Unable to reach Company A, my company pulled back, formed a perimeter and called in air and artillery support. I personally carried 300 rounds of ammo at all times, one belt in the gun and two across my chest. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. A dense mass of elephant grass hung over the riverbank, and he ducked under it. 4 Joey Piambino were to my right in the streambed. African Americans played a prominent role in the Vietnam War. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. Then he said youre on a FB, the enemy always knows your location, can pretty much attack at will, and you really dont have the capability to retreat. Sorry,I was one of your Brothers in Arms that helped talk you out of enlisting for another year in Vietnam. Statistics about the Vietnam War - VHPA Anxiously extending the bipod legs on the M60, I added a 100-round belt to the one I already had in the gun. His best friend is 86 and still alive. I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. Sgt. 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. If it was 1941 and you were an average Soviet soldier, your life expectancy on the front line was days, not weeks, thanks to the ongoing german offence. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. When Apache Snow began, I was an RTO, after Airborne, and before the CA on Dong Ap Bia, I became the AG for Roeski. General Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike (a professor at the University of California, Berkeley), a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. HOOAH!!! I was a 2LT on Hamburger Hill and had 4 RTOs over a 7 day period (excluding the times I ended up carrying my own radio). By the time we reached Vietnam in October 1966 I felt the gun had become a part of me. Helicopters, F4 fighters. Well, according to current mortality and morbidity statistics for the USright around 77.5 Years! 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. Stop staring at your computer already, get up. Much smaller income differentials in life expectancy, 0.2 to 3.6 life-years smaller for Veterans in 2010-17 are estimated. We did interdictions, blocks and other fun things on the river. (You can unsubscribe anytime), The US Wings website is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliant and adheres to their standards for accessibility of the internet so people with disabilities can surf the web more easily & efficiently. As soon as he did, a round hit him in the forehead, blowing out the back of his skull. See also: Population I was a medic on one for two yrs and the only weapon I was issue was a six-shot .38. They were well-armed, well-trained and knew how to fight. 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. Although we do tend to bomb a lot, thats only half of what we do. I had to rely on my gun more than before. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. I never even got a shot off. Each company had eight M60s. This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. 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 . It had a crew of 4 (forward gunner, the coxswain (steering and driving) and the two aft gunners. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? Naturally I was excited at the opportunity to join Sanzone, but at the same time I hated leaving 2nd Platoons No. 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. I had scary thoughts about myself humping the bush as a RTO, I was a real puny guy back then. While traveling through the boonies the first few men were usually always shot first. Good article. Life expectancy at birth. Then the tempo changed suddenly and violently. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. Combatants on both sides faced physical challenges posed by the climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. For example, life expectancy of male and female Veterans with household incomes less than $20,000, at respectively. Fact: Assuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving in Vietnam to be 19 years old is a myth, it is actually 22. Soon after, Pfc. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.? After a quick lesson, DeLong became the new owner of 4th Platoons No.1 Gun. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. 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 felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. The next three weeks passed uneventfully. Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. 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 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. The battalion was sending us to a village with a small river running through it. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. I pumped 200 rounds into that riverbank. Company B had seven dead, Grandstaff announced, and I was to take No. The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours, a Marine said. 2 Gun.. I spent my year in Vietnam with the 1/22nd infantry part of the 4th division. 79% had a high school education or better. 1 Gun was firing. .. The Davis Station in Saigon was named for him. That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. Sept 69 to Sept 70. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. 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. 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. Thats 390 per day. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. Theres 58,276. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. The enemy fire ceased, and we made arrangements to collect our dead before continuing on to Company A. We all have opinions, this is mine. What is the life expectancy of Vietnam veterans? I won a few times, and even when I did not I benefited from handling the gun under stress. I credit my longetivity to great training at Ft Benning. The blasts from the AMMO, really lit up the whole area. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. Very Good , I was a radio operator up in I corps in 68 & to me the worst thing was the walking . For example: 7*x^2. PLEASE HELP!!! Thank God I made it. Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. As with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and misinterpreted the 1968 Tet Offensive. Anyway I was wondering about the RTOs in a grunt platoon, was that their MOS or were they 11B that carried a PRC ? In the few firefights and skirmishes we had with local VC, the gun always performed well. How Many Vietnam Veterans Are Still Alive In 2022? - CLJ 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. He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. Deltoid muscle _____ 2. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. 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. I was wounded 3 times during the 10 1/2 months I was in-country before being medevacd out in Apr of 68. I wasnt aware that they kept life expectancy statistics. Sholly injured an ankle, and 1st Lt. Cary Allen took command of Company B. Me molesta que mis padres no ______ (cuidar) su alimentacin.. 3. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. 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. Your email address will not be published. We fought to an agreed stalemate. One afternoon, while Company B was still in the Tuy Hoa area, we received orders to gather up our gear and get ready to board choppers for an assault into a hot landing zone. 23,24 This study found that the death rate for Vietnam veterans was 1.3 times that for non-Vietnam veterans; however, the excess deaths were limited to Engineer Corps members (RR, 2.5). Which soldier had the shortest life-expectancy? - Quora Like you, I carried a PRC-25 for about 5 months and never got hit. Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). Cause-specific . 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! 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. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. I had yet to fire a shot with No. I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW both tours. I was in the AF a Reo in a F4-C. Who had time to worry about the life Needless too say I depended on Sgt. hmK#1+yNvA If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. That same day, I along with 3/4 others was transported to Long Bhin Post. 1 Gun kept a lot of enemy heads down. I was wasting ammo and didnt even have a target! And I know what youre going to say, Because the American cs! Bullcrap!!!! B)Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x. Jimmy aaja -M.I.A. I always was told that the life expectancy of a LT was 14 seconds in INITIAL combat versus 9 seconds for an RTO. 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. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. We were probably not too far away on that day. 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. Ordered to reinforce the unit, the Company B commander put our four platoons abreast of each other, and we marched west. 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). Veteran Owned Since 1986. We looked for cover and returned fire the best we could. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Military history of African Americans in the Vietnam War First thing we did was, Set up a complete circular perimeter. 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. A typical Patrol Boat River (PBR) was about 31 feet long and had twin 50s forward an M 60 midships and a 50 aft. In the 1st Cav medics were right behind the rto making them a very easy find also. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Ive always considered myself damn lucky to make it out alive. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. If you have other information let me know. For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. I for one commend you for your courage and thank you for your service to your country. RIP KOOKIE forever young, Thank god you are still alive, I am age 77. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. All the comments and replies are of absolute truth, I was only 18 when I got to Nam ,Im a country boy from NC so here I am A "Sapper" is a combat engineer soldier who is with the front line infantry troops. His body was torn to pieces. BS but ia a way you are correct. They were not randomly selected but simply the best at doing it. He retired in 2012 and lives in Delray Beach, Florida. There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. As I remember it the life expectancy was based on after the ambush was sprung or the fire fight started. 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. Contents1 [] Re: Helicopter Crews (Medevac & Dustoff): To my knowledge, only the 1st Cav Medevac had M60s for protection. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. None of the enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. An interesting comment I had. I was a 2nd Lt. Infantry platoon Leader. Fact: The domino theory was accurate. I loved it. The average age of the men killed: 23.1 years. The key may be the word initial since we became more savvy with successive combats and had improved survivability. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. I remember hearing a Lieutenant (Kennedy) say to one of his two platoon RTOs My RTO is Foxtrot Uniform. One of them gazed in our direction, lowered his AK 47 assault rifle and fired six shots. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. This makes our site more accessible to the blind, visually impaired, motor disabled, people with cognitive disabilities and more. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 4329 0 obj <>stream Id love to see the casualties listed by Corps ? We took fire all the time and responded. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. Thank You Roger!!! Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. Ron. Hats off to them. Thats my experience. 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. The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. The one that should be there is the combat medic. Soldier,this is a wardont forget that, and anytime we are in a fight we will be toughest SOBs in the fight!! Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. After about 30 minutes, the four enemy soldiers got up and left the area. Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. John Doever Take out the power center, youve got the edge. 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. 4 Answers aaja Come. An Hinglish word (Hindi/English). It was very nearly my last. I think what is missing is the fact that the life expectancy of those firing at us was much shorter than those that they were firing at. 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. Nevertheless, I swung No. Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. Dont know why, but generally, their aircraft were not armed (door gunners, etc.). HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Remember he wanted to reenlist for one more year in Vietnam. We had 5 kias and roughly 50 wounded in our company so about one in three got hit. It was just part of the job. 'No. 1 Gun': An M60 Machine Gunner in Vietnam Tells His Story - HistoryNet He was not the type to hump a radio. It was reported as an overwhelming success for the Communist forces and a decided defeat for the U.S. forces. 4 Bill May and Spc. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. Change). estimated education differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14 are close to those of U. S. population in 1979-89. They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. I handled Top Secret Commo on a daily basis. Proudly holding my M60 over my head, I screamed at the top of my lungs, No. Ever since that fateful day in 1967, I have often wondered what became of my beloved M60. What is the life expectancy of an army infantry soldier? Two of my closest friends in the company, Spc. I kept the radio because I understood the power of having the first communication with the support mechanisms of the military. 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. I was on a radar crew and we were told that, during war time, we would most likely be killed within minutes. Then one hot, sunny day, while walking across rice paddies, we suddenly received small-arms fire from Viet Cong in some distant hills. Our chase after the enemy unwittingly led us into a large ambush. What unit lost the most soldiers in Vietnam? I was an Artillery Forward Observer with the Infantry. What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? As I made my way to the river, I saw a VC guerrilla jump into the water on the other side. 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. I worried about that kind of leadership style in the highlands. The group found the first man killed and carried him up the hill, placing his body right next to me. I was an RTO for 9-1/2 months for Hawk Recon 2/327 101AB from dec, 1969 to sept 70. Point, slack and compass. We were told in training that the life expectancy of a machine gunner was about seven seconds from the moment the first round was fired. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. Got hit inside 15 minutes, first ambush we walked up too. Staying alive was kinda of important. Every single . Or is it on display in a Hanoi museum so curious citizens of that city can inspect a weapon captured from American imperialists? You seen the enemy you shots him and vice versa. Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds. In my humble opiniona maneven leaders should often recalculate their adversaries capabilities and limitations and his own limitations as wellwhen 10,000 miles from home against a determined worthy foein a strange landThe objective of Lam Son 719? 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 By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. Many were killed or wounded ! The Regiment traces its lineage back to World War II. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. Activated in 1915, as the 173rd Infantry Brigade, the unit saw service in World War II but is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the . Joe DeLong joined the company, and Sholly informed me that he would be the M60 gunner. From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. BUT WE MUST ALSO BE COGNIZANT OF OUR REQUIREMENT TO BE COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS. They were all up there scanning the terrain and looking for signs. Learned a lot from him. I think those numbers are percentages of US KIA, not mortality times. 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. What was the life expectency of a private soldier in vietnam? !We dont abuse prisoners Now, if he reaches for his weapon to continue the fight BLOW HIS ASS AWAY THIS AINT SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! Now, to calmly answer your question, air strikes have actually been an efficient technique used by us for years now. (LogOut/ As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. Just published my book The Last Goodbye by John Fratangelo, available on line on Barnes and Noble and Amazon Prime Books, Getting great reviews. said to me. (many of the Soviet casualties were POWs, though). If it had been up to me, I would have awarded my gun the CIB too. 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). We can all hold our heads high and be proud of our service. Cruz quite a lot. A Co, 1/5 Cav, 1 Cav Division. During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served was: 9,492,958. The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual Review - HistoryNet Certainly got my attention. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Non-divisional aeromedical evacuation units went by the callsign DUSTOFF. 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. Thank You for your courageous service as an RTO with the legendary Hawk Recon Platoon. hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ They also struggled with logistical problems and the complex political situation in Vietnam. 1 Gun over my shoulder, grabbed a corner of a poncho and stumbled off with three other soldiers. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2 Ha Ha always enjoyed being a volunteer! Moving west down the trail, 4th Platoon exchanged fire with a single NVA soldier, then a handful and finally a group of about 10-15 around noon. In total, the 7th Infantry spent four years in Vietnam. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? I quit trying to make sense of all the numbers that have been generated about Vietnam. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. 1: physical position (in the field / column) Yes, I made E4 at graduation, that was considered a NCO then. A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? 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. At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. Nicknamed "the pig" due to its size, weight and sound, the gun struck fear into enemy troops. 76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds. I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. I was still pondering the move to 4th Platoon when U.S. Air Force jets screamed over the treetops with canisters of napalm. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. No combat assignments for another year of service in Vietnam or get out in about a month. Like most inexperienced gunners, he underestimated the power of the pig and failed to keep the barrel down when firing. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. The income differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14, however, are estimated to be smaller.
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