year old Marine thinking this is my last day on earth. The Regiment traces its lineage back to World War II. So do us all a favor and please learn to be tolerant, intelligent, and active. I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. I remember hearing a Lieutenant (Kennedy) say to one of his two platoon RTOs My RTO is Foxtrot Uniform. 1 Gun before my luck ran out. I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! 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. A typical Patrol Boat River (PBR) was about 31 feet long and had twin 50s forward an M 60 midships and a 50 aft. By mid-April 1967 I was pleading with the captain to get a replacement gunner for my M60 in 4th Platoon. Take out the power center, youve got the edge. I pumped 200 rounds into that riverbank. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. 10-4. For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. Surrounded by an enemy battalion, our hopelessly outnumbered platoon waged a desperate battle for survival. %%EOF Me, a vehicle mechanic with Btry E, 41st Arty Quads 1970. Some of my men didnt. I never even got a shot off. We could not see any enemy soldiers, but we could see smoke coming from their weapons through the trees. Now we know. In an instant the jungle erupted in gunfire. Life Expectancy of the World Population. 2) by my research, medics suffered 93% casualties with about 33% deaths. It was a chaotic nightmare. Still shaken, I grabbed the gun and crawled to the left inside the streambed. Here are statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993. The Vietnam War gave us trouble because we didnt know how to counteract against guerrilla warfare in a jungle (dont forget that the US Army was switching to M16s, which often jammed). I carried the proc 26 radio after I was asked by my field 1st ( E 7 ) if I would for my platoon . One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. Remember he wanted to reenlist for one more year in Vietnam. We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. NFS. Thanks. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. Information presented by SFC (Ret) David Hack. Five RTOs. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. 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. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. I was drafted on Nov. 10, 1965, and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. 1 Gun was firing. I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.? The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. 5 seconds. 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. I just wanted to get off No. I was with HHC and 1st Platoon C Company in 70-71. Needless too say I depended on Sgt. Spanish Help If my memory is correct, only the 1st Cab flew wiith doorgunners. life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam - lbgf.org Both my tours were in the Delta (IV Corps) where the only ground troops were regular ARVNs and RUFF/PUFFS. Jimmy aaja, jimmy aaja. February 5 th, 1967, Galiano was headed to Saigon, Vietnam with 90 fellow Americans on an Air Force c-131, but orders were quickly altered . Joe DeLong joined the company, and Sholly informed me that he would be the M60 gunner. 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. Thank You General Vessey for the almost 53 years I have lived since that day. Postservice Mortality in Vietnam Veterans : 30-Year Follow-up - JAMA Was the 7th Infantry in Vietnam? - 2023 Sgt. Some unfortunately also came home with physical scars. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the VietnamWar? I was a medic on one for two yrs and the only weapon I was issue was a six-shot .38. 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. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. I always found life expectancy numbers interesting in that I could never find any supporting information that could be validated. I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. LUCK pure LUCK. I DISAGREETHE ENEMY WOULD SHOOT THE GUY NEXT TO THE RTO-KNOWING HE WAS THE COMMANDER. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. More importantly, Grandstaff was very gung-ho. Walked point way to many times but never had contact. He also worked on Jacqueline Kennedys hair pieces and wigs. What was the life expectency of a private soldier in vietnam? Sure, its softer than it was before, but the training they go through is intense, something a loser who spends his time on the computer all day attacking people he doesnt know anything about and all the facts CANNOT do. 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. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. Commanders like him were few and far between many were afraid of their own shadow and were only there to get their ticket punched. Thank You Roger!!! Express your answer in terms of x. A "Sapper" is a combat engineer soldier who is with the front line infantry troops. aND, mAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! In Vietnam he cut the hair of everyone in his company for free. At Fort Lewis, every recruit learned to operate various weapons. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. Men and women die everyday. 1 Gun and I survived our first firefight. Our chase after the enemy unwittingly led us into a large ambush. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. (LogOut/ That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. I always felt that Infantry units were in more danger because of ambush issues and no permanent defensive structures. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. Sergeant Galiano's experience does not deny Brands depiction of the battle in Vietnam, but offers a typically overlooked perspective of a drafted soldier fighting in the central highlands of Vietnam. I was never formally trained as an RTO. To my right, Piambino had poked his head out of the trench to fire his M16 rifle. That was supposed to be 58, 220. but wait, there are more numbers for the same story. 101st Airborne Division. Was No. The Bronze Star was awarded to ALL that were awarded the CIB in WWII because the Infantry accounted for over 70% of the casualties in WWLL BUT NOT 70% )F ALL THE INFANTRY !!! General Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike (a professor at the University of California, Berkeley), a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. Ambulances are not supposed to be armed (either) though in training, medics are told they and their vehicles will be a prime target. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. https://www.historynet.com/no-1-gun-an-m60-machine-gunner-in-vietnam-tells-his-story/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. Deltoid muscle _____ 2. I was never hit by enemy fire even though they had multiple opportunities after that I was an rto for the company commander and I have to say both jobs were not fun. Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome. Totally bogus. (LogOut/ "The Rangers pulled themselves over the top," President Ronald Reagan said of the men, in 1984. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. 2. It was very nearly my last. I was already lugging around a 24-pound weapon, 300 rounds of ammo and a pack that weighed a good 45 pounds. So I guess I defied the odds. Bob Sanzone. Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! An interesting comment I had. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. For example, life expectancy of male and female Veterans with household incomes less than $20,000, at respectively. Fighters and planes dont make up the Army, thats the Air Force. The one that should be there is the combat medic. My second tour was as the S3 for LTC Anthony Herbertone of Americas greatest leaders and WARRIORS OF ALL TIME. Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual Review - HistoryNet What percentage of Vietnam veterans actually saw combat? 1 Gun. Military history of African Americans in the Vietnam War PDF Sobering Statistics Concerning Vietnam Vets As of April 2016 both tours. Very memorable comments. Day in the life of a Vietnam Soldier | History 118: US History Since 1877 US Wings is a veteran-owned business and an official supplier to the US Military. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. Interesting reading. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. A Marine on patrol crosses a rice paddy in Vietnam holding an M60 machine gun in 1966. 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. But, once the enemy lays down his weapon, I want YOU TO REMEMBER THREE THINGS: 1, HE IS A SOLDIER, JUST LIKE YOU.2, HE IS AWAY FROM HOME And family, just like you. ), special forces, combat support, engineering, medics, and vehicle assault weapons. It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. The battalion was sending us to a village with a small river running through it. 1 Gun more than I did. Like you, I carried a PRC-25 for about 5 months and never got hit. 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. Artillery, and ground forces. I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. Do the math. I for one commend you for your courage and thank you for your service to your country. Point, slack and compass. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. The answer that we have always been given is that 1 year in the Infantry is equivalent to 3 years of hard labor. The rule of thumb was , any new guys would get the radio and keep it until another new guy came in. Total fantasy. is sharing facts, thats truly good, keep up writing. How many draftees died in Vietnam? - 2023 I saw aircraft loaded with troops explode in mid-air. I was a helicopter pilot We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. If youre American (which you probably are), I could give a f***. Ron. In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their . Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x.? Originally I went to the 543d TC. The U.S. Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual contains gems such as infantry "patrol tips," maneuver techniques, and fighting methods for various environments. Robert Sholly, standing with Platoon Sgt. 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 Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas? Half of the company hopped off the Huey on one side of the river, and the rest exited on the other side. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. Im laying behind a rice paddie dike.I put my whole body as far down in the muck while the bullets were over my head. You can find the polarity of a compound by finding electronegativities (an atoms desire for an electron) of the atoms; Carbon has an electronegativity of 2.5, compared to Fluorines A) Enter the the Ksp expression for the solid AB2 in terms of the molar solubility x. The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours, a Marine said. 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 . Here is an 18 I too never understood survivor quilt, Enjoyed your article. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. Database. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the Hey Robert I was with the 38th Scout Dog Plt. Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. You seen the enemy you shots him and vice versa. BUT WE MUST ALSO BE COGNIZANT OF OUR REQUIREMENT TO BE COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS. We did interdictions, blocks and other fun things on the river. (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. We had been carrying machine guns for over seven months. Nevertheless, I swung No. Company B had seven dead, Grandstaff announced, and I was to take No. Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company C, 87th Infantry Regiment, walk on patrol north of the Long . I quit trying to make sense of all the numbers that have been generated about Vietnam. 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. Good article. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. Amen I was a machine gunner for 7 months 503rd infantry 173rd airborne and you hit the nail right on the head. In total, the 7th Infantry spent four years in Vietnam. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. Was it left behind on some forgotten battlefield? The machine gun was also mounted in the UH-1 Huey helicopter and other Army aircraft. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. I want to know what the life expectancy of a us infantry army soldier is. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2 2 Gun.. 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. THANKS! well i have been army infantry for 12 years with 2 deployments, and still going strong. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and school teachers. 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. Diaphragm _____ 3. It means, IF (!) well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? Welcome home!! I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained there for 10 months before deploying to Vietnam as specialist 4. I told by RTO that i could carry my own radio, When he agreed he was humping ammo. Many were killed or wounded ! US Wings provides aviation apparel to the U.S. Government and commercial customers along with the general public. Completa las oraciones con la forma correcta del presente de subjuntivo de los verbos entre parntesis.? The average age of the 58,148 US Servicemembers killed in Vietnam was . PDF Mortality Rates and Life Expectancy of Veterans from 1980 to 2017, and Over the next two months, we exchanged fire with groups of the NVA. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in World War II? I credit my longetivity to great training at Ft Benning. 4322 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<4E412331B845E54EBDFDC79FA0627A18>]/Index[4314 16]/Info 4313 0 R/Length 65/Prev 560501/Root 4315 0 R/Size 4330/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream The average age of the 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics Each company had eight M60s. Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. by Zita Ballinger Fletcher 1/18/2022. 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion 327th Infantry. 1 Gun kept a lot of enemy heads down. For example: 7*x^2. Lived too tell about it. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. I carried the PRC-25 Radio most of that time. It was on the Job Training ! U.S. Wings is a manufacturer and a supplier. 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. If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. Life Expectancy by Country and in the World (2023) - Worldometer The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. We used to provide cover for these guys. See also: Population 82nd 2/505th. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. Different jobs have different life expectancy. 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. 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. An Hinglish word (Hindi/English). First Sgt. Often as not he was right beside you with a stolen chicken and a bag of rice. I never thought of it that way before but have many times since. Carrying a dead man some 300 yards through thick jungle in 100-degree heat was extraordinarily difficult. Love you Wortman!!!! Saw from mostly safe distance almost all the weapons systems that where there used. No. I was one of the lucky ones I came home without a physical scratch. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. Some Brothers said why spend another year in this hellhole???? 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. 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. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. My friend May, I later learned, was doing the same thing in 2nd Platoon. Roger Loves you too, Im sure. Startled, I quickly pointed my M60 at them. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. The dead were placed on ponchos. The next morning, the blasting could still be, heard. 2 Gun to Ranallo. Nixon Presidential Papers. It was just north of Saigon. E)V_5lu[vC3+"vg2L& Fact: Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. He retired in 2012 and lives in Delray Beach, Florida. See you in the next life!!!!! This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. They were not randomly selected but simply the best at doing it. Mech. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. Well he didnt make it. 67-67 11B 4th Id. Your email address will not be published. His body was torn to pieces. 0 I wasnt sure if the VC had moved to right or left, so I sprayed the elephant grass in both directions. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. The average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier during the height of the battle was just 24 hours. 4329 0 obj <>stream Shortly before 11 a.m. on May 18, the point squad in Company Bs 2nd Platoon spotted three NVA soldiers walking on a trail near the Cambodian border and attempted to capture them, but the NVA dashed off into the jungle. If the enemy was near, we never saw any. 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 peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. .. 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 packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. 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 .