life expectancy of an infantry soldier in vietnam

Two rounds smashed into a log inches above my head. Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. It was just part of the job. Was Billeted near an Army medevac Unit and was offered a chance to lay on my stomach with an M16 and door gun for them I decided not a good Idea. Grab some friends and go outside. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW 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. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. By mid-April 1967 I was pleading with the captain to get a replacement gunner for my M60 in 4th Platoon. Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. He was not the type to hump a radio. News media have reported tha an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc.Those are incorrect. I was a helicopter pilot The one that should be there is the combat medic. Lowering my gun, I turned around and noticed two VC sitting in the doorway of the hut, staring at me. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. That was supposed to be 58, 220. but wait, there are more numbers for the same story. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. They were not randomly selected but simply the best at doing it. It called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal of U.S. forces, limitation of both sides forces inside South Vietnam and a commitment to peaceful reunification. When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates. Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. No. Diaphragm _____ 3. It was the silent power of the pig, I suppose. 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? According to the American War Library, as of February 28, 2019, it is estimated that approximately 610,000 Americans who served in land forces during the Vietnam War or in air missions over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are still alive to this day. May they rest in peace. "The Cotton Balers, damn fine Soldiers." The Battalion returned to Fort Benning on October 11, 1970 and was inactivated. In our spare time we did medevacs and medcaps for the local communities and when required inserted SEALs . More importantly, Grandstaff was very gung-ho. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. Two of my closest friends in the company, Spc. What is the life expectancy of an army infantry soldier? We were probably not too far away on that day. But it was my jobso I tried not to think about it much. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. 67-67 11B 4th Id. 2. Be glad you served with a soldiers soldier like LTC Herbert. A "Sapper" is a combat engineer soldier who is with the front line infantry troops. Bob Sanzone. We fought to an agreed stalemate. Welcome Home Roger. That was a hell of a responsibility to take on. Our chase after the enemy unwittingly led us into a large ambush. A Marine on patrol crosses a rice paddy in Vietnam holding an M60 machine gun in 1966. The article was interesting. He said fighting was especially deadly in the war-torn city of Bakhmut, dubbed "the meat . Artillery, and ground forces. I served in A Company 3/22 of the 3rd Brigade 4th Infantry 12/66, then Hq Co 2/12 of the 3rd Brigade 25th Inf until the night of the TET offensive end of January 1968 and returned home July 18 1968. As mentioned, who kept track of that in the first place? 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. As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. It may not have worked for some other wars, but they were pretty helpful. Your email address will not be published. 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. 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. endstream endobj startxref I was a point man, M60 Gunner and squad leader. then youd carry an extra 200 rounds of M60 ammo for the machine gunner , plus drag grenades , one smoke grenade plus etc. 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. 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. 1 gun! Everyone laughed. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. 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. Theres 58,276. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in World War II? B)Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x. Jimmy aaja -M.I.A. In the last 5 years the symptoms of PTSD and AO are starting getting worse in me. is sharing facts, thats truly good, keep up writing. 1 Gun over my shoulder, grabbed a corner of a poncho and stumbled off with three other soldiers. 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. 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. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. During this Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in-country is: 13,853,027. We gathered the casualties and set out for Company A. The next morning, the blasting could still be, heard. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. 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. "The Rangers pulled themselves over the top," President Ronald Reagan said of the men, in 1984. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. I applaud your courage as I know an RTOs job is essential, difficult (carrying the weight of his radio transmitter, his rifle, his ammo, and his rucksack), and dangerous as the enemy surely wanted to knock out any communications for support. The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. The trailer for that video can be seen by googling the title, and it might still be sold on Amazon. Nicknamed "the pig" due to its size, weight and sound, the gun struck fear into enemy troops. Overrun and utterly destroyed, the 30-man 4th Platoon had suffered 21 killed and one missing. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers. Originally I went to the 543d TC. Vietnam War soldiers The key may be the word initial since we became more savvy with successive combats and had improved survivability. Before he was drafted Renza had worked as a hairdresser for women in his hometown of Peekskill, New York. I was wounded 3 times during the 10 1/2 months I was in-country before being medevacd out in Apr of 68. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. 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. Military history of African Americans in the Vietnam War a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. The income differentials in life expectancy for Veterans in 2011-14, however, are estimated to be smaller. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. 5 Answers There is no word like addressal. To an, open area. The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall): Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. I was over there twice serving as a Hospital Corpsman with a marine unit. 4 Bill May and Spc. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam? Some gave all. Forget the statistics, we all had a job to do, we went where we were told. The jungle seemed to want No. I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. 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. 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). Life Expectancy by Country and in the World (2023) - Worldometer Screaming Eagles! What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War After about 30 minutes, the four enemy soldiers got up and left the area. Not to mention that right now its safer than some cities in the us. He was killed in an ambush along with three others. Now, to calmly answer your question, air strikes have actually been an efficient technique used by us for years now. I never saw any correlation as to what MOS a soldier was and their survival rate. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. In Vietnam he cut the hair of everyone in his company for free. I was an O5C-20 in Vietnam. 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 Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. We wanted a break. Thank You Roger!!! Express your answer in terms of x. Staying alive was kinda of important. 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 I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! I was to have that experience two more times before it was over. 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.