life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam

I felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their . Its not all written down. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. The machine guns were numbered within each platoon. 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. 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. Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. No combat assignments for another year of service in Vietnam or get out in about a month. And I know what youre going to say, Because the American cs! Bullcrap!!!! The gas-operated, belt-fed gun had a maximum rate of fire of 550-650 rounds per minute. A dense mass of elephant grass hung over the riverbank, and he ducked under it. Oh, and even the Air Force has ground units. Does this mean addressing to a crowd? 1 Gun was on my hip with the safety off, ready to rock and roll. 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. Before he was drafted Renza had worked as a hairdresser for women in his hometown of Peekskill, New York. 2: role (MOS?). That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. The one that should be there is the combat medic. I was wounded 3 times during the 10 1/2 months I was in-country before being medevacd out in Apr of 68. And dug Berms, in the area. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the VietnamWar? By mid-April 1967 I was pleading with the captain to get a replacement gunner for my M60 in 4th Platoon. Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds. I assisted Vessey and Capt Cartwright by helping prepare the Bee Hive Rounds (first time they were ever used), firing 4 rounds at proximity 0 range into a human wave attack on or weak side after 5 hours of relentless attacks on the opposite side of the perimeter Those 4 rounds killed @ 400 enemy soldiers, of the 881 total enemy losss John Vessey later became a 4 Star general and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs appointed by Reagan 1983, and at retirement became Chair of the POW MIA Commission for 14 years, Passing away in August 2016 just 6 months before our 50th Reunion. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. "The Cotton Balers, damn fine Soldiers." The Battalion returned to Fort Benning on October 11, 1970 and was inactivated. Our 5th night there, the AMMO area started burning / blowing up. Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. But I made it back in one piece. I was with HHC and 1st Platoon C Company in 70-71. 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." I was in the AF a Reo in a F4-C. Who had time to worry about the life I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. Four platoons in a rifle company. Robert Sholly, standing with Platoon Sgt. 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. For example, life expectancy of Veterans at age 25 population, thus 3.6 and 0.5 life-years smaller income differentials for male and female Veterans, respectively, shown in Tables 17 and 18. 1 Gun had registered its first kill. Fact: The domino theory was accurate. Thats what I figured but didnt know for sure. We were expecting, an attack. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. In the First Armored Division, now part of the 23rd Infantry Division, commonly known as the Americal Division, combat medics were called into action every day because the fighting was now. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. Sociologists Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, in their recently published book All That We Can Be, said they analyzed the claim that blacks were used like cannon fodder during Vietnam and can report definitely that this charge is untrue. See also: Population Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. 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). Walked point way to many times but never had contact. Joe DeLong joined the company, and Sholly informed me that he would be the M60 gunner. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. The man with the carbine immediately dropped it, and the two VC surrendered. 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. I was an RTO for 9-1/2 months for Hawk Recon 2/327 101AB from dec, 1969 to sept 70. A Co, 1/5 Cav, 1 Cav Division. both tours. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim Phucs brothers were killed in this incident. They were located, next to us, in/on Long Bhin Post. It was very nearly my last. then youd carry an extra 200 rounds of M60 ammo for the machine gunner , plus drag grenades , one smoke grenade plus etc. 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. Very memorable comments. Of the . Stop staring at your computer already, get up. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the M60 machine gun. We were in2dBn 503d . 1st Cav, 101st, etc. Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company C, 87th Infantry Regiment, walk on patrol north of the Long . Id love to see the casualties listed by Corps ? 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. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the 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. maybe your question i vauge. Proudly holding my M60 over my head, I screamed at the top of my lungs, No. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. Learned a lot from him. Yes, I made E4 at graduation, that was considered a NCO then. Out of the 3,000,000 men and women in our armed forces and reserves, we have lost 4,500 in this 9 year war. I am proud to have fought alongside of them. Lowering my gun, I turned around and noticed two VC sitting in the doorway of the hut, staring at me. We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. Your email address will not be published. ), special forces, combat support, engineering, medics, and vehicle assault weapons. I carried the proc 26 radio after I was asked by my field 1st ( E 7 ) if I would for my platoon . 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!! 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. Good article. Thats 390 per day. I've never heard about the life expectancy of 6 weeks (even with a short google search). The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. Certainly got my attention. Expenditures for a body in a combat zone? Id had a premonition, and asked the LT to let me trade off to become the AG. Ron. Your article was quite interesting. I won a few times, and even when I did not I benefited from handling the gun under stress. The two platoons were to advance no more than 200 yards from the main body of the company. Helicopters, F4 fighters. (LogOut/ 4 Joey Piambino were to my right in the streambed. I am one lucky SOB. If you have other information let me know. Nobody attacked, where we were. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. 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. Like most inexperienced gunners, he underestimated the power of the pig and failed to keep the barrel down when firing. 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. I was wasting ammo and didnt even have a target! It was on the Job Training ! 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. To my surprise, I qualified as an expert with the M60 machine gun, nicknamed the pig because of the size, weight and sound of the weapon. He was killed in an ambush along with three others. I too never understood survivor quilt, Enjoyed your article. I look over to On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. It doesnt make any sense statistically/mathematically it is impossible. Originally I went to the 543d TC. The group found the first man killed and carried him up the hill, placing his body right next to me. Five RTOs. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. 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. You were a Great RTO. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. C Co, 1st-12th 66-67. I was a helicopter pilot 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. It was an HONOR and a privilege to serve with these brave men for my 11 month tour. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers. And yes, please God, bless America. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. 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. Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. 4 Answers aaja Come. 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. Every single . 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. This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. The jungle seemed to want No. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. 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). I couldnt disagree. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. As mentioned, who kept track of that in the first place? He served as a sergeant with the Big Red One in Lai Khe, Vietnam. Army Infantrymen (11B) are the main land combat force, and known as "Eleven Bravo.". Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. I had yet to fire a shot with No. year old Marine thinking this is my last day on earth. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. They kept coming up the hill bringing more bodies to me until all seven had been found. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served was: 9,492,958. Once we turned on the radar they could hit us with a harm missile. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. HOOAH!!! I quit trying to make sense of all the numbers that have been generated about Vietnam. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. Soldiers also act in the mobilization of vehicles, weaponry, troops, and more. Soldier,this is a wardont forget that, and anytime we are in a fight we will be toughest SOBs in the fight!! He was not the type to hump a radio. Most of us have memories of these kind of experiences. Both my tours were in the Delta (IV Corps) where the only ground troops were regular ARVNs and RUFF/PUFFS. 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. I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! One of them gazed in our direction, lowered his AK 47 assault rifle and fired six shots. Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. It means, IF (!) The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. See you in the next life!!!!! 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. Some Brothers said why spend another year in this hellhole???? His comparison to a FB was that if we were fired on we returned fire and requested assistance when needed. Then one hot, sunny day, while walking across rice paddies, we suddenly received small-arms fire from Viet Cong in some distant hills. Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. 2 Gun team, Ranallo and May, without any support. Or is it on display in a Hanoi museum so curious citizens of that city can inspect a weapon captured from American imperialists? In total, the 7th Infantry spent four years in Vietnam. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. U.S. Wings is a manufacturer and a supplier. 1 Gun became my very best friend. we were getting it with machine gun and mortars. I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. It began just as, it was getting dark. No creo que Susana _____ (seguir) sobre los consejos de su mdico. 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 Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! Required fields are marked *. Company B arrived in-country with four rifle platoons, and each platoon was armed with two M60s. It didnt matter who you were or where you were. Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. A Marine on patrol crosses a rice paddy in Vietnam holding an M60 machine gun in 1966. Tumbling end over end, the canisters exploded in a white-hot fireball. Interesting reading. Great reading. 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? We were very, lucky. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. Both were infantry in WW2. Well, according to current mortality and morbidity statistics for the USright around 77.5 Years! At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study). I for one commend you for your courage and thank you for your service to your country. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. What is the life expectancy of Vietnam veterans? There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. The incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three day battle between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of Trang Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to force the NVA out of the village. No. The average age of the men killed: 23.1 years. Sgt. If my memory is correct, only the 1st Cab flew wiith doorgunners. Your Dad and I had the same job. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. 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. The man listed as missing was machine gunner Joe DeLong, captured along with No. Two rounds smashed into a log inches above my head. Welcome Home Roger. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. At Fort Lewis, every recruit learned to operate various weapons. Umm..maybe its because we also learn from experience. I pumped 200 rounds into that riverbank. I watched in horror as four NVA soldiers ambled through the branches of a downed tree that partially concealed us. 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. 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. Very interesting I carried theM 60 for 5 months that gun would cut down anything. Nixon Presidential Papers. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. 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. I am 81 now and survived the encounter by terminated the sniper. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. A former expert with the M60 machine gun shares his experiences wielding the fearsome weapon in Vietnam. Vietnam War the helicopters that came in to transport soldiers were the hardest hit with mass casualties . My second tour was as the S3 for LTC Anthony Herbertone of Americas greatest leaders and WARRIORS OF ALL TIME. We were about 700 yards east of Company A when it was ambushed by an NVA battalion. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. 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. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. I am convinced the same NVA soldier who shot at me moments before had killed my good friend, a budding doo-wop singer from Long Island, New York. Thank You Roger!!! No trees or anything on the ground. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of 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. He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. %%EOF I credit my longetivity to great training at Ft Benning. Roger Loves you too, Im sure. Very Good , I was a radio operator up in I corps in 68 & to me the worst thing was the walking . Around 3 p.m., when Grandstaff realized we were about to be overrun, he called in artillery right on top of our location. Bloody May 1968 Mini TET. It is Honor in the Valley of Tears. Express your answer in terms of x. I got shot on a mission with 45 days left. Ive always considered myself damn lucky to make it out alive. Such as in the song Jimmy by M.I.A look at aaja in the dictionary My indian boyfriend told me is meaning come to me, 6 Answers I have never had or heard of that particular brand, but have had several here in Canada, plus a number in the Caribbean and Asia, and there all the same, small cut hot dogs in a can, no need q now please.. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas:? 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. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. An NVA soldier had evidently spotted the gun and waited patiently for me to stick my head up. 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. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. Not long after the artillery barrage ended, the North Vietnamese swept through 4th Platoon and executed some of the survivors. The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soon I could take the gun apart and put it back together in the dark. It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division. No. Please do not send samples. Had multiple Ks and Ws. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. I was an Artillery Forward Observer with the Infantry. 1 Gun. I had an assistant gunner, Spc. Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW After about 30 minutes, the four enemy soldiers got up and left the area. On average US troops served 1-2 years in Vietnam, and the percentage of troops killed was actually fairly low for a war this size, 2.14% of all who served were killed, the life expectancy was roughly around 1 year, 5 months and 3 weeks (taking into account the 1-2 year difference in some troops's serving times) Sponsored by Primal Labs If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. Fact: The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. While traveling through the boonies the first few men were usually always shot first. We took fire all the time and responded. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the . I was sitting on the ground one day trying to dry out my gear and better configure my ruck when my squad leader came walking over to me and said, Gow, youve got the radio. As he turned and walked away! 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. Amazingly, the NVA men then walked a short distance away, sat down and ate lunch. Although we do tend to bomb a lot, thats only half of what we do. Then we all, loaded on C-147 cargo planes. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. Me molesta que mis padres no ______ (cuidar) su alimentacin.. 3. 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. Found NVA bunker complex. If youre American (which you probably are), I could give a f***. Fighters and planes dont make up the Army, thats the Air Force. Great story!!! His body was torn to pieces. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. The Bn & Company I was assigned to, was on the last row of Bldgs. An interesting comment I had. If anything went wrong, I could easily kill some of our soldiers. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. I handled Top Secret Commo on a daily basis. I personally believe and agree with previous posts that when its your time, not much you can do. Now we know. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). First Sgt. Company B had seven dead, Grandstaff announced, and I was to take No. I never even got a shot off. Terrified, I dropped down as fast as I could, pulling the gun and two ammo belts of 100 rounds apiece on top of me as I fell back into the dry streambed. I was an M-60 machine gunner for a battalion recon platoon in 1967, for the First Infantry Division, Known as The Black Scarf Battalion. The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours, a Marine said. I picked up my M60 and walked to the center of the perimeter, where I found the company commander, Capt. Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. At age 55, World War 2 Veterans Two of my closest friends in the company, Spc. It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful.