LUCK pure LUCK. We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. 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. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the 1ST MAW 66-68. I quit trying to make sense of all the numbers that have been generated about Vietnam. I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. Seattle, Washington(WA), 98106. a RTO got killed, it happened within 5 seconds but not that always ALL RTOs got killed. 99% of infantry men will currently live to die of natural causes. So I guess I defied the odds. When Apache Snow began, I was an RTO, after Airborne, and before the CA on Dong Ap Bia, I became the AG for Roeski. During this Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in-country is: 13,853,027. BUT WE MUST ALSO BE COGNIZANT OF OUR REQUIREMENT TO BE COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS. In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their . It was more or less next man up . 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. They used the callsign MEDIVAC and were armed. Lucky you. After about 30 minutes, the four enemy soldiers got up and left the area. 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. Roger Loves you too, Im sure. 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 . He decided to stay even though he had a deep feeling he wasnt going to make it. This Battle changed his life and his future, had it not been for his actions, every man on this FSB Gold would have died. 4329 0 obj <>stream As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. Great reading. How many draftees died in Vietnam? - 2023 This makes calculations of those alive, even in 2017, difficult to maintain. I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! Despite initial victories by the Communists forces, the Tet Offensive resulted in a major defeat of those forces. 85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life. Because if only 1 RTO fought for say only 10 or 15 minutes before being killed, that would up the AVG for the total war! Men and women die everyday. US Wings recently added to OTEXA's Made in U.S.A. 2023 CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website, RTO, John Scheur. El subjuntivo Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. Life expectancy at birth. I felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. . Vietnam War the helicopters that came in to transport soldiers were the hardest hit with mass casualties . 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. I was an RTO for 9-1/2 months for Hawk Recon 2/327 101AB from dec, 1969 to sept 70. The three of us had trained together at Fort Lewis and were good friends. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. When we reached Company A, we placed our dead in the center of the two-company perimeter. Cause-specific . Veteran Owned Since 1986. 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. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star in 1974. 1st Cav, 101st, etc. Not to mention that right now its safer than some cities in the us. We were in2dBn 503d . The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. And yes, please God, bless America. The answer that we have always been given is that 1 year in the Infantry is equivalent to 3 years of hard labor. 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. It was very nearly my last. year old Marine thinking this is my last day on earth. 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. 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 didnt want any medals. An NVA soldier had evidently spotted the gun and waited patiently for me to stick my head up. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. The casualty rate in the current war today is a fraction. It was an honor indeed to serve with some of the finest soldiers I have ever met. And I know what youre going to say, Because the American cs! Bullcrap!!!! I always felt that Infantry units were in more danger because of ambush issues and no permanent defensive structures. Hack volunteered for service in Vietnam in 1968, joining the 1st Infantry Division. Explore the Life of a U.S. Infantryman in Vietnam. I knew some of this, but certainly not all. Expenditures for a body in a combat zone? Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x.? hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ I lost my cherry very early. If you have other information let me know. I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. Nervous, I set up my gun on the hill and loaded a new hundred-round belt. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2 Out of thousands of men that invaded that town in southern Afghanistan, we have lost 19. Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. ), special forces, combat support, engineering, medics, and vehicle assault weapons. The Statistics in the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF 11/93) show an average age of death much higher than that of news reports. I was told to help carry one of the bodies. 2 Gun team, Ranallo and May, without any support. (Getty Images) Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. I didnt make a move without that gun beside me. _____ 1. 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. I remember hearing somewhere about an RTO who wasnt getting the info out correctly and the Lieutenant (Kennedy) grabbed the mic and said My RTO Is Foxtrot Uniform. Soldier,this is a wardont forget that, and anytime we are in a fight we will be toughest SOBs in the fight!! 1 Gun, as always, thumped out a throaty roar as I fought desperately to push the enemy back. Anxiously extending the bipod legs on the M60, I added a 100-round belt to the one I already had in the gun. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. General Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike (a professor at the University of California, Berkeley), a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. 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. No. Bob Sanzone. May was eventually able to hand off 2nd Platoons No. Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. 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. An infantry platoon commander in combat had an average of 6 weeks life expectancy. Carrying a dead man some 300 yards through thick jungle in 100-degree heat was extraordinarily difficult. Each company had eight M60s. When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. What the hell did you hit him with? one of our men shouted. Wow I was 31.8 Gun shot Carried model 1200 Winchester shot gun WIA May 68 Article was great. Does this mean addressing to a crowd? 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. Five RTOs. If youre a foreigner, I respect what you think, but make sure you read ALL your facts, and dont come to rash conclusion until you know everything from BOTH sides. Most war stories are about soldiers and battles. meaning what is the chance of me getting killed in combat. I was an Infantry Scout Dog handler. He was not the type to hump a radio. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. I wasnt sure if the VC had moved to right or left, so I sprayed the elephant grass in both directions. This article appeared in the October 2021 issue of Vietnam magazine. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. How Many Vietnam Veterans Are Still Alive In 2022? - CLJ The 4th Platoon survivors stayed put for the night. I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine. Non-divisional aeromedical evacuation units went by the callsign DUSTOFF. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. 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. What was the average life expectancy of a soldier in battle on - Quora located on the South End of, the Post. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 2 Gun.. For example: 7*x^2. 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). Every mission, I had the same thought. I was wasting ammo and didnt even have a target! AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- Was No. hbbd```b`` ,&Iw sA '#o BS but ia a way you are correct. 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. 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). 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, in turn, would take an M16 rifle, which felt like a feather in comparison. I met a Marine a few years ago who was stationed North of Da Nang. As the entire platoon hit the ground, I saw guys crawling back toward me. Company B had seven dead, Grandstaff announced, and I was to take No. You just do the best job you can and if you got hit, so be it! Needless too say I depended on Sgt. 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.