company A when it was ambushed by an NVA battalion. No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. We wanted a break. Army Infantrymen (11B) are the main land combat force, and known as "Eleven Bravo.". The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. Was a door gunner and crew chief for just shy of 18 months (I extended to get out early). Some gave all. Forget the statistics, we all had a job to do, we went where we were told. Units would send a thorough report of their KIA and WIA, battle action coordinates, estimated enemy troop strength, enemy unit KIA/captured and any known direction heading. If the enemy was near, we never saw any. We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. Thank You Roger!!! 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. 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. 82nd 2/505th. 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. I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. As soon as he did, a round hit him in the forehead, blowing out the back of his skull. He was wounded and suffered permanent disability shortly before his tour was up. Once we turned on the radar they could hit us with a harm missile. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. 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. I was an FO back in the day. Soon after, Pfc. Welcome Home Roger. I put the M60s bipod legs down, lifted the weapon and positioned it on the ground outside the streambed facing the NVA. Seattle, Washington(WA), 98106. The rolling fire burned everything to the ground and undoubtedly killed scores of NVA. Bravo, 3/187th Inf, 101st Airborne Div, 2nd Plt, 2nd Sq, Hamburger Hill, May 69. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. 5 seconds. I am one lucky SOB. Thanks for the reply. The NVA had wedged a blocking force between our company and Company A, preventing us from advancing any farther. How Many Vietnam Veterans Are Still Alive In 2022? - CLJ Fighters and planes dont make up the Army, thats the Air Force. happened. US Wings is a veteran-owned business and an official supplier to the US Military. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. Of the . The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. 1st Cav, 101st, etc. 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. Nervous, I set up my gun on the hill and loaded a new hundred-round belt. Contents1 [] Screaming Eagles! C Co, 1st-12th 66-67. At age 55, World War 2 Veterans Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial Appx: 6 months in, all of the 543d TC joined forces with the 572d TC. Remember he wanted to reenlist for one more year in Vietnam. In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. It was one of my most memorable tours in the Navy I later went to a carrier and was bored silly because I had about 1% of the responsibilities I had as an O-2. (and yes, you cant ask them, so it would have to be derived from the AA-reports and survivors). 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. PDF Mortality Rates and Life Expectancy of Veterans - Veterans Affairs I never saw any correlation as to what MOS a soldier was and their survival rate. 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 . 4314 0 obj <> endobj . I couldnt disagree. I loved it. NFS. 1 Gun over my shoulder, grabbed a corner of a poncho and stumbled off with three other soldiers. 1 gun! Everyone laughed. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. Joe DeLong joined the company, and Sholly informed me that he would be the M60 gunner. 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. 1 Gun more than I did. The key may be the word initial since we became more savvy with successive combats and had improved survivability. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. Soldier,this is a wardont forget that, and anytime we are in a fight we will be toughest SOBs in the fight!! My first tour was as an advisor to the VN Abn. Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. It is Honor in the Valley of Tears. I pumped 200 rounds into that riverbank. When Apache Snow began, I was an RTO, after Airborne, and before the CA on Dong Ap Bia, I became the AG for Roeski. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. 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.) 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 The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent . The trailer for Fury claims that the average life expectancy of an What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War Foot soldiers went by the grace of God, but had a better chance than the infantry platoon commander in combat. The dead were placed on ponchos. 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. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the I never thought of it that way before but have many times since. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. 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 in the AF a Reo in a F4-C. Who had time to worry about the life Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours, a Marine said. Thank God I made it. BUT WE MUST ALSO BE COGNIZANT OF OUR REQUIREMENT TO BE COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS. 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. Not much different than his unit. 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. Arthur Parker and Spc. Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. I was lucky too but VN never left me. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. An interesting comment I had. Contents 1 Unclear objectives 2 North Vietnamese strategy Thanks for posting! I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. Re: Helicopter Crews (Medevac & Dustoff): To my knowledge, only the 1st Cav Medevac had M60s for protection. Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. 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. Great information. I was a helicopter pilot I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! No. There were usually 3 man (At least 2) point teams. Every single . Our patrols were typically about 14 hours 24/7 We operated of old LSTs and large barges. 76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds. So do us all a favor and please learn to be tolerant, intelligent, and active. The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . Carrying a dead man some 300 yards through thick jungle in 100-degree heat was extraordinarily difficult. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. Military history of African Americans in the Vietnam War I DISAGREETHE ENEMY WOULD SHOOT THE GUY NEXT TO THE RTO-KNOWING HE WAS THE COMMANDER. As it was, less than 40 did not need evacuation. 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. What unit lost the most soldiers in Vietnam? Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. Mi hermana se sorprende N-F C-F Cl-F F-F 2 Answers C-F is the most polar. If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. Cruz quite a lot. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Both were infantry in WW2. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. 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. They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. Welcome home!! 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem. Unable to reach Company A, my company pulled back, formed a perimeter and called in air and artillery support. No trees or anything on the ground. It began just as, it was getting dark. That was a hell of a responsibility to take on. PLEASE HELP!!! Change). Not long after the artillery barrage ended, the North Vietnamese swept through 4th Platoon and executed some of the survivors. The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual Review - HistoryNet Id love to see the casualties listed by Corps ? The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. Five RTOs. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. We had run patrols for about a month when I first saw action. It was just part of the job. Bloody May 1968 Mini TET. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas? No combat assignments for another year of service in Vietnam or get out in about a month. Welcome home. The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. _____ 1. well i have been army infantry for 12 years with 2 deployments, and still going strong. 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? then youd carry an extra 200 rounds of M60 ammo for the machine gunner , plus drag grenades , one smoke grenade plus etc. He said fighting was especially deadly in the war-torn city of Bakhmut, dubbed "the meat . Great reading. Can I use this word like this: The addressal by the C.E.O. I was an RTO for 9-1/2 months for Hawk Recon 2/327 101AB from dec, 1969 to sept 70. THANKS! 101st Airborne Division. Was it left behind on some forgotten battlefield? 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.

Chad Beam Funeral Home Obituaries, What Animal Has The Worst Sense Of Smell, Articles L